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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2002 >> Drug Addiction
        
(Message started by: nelly on Apr 8^th, 2002, 10:08am)

Title: Drug Addiction
Post by nelly on Apr 8^th, 2002, 10:08am

For the record, I am not a headache sufferer, but a writer seeking information. I have the following questions:

How likely/common is it for a sufferer of cluster headaches to become addicted to their medication?

Which medications are more likely to cause addictions?

I noticed on the intro page that there was a section telling people looking to buy/sell drugs to go somewhere else. What sort of of drugs would non-suffering addicts expect to receive from a sufferer?

What sort of 'high' do the addicts get from these drugs?

Thanks a lot. Any and all information will be helpful.
Nelly

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Bob_P on Apr 8^th, 2002, 11:03am

The only addictive drug that comes to mind would be the narcotic painkillers.

Luckily, CH pain is too severe and the painkillers too slow in acting to be of any help to clusterheads so very few of us ever take them.

Other than that, I can't think of any other cluster drugs that are addictive and that is seldom a problem with us.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Ueli on Apr 8^th, 2002, 11:19am

Hi Nelly,

First of all, there is no such thing as "cluster migraines". There are cluster headaches and there are migraines and apart from the fact that both are in the head, they have very little in common. You as a writer can help us to spread this fact, it is very important for us, as the treatment for the two diseases is radically different.

The main stays for cluster treatments are:
For prevention: Verapamil and Lithium, for short time use also prednisone.
To abort an attack: oxygen and Sumatriptan.

These medications are non-addicting. (Except you want to call our efforts to get rid of the excruciating pain an addiction).

To abort a cluster attack narcotics are almost useless, nevertheless, they are sometimes prescribed by uninformed doctors.
If someone somewhere in 150,000 posts writes: "Oxycontin didn't help me" then the search engines mark a hit on a search for "Oxycontin", and the drug seekers and pedlars try to abuse our message board for their goals; hence the notice on the intro page.

You must ask these drug seekers what 'high' they expect to get, I don't know.

Ueli ;D

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by athos12 on Apr 8^th, 2002, 2:50pm

I just returned from the Mayo Clinic Arizona Headache Clinic, a world recognized headache clinic. There I saw Dr David Black and got ten times more information on clusters than I have from the bozo neurologists in Utah. He did tell me that they are finding that there is some relation with clusters and migraines and that "cluster migraines" is a term that means a person suffers from both types of headaches. Both clusters and migrains are vascular in nature, and some can be aborted with similar medications so they do have commonalities.

Athos

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Ueli on Apr 8^th, 2002, 6:08pm

Sorry Athos,
I don't change my mind. "Cluster migraines" is a sloppy term used by people who don't know exactly what they are taking about. True, there are some poor people that suffer both from clusters and from migraine (and we have some of them on this board), but they can tell you exactly the difference between the two diseases. Hell, I suffer besides from clusters also from diabetes. Can you tell me whether I suffer from "cluster diabetes" or from "diabetic cluster" or what? Remember, one can have lice and fleas at the same time - but these are still two different kinds of bugs, and don't merge to an unified species of "flice" or something similar.

I've said it often before, but it cannot be repeated enough:

Those who stress the few common traits of CH and M are doing us clusterheads a really bad service
Putting the two diseases in the same basket is a sign of ignorance about their cause and nature, sometimes also augmented by pecuniary interests, like our dear Dannyboy (The Great Unifier of all Headaches).

Some reasons why this is so detrimental for our cause I have explained in the thread http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1014912030;start=6.

PFNAD, Ueli ::)

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by athos12 on Apr 8^th, 2002, 7:32pm

Everyone should have an open mind to other options. They should at least listen. A wise man/woman will hear what others have to say.

I am not disagreeing that they are different. I am however ponting out that while sitting in the same room as one of the foremost authorities one headaches, Dr. David Dodick he commented on the growing group of middle ground sufferors that had both CH and M the "Cluster Migrainer".

To more support your point as a sepratist here is a quote from "The American Journal of Clinical Proceedings": I thought you might like this...

