Addiction! Understand the Facts...
Don't be Scared!

Many people living with pain and many healthcare providers believe that chronic pain medications can cause addiction. The pain medications that they are talking about are called opioid or narcotic medications. The reality of this is that, for the majority of us chronic back pain & chronic neck pain suffers, when medications are properly prescribed by your doctor and you take them as directed, these medications give relief and not addiction. Narcotic addiction is a risk, especially for chronic pain treatment, but the larger problem may be untreated pain.

• Physical dependence—which is not the same as addiction—may occur and cause withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking these medications suddenly.
• So if you need or want to stop taking your pain medications you must go off of them gradually with the help of your doctor.
• The same is true if the amount of medicine that you are taking needs to be lowered.
• For your safety make sure you talk with your doctor before starting or stopping any medications.

Tolerance, Physical Dependence & Addiction are NOT the same!

Tolerance:

• Is a situation in which your body gets used to the effect of the drug;& so becomes less effective over time.
  In order for the medicines to have the same effect on you, you may need a higher & higher dose, but not always.
• Often as the dosage is increased; you may find that the side effects continue to increase.
• However, don’t mistake tolerance, which is simply a physical process, with addiction.

Physical Dependence:

• This is when someone will develop symptoms and signs of withdrawal (for example: you may experience sweating, rapid heart rate, nausea,diarrhea, goose bumps & anxiety)
• If the drug is suddenly stopped or the dose is lowered too quickly, or you forgot to take your medication on time.

Addiction:

• True addiction is a disease in which people continue to use a substance (alcohol or drugs), despite bad consequences such as physical illness, relationship problems or inability to function at work.
• Just because your body is tolerant to a medication, doesn’t mean you’re addicted.
• Addiction is a behavior; tolerance is a physical process.
• However, a small percentage of patients who use narcotics will develop true addiction, with symptoms such as lying about how much medication they’re using, doctor shopping to get more prescriptions, obtaining narcotics illegally, and using the medication to get high rather than to control pain.
• Only about 5% of patients who are prescribed narcotics for chronic pain develop addiction.
• The risk is higher in people who’ve been addicted to drugs or alcohol in the past, and for those who have few other coping skills to deal with pain.
• Unless you have a past or current history of substance abuse, the chance of you becoming addicted to these medications are very low as long as your medications are prescribed by your doctor that knows you and you take them as directed.
• I want you to remember one thing: If you have a substance abuse problem, which is an addictive disease & you suffer with chronic pain you still deserve the same quality of pain treatment as others.

References:
Medheadlines.com; May 9, 2008
Society for Neuroscience
How to Cope With Pain
FSR Drugtest.com
The John Hopkins Arthritis Center
Medicinenet.com; Back Pain: Medication & Addiction, Updated April 2005