Pohl Mel - The pain antidote : the proven program to help you stop suffering from chronic pain, avoid addiction to painkillers--and reclaim your life

Praise for The Pain Antidote

An authoritative, caring guide offering concrete suggestionsand hopefor anyone stuck in the tenacious grip of opioid pain medication addiction.

SHARON WEGSCHEIDER-CRUSE, AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR, AND JOSEPH R. CRUSE, MD, ADDICTION MEDICINE SPECIALIST

Dr. Mel Pohl and Katherine Ketcham are intimately acquainted with chronic pain and know the road to freedom. This is the roadmap for anyone who wants their life back.

DEBRA JAY, AUTHOR OF IT TAKES A FAMILY AND NO MORE LETTING GO

Praise for Mel Pohl

Dr. Pohls quarter of a century as an addiction specialist, combined with his hands-on experience with patients teaching them drug-free solutions to their agony, and his five-year struggle to recover from his own terrible bout with pain give this book its unique perspective and authenticity... A Day Without Pain [offers] a realistic expectation of improved functioning, reduced pain, and more enjoyment of life.

HEALTHNEWSDIGEST.COM

Praise for Katherine Ketcham

In the nearly 20 years since Ketcham coauthored Under the Influence, it has become a classic in identifying and treating alcohol addiction... This book offers a plethora of timely information; a blow to old stigmas, myths and stereotypes; and hope for a future in which many senseless tragedies can be avoided and lives saved.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ON BEYOND THE INFLUENCE

ALSO BY MEL POHL, MD

A Day Without Pain

Pain Recovery

(with Frank J. Szabo Jr., LADC, Daniel Shiode, PhD, and Robert Hunter, PhD)

Pain Recovery for Families

(with Frank J. Szabo Jr., LADC, Daniel Shiode, PhD, and Robert Hunter, PhD)

ALSO BY KATHERINE KETCHAM

Beyond the Influence

(with William F. Asbury)

Teens Under the Influence

(with Nicolas A. Pace, MD)

Under the Influence

(with James R. Milam, PhD)

The Spirituality of Imperfection

(with Ernest Kurtz)

Experiencing Spirituality

(with Ernest Kurtz)

Copyright 2015 by Mel Pohl, MD, and Katherine Ketcham

Illustrations by Eduardo Vazquez

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02210.

Designed by Trish Wilkinson

Set in 11-point Goudy Oldstyle STD by the Perseus Books Group

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pohl, Mel.

The pain antidote : the proven program to help you stop suffering from chronic pain, avoid addiction to painkillersand reclaim your life / by Mel Pohl, MD, and Katherine Ketcham.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7382-1804-5 (e-book) 1. PainTreatmentPopular works. 2. Chronic painTreatmentPopular works. 3. Pain medicinePopular works. I. Ketcham, Katherine, 1949 II. Title.

RB127.P644 2015

First Da Capo Press edition 2015

Published by Da Capo Press

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

www.dacapopress.com

Note: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. This book is intended only as an informative guide for those wishing to know more about health issues. In no way is this book intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with the advice given to you by your own physician. The ultimate decision concerning care should be made between you and your doctor. We strongly recommend you follow his or her advice. Information in this book is general and is offered with no guarantees on the part of the authors or Da Capo Press. The authors and publisher disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book. Some names and identifying details of people associated with events described in this book have been changed; in such instances, similarity to actual persons is coincidental. Other names have been used with permission.

Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail .

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Contents

Everything You Wish You Never Needed to Know About Chronic Pain

How Chronic Pain Changes the Brain

Painful Experiences Are Emotional Experiences

Understanding the Difference Between Dependence and Addiction

Challenging Assumptions and Achieving Realistic Expectations

Creating a Safe Pathway Between Extremes

Balancing Your Emotions with Mindfulness

Finding Meaning and Purpose in Your Life

Keeping It Simple

Foods That Hurt and Foods That Heal

Awareness, Courage, Diligence, Hope, Faith, Joy, Compassion, and Wonder

RECIPES

WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?

In short, The Pain Antidote is for anyone with chronic pain. When Kathy and I started to conceptualize this book a few years ago, our compelling intention was to reach out to a broad audience of people suffering with chronic pain.

Some of our readers will be using opioid drugs to relieve their pain. You may take them infrequently. At most I take one or two Vicodin a day, exactly as my doctor prescribed for me, and in five years, I havent increased the dosageis this book for me?

Perhaps you are taking high doses of multiple drugs. Your drug use may be causing problems for you, and you may know that you are dependent on the drugs for relieving your pain. I need the drugs to relieve my pain, but am I addicted? How can this book help me?

Or perhaps you do not take any opioid drugs at all. Well, I took OxyContin when my doctor prescribed it, but I stopped years ago. Yet I still have pain. Why should I read this book?

We wrote this book for all such readersfor anyone who lives with chronic pain. We also wrote this book for family members who seek to understand the nature of chronic pain and how to help their loved ones.

We wrote this book for physicians and other health-care professionals as well. Many doctors anticipate poor outcomes for their patients living with chronic pain and for their addicted patients. And yet for most physicians, these patients constitute a large percentage of their practices. Understanding how opioid drugs affect the brain and body helps dismantle many of the myths and misconceptions and clarifies the rationale for treatment methods and setting realistic goals. Reading the dozens of case histories in the pages that follow will help doctors and other health-care practitioners understand the devastating personal cost of chronic pain as well as the courage and determination required to learn how to live and thrive drug-free.