<blockquote>Although cluster headache is a distinctly separate disorder from migraine, some medications used to treat migraine are also appropriate for cluster headaches. Dr. David Dodick provides a practical guide to differentiating cluster headache from migraine as well as other trigeminal-autonomic cephalalgias. The differential diagnosis is made using the headache profile (eg, attack frequency, duration, gender ratio, and autonomic features). The headache profile also provides clues to the pathophysiology of cluster headache, a disorder thought to be localized to the hypothalamus. Cluster headache is treated with both acute and preventive therapy and, as with migraine, borrows its medications from other disease areas and different classes of drugs. A case study of a cluster headache patient is presented, followed by an edited discussion of issues surrounding specific therapies for cluster headache as well as coexisting conditions.</blockquote>

However they are related more than just the fact that they are "Just in the head". They are cousins. From a base phisiology they have some elements that are similar. Both are vascular. They both have some of the similar triggars and some similar remedies. But they deffinately varry in intensity, and duration.

Liver cancer and skin cancer differ dramatically in risk factors, treatments, and recovery, but they are both cancer, different disorders, but both cancer.

I agree with the need to treat them differently, just as liver cancer is treated differently than skin cancer.

I have been mis-diagnossed many times with migraines, sinus problems etc, one neuro even said that I was doing this for attention and trying to get out of work (if I could have hit that guy I would). I would much rather work 18-20 hour days than go through this Hell.

I think that we are getting well tooooo caught up in the symantics of what is and what should be. All I am trying to do is share what I have learned from a very reliable source.

Again they should be treated differently I don't argue that.

We are on the same team.....

-Athos

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Marc on Apr 8^th, 2002, 11:12pm

Hi Athos,

I generally stay out of these types of posts (not to mention that Ueli is a hard act to follow!), but in this case I feel the need to comment:

1) It is my humble opinion that many people are being misdiagnosed as having Cluster Headaches these days. (I'm NOT referring to you) There is even a doctor on the web who talks about his own Cluster Headaches. Any Clusterhead reading his description of triggers, symptoms and choice of meds instantly knows that he is not suffering from CH’s. It’s this kind of confusion and co-mingling most of us seek to eliminate.

2) Your comment about M’s and CH’s sharing at least some triggers causes me to loop back to point number 1 above. I’m not claiming that multiple triggers don’t exist for some, but I have to question an awful lot of "trigger" posts I read on this site.

3) I think your cancer analogy is a good one, but the point is that the people are Cluster & Migraine sufferers. (I could have written it Cluster-Migraine sufferers, but that changes the meaning doesn't it) The diseases are still Cluster Headache and Migraine Headache.

I’m very open minded, and on a continual quest for information. Not trying to challenge your position, I'm just stating my opinions......

When a group is working hard for recognition of CH, sometimes the "small" points are actually big ones.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by nelly on Apr 9^th, 2002, 7:00am

These are edifying digressions, but does anyone have any opions about drug abuse among CH sufferers?

Ever hear of a sufferer using meds recreationally, say, during an extend dormant period?

Is such a thing unheard of among the community? (Or is this a subject that makes the community uncomfortable?)

Surely many of you have been accused by (well-intentioned, but ultimately mistaken and perhaps callous) doctors of faking symptoms in order to receive narcotics. I'm interested in hearing about these experiences.

nelly

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by kim on Apr 9^th, 2002, 8:30am

nelly,

ddn't mean to bore you...

ch is rare. many sufferers have never SEEN another ch sufferer.

what is understood thus far is that ch sufferers use MEDICINE to try and rid themselves of an illness - JUST LIKE OTHER INDIVIDUALS WITH DEBILITATNG ILLNESS.

If you are looking for drug addiction here, i doubt you'll find it within Legitimate ch community.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by athos12 on Apr 9^th, 2002, 8:45am

Nelly,

If a person using pain medication to actually control pain are not likely to become addicted. Studies have shown that addiction comes more from a recreational use (those seeking a high) and not from actual pain control.

Hope that helps

--Athos

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Bob_P on Apr 9^th, 2002, 8:51am

To answer your question again, the really addictive drugs, opiates, are generally ineffective for CH and are therfore rarely used.

If your looking for drug addicts, you're in the wrong place. We just don't see it very often.

