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GETTING OFF OF NARCOTICS
Traditional pain
management in this country typically involves suppressing the symptoms of pain
with nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory
medications (NSAIDS) and narcotics. Some of
the commonly prescribed narcotics include morphine, vicodin, norcor, darvocet,
percocet, codeine, tylox, and oxycontin. It is well known that these
medications do help many people function better, but they do not help the body
heal the reason for the pain.
One of the primary
reasons people continue to have pain is because of
connective tissue
deficiency (syndrome). This is a condition whereby the body breaks down the
connective tissues (ligaments,
tendons,
cartilage), faster than it can rebuild
them (catabolism.) One of the primary reason a person maintains a state of
catabolism is because of medications such as NSAIDS
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs (research paper at
prolotherapy.org) and narcotics that inhibit
the normal inflammatory healing cascade.
The reason people
have pain is because the body is telling the person something is weak or
injured. A persons back hurts because either the muscles, ligaments, discs,
tendons, or vertebrae are weak. It is that simple. The most curative
treatments will be those that stimulate the painful area to repair. They use a
technique called
Prolotherapy which directly stimulates the area to heal. It
involves the injection of various natural substances that induce the normal
inflammatory reaction that occurs to heal the area. Yes, it is by
inflammation
that the body heals. Medications such as NSAIDS including voltaren,
vioxx,
celebrex, anaprox, naprosyn,
aspirin, and ibuprofen inhibit the normal healing
mechanisms of the body. What most people don’t realize is that narcotics are
also potent inhibitors to the bodies ability to heal. Thus, the only thing
that can happen to patients who take these types of medications is that they
get worse and more catabolic.
How Can You Get Off Narcotics When
You Are In So Much Pain?
To heal the body it
is vital for the person to get off of these medications even before the actual
tissues are completely healed. The sooner a person gets off of the
narcotic medications, the quicker they will improve. To assist the persons healing
abilities various dietary and nutritional supplements are given, depending on
each individual case. Sometimes anabolic
hormones are also used (like
DHEA and
Testosterone). To stimulate the exact site of injury to heal,
Prolotherapy injections,
(Watch where do
Prolotherapy injections go and do they hurt?)
are given. Typically a person is seen once a month for follow-up.
It is important for
patients to realize that narcotics are physiologically addicting and must be
weaned off slowly. Depending on the dose of the medication, typically a person
can decrease the narcotics safely by going down by one pill every 5 days. For
instance is a person normally takes 10 Vicodin ES per day, after 5 days they
will take 9, and after 5 more days take 8/day and so on. If a person weans off
of the medications too quickly, drug withdrawal symptoms can occur. These
include: intense craving for the drug,
insomnia, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea,
anxiety, tremors, sweating, nightmares, muscular aches, and chills.
To help make the
weaning process more tolerable, various nutritional supplements are given.
These can include: protease enzymes, ProEndorphin, ashwaghanda/ginseng (adaptogens),
as well as many others. Various supplements are given depending on the
physical and emotional state of the person. The main point is that the weaning
off process can be very tolerable, but it starts with the person. There has to
be the motivation to get off the narcotics.
Related Articles
●
What
About Prescription Narcotics?
●
Getting
Off Of Narcotics
●
Facts
About Narcotics
●
Can
I Take Anti-Inflammatories With Prolotherapy?
● Myths About Pain and Swelling
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