UK documentary on Pregablin addiction

[goldsounds]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p056gvpt/drugs-map-of-britain-8-belfast-buds

Think you can only watch this in the U.K but quite a worrying film on Pregablin addiction.

[Turnaround00]

Heard there is a big street market for it as can get a good high off it but this is all at high doses. Once taken at the right dose it is okay. There will be side effects coming off it like lots of drugs but it is not like an addiction

[hanshan]

This story crops up from time. Obviously the film director has seen or read previous reports about pregabalin use/misuse in Northern Ireland and has headed over to get a chilling expose.

I'm very wary that the guys being filmed twig to what is wanted and put on a show for the camera. The main guy, Kenneth, seemed to be fairly genuine, but he definitely had issues, and maybe coming off medication is NOT a good idea. The documentary simply didn't explore that idea. Kenneth's drug counsellor also seemed quite reasonable, focusing on stopping sniffing the med, which is an immediate problem. At the end, we see that Kenneth has been prescribed quetiapine, mirtazapine, zolpidem and temazepam along with pregabalin. He wants to be med free, but that's not the same as being addicted, and again, coming off his medication may make him worse, not better.

From the rest of the documentary, you'd get the idea that pregabalin knocks you out, leaves you shaking, vomiting, spitting on people, precipitates suicide and irrational obsessive-compulsive behaviour, and is fatal in overdose. Well, not true, but people with mental health and substance abuse issues may also be taking pregabalin. There's no simple line of cause and effect.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Prescription meds. Therefore adequate GP control is the issue. The rest is about illegally obtaining them.

People used to sniff Tipex to get high. Or inhale domestic gas cannister products. We went through that period of media demonisation. Now it's Preg.

One paper was talking about Tramadol last week. The trigger seemed to be one celebrity getting checked into rehab. One drug worker wanted it banning completely because she got hooked on it. But why did she get hooked? The hospital gave her a 5 day supply but her GP just put her on a repeat prescription! :doh:

It's just about selling papers.

[KK77]

This story crops up from time. Obviously the film director has seen or read previous reports about pregabalin use/misuse in Northern Ireland and has headed over to get a chilling expose.

I'm very wary that the guys being filmed twig to what is wanted and put on a show for the camera. The main guy, Kenneth, seemed to be fairly genuine, but he definitely had issues, and maybe coming off medication is NOT a good idea. The documentary simply didn't explore that idea. Kenneth's drug counsellor also seemed quite reasonable, focusing on stopping sniffing the med, which is an immediate problem. At the end, we see that Kenneth has been prescribed quetiapine, mirtazapine, zolpidem and temazepam along with pregabalin. He wants to be med free, but that's not the same as being addicted, and again, coming off his medication may make him worse, not better.

From the rest of the documentary, you'd get the idea that pregabalin knocks you out, leaves you shaking, vomiting, spitting on people, precipitates suicide and irrational obsessive-compulsive behaviour, and is fatal in overdose. Well, not true, but people with mental health and substance abuse issues may also be taking pregabalin. There's no simple line of cause and effect.

True Hanshan. I have been taking this med for chronic pain for some time now, and while they were keen to prescribe it at my surgery a few years back, they've now tightened their attitude considerably and have refused to give me "more than you need" on several occasions. There does appear to be a market for abusing high doses of this med, but that's also true for many other prescription meds, esp opiates.

I won't be watching prog :lac:

[MyNameIsTerry]

NI will be their go to place for Preg as it's prescribed much more. I remember a previous BBC piece which focussed away from mental health:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=2839&d=1477900588

Given the violence in the past, there's likely a reason for the difference to our prescribing. Knee cappings were pretty common.

[hanshan]

Hello Terry - Thanks for that graph.

Thoroughly exploring why prescription rates for pregabalin in Northern Ireland are around double those in the rest of the UK would make a good documentary, but I think one beyond the person who made the one shown on the BBC (and I say "the person", since it appears the documentary was all devised, filmed and edited by one person who was acting alone).

I just keep thinking how irresponsible the documentary was.

First, because three very vulnerable and identifiable young people were caught on camera in a documentary that is now available online for months to come. I would like to know what ongoing support the BBC is providing to these people.

Second, because it used information throughout from informants who are either unreliable or not competent to give reliable judgement. The editing of the documentary can magnify this.

For example, the police officer shown in the documentary can rightly say that she has seen a rise in people brought in who say they have been prescribed pregabalin. However, for her to make a causal link between pregabalin and such antisocial behaviour as spitting, or to a death in custody, is simply outside her professional capability.

Third, because it made no attempt to show how valuable this medication can be to those who use it, and ignored the potential damage a documentary such as this does to those who may need to gain access to pregabalin.

[Turnaround00]

Hear Hear

[bodhisattva]

That documentary was about people abusing the drug, and it was also about people who (mostly) aren't on a maintenance dose, so when they're taking in excess of 600mg with no tolerance, I'm not surprised they were being sick and getting totally wasted etc. It's the same with any drug, you can't compare huge doses taken by recreational users, to low doses taken daily by people who benefit from it.

It was interesting to watch. I have never seen the appeal of taking pregabalin recreationally, myself and I have tried it (it was boring and annoying and definitely less fun than the legal alternatives). Everyone is entitle to their on opinions and experiences, but I wish they'd take a more balanced approach and show how much it is helping people who don't abuse it too :shrug: