CBD: It Won’t Cure Ailments but It Can Help with Pain, Nausea
Healthline | Tony Hicks
Researchers who studied comments on Reddit said most people are using cannabidiol for medical issues, including psychiatric and orthopedic conditions.
Experts say there’s no evidence that cannabidiol, also known as CBD, can cure medical ailments.
However, they said some research has shown that CBD can be effective in reducing pain and nausea.
Cannabidiol (CBD) may not make users high, but it also doesn’t do much in terms of curing medical ailments.
That’s according to a new study that analyzed years of user comments on Reddit to determine the effectiveness on health and wellness of this active compound found in cannabis plants.
The Qualcomm Institute's Center for Data Driven Health at the University of California San Diego reviewed user testimonials and found the majority of them took cannabidiol for diagnosable medical issues, including psychiatric, orthopedic, and sleep conditions, as opposed to using the drug for overall wellness issues.
The authors of the study, initially published in the American Medical Association’s JAMA Network Open, said scientists lacked data on why people take CBD.
Their solution was to look at the social media site Reddit and its 430 million users.
They studied groups focused on CBD users from January 2014 through February 2019.
The study authors reported that 90 percent of the testimonials discussed using CBD for medical conditions that can be treated by doctors using other methods.
“The public appears to believe CBD is medicine,” said Dr. David Smith, professor of medicine at U.C. San Diego and a study co-author, in a statement. “Who would have predicted that the public might ever think CBD is a cardiology medication?”
The low down on cannabidiol
Cannabidiol sales topped $4.7 billion in the United States in 2019.
However, the only medical use approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a cannabis-derived drug product is for epilepsy, said Dr. Lenny Cohen, a Chicago-based neurologist.
Cohen noted that some cannabis derivatives are approved for nausea in people being treated for cancer.
“This is where official approval ends,” Cohen told Healthline. “The rest are pure speculation and anecdotal references. One of the biggest pushes for cannabinoids happened due to the overuse of narcotics with the unfounded belief that cannabinoids can be as beneficial and less addictive than narcotics.”
Cohen said the physiology just doesn’t match up, although CBD does possess properties that can keep someone calm.
“In my personal practice, unfortunately, I did not see equivalent results for pain coverage for those who had been on narcotics previously,” he said. “That being said, cannabinoids might be beneficial for narcotics-naïve patients. There are a number of studies on use of cannabinoids for neuropathic pain, for example. Unfortunately, many of them are flawed.”
Why the study was done
Caleb Chen runs The Highest Critic, a website reviewing cannabis products.
He’s also a Reddit moderator who told Healthline he can shed light on demographic caveats present in a study based on Reddit.
“I think the study has a valid point and, while it has a clear undertone that CBD is not as effective at treating diagnosable medical conditions as ‘real medicine,’ that is not the main reason the study was published,” Chen said. “The authors noted they want this to serve as proof that the FDA needs to regulate how CBD companies market themselves more.”
“They classified the self-reported medical conditions as symptoms, but it’s impossible to know from an internet comment whether the reported medical condition has been formally diagnosed, or even would be presented to a certified medical doctor,” Chen said.
“The study admits this as a flaw and even notes that some symptoms could bely undiagnosed medical conditions,” he added.
“I think the study did a good job with the data that was available — and there really isn’t much. I also think they had a foregone conclusion going into the study,” he said.
Changing views on CBD
Dr. Bill Code specializes in anesthesia and has used cannabis to treat people with chronic pain and seizures.
He told Healthline that CBD “is a potent anti-inflammatory and so can help many problems in controlling pain and inflammation” without the side effects of other drugs.
While Code said there hasn’t been enough research done, he doesn’t believe the Reddit study was an accurate gauge. He said understanding of CBD changed during the sample period.
“The article critiqued that there were not enough medical conditions specifically named,” Code said. “The FDA and medical societies hugely discourage this, so I suspect this has a great influence. Prior to 2018–2019, when Epidiolex (containing CBD for epilepsy) was approved, hemp oil containing CBD was seen more as a dietary supplement. This initiated many of the wellness statements or posts, as these are less provocative with the FDA than medical conditions.”
“I agree with the article in that changes should be legislated, and accurate lab evaluation and subsequent accurate labeling would greatly assist both the consumer and the medical people. Then we can compare apples to apples,” he said.
Using CBD for pain, nausea
“We do know that cannabinoids like CBD are effective for managing pain, muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Many other illnesses have moderate or low levels of evidence of their effectiveness,” said Clark.
“However, there is a lot of ongoing research, and we know anecdotally that patients say cannabinoids help them feel better,” Clark said.
“I am concerned that people have access to safe, tested, and high-quality cannabinoids,” she added.
“Cannabis is the most researched plant on the planet, with over 30,000 studies available. It has been used for thousands of years. What we need now are better studies,” she said.
Dr. Craig K. Svensson is a professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Purdue University in Indiana.
He told Healthline the study is useful for “insight into the real-world use of CBD, as it informs researchers the various reasons for which people are consuming CBD, as well as how that may be changing over time.”
He said there are two big issues.
“The first, apart from seizures, [is] might CBD be useful for the treatment of conditions like pain, anxiety, and related disorders? More research is need to give enough data to make these conclusions,” Svensson said.
“The second issue is quality of products,” he added.
Aside from prescription drugs such as Epidolex, CBD products aren’t required to undergo FDA approval. Svensson noted that label inaccuracies are a concern.
“The bottom line is there is only one disease for which there is sufficient evidence that CBD is effective for a medical condition. That is two rare forms of seizure disorder, and less than half of patients with those disorders benefit from CBD,” he said. Read original article.
Healthline | Tony Hicks
High Dose Prescription Medication Common Overdose
High Dose Prescription Medication Common Overdose
Hope by the Sea
It seems like every day there is something in the news about prescription narcotics and the inherent dangers associated with taking them. With over prescribing and doctor shopping on the rise, it is not surprising that there are 13,000 deaths a year related to unintentional overdoses involving opioids, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Pain management is perhaps the most difficult aspect of modern medicine for doctors to work with, considering that no one can feel the pain you feel, so it is impossible to deny someone medication if they are claiming to be in pain because most ailments are under the surface. In turn, the pain management field has opened their doors to any one claiming to be in pain, flooding the streets with high strength prescription narcotics.
A new study published Tuesday found that people on high or maximum doses of prescription opioid pain relievers have a much greater risk of accidental, lethal overdose. ABC News interviewed a woman who had been prescribed a high-dose cocktail of prescription pain killers, sedatives, mood regulators and muscle relaxants meant to help cope with chronic pain leaving her teetering on a fulcrum with the chance of overdose on either side for years. "I was liberally prescribed painkillers and anxiety meds and nearly died from the combination of pills. Several times I OD'ed inadvertently, once [while] in the hospital [and] my breathing stopped," said Alesandra Rain, 53. "You lose track of what you're taking because a lot of the time I was advised to 'take as needed.' My sister says she would stay up all night with me to make sure I kept breathing" when it appeared she had taken too much, Rain says.
We are facing an epidemic that seems to be growing and the death rates are ever increasing; with death rates from painkiller and sedative overdose deaths increasing by a whopping 124 percent, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2004 to 2008, emergency room visits linked to prescription drug overdose more than doubled, and among those aged 45 to 54, these overdoses have become the second leading cause of accidental death, according to SAMHSA.
Hydrocodone Limits May Affect Long-Term-Care Patients: Critics
Hydrocodone Limits May Affect Long-Term-Care Patients: Critics
by Sabriya Rice, Modern Healthcare
Advocates of tighter painkiller control are praising the recent Drug Enforcement Administration decision to impose tighter restrictions on the prescription painkiller hydrocodone, but others say that as a result, it now may be more difficult for long-term-care patients to access pain treatment in a timely manner.
Hydrocodone is the most frequently prescribed opioid in the United States, with nearly 137 million prescriptions containing the drug dispensed in 2013, said the agency.
The DEA concluded abuse of those drugs results in adverse effects to public health and safety. It's decision moves hydrocodone—found with acetaminophen in drugs like Lortab and Vicodin, and in cough suppressants like Hycodan and Mycodone—into the Schedule II category, and requires these drugs be stored in secure vaults and that labeling be updated.
“It was an anomaly that hydrocodone was scheduled differently than other potent opioids,” said Michael Von Korff, vice president of the advocacy group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing. The move closes the “Vicodin loophole,” which allowed patients to obtain up to six months of pills with one prescription and easy phone-in options for refills, but imposed low controls for tracking medication use. “This step is consistent with patient safety and high quality care,” he said.
Vicodin manufacturer AbbVie said it will comply fully with the requirements and that prescription drug abuse or misuse should be stopped at every level. AbbVie will continue to look into the challenges of patients living with chronic pain and the benefits of access to appropriate pain management, said a spokesperson for the Lake Bluff, Ill.-based pharmaceutical company.
When the comment period for the ruling closed in April, more than 570 respondents had weighed in; 52% were supporters, while 41% were in opposition.
Some, like the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, worried that tightened requirements would make it more difficult for long-term-care residents to receive adequate pain treatment in a timely manner. The benefits, they said in a letter to the DEA, “are far outweighed by the risks of creating access barriers and diminishing quality of care for patients suffering from chronic pain.”
The DEA did not consider the negative impact on patient access, said Ross Brickley, past-president of the ASCP. The regulation creates barriers for frail, elderly patients with chronic pain in nursing homes, post-acute and assisted living settings, who need long-term care, he said. The group encourages the DEA and other policymakers to find policy solutions for the new barriers created by the regulatory change.
Others said rescheduling combination hydrocodone products would have “far-reaching consequences, resulting in serious medical and financial hardships,” and that there is no evidence to suggest the change would curb misuse or abuse. “It is highly unlikely that the DEA will achieve the desired outcome,” said a letter to the DEA in April signed by 11 organizations, including the American Academy of Pain Management, American Pharmacists Association, U.S. Pain Foundation, the Virginia Cancer Pain Initiative and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
Calls to these organizations for additional comment were not returned. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores said it is reviewing the decision with members, but could not offer additional comment.
Overdoses from opioid drugs more than tripled between 1990 and 2010, according to the CDC. A JAMA Internal Medicine study published in March found that those at highest risk for overdose from frequent nonmedical use of opioid painkillers were likely to have obtained the drugs from a doctor's prescription. Effort to curb abuse of prescription painkillers has typically focused on infrequent users—those who get the occasional pill for free from a family member or friend.
The Schedule II change, some say, means both physicians and patients will become more aware of the strong potential for hydrocodone addiction. “It's a gateway drug,” said Alesandra Rain, co-founder of Point of Return, a group that helps patients break their dependence on medications like benzodiazepines, sleeping pills and antidepressants. “It's a very powerful drug, but too many people felt it wasn't dangerous.”
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.
Pills a Poppin’: Our Medication Nation
Pills a Poppin’: Our Medication Nation
by Mitch Albom | | Detroit Free Press
Last week, my father, who is 83, suffered a medical emergency. At the hospital, he was asked this question: “How many pills do you take?”
His answer: aspirin and Zocor. “That’s it?” came the reply.
Days later, after he’d been prescribed a daily blood thinner, a blood pressure drug and a stronger cholesterol drug, a therapist asked, “How many pills do you take?” He answered with the three new medications.
"Wow,” he was told. “You’re doing great for your age.”
Both responses are telling. We live in the Age of Prescription, when anything and everything has a pill assigned to it. If you’re not swallowing something, doctors are surprised.
Did you know the average American fills 12 prescriptions a year? Our medicine cabinets are stocked with small brown bottles. From heartburn to heartache, there is a pill you can pop.
And that’s how the drug companies want it.
“It’s a huge business,” says Alesandra Rain. She should know. At one point in her life, Rain took more than 100 pills a day – the result of an injury and personal issues that led to one prescription after another. “I took pills for insomnia, for anxiety, for sleep, for depression.”
She blames doctors. She blames herself. “I wanted my pain handled instantly,” she admits.
And plenty of drugs promised to do it. Think about how many kids are already on attention deficit disorder medication, how many adults are on weight-loss or sexual function pills, how many senior citizens have plastic dispensers labeled Monday through Sunday to organize all their prescriptions. Nearly half of Americans older than 65 take five medications a day, and a third of them will suffer adverse side effects.
Yet we keep swallowing.
Diagnosis by TV
America wasn’t always a pill-popping nation. It used to be that if you had a problem, you saw a doctor, and if the doctor felt it was serious enough, he prescribed something.
Today, TV ads trumpet drugs straight at us. You’re asked if you have a problem. You’re told there is a way to deal with it. You see actors smiling in suggested healing. Next thing you know, you’re asking your doctor for those pills.
There’s a reason the pharmaceutical industry typically spends nearly twice as much on advertising as it does on research.
It works.
Here’s the mentality of our country now: If you have a problem, open a vial. Cholesterol rising? A pill for that. Can’t sleep? A pill for that. Feeling blue? A pill for that. Never mind that these issues were once dealt with by diet, exercise or facing our problems. Today it’s easier – and better for the drug industry – if you just ingest something.
“The HMO system has crushed us,” says Rain, who eventually told her doctors “Enough,” quit all her medications, and started a group called Point Of Return to help others with drug-dependence issues. “Doctors today don’t have time to figure out what’s wrong. They just write a prescription.”
Of course, they have motivation, as we learned in the recent humongous $3-billion judgment against GlaxoSmithKline. It revealed that doctors were often enticed to prescribe drugs through perks and kickbacks. This, on top of the fact that Glaxo wrongfully marketed anti-depression medicine to teenagers.
It’s clear why the drug companies would push those limits. The younger you hook ’em, the longer you have ’em.
Side effects
Did you know only America and New Zealand even allow direct-to-consumer drug ads? Think about it. Why should average citizens be seeing ads for drugs? Shouldn’t that be limited to the physicians who then determine whether they are appropriate?
But the drug industry leapfrogs the process, counting on those in pain, in sadness, overweight or overindulgent to head for the pharmacy.
Who’s watching the side effects? Who’s checking for drug interaction – especially when people take so many medications?
And then there’s this issue: What standards are being set for “problematic?” What level is truly too high for cholesterol? How long is too long for depression? What really determines ADD? The lower the bar, the faster the medication gets prescribed. And if you don’t think the drug industry exerts pressure on those levels, you might want to take another pill: for naïveté.
My hope is that my father is not on his pills for long. This may dismay certain doctors, but so be it.
“How many pills do you take?” The answer ought to be: “Only as many as I need.” Sadly, as our medicine cabinets prove, that is not always, or even often, the case.
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.
Prescription Drugs and The Dangers of Over Medication
Prescription Drugs and The Dangers of Over Medication
Freedom From Prescription Drugs
Laura London | Alesandra Rain
Prescription drugs and what you need t0 know. Join me on this informative interview with eFitFamily as I welcome, Alesandra Rain. Author and prescription drug expert. We ask about the many aspects of prescription pills. Especially the abuse and risks with over-prescription.
Alesandra educates the listeners on the dangers of mixing pills with herbs, over-the-counter items and certain foods. Let her personal journey inspire you that independence from prescription pills is indeed possible.
Alesandra Rain and Her Journey With Prescription Drugs
Alesandra Rain has 18 years experience in the field of prescription drugs and their effects on the nervous system. Personality alterations due to addiction; drug interactions and the withdrawals from various classifications of pills. Additionally, she has extensive knowledge of psychoactive medications within every age group.
Alesandra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and has also completed graduate work in a Master’s of Fine Art. Additionally, Alesandra went on to become a renowned author, speaker and expert in the specialty field of pain and prescription drugs.
In short, Alesandra’s introduction to prescription pills came after an auto accident required nearly 3 dozen surgeries that left her with insomnia, anxiety and pain. She spent a decade on over 1,000 pills a month. She then suffered tremendous physical decline from the combination of pills.
I Want My Life Back
Eventually, Alesandra wanted her life back. Unable to find help, she chose to go cold-turkey in the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Utah. The terrible withdrawal symptoms were difficult. This gave Alesandra an inside view of prescription addition which is affecting millions of people today.
Alesandra is a prescription drug expert and the cofounder of Point of Return. A nonprofit that assists the public in recovering their lives from prescription pill addiction. Her team is a group of committed professionals who have dedicated their lives to this critical cause.
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.
Sleeping Pills Can Lead to Addiction
Sleeping Pills Can Lead to Addiction
Healthbeat | ABC News
Women are more prone to sleep problems, with menstruation, pregnancy and menopause all potentially disruptive to a good night's rest.
Sleep aids are providing relief, but there is concern about addiction.
Alesandra Rain started taking prescription sleeping pills after a bad car wreck and failed marriage.
Soon she was hooked, taking dozens of sleep medications every month, mixing them with pills for pain and depression.
"That little innocent sleeping pill became something that was quite dangerous and nearly took my life," Rain said. "If it can happen to someone like me, it can happen to anyone"
It's tales like Rain's that have many women torn about when to turn to sleep aids.
Thirty-three-year-old Terri Dunavant is a single mom trying to juggle it all and make a good life for her and her son.
"I try to be the super woman the super everything," Dunavant said. "I try to make everything smooth, everyone happy, except for me. That's why I don't sleep.
"It's hard for my brain to just kind of stop spinning. I was just overwhelmed of some much pressure and activities."
She was having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Her doctor suggested sleeping pills and that concerned her.
"I didn't want to get addicted to it or anything like that."
