4:54am January 10, 2014

“Chronic pain sufferers are not addicted to pain killers. Chronic pain sufferers are addicted to not having to be aware of every inch of their body for every waking moment. Chronic pain sufferers are addicted to the freedom of nothingness, and don’t you dare judge them for wanting something you get free of charge.”

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This is why I find the idea of worrying that I’ll get ‘dependent’ almost laughable - of course I’ll be constantly dependent, I’m constantly in pain.

(via lumpyspaceprinxe)

I wish doctors understood this.

(via lesshumansmorecats)

I’m more physically dependent on my seizure meds than people on opiates are to those meds, and nobody calls it an addiction, even though unlike most people’s response to opiate withdrawal, seizure med withdrawal CAN KILL YOU.

Physical dependence and addiction are two different things. Get it straight. The fear of everyone getting addicted to opiates if they take them for pain relief is completely unfounded by science. It happens but not frequently compared to people who don’t get addicted. And most of this is based in fear and hatred of addicts, and the drug war, rather than concern for anyone’s safety.

If you were concerned for people’s safety you’d give them opiates. They are the safest of the long-term painkillers – anticonvulsants, NSAIDS, and steroids all have much more dangerous side-effects. And untreated pain is not just severely uncomfortable, it’s also dangerous to the body’s ability to heal from just about anything medically, and puts the body under such strain that you become sicker and in more danger of being sick than you would if your pain is treated. So even if treating the sensations of pain was some kind of frivolous thing – which it isn’t – treating the effects of pain on the body, is nowhere near frivolous.

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