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Comment by jjcm | Hacker News Reader

On the flip side, Australia prescribes antibiotics like they're candy. I'm always amazed at how easy it is to get a flight of them here.

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That's not how I would describe the situation.

In America you can buy topical antibiotics at convenience stores, but you get a lecture if you ask for something stronger. Painkillers are prescription only and there's very little stigma for something like Tylenol 3.

In Australia you can buy codeine over the counter, but you get a lecture if you ask for something stronger. Antibiotics are prescription only but have no stigma.

Codeine is prescription only in Australia from 2018-Feb-01. Other crackdowns are being considered; thus my original remark.

Compared to where? I found US doctors much more likely to prescribe them than Australian doctors.

The undertreatment of pain in the US is affecting my grandparents in a huge way. My poor grandfather spends a week or more a month suffering from the rapid taper the doc is putting him through. We are trying to get him into pain management, apparently every doc in CA is scared of prosecution.

The irony is he would be just fine if they never rescheduled hydrocodone. When they did thst he had to be put on fentanyl and dilaudid, forcing us to seek out a pain specalist to get my grandfather the quality of life he needs to keep going.

The guy fell twice in two years and they just keep cutting him back, while abusers switch to heroin.

Genius tactic IMO. Deny those who need it, deny those who seek to abuse it, and force everyone to switch to heroin. Kidding of course- but thats where the abusers will go.

The legit QoL patients suffer with zero alternative. They cant take ibuprofen without shitting blood for a week.

Its like drm. The legit consumer is punished by those who abused the system.

Its more nuanced than that, but thats how it affects my life directly. Watching my grandparents in extreme pain because of crackdowns in all the wrong places. It makes me hurt and sick.

I'm not sure how amenable you are to alternatives, but after suffering myself with chronic pain in the past and discovering kratom to help with the pain in lieu of a narcotics prescription, I would suggest looking into this to improve your grandfather's quality of life. Years ago, my dad had surgery to "fix" a turn muscle that healed poorly, and was prescribed Tramadol for long-term pain management. After the docs started cutting everyone off, my dad suffered greatly from the pain, and I couldn't stand to see him like that, so I introduced him to kratom, as well. He takes it once in the evening before bed and he has also stopped getting regular migraines. The kratom subreddit is a good place to start looking for information. Just be aware that special interests have been spreading disinformation for a couple of years now, so take everything you read with a grain of salt. Do your own research and draw your own conclusions. There is a growing body of research available to help.

Highly controversial statement: you can still get Kratom legally online and in some states. There is an opiode like effect. It's worth looking into if your grandfather is suffering.

*edit: didn't see the comment right below this one! Thats +2 for Kratom!

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