Don’t Label Me as an Addict

Don’t Label Me as an Addict

“I want you to understand, I am not an addict,” Rebecca (not her real name), a 32-year-old social worker calling from Philadelphia, spoke emphatically into the phone. “The pain I have is 100% legitimate and I work with a pain management specialist who is well...
How Can I Get Off These Bloody Pain Medications?

How Can I Get Off These Bloody Pain Medications?

A recent publication by Health and Human Services (HSS) reports that opioid prescriptions in the US peaked at 255 million in 2012 and decreased to 191 million in 2017. Prescribers—and the rest of the world—have become well aware of the unanticipated consequences of...
Can I Really Be Addicted To Tramadol?

Can I Really Be Addicted To Tramadol?

If you think tramadol is a benign drug, think again. This past spring we met Frank, a middle-aged man from the southwest who was using large amounts of tramadol daily, originally for back pain. His doctor prescribed a certain amount, the rest he purchased online. He...