As for cluster-migraines, everything I've read on the subject says that cluster-migraines are a bunch of migrianes that cluster together. They are NOT cluster headaches.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Bob_P on Apr 9^th, 2002, 9:05am

Thinking about my post above raises an interesting point. I believe that clusterheads do have addictive personalities. Most are heavy smokers and heavy drinkers. There are lots of alcoholics on this message board, both recovering and active.

Wonder why we don't see more drug addiction?

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by kim on Apr 9^th, 2002, 9:30am

I see your point Bob, however, i tend to think alcoholism does not discriminate. There's alcoholism (rampant) all over the world, not just cluster headache people. Maybe it's a fluke... Nelly is looking at our illness from a standpoint of possible DRUG addiction. I think she's barking up the wrong tree. :)

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Bob_P on Apr 9^th, 2002, 9:58am

This is an ecerpt from an article inthe OUCH Library:

"They found that specially bred mice lacking a gene involved in the brain's response to serotonin were more motivated to take cocaine than normal mice. They were also more sensitive to the drug's effects. The mutant mice also showed an increased attraction to alcohol and more impulsiveness, a trait often associated with drug abuse. That study, underscoring the role of genetics in addiction, appears in Thursday's issue of the Journal Nature. In the other study, which will appear in the June issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, Marc Caron found evidence that cocaine's effects are not solely controlled by the dopamine system and that serotonin or some other mechanism may initiate and maintain an attraction to cocaine."

I wonder if they've ever checked clusterheads for this missing/mutant gene that helps in serotoin response?

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by kim on Apr 9^th, 2002, 10:27am

I don't know. Back to Seratonin. I think you raise a good question. Perhaps there are clues to be found in such a study.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Karla on Apr 9^th, 2002, 11:48am

I have taken percacet, vicodin, and stadol ns as needed over the last 4 years for pain relief. They can be addicting from what I am told. However, I look at it this way. My dr. will only give me so many per month and that amount will never increase. That is what we agreed apon 4 years ago because I have a past history of drug addiction problems. I have found in taking these that they are my medicine and I can't afford to get high or addicted to them because I need those pills to be there when the pain comes. When I take a pill all I am thinking about is the pain not the potential high.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Donna on Apr 9^th, 2002, 12:18pm

Karla:

I am proud of you!

I have known too many people who innocently used pain medications for too long a period of time, continually needing more and more to get the same relief and becoming hopelessly addicted.

It's nice to hear of a doc who discusses this with the patient BEFORE he allows this addiction to happen.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by kim on Apr 9^th, 2002, 12:44pm

Hi Karla :) I think you are a brave soul!
When I first went to a doctor went to (GP). He was a fine doctor and a sweetheart of a man. He prescribed me most of the meds you have mentioned and believe me I took them. There were cycles I had when I was getting hit 6 to 10 times a day. The cycles lasted months. During the most difficult times, I was popping pills left and right (so for me during cycle, I did ABUSE pills, but was only trying desperately to treat the PAIN. When the torture finally ended, I pitched the pills and never looked back. Now I am older and time and experience has proven to me that pain meds (in my case) are useless in fighting ch. I FERVENTLY believe that pain pills actually make a viscious cycle even WORSE. Nausia, headaches (not ch, but resulting from narcotic use), etc.
Smiles and big hug to you Karla, feel GOOD!

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Donna on Apr 9^th, 2002, 1:17pm

P.S. to my post above:

I am not referring to ch sufferers, but to some who have back injuries, etc.

Actually, I only know of a couple of ch sufferers that opiads help and they have enough sense to manage their doses. But the great majority, myself included, found no relief from ch pain using pain medications.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by nelly on Apr 9^th, 2002, 1:47pm

Definitely learning a lot here. From reading these responses and other boards, it sounds like I've tried to draw a line that gets a little fuzzy when you look closely. Someone who uses/abuses drugs recreationally might take LESS drug than a chronic CH suffer attempting to live without pain. I would think the difficulty in drug decisions for a CH sufferer would come during the periods of remission. 'Am I in remission because of the drugs? Or is this a natural dormant part of the cycle when I don't need to take drugs?' As a non-sufferer I can't quite empathize, but I would think I would probably take the drugs out of fear if nothing else, even if it meant that two-thrids of the time I didn't need to be taking the drugs.