A study by the National Sleep Foundation finds 30 percent of American women use some sort of sleep aid at least a few times a week.
The medications can be effective at ending sleep problems short term, but overuse can lead to trouble.
"The reality is that many of these women are using those medications much more long term, months to years," said psychologist Kimberly Kirkpatrick Justice, Ph.D.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends using hypnotics such as Ambien, Lunesta or Sonata only once or twice a week for a few weeks.
New worries were raised this week when a controversial report found a possible link between sleeping pills and deaths, but the study did not find the deaths were caused by the medicine.
Dr. Barbara Soltes at Rush University Medical Center says newer prescription sleep aids are safe if given to the right person for a short period of time.
"The key is we want to find the underlying problem," she said. "We don't want to just put a band aid on it by given them a sleep aid."
Soltes said the key is to find the cause and physicians need to ask in-depth questions. While medications can help in the short term, behavioral changes can also be very effective.
Stay off the computer, iPad and smart phone and also turn off the TV and try not to think about your problems at bedtime.
"I do see more stressors," Soltes said. "I see more health-related issues in younger women that I didn't see years ago and it has to be the environment we are living in now."
For Rain, rehabilitation was the answer. She now runs a non-profit to help others overcome their prescription addictions.
Terri Dunavant is working closely with Dr. Soltes and taking Lunesta occasionally. She's no longer worried about addiction.
"I haven't been taking it every night," Dunavant said. "I'm doing other alternatives. I'm writing lists down, keeping a journal, just something to ease my mind."
Getting back to a normal, restful sleep cycle can take time, but doctors say it's worth the effort since sleep deprivation is associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, weight gain, depression and more.
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.
Steppin’ Out Radio - with Alesandra Rain
Steppin’ Out Radio - with Alesandra Rain
“I began my journey on prescription medications with utter ignorance. It never occurred to me that the pills were addictive – or that they had side effects. As time went on I felt as though portions of my personality were dying. I felt as if the fiber of what constructed my personality – my soul, and subsequently, my connection to life was lessening.”
“I can’t sleep. That simple phrase sent me down a ten-year debacle into horrifying depths. It began with a prescription for a tranquilizer that initially worked wonders. However, within a short period of time my body grew accustomed to the drug and it took larger doses to have the desired effect. Then a massive amount of one drug became two prescriptions and this ruse continued until at the end, I was taking over 1,000 pills a month with anxiety and depression filling every waking moment. Sleep no longer provided relief as my insomnia deepened and I roamed the house completely agitated. I was on Klonopin, Restoril (Temazepam), Ambien, Effexor, Sinequan as well as Oxycontin, Hydrocodone (Norco) and Zanaflex for severe pain.”
“I was unable in to engage society and spent ten long and excruciating years on disability. My world shrank to the confinement of my home, as agoraphobia became my constant companion. The thought of going to the grocery store would leave me paralyzed with fear. Short-term memory loss increased and left me embarrassed to converse even with those I loved.”
“I’m not sure when my awareness surfaced that the magic pills I had been taking were actually killing me. I was told that the medications were non-addictive and could be stopped by first cutting them in half and then continuing to reduce the amounts from there. I did as instructed and never could have been prepared for the withdrawals that gripped me. My depression deepened and anxiety ripped through my core. The electrical zaps left my brain feeling as if it was cracking. A tiny movement would send a jolt through my head and had me convinced I had a massive tumor. Every medical test I took only proved that I was overreacting.”
“I began to hallucinate and suffered blackouts while the voice in my head tried to convince me that suicide was the only solution. Eventually I sought help at Cirque Lodge in Utah, whose alumni celebrities include Lindsay Lohan, David Hasselhoff, Mary-Kate Olsen, Richie Sambora, Eva Mendes and Kirsten Dunst. I popped my last two pills on the plane just prior to landing. They confiscated my medications the minute I arrived, and that’s when the real horror began. I couldn’t sleep or lay down for longer than 5 minutes for 17 days straight. The withdrawals took months to subside. I was only 45 years old.”
“Yet it was in treatment, amidst addicts from all walks of life and with most of the acute withdrawals behind me, that I felt the travesty facing our society. I watched those quitting illegal drugs struggle, but they were through the worst within in a few days. It was those of us on prescription pills that spent many weeks in relentless blood-curdling withdrawal.”
“The Cirque Lodge staff was kind, patient and provided the nurturing environment I needed to survive my “cold turkey” withdrawal, and their horse program allowed me to reconnect to the world of nature. Although I suffered excruciating withdrawals, I am eternally grateful for their support in my time of greatest need. It was a terrifying experience that brought me to my knees and had me convinced that I would never be normal again.”
The Dark Night - The Sinister Side of Sleeping Pills
Your Health Connection | by POR Co-Founder Alesandra Rain
The use of Sleeping Pills among celebrities is climbing, and the death of Heath Ledger is a tragic example of the hidden dangers. Insomnia strikes more than 130 million adults - nearly half the population - and many turn to some of the world's top selling pills to help them sleep. Many stars are silently dependent on their sleeping pill? Then the question remains on how to withdraw in a manner that does not involve treatment.
Point of Return, a California based organization, offers an all natural in-home withdrawal program that allows people to step down off the medication in the privacy of their home.
In June, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, revealed he had a problem with sleeping pills, and recently it was reported that Heather Locklear sought help in part because of Ambien; the same medication that Jack Nicholson claimed made him nearly drive off a cliff in the middle of the night when a phone call abruptly woke him. It is also what forced Eminem into rehab in 2006.
But there are many medications that are frequently given for insomnia, including Temazepam (Restoril), Clonazepam (Klonopin), Lorazepam (Ativan), Alprazolam (Xanax), Diazepam (Valium), Eszopliclone (Lunesta) and many others. All are recommended for short-term use, yet are frequently prescribed for years.
Heath Ledger had Temazepam, Alprazolam, Diazepam, Hydrocodone and Oxycodone (painkillers) and Doxylamine (antihistamine) in his body at the time of his death.
