Senior Health & Aging Support Group
Aging is an important part of all human societies reflecting the biological changes that occur, but also reflecting cultural and societal conventions. There is often considerable social pressure in many societies to sustain denial of the aging process. Join this community to discuss general issues with aging and senior health.
After watching so many of my friends succumb to painful deaths while taking opioid pain medication, I have come to the conclusion that the opioids in themselves led to those deaths, but the reasons are somewhat complicated.
The reasons for taking the opioids, simply stated, are to reduce the feeling of pain from whatever is wrong with their mind or body. The drugs prevent their mind from coping with the sensation of pain.
In doing so, the drugs seem to desensitize the brain, making it unable to tolerate pain in their absence. This leads to a vicious cycle of requiring higher dosages of the drugs, in order to deal with the pain.
Eventually the potentially fatal side effects of these drugs come to the fore: slowing of digestion, thus seriously interfering with nutrition; depression of respiration, sometimes to the point of stopping breathing altogether; drowsiness, leading to weakness due to lack of exercise; and death by overdose brought on by an inability to stop using the drugs.
Chronic pain eats up so much energy—just getting through the day is exhausting. I’ve tried pills, stretches, gadgets… most of them gave me little or temporary relief.
What caught my attention recently was something that seemed practical: a small patch that uses body light to help activate stem cells already in your body. No drugs, no complicated routine.
If you’re curious and want the science broken down in plain language, here’s the video I found helpful: https: //youtu.be/Gj1smBhAkFY
- If it helps even one of us get through the day with less struggle, it’s worth sharing.