Synthroid Removed from Patients

Synthroid is a standard medication for those suffering from thyroid disorders. It regulates the level and function of the thyroid to help those with thyroid disease function properly, without unwanted side effects and symptoms.
Synthroid can be abused. Synthroid has been widely available by prescriptions and has led to the illegal use of this medication in various weight loss supplements. Synthroid has been used by patients with eating disorders in order to lose weight quickly, without making dietary changes. This abuse can have permanent effects on the body and there have been fatalities because of the abuse of this medication.
Due to the wide availability and overprescribing of this medication, there are going to be vast changes in the way we approach this medication. New guidelines will be put in place to limit the use of this medication at all within the medical community. Thyroid disease patients will now be unable to access their medications because the government wants to keep this substance out of the hands of those who will abuse it.
If you are a patient with Thyroid Disease, you will be expected to be weaned off of Synthroid in the coming months, regardless of your diagnosis, regardless of your improved function, and regardless of your history as a responsible patient.***

Does this sound ridiculous to you? Are you someone who suffers from Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, or maybe Hashimoto's Thyroiditis? Did this piece of *false* information enrage you?

It should.

I have realized lately that Chronic Illness patients, in general, are being blanketed with stigma.

There are rising shortages of various medications for chronic illness, offering fewer options (especially if one is allergic to other options available).
Chronic illness patients are being removed from medication because of substances being abused by people who do not necessarily suffer from chronic illness. Medications are being removed from the hands of legitimate patients because of other people concocting versions of those medications for illegal purposes.
Chronic illness patients are feeling forgotten, ignored, and even purposely sent away for simply having a diagnosis of a disease that is known to cause pain...
Due to abuses by others.

It is unfair that I now have to mentally prepare to be in additional pain - unnecessarily - because of the illegal abuse of substances resembling medications. My disease used to be considered relatively high on the scale of painful diseases: Ankylosing Spondylitis. It is a spondyloarthropy that causes the erosion, inflammation and the eventual fusion of the spine, the si joints, and even the ribcage and shoulders. It can also spread to other joints and bones. Now, there is only one class of illnesses that is deemed serious enough for these medications to be prescribed. None of my multiple autoimmune conditions are considered serious enough. Even though I have been using a cane since I was 26. Even though I am now using a wheelchair. How much worse will it get without medication? The increased pain would result in using a wheelchair most of the time... if I can get out of bed... and back to never being able to walk the stairs in my own home. I will be confined to lying down 90% of each day again. No productivity.

But people are abusing and suffering fatalities because of an illegal substance that has been concocted in illegal laboratories.
Even though the abused substances are not available, manufactured, or given by anyone within the medical community, patients are now required to be removed off of their medication. Regardless of diagnosis. Regardless of legitimacy. Regardless of improved function. Regardless of being able to be a functioning member of society because of the medications.
The justification is that a portion of the crisis has been influenced by patients taking legitimate pain medication and (in some cases) removed off of medication too quickly. So now we are removing well-monitored pain patients (who have shown low risk factors and no signs of abuse) off of medications abruptly...On purpose? To try and fix the issue?

I have been angry. I have ranted and raved and lost my cool over this developing situation. I am now too weary. I suffer on a daily basis - truly on an hourly basis - and I have enough issues with my body fighting itself to be trying to fight the misguided decisions made by our government.
I am feeling almost nothing but despair at this point, wondering how Chronic Illness Patients could have possibly become seen as the cause of an illegal crisis.

I just hope that someone, somewhere, who has influence on these decisions, will finally realize that Chronic Illness Patients are not the cause of this multi-faceted problem - before the situation becomes even worse.

***quick reminder that this is a false statement (as mentioned above). This is an analogy.***

False Equivalences in the Opioid Crisis

Not every person taking an opioid will become addicted.

Addiction is not the same as Dependency.

Someone who is dependent on opioids can also become addicted.

Someone who is addicted to opioids can become dependent.

Someone who is addicted to opioids may not ever become dependent.

Someone who is dependent on opioids understands that they will not die without opioids, that they will simply suffer.

