Pain pill SWITCHEROO creates DANGEROUS drug combo for seniors
I guess I should have seen it coming.
Mainstream medicine is too tied in with Big Pharma to let anyone… or anything… take their opioids away.
That is, not without REPLACING it with something else – and I’m not talking about natural pain relievers.
Turns out after some docs eased up on the addictive opioid painkillers that have been doled out in DANGEROUSLY high numbers…
They just switched to ANOTHER type of prescription med.
It may not be as big of a cash cow as opioids…
But that may mean it can “fly under the radar” for a while before industry watchdogs and whistleblowers call this “alternative” pain reliever out for the INSIDIOUS risks it could pose.
Especially if you’re a little on the older side.
Time to tighten the reins
There’s a new development in the prescribing habits of American docs – and it’s one that could be putting seniors in the crosshairs.
It used to be that your doc might prescribe a type of drug known as a muscle relaxant ONLY if you were experiencing painful muscle spasms.
But between 2005 and 2016, the number of muscle relaxants dished out to older adults TRIPLED!
No, there isn’t some shoulder-knot or leg-cramp pandemic that hasn’t hit the headlines yet.
That 3X increase occurred because conventional docs who’ve backed off writing an opioid Rx for pain have NOTHING ELSE to offer their patients who are in AGONY!
Here’s the problem with that…
Even the ultra-mainstream American Geriatrics Society says muscle relaxants should NEVER be given to older adults!
It’s not just a few “bad apples” that are spoiling the bunch…
Studies haven’t shown any ONE muscle relaxant drug to be overall better… or less dangerous… than another.
The agency STRONGLY recommends to AVOID the entire drug class altogether.
Folks on the older side don’t tolerate the drugs very well, especially at the dosages needed to actually relieve their pain. And those drugs were only approved for short-term use – yet seniors find themselves taking them for YEARS ON END.
But that’s not all.
The drugs’ sedative effects make you feel drowsy and dizzy – no matter WHAT your age.
That can make older folks particularly susceptible to falls… and even SPIKE their fracture risk!
Now, the theory is that muscle relaxants ARE, in fact, “better” than opioids.
As one expert told MedPage Today, it’s “replacing an evil with a lesser evil.”
How about NO evil at all??
The really scary part is that for some patients, docs have ADDED muscle relaxants ON TOP OF opioids!
Either one of those drugs on its own could present some pretty serious adverse effects…
But COMBINING them could “greatly increase” the risk, another expert told MedPage Today.
Muscle relaxants are known to AMPLIFY the side effects of SEVERAL different classes of drugs – not only opioids but also benzos.
How many of those drugs does your doc have you on right now?
Non-drug alternatives for MULTIPLE types of pain include physical therapy… massage… and other “body work.”
You can also try the ancient “needle therapy” known as acupuncture…
Or supplements like MSM or magnesium (or warm Epsom salt baths!), which ease muscle soreness and cramping.
To no longer overprescribing ANY drug,
Melissa Young