Nelly.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Donna on Apr 9^th, 2002, 1:58pm

Nelly-----people who live with clusterheadaches are very sensitive to the feeling of an oncoming headache. We do not just take abortives all year long. As for the majority, we develop our own "seasons" for our cycles, usually being spring and fall for 6 to 8 weeks. There are great variations to this, but it holds true for the majority.

Therefore, it would never be necessary to take abortive medications or pain killers when out of cycle. It's a "know your body's language" kind of thing.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Donna on Apr 9^th, 2002, 2:08pm

P.S.........I am talking about the eposodic sufferer.

To learn about the chronic sufferer, why don't you post for one?

Have you read the great info on this and the OUCH site? If you are going to include a particular disease in your writing, it would be best if you were totally familiar with it.

We are desperately looking for a means of public awareness as this is a little known affliction even to most medical communities.

Read the letters in the guest book to get a feeling of what the person who just found company in his agony, after years of think he was all alone, feels. It is overwhelming. After 3 years here, I still can't get the goose bumps to stay down.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by athos12 on Apr 9^th, 2002, 2:25pm

Nelly,

I am a chronic sufferer, I am not as bad as some, though I constant live in fear that I the beast will return. Only recently have I found some hope in some doc's that I hope will help. Before that I was on a vicious pain med cycle, some out of need, some out of fear. The fear is nearly as bad, it can trun to depression, anxiety, the list goes on.

I hope that you can find answers for the sufferer in your life......

--Athos

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Bob_P on Apr 9^th, 2002, 3:21pm

A word on CH cycles. I think the Spring/Fall thing is bogus. Looking at DJs survey of 10,000 people you get:

8% summer
13% spring
8%winter
13% fall
35% random

So a few more get them in Spring or Fall than get them in Summer or Winter but the vast majority get them randomly.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by athos12 on Apr 9^th, 2002, 3:35pm

how many just get them all the time???? Put me in that category :-/

--Athos

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by leeladylee on Apr 9^th, 2002, 4:49pm

After reading the posts, I have to say on behalf of my husband, who is chronic...that addiction is not a concern.
There are many meds he cannot take due to a previous MI, or heart attack, and therefore has finally had to resort to MSContin at 120mgs. per day.
The signs of an attack still remain with breakthrough pain at times.
For information apart from the spiritually and coercive NA, AA et. al, read this book:

Addiction is a Choice by Jeffrey A Schaler, PH.D.

Those mice mentioned above were probably not given a control and therefore would gravitate to the drug.

Read in this book about Rat Park and you will find your answers there. There is absolutely no clinical or scientific support that addiction is out of one's hand or even exists...it is a choice. This is not to deny the physical need for the drug or it's devastating health sequelae. Read the book or go to this website before you lambast me:

www.enabling.org/is/szasz/schaler

My husband just started neurontin with the hope of tapering the morhpine into space. The neruontin is driving him crazy, i.e. angers easily and distracted thoughts.

read the book.

Much affection,
Leeslady

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by kim on Apr 9^th, 2002, 5:52pm

Dear Leeslady:

I agree with you!

Title: Addiction Gene
Post by Bob_P on Apr 9^th, 2002, 5:57pm

A little more info on the addiction gene:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Science Slots Piece In Cocaine Addiction Puzzle

