Pain Medications – Can Prescription Drugs For Chronic Back Pain Mask Brain Tumors?
Greg had a low-back injury over ten years ago. It caused sciatica-like back pain and, later, disability. We know that people handle pain in many different ways. Some realize that pain is a passing thing, or can be treated naturally. They understand that their body wants to be well, and sometimes just needs a little help to get back to where it feels good. Others, like Greg, may have a low tolerance for pain, or an addictive-type personality, or some other reason to rely on pain medication and muscle relaxants long-term. Some become dependent on the drugs. Unless one is dying in hospice, dependency on pain medications is never a good thing for many reasons. But can it mask a more serious problem, such a brain tumor? Over the past couple of years there were times when Greg seemed over-medicated. His eyes were half closed, his speech was slow and so were his thought processes. The family always figured it was overuse of prescription pain medication, although Greg always denied this. His d