Author Alesandra Rain spent ten years on a cocktail of pills very similar to Heath Ledger, and eventually sought treatment to break her addiction. "I went cold-turkey and felt my world implode." I am a writer and the pills killed my magical connection to the written word, " states Rain.
Forcing our brains into submission is not true sleep. Natural sleep is a complex mechanism triggered by a group of hormones that create a state of rest for the body and mind. As we sleep, consciousness is suspended while the brain undergoes a cycle of brainwave activity that includes dreaming. The heart and lungs slow and our normally active brainwave patterns diminish tremendously, until we dream.
Natural sleep doesn't just support physical health, but is also essential to the creative process. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards claimed the riff in "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" came to him in his sleep, while Dmitri Mendeleev, the 19th century chemist, said he literally dreamed the periodic table of elements.
During the night, we shift from the predominant NREM (non-rapid eye movement) dreamless sleep to short segments of REM (rapid eye movement) state where dreams occur. Both NREM and REM sleep cycles are necessary to have restorative effects. But sleep medications dramatically reduce the length of time we spend in the dream stage and keep us in a light dreamless sleep. To make matters worse, sleeping pills (Ambien, Lunesta) and benzodiazepines (Valium, Klonopin, Restoril, Xanax, Ativan) do not actually improve sleep, but rather create an amnesiac effect that make us forget we are waking up. Unfortunately, most misinterpret this memory loss as deeper sleep. As tolerance occurs, even the dreamless sleep shortens in duration and deeper exhaustion and anxiety set in. But chemical dependency can occur rapidly, causing painful rebound insomnia, raging anxiety, and memory impairment, often resulting in multiple prescriptions.
Many people will add herbs and over-the-counter medications in an attempt to gain a few hours of needed rest. But most are not aware of the serious interaction risk when sleep medications are combined with other medications or items like passionflower, valerian, or antihistamines. Sleeping pills and anxiety medications accentuate the GABA neurotransmitter, which keeps the nerve cells in the lung tissue from firing. Sleeping pills combined with additional medications, over-the-counter items or herbs that also accentuate GABA or intensify the effect of the pills can overly suppress respiration, causing asphyxiation. This is exactly what happened to Heath Ledger. His breathing stopped from the combined effect of six medications.
But GABA doesn't just affect the lungs. It also regulates our sleep cycles, body temperature, muscles, and all hormone functions of the body. It's not surprising the withdrawals from these drugs are deemed the most challenging--even more than heroin or cocaine.
Stevie Nicks said her hair turned gray and skin molted while in rehab for Klonopin. She also stated that it felt like somebody opened up a door and pushed her into hell.
Alesandra Rain claimed the withdrawals were so horrifying that she co-founded an organization that provides an in-home withdrawal program to help others. "The only safe way to withdraw from these medications is through a gradual taper," asserts Rain. Within two years, Rain's organization had clients worldwide, including many celebrities. Her program naturally replenishes the body, and prevents her clients from experiencing the extreme withdrawals she faced.
"Actors often reach for sleeping pills due to their erratic schedules, but become terrified when the memory loss or strange behavior surfaces. In that way, they are no different than the rest of us," declares Rain.
Recently the dangers have also come to light with the FDA, who announced earlier this year that stronger warnings are required on 11 commonly sold sleeping pills. Besides cautioning against combining with alcohol, the guidelines will inform consumers to not mix the pills with any other drugs that suppress the nervous system.
"It saddens me that Heath lost his life to prescription drugs. I've read interviews where he spoke of his raging insomnia, and I knew that he found himself in the same trap I had faced. Unfortunately he didn't know there was a way out," closes Rain.
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.
Don't Quit Cold Turkey
Reducing Your Reliance on Antidepressants Requires Patience and a Doctor's Involvement
Chicago Tribune | By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
When the weight of her husband's cancer and the stress of her corporate job became too heavy to bear, Karen Huber did as many of her friends had done and started taking an antidepressant.
What she didn't realize was how difficult it would be to stop.
After a year of taking 10 milligrams of Lexapro daily, on top of 50 mg of Trazodone that she had been taking for a decade to help her sleep, Huber tried to quit cold turkey. The withdrawal symptoms were insufferable: anger and frustration so overwhelming she "could have chewed through a brick."
When Huber tried quitting again in March, she attacked it with a three-pronged strategy: She split her pills in half every couple of weeks, took nutritional supplements to mitigate her irritability, and ultimately checked into a detox center for three weeks. It took more than two months, but it worked.
"If I had known how hard antidepressants are to get off of, I would have tried to avoid them," said Huber, 54, of Little Rock, Ark.
Antidepressant usage doubled between 1996 and 2005, to 10 percent of the U.S. population, according to a study published last year in the Archives of General Psychiatry. That boom means masses of patients who face the challenges of stopping.
Though antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S., there are no official published guidelines for when and how to come off them, said Dr. Michael Banov, a psychiatrist and author of the new book "Taking Antidepressants" (Sunrise River Press, $16.95).
Generally, patients should stay on antidepressants for at least nine to 12 months to reduce the likelihood of a depression relapse, Banov said. But beyond that, it's up to patients to work with their doctors on whether and how to wean themselves off the drugs. Sometimes the process is unpleasant.
About 20 percent of people who try to quit suffer what the drug companies coined "antidepressant discontinuation syndrome," which can cause symptoms including depression, anxiety, irritability, dizziness, nausea, light-headedness and electric shocks known as "brain zaps."
Symptoms can be more severe the longer you have taken antidepressants, the higher the dosage and the more sensitive your body happens to be, Banov said. They also depend on the drug. Paxil and Effexor are associated with some of the worst withdrawal symptoms because they clear out of your system quickly, leaving little time for your body to adjust to the sudden drop in the neurotransmitter serotonin. Prozac, meanwhile, takes a long time to leave your body, diffusing the withdrawal effects.