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have come a little closer to understanding cocaine addiction, throwing a lifeline to addicts who fear that even if they do kick the habit a relapse is inevitable.
Researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine found that repeated use of cocaine triggered the production of a new gene in the brain and that the gene, delta-FosB, stayed in the brain long after cocaine use had stopped.
"A cocaine addict is addicted because of the many changes the drug produces in the brain. Some of these changes persist even after years of abstinence," Eric Nestler, professor of psychiatry and neurobiology at Yale, told Reuters. "Our findings help us understand addiction, so that eventually we can better treat it," said Nestler, whose research was published in Wednesday's science journal Nature.
Nestler and his team found that chronic users of cocaine had high levels of delta-FosB in one area of the brain. "What we showed is that when delta-FosB builds up in this particular nerve cell type, then there is an increased sensitivity to cocaine," Nestler told Reuters. "However good cocaine felt before, it feels better now."
With infrequent users of cocaine, delta-FosB is only produced in small amounts. With addicts, it accumulates to a greater extent and becomes a potent biological factor. Addiction to cocaine, or other drugs, is believed to be partly caused by biological changes. "There has been the sense that there is perhaps some kind of switching of the brain. We think delta-FosB may be one part of the switch," Nestler said. He admits research into cocaine addiction is at a very primitive stage but says understanding the part played by delta-FosB could point the way to improved treatment.
Understanding the role of delta-FosB in turning a casual user of cocaine into a chronic addict is a step on the way to understanding the biological processes of addiction. Delta-FosB is also produced in the brain by repeated exposure to substances such as heroin, nicotine, alcohol and PCP or angel dust.
Nestler and his team used genetically engineered mice and found the animal's responsiveness to cocaine rose dramatically when the delta-FosB gene was turned on in brain regions important for the formation of addiction. But the role of delta-FosB is just one piece in the puzzle that is cocaine addiction. "We know of other genes that do the same thing in different parts of the brain," Nestler said.
Nestler said one day it might be possible to neutralize the more persistent neurobiological changes associated with drug addiction.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Elaine on Apr 12^th, 2002, 7:43am

I am chronic and drurning my first years of getting hit with clusters. I was treaded with pain meds, demerol, and several other pain meds. I HATED it and the feeling I had when taking it. I not only still had my cluster but was so druged the pain seemed worst and I was to druged to deal with the pain. Here I was hurtting wanting the pain to stop and on top of the pain the meds were making me sick. I couldn't even stand up because of the meds.
My husband at the time would leave my meds by my bed when he went to work. I would wake up in pain and get up hurt for a hour and start poping pills in hopes the pain would stop. As we all know the pain would stop in a hour. The drugs would then knock me out..but I would wake wake up again in 15 to 20 minutes hurtting...but because of the drugs I lost all count of time, just wanting the ain to stop and to sleep I would take another pill. This went on all day. By the time my husband got home I had over dosed not meaning to but because the drugs had caused me to lose all time.
I stopped taking those drugs on my own. I don't think anyone who has clusters and have been given those drugs enjoy the feeling those drugs gave us.
They don't help clusters, they just make them worst.
As far as the other drugs clusterheads find they use to provent or abort a cluster. I know I can and HAVE put them down with no problem. So in my opinion there is No /Drug addition here in cluster land from the meds we are given.

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Stewart on Apr 14^th, 2002, 3:08pm

Nelly,

I think I know what you are talking about, some CH'ers sell their meds to other Ch'ers who are off/on cycle..since most of these meds expire, and are really really expensive, with a bargain to return the favor when they are off cycle to reciporcate the meds back...But ADDICTIVE? look up Sumatriptains, it's like a heart attack in a bottle, so to speak---->Vasoconstrictors..no high there, and really bad taste (nasal). Narcotics wont touch a cluster headache..>
Ok, best description: CLUSTER HEADACHE--->like having a brain anyeruerism rupture, but those people get to die and we dont!!!!!...forget the pain killers, they dont work for CH's--->Morephine, is like taking an asprin for an amputated leg...USELESS!

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by michelle on Apr 14^th, 2002, 5:00pm

as a 22 year episodic cluster sufferer, i can tell you that I am not a drug addict because of only one reason..........

NOT ONE PAIN KILLING DRUG HAS EVER WORKED........

if they did, i might be an addict, i think you're looking in the woring place to find out about drug addiction

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by sailpappy on Apr 14^th, 2002, 11:48pm

