Opiophobia is the
abnormal and persistent fear of a medical doctor’s experience of prescribing
needed pain medications for patients. I’m
not surprised that this is a documented phobia.
I have Fibromyalgia and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and both cause
excruciating pain at times and because of the way doctors are about prescribing
pain medication I’m afraid to ask for it when I really need it, because I don’t
want to give the impression that I’m a pill popper. I’m allergic to Codeine so that limits my
options quite a bit anyway. The first
time I was prescribed pain medicine was by an ER doctor and he gave me
something made with Codeine. He told me
that it was far enough down in the “family” that I shouldn’t have a
reaction. I made the mistake of trusting
him and let’s just say that the uncontrollable puking and giant itchy hives
took my mind off the pain. The bottom
line is that you can’t always trust doctors and doctors are always going to
make assumptions when it comes to prescribing pain medication. This creates a very frustrating world for
those with chronic pain illnesses and can result in Opiophobia.
A phobia is a strong,
persistent fear of situations, objects, activities or persons. The main symptom is an excessive and
unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. Other phobia symptoms include
shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and an overall
feeling of dread. Phobias are the most
common form of anxiety disorders.
Do you suffer from
Opiophobia? Please share your
story. How was it triggered and how does
it affect your life?
*If you or someone you know has Fibromyalgia check out my
other blog: Surviving Fibromyalgia.*
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