Dealing With Headaches

The national death toll from methodone is at an all-time high (no pun intended), according to a report compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics, put toether in February but not released to the press until this month. The stastistics only go from 1999 to 2005, but still the trends are alarming. Last year, in New Hampshire, more people were killed by methodone than by car accidents.

And the reason people are taking methodone more than ever is NOT an attempt to get high, but as an attempt to get low cost pain relief. As a migraineur, I know I’ve been tempted to get relief from my pain through methodone. Other people are also selling their prescribed methadone in order to pay bills.

Not A New Phenomenon

The new report is yet another one warning about methodone-related deaths that have been coming out for years. A 2004 NPR report focused on the rising trends in methodone deaths, especially int he states of Nevada and Montana. In that news report, the specific reason people were getting methodone was as a painkiller. They do state that methodone used alone was probably not as responsible for deaths as was mixing other drugs (even over the counter drugs) with methodone.

The situation was still grim in June of 2007, when Helping America Reduce Methadone Deaths, Inc (HARM) sent out urgent press releases about the apathy towards methodone deaths.

No Coincidence

We shouldn’t be at all surprised that the death toll from methodone has been steadily rising in the last few years. Look at the costs of health care in America. When prices are rising on everything and your wages are not, people are going to try and cut corners financially wherever they can. For many people, self-medication with a dangerous drug seems the lesser of two evils.

It’s difficult to figure out the right dosage of methodone, even when it’s prescribed. People prescribed methodone always have their doctors tinkering with the dosage. The goal is to give as little as possible — I’ve even known someone in England who’s dosage was one TENTH of a miligram per day — but when you are in pain and can’t afford a doctor, you’re going to think “more is better.”

Unless the cost of everything is sky-high, expect more deaths due to self-medication.