Nelly,
I have been a chronic sufferer for 32 years now Maybe even 33, Sorry Make that "SEVERE CHRONIC SUFFERER" My story varies some what away from the norm in so much as I don't fit into some of the academic profiles exactly and have probibly had a more consistent pattern in the sequence of attacks and the severity of my pain.
It's a very long story,but to make it as short as possible let me summerize and get to the answer for your question as rapidly as I can.
My syndrome started after some very violent and severe trauma to my head and some serious concussion due to many repeated explosions one night in 1969 while at LZ Stinger in the central Highlands of South Viet Nam.
I suffered many months with out any help from the medical staff in my region and a friend offered and I accepted some powered Heroin, so within a few weeks I hqad forgotten all about the Headaches and become a heroin addict, I returned to the states and got stationed in Texas at Fort Hood where Heroin was just about as readily available as in the Nam. Then one day I woke up and realized what I was doing, I got clean and then the attacks again started back with a vengence, I have since been through every known treatment and helped develope some of the standard treatments that are still used today, My case was one which was a baseline case used in the developement of Sumatriptan and consequently the hybreads that followed in the family of triptans.
I developed many coping skills and having surcome to the addiction monkey one time it was something that I never again wanted to happen, All we are looking for is pain relief, not a buzz or a high, I might suggest that you go to """www.thriveonline.com """ and try this question there, it's a much broader spectrum of deeper diversities in chronic pain, addictions and every sort of malady. I think the average Clusterhead just wants to live a normal life and they are not very likely to allow themselves to become enslaved by another demon(addiction) when they already have on demon runing their present lives(clusterheadaches)
If you want to talk to someone that is a self professed addict then just write to me and I will give you what ever you want to know! Pappy
http://www.msnusers.com/_Secure/0WQAAAFQdBPk0DC0v0nZu7GGXhlHZVfa*lzjrofRdNR2zlRhpFvr2YdKS1qF2iMr5Jtl3CvPZY7bh3UoEHkYsTOtXDJS9RNOg2DxAp9GlqOzG!RqM8hMZlKrR1xT2wza0SPAl*J1t3JA/!cid_006e01bfbc1e$f3fdcac0$ac6e9fcf@gateway233.gif

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Lee on Apr 16^th, 2002, 9:58pm

Right on Pappy, sometimes you tell them like it is but they still don't get it.

Lee

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by tsol75 on Apr 18^th, 2002, 10:49pm

Nelly,

No addiction problems that I have run into because narcotics are not even an option...don't have time for some pill to take effect and even if it was fast doubt it would help...these things are killers! and as far as Imitrex goes...you can take as much as you want, (if you can afford it) and you'll end up as high as a preacher on suday...does that analogy make sense? sometimes after taking imitrex i get high on not being in pain...but that isn't habit forming!

oh lee (the book freak) Your a moron...is being a moron a choice?

Jon

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by tsol75 on Apr 18^th, 2002, 10:49pm

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by tsol75 on Apr 18^th, 2002, 10:50pm

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by tsol75 on Apr 18^th, 2002, 10:51pm

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by tsol75 on Apr 18^th, 2002, 10:52pm

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by tsol75 on Apr 18^th, 2002, 10:53pm

I only posted once!

Jon

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Elizabeth on Apr 19^th, 2002, 8:29pm

on 04/14/02 at 15:08:19, Stewart wrote:

some CH'ers sell their meds to other Ch'ers who are off/on cycle...

Sell? SELLING meds is lower than taking candy from a child...
JMHO

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by Lee on Apr 20^th, 2002, 1:22am

Attn: Jon, what the fuck are you talking about? As far as this thread is concerned I have used every narcotic drug available during the last twenty years. I am not addicted to any narcotic drug as a result. If you would like to explore this subject further send me a message.

Lee >:(

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by tsol75 on Apr 20^th, 2002, 8:52am

Sorry Lee....guess I went a bit far with that comment...I just was really offended by the remarks about addiction being a choice...that is incredibly ignorant remark in my humble opinion....glad your not a junkie :) Please accept my apology.

Jon

Title: Re: Drug Addiction
Post by oringkid on Apr 20^th, 2002, 10:57am

I think it depends on what drug you are talking about as to whether addiction is a choice or not. If your doctor puts you on an addictive drug, long term, and you don't know about its addictive qualities but it does work, I don't think the choice thing comes into it.

But, if you don't have a condition that requires prescribed drugs, you DO have a choice to just not ever start taking something addictive. (ie if you are taking recreationally)

So, it depends. JMHO

But, as far as CH goes, I have been prescribed narcotics and they did absolutely ZERO for the pain but made me sick as a dog. So I was sick and in pain.
So, addiction was never a factor for me.