If a Gabapentinoid allows an Alcoholic stop drinking, who gives a fuck? This is Harm Reduction; textbook even. Being dependent upon Pregabalin is typically a radically positive improvement over Alcohol or ither drugs.
I feel the same with all potentially addictive drugs. The media, and sadly too often even actual doctors, like to paint it like being on any type of habit forming substance is always bad.
But they reject the nuances.
Someone taking oxy or H every day just to get high would be better off if they quit, yes. And they may well need subs to do that. That's an improvement in quality of life regardless of the fact they're technically still on an opioid.
Someone who has severe anxiety may well be better off with a prescription for benzodiazepines. Is it possible they will become dependent? Very much so. But if this person is using them as prescribed and their quality of life is greatly increased, who cares?
Someone with chronic pain may well have a better outcome in life if they're on daily opioids due to being more functional and more able to get a job, even if they are, as a result, opioid dependent. Note that opioid dependent and opioid addict are different things entirely. Most pain patients are not junkies.
It is so strange to me that we have this arbitrary distinction where we don't care about drugs causing severe dependence just as long as they're not considered recreational. They will hand out SSRIs and even antipsychotics to basically anyone. The withdrawal (sorry,
discontinuation syndrome) from these can easily rival benzos. But the docs don't actually care about this, they know you won't catch a buzz so here get physically hooked on it all you want.
I remember when pregabalin was still patented and uncontrolled here. Every doctor couldn't wait to get me on it and told me it was very safe, non-addictive, and had no side effects or withdrawals. I can only imagine the only source of information they had on the substance was Pfizer's marketing materials. Only after Pfizer's patent expired did they suddenly decide to schedule pregabalin, declare it addictive, and have doctors reduce the number of prescriptions. Funny that.
But it just shows how the system is. When they thought this drug couldn't be abused they were happy to chuck it at everyone, side effects and withdrawals be damned (apparently they didn't exist, and when was the last time a doctor warned you an SSRI can cause withdrawals?). Suddenly they realise people can in fact get high on this shit? Nope, lock that shit down.
I do think the way pregabalin was just needlessly handed out to anyone who wanted it was reminiscent of the OxyContin situation in the US. But I also think doctors blocking patients from getting what very well could be the right medication for them to live a functional life because they fucked up by buying into marketing and overprescribing it is just as much of a mistake. Why punish patients for it?
Also, c'mon, medical cannabis, where is it already? Safer than anything in the pharmacy.
. I'll pospon yhe dica'd tsper. I also took 5 mg oc clonoxepam .boy .om starting to feel it alteady
