Pain KILLERS
‘ The International Association for the Study of Pain defines abuse as taking more than eight to 12 painkillers in a month.’
When saleswoman and single mom Anne D found herself checking into Joburg’s Houghton House outpatient clinic at age 48 for an addiction problem, she couldn’t quite believe it. ‘It wasn’t like I was using cocaine, heroin, or even abusing alcohol,’ she says. But she was among a growing number of largely middle-aged, middle-class women who, while they wouldn’t dream of dabbling in hard drugs, have come to use over-the-counter (OTC) opiate painkillers in potentially lethal quantities.
‘It crept up on me,’ she says. Anne has fibromyalgia, which causes musculo-skeletal pain accompanied by problems with sleep, memory and mood as well as chronic fatigue syndrome. ‘I had tried different OTC options, but I was in constant physical and emotional pain. Then one day, nine years ago, I developed a bad sinus infection and the pharmacist recommended Sinal Co. It was fantastic – it fixed not just my sinus headache, but my other pain, and I could sleep for once! Codeine also has
