Your medicine cabinet: More dangerous than a loaded gun?
Poisoning has become the second-leading cause of death in America, but you'll be surprised to learn what the source is: your medicine cabinet.
And it's not because junkies are breaking into your home and making off with the goods. Very often, the culprit is a risky painkiller docs often hand out like party favors at a child's birthday bash: methadone. Patients are overdosing on painkillers – and methadone in particular -- in increasing numbers.
Tolerance to pain varies according to each individual's physiology, genetics and environmental stresses. For instance, there are some folks who say they need four ibuprofen pills for a headache, where another person requires only one to feel an impact.
But when it comes to methadone, you can't just double up on a dose (I don't recommend that for any medication) and think that'll do the trick. Methadone actually has a compounding effect, building up in your system. That extra pill you take just may allow methadone levels in your body to reach critical — and deadly —levels.
Another problem is that methadone's painkilling effects can fade, but the drug remains strong in your system. You could be tempted to take another pill without realizing the danger. This is why I consider it a risky drug—and in most cases best avoided. Most Academic Medical Centers have integrative pain centers that offer a multi-disciplinary approach to pain management—including mind-body techniques, nutrition and psychological counseling.