Though drug companies warn of potential withdrawal symptoms in their literature, physicians don't always alert their patients when they prescribe the meds, and many people start taking antidepressants not knowing it's so hard to stop.
"It made me angry. I felt like I hadn't been told," said Katherine Perry, 40, an English professor in Cumming, Ga., who became uncomfortably irritable and anxious when she tried to wean herself off Paxil and Wellbutrin on separate occasions.
A cruel catch to discontinuing antidepressants is that it can be hard to tell if the symptoms are from withdrawal or a return of depression, so you have to wait it out, Banov said. If it's withdrawal, the symptoms should begin to clear up in one to two weeks, though sometimes it takes six to eight. If it's depression, they'll get worse.
The key to managing withdrawal is to taper the dosage gradually. But some people need more help, especially when they're trying to come off several prescription drugs.
Wendy Honeycutt was put on antidepressants after the suicides of her mother and brother. It proved a "doorway to disaster," she said, as the side effects later prompted her to take sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication. At the peak, she was taking seven prescription drugs.
When she decided to clear her body because she felt like "a toxic mess," the Texas woman went into a debilitating withdrawal that left her sleepless, anxious, shaking, sweating and emotionally numb, with electrical zaps feeling like "red-hot pokers in my head." She was incapacitated for two months and sick for three years.
It wasn't until Honeycutt found Point of Return, a nonprofit based in Malibu, Calif., that helps people come off their prescription meds, that she began to improve. In addition to offering tapering schedules, information on how drugs interact with each other and emotional support, the organization swears by a schedule of nutritional supplements to temper withdrawal, including omega-3 fatty acids to support brain function and glutathione to enhance the immune system.
Honeycutt, 44, a pastor who now volunteers at Point of Return, said she has been medication-free for three years.
Of course, some people need to be on antidepressants and shouldn't quit. Long-term untreated depression is bad for your brain and body, causing parts of the hippocampus to shrink and hurting the immune system, Banov said. The goal is to be depression-free, not medication-free, he said.
But for Huber, who used the Point of Return program for the six weeks she tapered her dosage, life is better without them — though not necessarily easier. The Lexapro had protected her like a "hard shell," keeping her from being weepy all the time, especially after her husband died last summer.
"Since I've been off them, I cry much easier, I'm much more tender," Huber said. "But that's OK. That's part of the grief process."
Tips for reducing your dosage
Dr. Michael Banov, medical director of Northwest Behavioral Medicine in Alpharetta, Ga., offered some tips for coming off antidepressants. It should always be done under a doctor's supervision.
Assess whether you're ready to come off antidepressants. Are you still having residual symptoms of depression? Do you have a strong family history of mood problems? Are you using alcohol or drugs? If so, it may not be the right time to quit. There's a self-test in Banov's book.
Consult your doctor to devise a tapering schedule. Though every situation is different, a conservative approach is to reduce your dosage 20 to 25 percent every four to six weeks.
Cut accurately. If cutting your pills with a pill splitter or knife isn't working, look for a liquid version so you can more easily control the dosage, or get capsules so you can open them up and mix the contents into applesauce. Another option is to have a compounding pharmacy make you pills with the desired dosage.
Timing is crucial to quitting successfully. Don't stop taking antidepressants during stressful times, like when you're moving, starting a new job, getting a divorce or confronting a distressing anniversary. If you have a seasonal mood disorder, don't quit during winter.
Make healthy lifestyle choices to help keep a depression recurrence at bay. Exercise, eat right, attend psychotherapy and make sure you don't have any vitamin deficiencies.
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.
High Doses of Prescription Painkillers Up Risk of OD Death
ABC News | By Courtney Hutchinson | ABC News Medical Unit
Study Suggests Max Doses of Opiate Drugs Increase Accidental Death Rates
Prescription painkillers may be FDA-approved and doctor-recommended, but that doesn't protect patients from the risk of lethal, accidental overdose, especially for those prescribed high doses.
Adding to the growing concern over abuse and over prescribing of painkillers, a new study published Tuesday finds that those on high or maximum doses of prescription opioid pain relievers are at a significantly increased risk of accidental, lethal overdose.
A high-dose cocktail of prescription pain killers, sedatives, mood regulators and muscle relaxants meant to help Alesandra Rain, 53, cope with chronic pain left her on the verge of overdose for years.
"I was liberally prescribed painkillers and anxiety meds and nearly died from the combination of pills. Several times I OD'ed inadvertently, once [while] in the hospital [and] my breathing stopped," she says.
"You lose track of what you're taking because a lot of the time I was advised to 'take as needed.' My sister says she would stay up all night with me to make sure I kept breathing" when it appeared she had taken too much, Rain says.
After surviving a car crash at age 19, Rain underwent 34 surgeries in attempts to fix injuries to her crushed legs and spine. As time when on and her pain persisted, she was prescribed higher and higher doses of painkillers, but the pain persisted. She became so desperate that she had a device implanted in her spine to help control the pain.
The abuse and overuse of prescription painkillers and sedatives have become a major medical issue as the rate of overdose deaths from these drugs increased by a staggering 124 percent, according to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. From 2004 to 2008, emergency room visits associated with prescription drug overdose more than doubled, and among those aged 45 to 54, these overdoses are now the second leading cause of accidental death, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
"Based on recent evidence, it seems we have been guilty of promiscuous prescribing in the context of non-cancer pain," says Dr. Richard Deyo, professor of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University.
"[The] CDC now estimates that there are 13,000 deaths a year related to unintentional overdoses involving opioids.”
Medicated Americans: High Dose Leads to Overdose in Some Cases
When it comes to chronic and/or severe pain, opioid painkillers, including morphine and morphine-like drugs such as OxyContin, Codeine, and Vicodin, are among the most powerful tools in a doctor's arsenal. They are also among the most addictive and potentially dangerous, doctors note.
