The claim that opioids only work for moderate pain is not supported by evidence, but has been promoted by the CDC in conjunction with the odious 2016 pain guidelines and their sequela. The way to get people to believe opioids don't work for certain kinds of pain (or certain levels of pain) is to give the subjects an insufficient dose. A NP I know defines a sufficient dose this way, "How much insulin is a sufficient dose? The amount that reduces blood sugar to a safe level. What's the correct dose of an opioid? The amount of opioid that makes the pain stop."
Exactly! I have many examples of studies I have reviewed and rebutted that use this exact method - under dose the opioid and VOILA! it's ineffective for pain! As I've said, over and over, people need to STOP reading the headlines and examine the study. Its so very obvious, even for someone like me with no science degree, the tactics and strategies researchers use to get the desired outcome that supports their pre-determined narrative. And the people who should be rigorously examinine 'the evidence' just let it go by.
Yes. I was not a science major, either. But I did take several years of summer adult education classes that taught how to look for flaws in studies, and learned a lot about how people can be misled with numbers. We got some happy news in theUS today, RFK Jr. shutdown the NIH’s Office of Pain Policy & Planning. (One of the federal agencies researching supposedly “better” pain treatment (I found a paper recently that admitted they’ve found nothing that even approaches opioids’ effectiveness).
Yep! To all of that! The effects of 'attitude' or 'mindset' are vastly overstated. Sure, all other things being equal, the person with a positive attitude is going to cope better. Probably.
Unless they're tipped over into toxic positivity, which is where I sometimes put myself! And positive thinking is not going to CURE anything!
Yet doctors actually believe that psychological treatments will reduce pain. With zero evidence to support that. Worse, they believe if you have chronic pain, you *must* also have anxiety and depression and those are the real drivers of the pain. So you get handed a script for antidepressants.
Most of the time pain is related to tissue damage. Not mental factors. And casting every person who has chronic pain as fearful, anxious, depressed and distressed, is ludicrous. And offensive. And leads to the under-treatment of pain.
Sorry, I'm ranting at the converted...lol. Its so frustrating when all pain treatments are directed at mild to moderate, chronic primary pain. Ignoring severe, disabling, pathological pain. And ALL to deny people access to opioids.
Merely by staying alive you are demonstrating great positivity! Thank you so much for helping me feel not quite so alone; your illness(es?), and certainly your pain, are much worse than are mine . . . but comparison is often the thief of compassion, as well as joy, and the chronic pain vessel is large enough for LOTS of passengers. So again, thank you very much for your courage and insight, your vulnerability and inspiration.
The claim that opioids only work for moderate pain is not supported by evidence, but has been promoted by the CDC in conjunction with the odious 2016 pain guidelines and their sequela. The way to get people to believe opioids don't work for certain kinds of pain (or certain levels of pain) is to give the subjects an insufficient dose. A NP I know defines a sufficient dose this way, "How much insulin is a sufficient dose? The amount that reduces blood sugar to a safe level. What's the correct dose of an opioid? The amount of opioid that makes the pain stop."
Exactly! I have many examples of studies I have reviewed and rebutted that use this exact method - under dose the opioid and VOILA! it's ineffective for pain! As I've said, over and over, people need to STOP reading the headlines and examine the study. Its so very obvious, even for someone like me with no science degree, the tactics and strategies researchers use to get the desired outcome that supports their pre-determined narrative. And the people who should be rigorously examinine 'the evidence' just let it go by.
Yes. I was not a science major, either. But I did take several years of summer adult education classes that taught how to look for flaws in studies, and learned a lot about how people can be misled with numbers. We got some happy news in theUS today, RFK Jr. shutdown the NIH’s Office of Pain Policy & Planning. (One of the federal agencies researching supposedly “better” pain treatment (I found a paper recently that admitted they’ve found nothing that even approaches opioids’ effectiveness).
Ah prednisone, the “Superman” drug. If only it were safe I too would want to go right back to the starting dose.
God I hate CBT/DBT/ACT/mindfulness and every quack who spouts it.
Yep! To all of that! The effects of 'attitude' or 'mindset' are vastly overstated. Sure, all other things being equal, the person with a positive attitude is going to cope better. Probably.
Unless they're tipped over into toxic positivity, which is where I sometimes put myself! And positive thinking is not going to CURE anything!
Yet doctors actually believe that psychological treatments will reduce pain. With zero evidence to support that. Worse, they believe if you have chronic pain, you *must* also have anxiety and depression and those are the real drivers of the pain. So you get handed a script for antidepressants.
Most of the time pain is related to tissue damage. Not mental factors. And casting every person who has chronic pain as fearful, anxious, depressed and distressed, is ludicrous. And offensive. And leads to the under-treatment of pain.
Sorry, I'm ranting at the converted...lol. Its so frustrating when all pain treatments are directed at mild to moderate, chronic primary pain. Ignoring severe, disabling, pathological pain. And ALL to deny people access to opioids.
Merely by staying alive you are demonstrating great positivity! Thank you so much for helping me feel not quite so alone; your illness(es?), and certainly your pain, are much worse than are mine . . . but comparison is often the thief of compassion, as well as joy, and the chronic pain vessel is large enough for LOTS of passengers. So again, thank you very much for your courage and insight, your vulnerability and inspiration.