Pubdate: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 Source: Daily Herald (IL) Copyright: 2004 The Daily Herald Company Contact: http://www.dailyherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107 Author: Tona Kunz, Daily Herald Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 ( Chronic Pain ) ACHES OF AGING PUSH PEOPLE TOWARD PILL ADDICTION Deep rubs and hot packs used to soothe the aches and pains that start in your 30s. In the past decade, a host of new medicines have made ready fixes available in a pill bottle. But the new treatments have a dire drawback: potential addiction. Now doctors are seeing a new type of drug addict: one who didn't start out seeking a high. More than 4 million people nationally are hooked on legal drugs, most falling prey to addiction by trying to ease the normal aches and pains of aging. Their sheer numbers are shocking doctors who were used to seeing mainly teens and senior citizens abusing prescription drugs. "There is a steady stream of people that are hooked on opiates (pain killers), and it is a result of several things: the accessibility of illegal opiates through the Internet, the growth of pain clinics and a greater emphasis in pain control by physicians," said Jeffery Johnson, a family practitioner and addiction specialist at the behavioral health clinic at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield. As new medications with fewer side effects have come on the market, more people have been exposed to them - and tempted to abuse them. In the past year, twice as many patients at Johnson's clinic are seeking help for addiction to prescription drugs. The typical patients are in their 30s and 40s and had been trying to control pain from a back surgery or injuries. "I have heard patients say, 'Yeah, I was eating them like candy,'" he said. "That is when you know it is no longer for pain. It has crossed the line." A New Type of Patient The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported a 181 percent increase in abuse of pain killers nationwide from 1990 to 1998, the most recent figures available. The number of people abusing prescription drugs roughly equals the number of those who abuse cocaine, up to 4 percent of the population. The institute's survey of doctors and researchers from 21 cities across the country found abuse widespread. For example, doctors reported a 400 percent increase in emergency room visits for use of oxycondone, the active ingredient in OxyContin, a painkiller commonly abused. Health officials blame the rise in abuse, in part, to an increased willingness by doctors to prescribe pain and anxiety medications, stronger drugs and the growth in the pain clinic market. "You have some doctors whose goal is a pain-free America, but at the same time you have addicted America," said Richard Ready, medical director of New Day Center of Hinsdale Hospital. Across the suburbs, hospitals and substance abuse clinics estimate prescription pill abuse has as much as tripled in the past year, with admittance to individual addiction clinics typically jumping from less than a dozen patients a year to a dozen a month lately. While the pain-killers have legitimate medical uses, doctors say, their prevalence has spawned a society that is quick to hit the medicine cabinet. "You can tolerate a certain level of pain," Ready said. "Sometimes people think your pain level should be zero, but everyone is walking around with some back pain or neck pain. It's natural." It's not just the rising numbers of prescription drug abusers that have made doctors take note, but the type of patient. "These types of people are people who work every day and who function," said Linda Lewaniak, clinical director for chemical dependency services at Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates. "They don't really understand the abuse potential." 80 Pills a Day Mary Parks has seen just about every type of abuser since she got clean six years ago with the help of Pills Anonymous, a support group at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Since then, she's started chapters in Hinsdale, Winfield and Downers Grove. Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Center in Hoffman Estates hopes to start a chapter soon. But Parks is somewhat disheartened by the scarcity of success stories she's seen at the nightly meetings. "It is really hard to stay off pills because people rationalize that their doctor gave them to them," she said. "It's something that a lot of people are in denial about." Doctors say most addicts started taking pills for the right reasons but failed to notice the signs of a growing dependence until it was too late. The reasons for addictions vary between men and women. Men are most commonly affected after taking pills to deal with the back, knee and neck pain that comes with growing older. A few women, up to 10 percent, get hooked on anti-anxiety or sleeping pills, often because they fall into that small segment of the population whose chemical makeup reacts to the drugs or intensifies the dosage. Much more common, close to 90 percent, doctors say, are women hooked on pain killers, usually started to deal with migraines. Headaches plagued Parks. She was prescribed pain pills, and at first she enjoyed the high she got along with the loss of pain. But eventually the high lessened as her tolerance increased, and 80 pills a day were needed just to maintain a feeling of normalcy. It's a psychological trap that makes users think their medical condition remains when really it's withdrawal. Typically, prescription medication addicts take three to five days to detoxify but can still have muscle aches and flu-like withdrawal symptoms for three to five weeks. "The pills," Parks says, "are calling out for more pills." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake