Re: Drug addiction vs. dependence/to (sleep disorder)

February 25, 2004

Howdy,

I have only this to say about pain meds, and this is strictly my opinion as a

person with EDS (etc.) who suffers every minute of my life from severe chronic

pain: Pain serves one purpose, and one purpose only....to alert your brain that

something has gone " wrong " in your body, and needs attention of some sort.

After that message has been received by your brain, there is no further purpose

nor any virtue to needless suffering. I have told this to my MANY drs (and I am

truly blessed to have lots of really good ones), and also said, " I am no longer

concerned about addiction. I do not abuse any Rx (or any other kind) drug. I

am concerned about quality of life. When pain interferes with my daily basic

functioning, I want some level of relief within reason. Give me the damned

medicine! (excuse my rare profanity, but I have no patience with drs or anyone

else who doesn't " get " what it feels like to hurt 24/7/365).

: are you scheduled for a sleep study? Did I miss where you posted that?

has a new one coming up. As you and our other list members know,

manifests severe Narcolepsy. His first sleep study was done in Jan 2001 (only a

few short months following his heat stroke, which was truly a life altering

experience, healthwise). His neurologist feels that since his body has

grown/hormonal changes/it's been awhile since the heat stroke, it's wise to do a

" fresh " sleep study. Not that it is going to show anything " new " , but it's

always good to have current results. We're in the process of getting that

scheduled in conjunction with the surgical removal of his Medtronic Reveal Loop

Recorder so he'll only have one hospitalization. says his sleep study

was " no big deal " , that they just asked him to " sleep at certain times, etc. "

It's pretty non-invasive...just a little inconvient....but can yield some really

valuable and revealing information.

Love,

~LoneStarRose~

(~~)

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