Hey there.

I'm almost 54 and Prince was a large part of my teenage years. I still love his music. I was so very sad to hear of his death. And even sadder now that he didn't make it to get the help he wanted and needed to learn to handle his severe, chronic pain.

I know there will be more info coming out in the days and weeks to come. What I heard today was that the clinic in CA that he wanted to go to was not to get off his pain meds but to switch to something that might be better for him to use. Did anyone see the news and do I have that correct ?

I get angry when I hear the TV doctors talk about the epidemic of pain meds and how doctors are just giving then away like candy. Well I guess some doctors might be but not my PM dr.

I finally did hear one TV doctor say that all this talk was not directed at the chronic pain patients that use these meds as prescribed and knowledgeable about what they are taking.

But today after hearing more doctors talk on TV I am confused about something. They stated the problem is opioids mixed with benzo's. Now back to the beginning.

When my SFN first started and I was going to my PCP, she was giving me hydrocodone (5 mg, then 7.5mg and finally 10 mg) for daily use and Xanax (.5 and I broke then in half) for just when I needed it.

Then I started going to my PM dr and he put me on BuTrans patch and took me off Xanax and put me on buspirone 5mg daily. He didn't explain why....just said I could not take them together.

So when I switched from BuTrans patches to ER Morphine 30 mg I thought I would be able to go back to Xanax just when I needed it and get off the daily buspirone. Nope......said they could not be mixed.

So the final take on this is that I took opioids with a Benzo before and was fine. I actually liked taking the 1/2 a Xanax only when I needed it instead of being on something everyday that I don't even know if it's helping or not.

Sure hope I made sense in what I was trying to say above !

Would love to hear comments regarding this. It is very confusing to me.

Debi from Georgia

My sympathies on both the pain you're in and the death of Prince. I hadn't heard yet that it had anything to do with medications. Last I heard, it was thought to be the flu.

Regarding benzos and buspirone - they are very different classes of drugs. My PM doc described benzos as powdered alcohol. They hit the same receptors in the brain and depress the central nervous system the same way that opioids do. Combining them can lead to a fatal suppression of the central nervous system - you stop breathing, which does reduce pain, but for the last time.

The thing is, you never know if that one time you do it is going to be the last time. So even though you might have never had a bad reaction, one day when your pain was really bad, you hadn't eaten well and and and. For that reason, doctors tell us to never combine benzos and opioids (or booze, for that matter).

Buspirone is a different type of medication for anxiety. I get what you're saying - you'd rather take a once in a while pill than be on Buspar long-term. How about if you look at it this way tho: taking the buspirone helps prevent the anxiety in the first place, meaning you might not ever escalate to the point of wishing you could take the benzos.

Wishing you well
Shaggy

High dose Benzos depress breathing. So they are additive as a risk for mixing with opiods which also depress breathing.

Also Benzos are not safe for the elderly, as renal clearance decreases with age, so they remain in the body longer and if other drugs are present, there is increased likelihood of an interaction there.

Much has to do with dosing levels, age, and kidney functions.

And tolerance to Benzos happens quickly so increasing doses is necessary, and eventually one realizes they are on too much.

One needs to consult a Cytochrome-450 drug/liver metabolism chart to see if there are metabolic interactions or Q-T risks for the heart.

I have read online from interviews with his friends that Prince used opiods and stimulants to
get fired up for performing. If this is true they fueled his performances and was similar to other musicians out there. The group Fleetwood Mac was heavily into drugs and alcohol too by comparison. I saw an interview on TV with Stevie Nicks who stated that Klonopin (Benzo) was far
worse to get off than Cocaine! She said it took her 8 months of agony to do that.

Very interesting and informative but over my head.

I know nothing about drugs except the ones I take for cardiac issues, for diabetes, for other health issues, but nothing for "pain".

I can't tolerate pain meds at all, nor alcohol for that matter, so the few times I have needed "oral" pain medication, is was very short term and always combined with another medication for nausea.

I have to resort to injections by my pain mgt. doc to help control my pain levels.

I don't know an amphetamine from a sedative or anything about "classes" of drugs. I feel so uninformed when it comes to drugs other than the run of the mill, beta blockers, etc.

All I know is some drugs, I guess amphetamines, ramp you up and used to be referred to as speed, I think, and others calm you down.

I don't have a clue what a benzo is or anything else. I don't know the difference between heroin and cocaine, I just hear these terms used on the television. Hey, it took me a few years before I learned the difference between Advil and Tylenol. Now at least I know that Advil is an NSAID. I also know I am not allowed to take ANY over the counter medications other than an occasional Tylenol due to my other medications.

Is there a "for dummies" list of the "types" of drugs so I may educate myself?

I am guessing "opioids" is a broad term for a lot of different drugs.

Where does morphine fall? What is a benzo?

NO, please don't respond to my questions. I am not looking to steal this thread and don't expect members to teach me the ropes on drugs. BUT, I would be interested in direction to a website that would be helpful for someone with such little knowledge, something in simple, plain talk. I did try to educate myself but just got more confused by information that was beyond my comprehension.

Now that I have shown my lack of knowledge, I just want to thank you for the posts. I did find them very interesting and informative.

PS Guess you can see why going into pharmacy school was not in the cards for me. I am amazed at the volume of different drugs on the market and would never be able to keep all that info in my tiny little brain.