Someone who is addicted to opioids feels as though they will die without their next dosage.

Someone dependent on opioids may never become addicted.

Chronic Pain patients on opioids are not necessarily addicted.

Chronic Pain patients can become addicted.

Anyone can be dependent on any medication or substance. Dependency does not equal Addiction. Diabetes patients are dependent on insulin. Too much insulin can become fatal. People with Thyroid disorders are dependent on Synthroid. Too much Synthroid could become fatal. Dependency does not equal addiction, but they CAN go hand-in-hand in some cases.

Not all addicts started out with addiction issues.

Some addicts experience chronic pain.

Someone does not have to suffer from mental illness to become an addict.

Someone does not need to suffer chronic pain to become an addict.

Marijuana does not relieve all pain.

Marijuana can help addicts wean off of opioids.

Marijuana will not necessarily help those whose illnesses depend on opioids for functionality.

Chronic pain patients are often also taking medical marijuana to combat their illnesses.

Not everyone can take marijuana, not everyone experiences relief with marijuana.

Increased pain off of opioids is not necessarily a symptom of 'withdrawal'.

Increased pain off of opioids CAN be a symptom of 'withdrawal'.

It can be dangerous to discontinue opioids without weaning off of them, but not necessarily because it will 'cause' addiction, but that the withdrawal symptoms themselves can be dangerous.

If removed off of opioids, there are other avenues than going and searching for illicit pain pills on the street.

Chronic pain patient programs are short-term.

A person who needs opioids to function at all (to walk, to work, to be able to get dressed, to have a relatively normal existence) are not necessarily addicted.
A patient may need pain relief in order to walk and also not be addicted.

The mental state of a patient who is an addict is completely different from a patient who is dependent. Thought processes are different, behaviours are different, general day-to-day motivations are different.

Addiction can stem from dependency and chronic pain.

Addiction does not always stem from dependency or any pain at all.

Addiction is more about the mental and physical sensation while on a substance. Dependency is solely about the pain relief in order to function normally.

Many chronic pain patients only take enough medication to reduce pain to a manageable level (approx 6/10 for most chronically ill patients).
Many addicts take enough medication to be entirely without organized thought.

If a dependent patient is abruptly removed off of opioids, that patient may not necessarily seek out other sources.

If an addicted patient is abruptly removed off of opioids, that patient will most likely seek out other sources.

For a dependent patient, opioids were most likely a last resort.
If a doctor were to offer a new medication that would eliminate the need for opioids, a dependent patient would likely not even hesitate, because of the risks.

If a doctor were to offer a new medication that would eliminate the need for opioids, an addicted patient would likely hesitate/fight to remain on opioids, despite the risks.

Dependent patients, though requiring pain medication, would do anything to get off of the medication, especially if there are such high risks. If dependent patients are told that there is a high risk of DEATH, they would easily refuse the medication. If they found something that improves their function and is not an opioid, they would have no issue removing themselves off of opioids.
Addicted patients, though WANTING to get off of opioids, would do anything for their next hit, regardless of other options, regardless of risk of death. If addicted patients are warned of a HIGH risk of DEATH from the substances they take, those patients are still unable to remove themselves off of opioids.

The addiction crisis has hit hard and it has affected people from all walks of life.
Unfortunately, the war to battle the addiction crisis is also negatively affecting those people who are not addicted. There are various false equivalencies being made every single day because of the seriousness of the crisis and the lack of understanding when it comes to the various (yet sometimes subtle) differences. All of these subtle nuances within terminology can be confusing to anyone.
Unfortunately, chronically ill patients whose illnesses cause severe and intense pain, are being dragged in with this crisis. Please remember that these illnesses often have no cure and are degenerative in many cases. The more medication we remove from our arsenals to fight these illnesses, the more we will see an increase in suicides, medically-assisted deaths, patients seeking pain pills on the street, and an increase in addicts. Forcing chronically ill patients to suffer 10/10 pain each day instead of ~6/10  pain, for example, will only result in more tragedy and more addiction.

If you are suffering with addiction, please call the Addiction Helpline:

1-866-332-2322