Modil Byberg was part of the growing statistics for many years. – The medicines took about seven years of my life. Because I took a lot of medication in the first few years, she says. A bad promotion as an assistant nurse at the age of 33 was to mark her for the rest of her life. – Going on such strong painkillers does something to the whole person. You’re not yourself when you do things like that, says Byberg. The medicines worked so well in the beginning that the body was tricked into wanting more often and in larger doses to achieve the same effect. – One can easily become dependent on these, and believe me, it is not easy to cut it out completely, she emphasizes. Being free from medication means a stronger presence in everyday life together with family and friends. – It also gives a feeling of being in charge of the pain when you manage without that type of medication. And not least: Freedom of movement, because she can drive a car again. That is why she is happy that there is now a course offer that will create good solutions without medication. She believes many people will benefit from that. Helsehuset in Stavanger offers, among other things, sleep courses for those who take part in pain management courses, if they have sleep problems. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news Disturbing trend The offer has been created because of a disturbing trend in Norway. Painkillers are among the most used drugs in the country, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI). From 2011 to 2019, there were 10,000 more Norwegians who used opioids continuously. In the USA, there is an ongoing opioid crisis, which has claimed more than 500,000 human lives in the USA in the last 20 years. Many people in Norway got an insight into the American addiction crisis through the drama series “Dopesick”. Use of opioids in Norway In 2019, approximately 60,000 Norwegians had persistent use of opioids. There was an increase of 10,000 since 2011, according to figures from the prescription register extracted by FHI in 2022. Oxycodone, the drug that is often mentioned in connection with the opioid crisis in the USA, has increased from being prescribed to approximately 20,000 people in 2010 to slightly over 70,000 people in 2021 in Norway. The overdose statistics show that more people die from prescription drugs than heroin. This particularly applies to older women. – What is worrying is the increasing use of stronger opioids, such as oxycodone, to treat long-term pain, says Kine Gjesdal, a researcher at the Regional Competence Center for Drug Research, Korfor, at Stavanger University Hospital. Norway is not in an opioid crisis, but the development, where more people are using stronger opioids than before, is worrying, she believes. Kine Gjesdal, researcher at the Regional Competence Center for Drug Research, Korfor at Stavanger University Hospital. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – Long-term pain is the most common cause of sick leave and disability. We see that more and more people are using strong painkillers for long-term pain. Something that can have serious health consequences both for the individual and for society, she says. Pain management That is why the municipality of Stavanger is now offering, via the research project Point, a unique pain management course at the Helsehuset in Stavanger, which will help participants manage pain without the use of opioids. The course is currently only available in Stavanger. The special thing about the offer, according to the researcher, is that this is a low-threshold offer in the municipal health service. It is an interdisciplinary offer, where physiotherapists, psychologists and doctors work together to adapt the course’s content to the individual’s needs. – It is a very important point that people do not wait for years for this. They usually wait ten years for access to this type of mastery-based offer. Being able to offer a low-threshold offer, with almost no waiting time, is unique, she says. Jørgen Hustoft Møllerop is a physiotherapist and teaches sleep courses at Helsehuset in Stavanger. This course is something the pain management participants can attend if sleep is a problem for them. Jørgen Hustoft Møllerop teaches course participants who struggle with sleep. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – This is for people with long-term sleep difficulties. We look at the things you can influence yourself that facilitate better sleep, he says. Embraced as a whole, Modil Byberg lies stretched out on a mat in the Helsehuset in Stavanger. Here she performs breathing techniques that have meant a lot to how she feels. She has completed the course as a peer, or test person, from the Association for Chronic Pain Patients, and is thrilled. Modil Byberg experiences increased health benefits after the course. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – I have taken part in several pain management courses before, but this was different, because it embraced the whole person, she says. Here she received help with everything from sleep, breathing techniques and learned to relax. And then she got to meet others in the same situation. She was opioid-free long before she attended the course. Nevertheless, it has given her some important tools that make her everyday life better. – The importance of training is neglected. And that exercise is not necessarily exercise in a gym, but simply getting out for a walk with others who have the same challenge, she explains.
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Unique pain management course designed to avoid opioid crisis in Norway – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
