As Prescribed + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

It's a struggle when you have something pulling on you, relentlessly telling you to give in, to go ahead and give up and get relief, whatever that may be. For me, it's an unconquered addiction to.....wait for it.....sugar. I don't think I could ever totally give up sweets. #guiltypleasure

Image - Leanne Kartchner

I can't even imagine someone who has gotten entangled in the silken threads of initial opioid use, which eventually become stronger than steel. I shudder at the monumental task that overcoming addiction really is. So huge, that many people opt to not conquer it and end up dying, to the tune of 62,497 deaths in 2016, more than occurred in the entire Vietnam War. We won't know for awhile whether 2017 got any better or if the opioid plague is still on a rampage.

Now, doctors are warning that even routine pain-killer prescriptions can cause death. One 21-year-old man was found dead after he had a tonsillectomy and had taken just half the dose of Percocet prescribed to him. Apparently, his breathing was affected and the official reason for death was pneumonia.  But the doctor who originally prescribed the narcotic became alarmed at his case and started investigating further. He found that several other patients known to him had died shortly after routine surgeries, who had also taken pain-killers.

He started sending his patients home with a pulse oximeter, a breathing monitor. He found that of 50 who were sent home with the device, 10 would return to the hospital with breathing issues. Because of that precaution, one of his patients avoided becoming a statistic. She was a 15-year-old tonsillectomy patient and her parents had her sleep between them that night with the oximeter on. While they were all momentarily asleep, her breathing became very very low, to the point of being non-existent for about 5 minutes. They called the paramedics, and emergency procedures saved her life. 

It is becoming very clear that patients with certain risk factors can in fact die taking pain killers as prescribed after surgery. Some of the risk factors include whether a person is known to snore loudly, frequently feeling tired during the day even after a good sleep, pauses in breathing at night, high blood pressure, a body mass index of 35+, over 50 years of age, large neck size (17" for male, 16" for female), or are male.

Now as I think of my own experience, I know exactly 2 people who, just recently, most likely died of opioid prescription complications. The first was the lady at my bank. She was so sweet! She was always there when I went in to take care of any money issues. She was efficient, pleasant and just a pleasure to talk to. I went in not too long after I had last seen her and was stunned to learn she had passed away in her sleep after a routine out-patient surgery! Everyone was at a loss as to why. But she did have one of the above risk factors--She was overweight.  

The 2nd person was our tax guy. We had him do our taxes last year. He was in his 50's, extremely thin, loved to bike, and so friendly and outgoing. We wanted to hire him again this year. But when my husband asked for him, he was told that he died. It was unreal! He also, had died after routine surgery.  

My plea is that you will take these drugs oh, so seriously! Make sure you don't have any of the above risk factors and think very carefully before taking any kind of opioid drug. Avoiding some pain is not worth risking your life. If at all possible, take an over the counter pain med instead!

And last, remember to always look for the beauty in your life so that you'll not see the ugliness that can and will take over if you let it!  

 Today is "My Post Monday!", a curation of the week's best original content. It's all about posts from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize(Affiliate links welcome)  

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