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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday November 07 2019, @06:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the there-is-no-spoon dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Mind-body therapies alleviate pain in people prescribed opioids

A new study published Nov. 4, 2019, in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine details the first comprehensive look across the scientific literature at the role of mind-body therapies in addressing opioid-treated pain. The researchers found that certain mind-body therapies can reduce pain, as well as reduce opioid use, among patients treated with prescription opioids.

"These findings are critical for medical and behavioral health professionals as they work with patients to determine the best and most effective treatments for pain," said Eric Garland, lead author on the study, associate dean for research at the University of Utah College of Social Work and the director of the University of Utah's Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development.

Garland explained that mind-body therapies focus on changing behavior and the function of the brain with the goal of improving quality of life and health. Mind-body therapies include clinical use of meditation/mindfulness, hypnosis, relaxation, guided imagery, therapeutic suggestion and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

[...] They found that meditation/mindfulness, hypnosis, therapeutic suggestion and cognitive-behavioral therapy all demonstrated significant improvements in pain severity. They also found that the majority of the meditation/mindfulness, therapeutic suggestion and cognitive-behavioral therapy studies showed improvements in opioid use or misuse. In contrast, two studies utilizing relaxation found significantly worsened results in opioid dosing.

[...] "A study published earlier this year projected that by 2025, some 82,000 Americans will die each year from opioid overdose," said Garland. "Our research suggests that mind-body therapies might help alleviate this crisis by reducing the amount of opioids patients need to take to cope with pain. If all of us -- doctors, nurses, social workers, policymakers, insurance companies and patients -- use this evidence as we make decisions, we can help stem the tide of the opioid epidemic."

Eric L. Garland, Carrie E. Brintz, Adam W. Hanley, Eric J. Roseen, Rachel M. Atchley, Susan A. Gaylord, Keturah R. Faurot, Joanne Yaffe, Michelle Fiander, Francis J. Keefe. Mind-Body Therapies for Opioid-Treated Pain[$]. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.4917


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 07 2019, @07:42PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 07 2019, @07:42PM (#917455)

    I have come to the conclusion (as long as you're not an addict or dependent and can stay that way) you'd probably be better off getting your opioids from an independent reseller that you can trust not to have fentanyl-laced opioids. Going to a pain clinic for years of lousy treatment plans and expensive bills has shown me the futility of pain management actually helping chronic pain sufferers. Grow your own THC containing plants if that works for you. Hell of a lot cheaper than the state approved medical cannabis $$$$ dispensaries and pain clinic racket.

    Mindfulness exercises and other thought-calming exercises can and do work to an extent on pain, even praying to a non-existent entity if that's your poison.

    I thought I knew pain when I had a nail driven through my hand, or when I slammed into a car windshield in a head-on collision, or when I had my first cluster headache culminating in a migraine with aura where I would crawl into a closet and lie in the darkness wishing for death. Neuropathic pain puts all that into perspective and moves them down the scale of pain assessment. Try sleeping when every night is filled with background pain that hovers around 7/10 and random spikes of sharp pain in the 9/10 or even 10/10 range. It's hard to laugh when the only sleep you get is when your body finally collapses from exhaustion for that sweet 2 hours of non-restorative sleep. Laughter does not help.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 07 2019, @07:53PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 07 2019, @07:53PM (#917462)

    Weed worked better for me than 10 years on fentanyl. As far as mind-body therapy... Yes, it worked but in my case it was a severe PTSD trigger that pushed emotional pain in front of the physical pain. The only way I knew my physical pain was too high was the tachycardia (180 bpm) accompanying it.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday November 07 2019, @08:13PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 07 2019, @08:13PM (#917473) Journal

    you'd probably be better off getting your opioids from an independent reseller that you can trust not to have fentanyl-laced opioids. [ . . . ] Grow your own THC containing plants if that works for you.

    My primary care doctor writes a prescription. My Arthritis specialist could do it, but I only want one Dr. writing these. Walgreens seems to have very pure high quality opioids. Way cheaper than "medical marijuana" at $5 for bottle of 30 tablets. And works a lot better for pain based on trying medical marijuana in summer 2017.

    even praying to a non-existent entity if that's your poison.

    It is. I'm convinced he exists.

    I thought I knew pain when I had a nail driven through my hand, or when I slammed into a car windshield in a head-on collision, or when I had my first cluster headache culminating in a migraine with aura where I would crawl into a closet and lie in the darkness wishing for death. Neuropathic pain puts all that into perspective and moves them down the scale of pain assessment. Try sleeping when every night is filled with background pain that hovers around 7/10 and random spikes of sharp pain in the 9/10 or even 10/10 range. It's hard to laugh when the only sleep you get is when your body finally collapses from exhaustion for that sweet 2 hours of non-restorative sleep. Laughter does not help.

    You truly have my sympathy.

    Pain is subjective. But my particular arthritis is quite severe. I do know severe pain. When I had kidney stones (several times) a few years back, they were bad, but not as bad as I thought they would be. I totally relate to the thing that most ordinary pain goes way down the subjective pain scale. I also relate to the nights with background pain and anytime sharp intense spikes of pain -- anywhere, at random, in any joint -- but always in a joint. Finger. Ankle. Knee. Shoulder. Just out of the blue a super intense, but brief spike of pain somewhere. I only go for the narcotic pain killers when the pain approaches that higher intensity, and is fairly persistent. Or when a background pain increases beyond some threshold.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 07 2019, @08:38PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 07 2019, @08:38PM (#917494)

      Trying weed one time is not the way to use it for pain control. It takes weeks or perhaps a month for your body to get used to it (the intense high mellows out) and you have to get a variety of both strains or you'll get bad side effects like paranoia. The medical only weed places have better stuff than the recreational weed suppliers. And... It's about 1/4 the cost of RX drugstore pain meds.

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday November 07 2019, @10:49PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 07 2019, @10:49PM (#917600) Journal

        If my state gets medical marijuana, I might give it a try. What I tried before was chocolates.

        But opioids work. I've used them for a long time. I'd be surprised if something actually worked better. But I could be convinced.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 08 2019, @06:28PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 08 2019, @06:28PM (#917962)

    I agree with your characterization of neuropathy. Been there, done that! And, yes, opioids are a definite help, nor do they seem quite as problematically addictive when used to treat authentic pain. And, yes, meditation/mindfulness/hypnosis can help (it did for me).

    The only item I would add is that learning to fast a couple times each week had a very positive effect. Something in fasting triggers the body to (slowly) begin to repair damaged nerve cells, and over months and years, the stabbing pains have almost completely subsided.

    Although I no longer partake of opioids for neuropathy, they were, at one point, the only thing that kept me from suicide, and it would be tragic if they were withdrawn from those patients that truly need them.

    My redneck brother-in-law used to opine that instead of wasting public funds fighting addictions, the government should simply hand out opioids and such for free, thereby letting those susceptible to those addictions kill themselves quicker, and allowing the rest of us to get on with the business of living. Oh the irony,... an evangelical advocating a darwinian solution.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @10:01AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @10:01AM (#918568)

    +1 for grow your own make your own