By Mary Ann Dunkel, Guest Columnist
Fibromyalgia stole my life more than 28 years ago. I have severe chronic pain and fatigue that limits my activities of daily living. Unless you have experienced unrelenting severe pain 24 hours a day, you cannot know the horror of it.
I have been prescribed more pharmaceuticals than I can remember and suffered damaging side effects from them. I’ve participated in psychotherapy, aqua therapy, multiple pain management programs, acupuncture and hypnosis. None of these modalities brought me relief and for quite some time I was bedridden and dependent on family for care.
My doctors have prescribed me morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, tramadol and other medications to control the pain. None of them worked for very long and I could see these prescriptions were going to lead to addiction. Often, I weaned myself off them and suffered through terrible withdrawal because the small amount of relief they gave was not worth the risk of addiction or overdose death. Bottom line is these narcotics were not effective in treating my chronic pain.
There were times when I thought about taking my life because I just couldn’t get a break from the pain and didn’t think I could take it any longer.
Then a friend introduced me to kratom. She had been consuming it for more than 10 years without side effects or becoming addicted to it. I started my own journey consuming kratom.
Kratom is not a drug. It is a dietary supplement. It does not heal any disease, but it has certainly improved my quality of life. I am having pain free days and my energy level is greatly improved. Kratom has restored my ability to have a normal life and I can enjoy all sorts of activities that make my life rich and full.
Kratom does not make me high, nor do I experience side effects. I am now clear minded without the sedation caused by narcotics. And I am devastated that the FDA is working to ban the only thing that has helped me in the past 28 years.
MARY ANN DUNKEL
I am sick to death of reporters parroting the lies from the FDA and CDC. I implore you. The studies they have done are full of inaccuracies and half-truths. Independent studies of the autopsies in the so called kratom deaths have shown the victims had multiple medications in their systems. They also included a death caused by gunshot.
Eight leading scientists have studied kratom and found it to be safe. It has been used for hundreds of years without problem. It is not an opioid; it is related to the coffee plant. It does attach to the same receptors in the brain as opioids, but so do many other substances such as chocolate and milk.
I would suggest to you that the FDA wants it banned because it is cutting into Big Pharma’s financial bottom line. People are finding the help they need without costly and deadly pharmaceuticals. I fear that if kratom is banned this country will see an epidemic of self-inflicted deaths by people who have no hope. Kratom would become a black market substance due to overreach by the government to protect the monies they get from pharmaceutical lobbies.
Please investigate these facts and do the right thing. Do a story on the positives of kratom.
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The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.