Because they are more likely to lead to addiction and abuse than other non-opioid painkillers, many physicians are reticent to prescribe them at all, referring patients instead to pain specialists, says Dr. Lloyd Saberski, medical director of Advanced Diagnostic Pain Treatment Centers in New Haven, Conn.
At the same time, other physicians are prescribing these painkillers without proper monitoring tactics such as requiring regular office visits, timely (not early) refills, and urine drug testing, according to a study published last month in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Tuesday's study only adds to the concern that these drugs are not being properly managed and patients not properly monitored. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at more than 150,000 veterans on opioid prescription painkillers and found a link between those who were given high doses and those who suffered accidental fatal overdoses.
"Until recently, many have taught that there is no unsafe maximal dose of opioids, as long as doses are increased gradually. However, there is growing evidence that this is often not a terribly effective approach, and the safety concerns are growing," says Deyo.
"In the past, patients and physicians thought that the solution to pain was to give ever increasing doses of opioid medications [and] the risk of higher doses has been viewed as 'only' sleepiness or sedation, and rarely respiratory problems," says Dr. Timothy Collins, assistant professor of Medicine/Neurology at Duke University.
This research suggests that adverse outcomes, especially accidental overdose, could be in part related to the high doses given to some patients, which should cause physicians to reconsider whether higher doses are really the answer to patients' pain complaints, he says.
Unhooked on Drugs: Getting Off Opiates
For Rain, the escalating doses of painkillers and other meds were not the answer to her chronic pain. After 25 years on multiple medications, the breaking point came when her doctors, in hopes of finally managing her constant pain, suggested a morphine pump to deliver powerful painkillers directly and regularly into her spinal cord fluid.
"I was already on so many pills, so I'm not sure why this was where I drew the line, but I went cold turkey," she says. Eight years ago Rain checked herself into a drug rehab center where she would be supervised while she went through withdrawal. She also went through years of intensive physical therapy to treat the many musculo-skeletal problems she had developed from her injuries, contributing to her pain.
Today, she says she has no pain, and has started a nonprofit, Point of Return, in California in hopes of helping others kick their dependence on painkillers.
If opioids are not improving the pain at a reasonable dose, another treatment should be discussed, adds Collins.
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.
Are You Taking Too Many Meds?
Are You Taking Too Many Meds?
By Sabriya Rice | CNN Medical Producer | CNN National News
Editor's note: Americans have been led to believe -- by their doctors, by advertisers and by the pharmaceutical industry -- that there is a pill to cure just about anything that ails them. This week, the networks of CNN go deep into the politics and the pills.
(CNN) -- For Alesandra Rain, it all started with sleeplessness. In 1993 she was having marital troubles and her business wasn't doing well. Anxiety kept her up at night, so her general practitioner prescribed sleeping pills.
"It worked fabulously. I felt very relaxed and I would sleep better," Rain remembers. "I thought this was certainly the right prescription for me."
Then a few weeks later, another symptom developed.
"It was so unusual. I started having bronchitis and lung infections," she recalls. She went to a pulmonologist who prescribed an antibiotic.
Another complication soon followed.
"My heart started skipping beats, so I was referred to a cardiologist," explains Rain, who says other than a series of surgeries after a car accident, she had been completely healthy until this point in her life. The cardiologist ran a few tests and prescribed medication to treat arrhythmias.
It didn't end there.
Eventually she developed seizures. At this point, she was already taking at least six different prescriptions from three separate specialists. She went to see a neurologist who prescribed an anti-seizure medication on top of that.
"My whole day became pills and doctors and shots," she says.
Rain's insomnia returned as things continued to spiral out of control. Despite all the testing and prescriptions, she says no one could figure out the problem. She was put on temporary disability. Depression followed.
"When I finally got to a shrink of course I was depressed, because no one could figure out what was wrong with me! It never occurred to me that it might be the pills themselves."
Too many drugs, too little communication
At her worst, Rain was under the care of a general practitioner, pulmonologist, cardiologist, pain management specialist and a psychiatrist. She was spending more than $900 a month, taking 12 different types of medication, amounting to about a thousand pills a month.
"That's what I call prescription multiplication," says Michael Wincor, an associate professor of clinical pharmacy, psychiatry and the behavioral sciences at the University of Southern California.
He says it is not uncommon for patients to receive multiple prescriptions from different specialists, each focusing on a specific symptom. Wincor says it can be potentially dangerous for the patient, especially if the various physicians aren't communicating with one another.
"A patient could have adverse effects and think the medical condition is getting worse, when in fact it is a side effect of several different medications which are all interacting in a negative way," Wincor says. "When you're on more than 20 drugs all at the same time, you'd want to question whether or not that's really necessary."
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, prescription drug usage in the United States is continuing to rise. A recent report finds the number of prescriptions filled each year increased by 39% between 1999 and 2009, and the amount of money spent was $234 billion in 2008. The average American fills 12 prescriptions each year.
"Many side effects from drug interactions (not all) are exacerbations of known side effects of the single drugs that are made worse by the two drugs together," says Dr. Russ Altman, a professor of bioengineering, genetics and medicine at Stanford University.
He co-authored a study in the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics that found a widely prescribed antidepressant used in conjunction with a common cholesterol-lowering medication caused unexpected increases in blood sugar levels.
Altman says most drugs are tested and approved independently, and it can be difficult to predict the side effects of drug combinations.
"It is very hard to find these in advance of release of the drug, because sometimes these effects will only manifest in the context of large numbers of patients," he explains.
"I don't think people really understand the nature of medication; the (drugs) will, by definition, have some toxic, collateral side effects," says Dr. Douglas Bremner, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University. His 2008 book "Before You Take that Pill" warned patients of the risks and benefits of some commonly prescribed drugs.
Bremner says medications clearly do a lot of good and are needed in many situations, but warns that when a patient is on too many at once, there are serious questions about whether the therapeutic benefits outweigh the collateral. "When you end up on 12 prescription medications you need to seriously look at what the situation is," he says. "At that point, there's no way of knowing what's causing what anymore."
"I don't want to do this anymore"
Wincor recommends patients fulfill all their prescriptions at one pharmacy, especially if they are receiving treatment from multiple practitioners.
"Often the pharmacist is the best point person because they're the last stop before the prescription hits the hand of the patient and are ready to be taken."
He says the most important thing is to have one person who is keeping track of the various drugs and how they could interact.
If you can't have a single overall manager of treatment, experts suggest keeping a list of all your prescriptions and showing the list to any physician introducing a new medication.
Altman says, when possible, introducing new medications one at a time can help you recognize side effects and interactions earlier. You can potentially trace them to the most recent drug added, he says.
Bremner also advises patients to check out websites like Medication.com and Askapatient.com and read the experiences others have had with the medication you have just been prescribed. "Patients should become more educated about the effects and not just blindly take what is given to them."
Alesandra Rain says she reached her tipping point in 2003.
"I opened my medicine cabinet and saw it lined with prescription pill bottles," she remembers. "I looked at myself in the mirror. My skin was gray, I was hunched over in pain, my eyes were swollen and I had no quality of life. I thought, 'I don't want to do this anymore.' "
She decided to quit taking all her prescriptions cold turkey -- something neither she nor other experts recommend for any patient. "You can't go cold turkey off that many pills without doing some damage," Rain says. She eventually enrolled in a drug rehab facility that helps victims of substance abuse.
Today, Rain runs a company called Point of Return, which educates patients about the effects of prescription medications and helps them outline an "exit strategy" for safely tapering off highly addictive varieties of prescription drugs.
"I spent 10 years on the pills before I realized there was no exit strategy. It was always more drugs, never less." says Rain, who later learned the cause of her initial insomnia was a B-12 vitamin deficiency. She is now taking one daily multivitamin. "My life became nothing but a bag of pills, and I just thought there has to be a different way.”
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.
Are Your New Symptoms a Result of Medicine You're Taking?
The Daily Courier
When her doctor tore a sheet off the prescription pad and handed it to Alesandra at the end of her annual check-up, Alesandra never imagined that the treatment would lead to a 10-year nightmare she would be lucky to survive.
Before that doctor's visit Alesandra, age 35, was healthy. She was not taking any medicine. She didn't smoke. She didn't drink. Working for an engineering firm based in San Diego, she traveled extensively, handling clients around the world. Alesandra reported, "I was successful. I was doing quite well."
That life ended with her annual check-up. It wouldn't have occurred to Alesandra to have made an appointment to seek help for her insomnia, but when her doctor asked if she had any complaints, she mentioned it.
Her doctor did not ask if Alesandra wanted a drug to help with her trouble sleeping; she just handed Alesandra a prescription. Always one to follow the rules, Alesandra obediently took the prescription and stood in line at the pharmacy to get it filled, without thinking much about it.
Soon after, Alesandra recalled, "Everything began to come apart."
First, she developed bronchitis. She thought that this situation was strange, because she never got sick. However, she simply took the prescription she was given to treat the infection, not learning until much later that lung problems were a side effect of the sleeping pills. Then the potent antibiotic she was given for bronchitis caused bizarre heart arrhythmias. Because no one realized at the time that this condition was a side effect, it too was treated by adding another drug to her regimen.
And so it went, for 10 years.
Each of Alesandra's new medical problems was treated as if it had arisen in isolation. Alesandra was sent first to one specialist, and then to another. Each treated the new problem in yet another body part as if it were the only medical issue she had.
Each prescribed more drugs. None mentioned that drugs have side effects.
Eventually, Alesandra was taking more than 30 pills a day. For many years, she suffered from repeated seizures, lung infections, breathing problems, urinary tract infections, muscle weakness, back pain, insomnia and depression.
In the prime of life - her 30s and 40s - she ended up living on disability checks.
She didn't realize that all of her problems were caused by the drugs she was taking, because she didn't get sick right away when she started a new prescription. It was typically several weeks after she started taking a drug before a major new symptom developed.
Too frequently, doctors also don't realize the connection between drugs they've prescribed and new problems that crop up afterwards.
Dr. Beatrice Golomb at the University of California at San Diego identified patients who had talked with their doctors because the patients felt that they were experiencing side effects of a drug. She discovered:
1) In nearly 80 percent of the cases when patients thought that new symptoms they were experiencing might be side effects of a prescription drug, the scientific evidence strongly suggests that they were right.
2) In up to 98 percent of the cases in which patients were experiencing side effects, it was patients - not doctors -- who suggested a possible connection between a drug they were taking and a new symptom.
3) When patients were experiencing common and well- documented side effects, doctors acknowledged that there might be a link to a drug as infrequently as 19 percent of the time.
In about half of the cases when patients were experiencing common and well-reported side effects of a drug, doctors said things like:
• You're just getting old.
• There's nothing wrong with you; it's all in your head.
• These drugs don't have side effects.
• It's impossible for this symptom to be caused by this drug.
• There's no research linking this drug to this problem.
What happened to Alesandra? After 10 years of needless suffering, she rebelled. Through a near-fatal process she wouldn't recommend to anyone, she stopped taking all of the pills and reclaimed her life. (She has since learned better ways to transition from taking multiple drugs to taking none, and advises others how to do so on her website, https://pointofreturn.com.)
Now, she reports, "I am nearly 54. I am perfectly healthy. I can walk fine. I have no pain. Today I am not on any medicines - just nutrients and good food and exercise."
What can you do to avoid a nightmare like Alesandra's?
Ask questions. Do some research. Read the package insert. Never assume that a new symptom is just a coincidence, unrelated to medicines you are taking. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Be persistent.
Elizabeth L. Bewley is president and CEO of Pario Health Institute and the author of "Killer Cure: Why Health Care is the Second-Leading Cause of Death in America and How to Ensure That It's Not Yours.”
*Opinions offered may not reflect the views of Point of Return.