canklecat

It's a thing, no question about it. Many scientific studies show the placebo effect is real. Ditto the reverse -- stress making physical pain worse.

In some cases that's a good thing. If a patient is open to suggestion they may be able to cope with severe and/or chronic pain with lower doses of opiates.

But in scientific studies the placebo effect usually measures in the low single digits. And it may not be a reliable replacement for medications with proven capabilities. There are also ethical problems associated with prescribing a placebo, rather than merely experimenting with the placebo effect. Some studies suggest that patients who believe they are being given a placebo may develop a peculiar resistance to real medications when they have doubts about whether they're receiving real medicine or placebo. If they lose trust in prescribers, they may suffer side effects from overdosing or complications from mixing incompatible medications, or taking woo remedies -- homeopathic, naturopathic, etc., stuff that's a placebo at best and potentially harmful at worst.

A more ethical approach would be hypnotism, meditation, prayer (a form of meditation), "mindfulness" (whatever that means -- seems to depend on which variation of Buddhism the individual subscribes to), anything that reduces stress.

I have chronic pain and try to keep my use of opiates to a bare minimum. Even after my shoulder was broken and completely dislocated two weeks ago I've used less than half of the 10 day supply of prescription pain meds and muscle relaxers. Some days I didn't use it at all. But the pain has been excruciating the past two days. I used 2/3 of the prescribed daily dosage. I've never needed a full prescribed daily dosaged.

I suspect the worsened pain yesterday and today were somewhat related to greater stress. I was scheduled for surgery yesterday and the closer I got to the scheduled time the more my shoulder ached, which radiated to my back and neck. And I couldn't take anything at all -- not even ibuprofen or Tylenol. Not even a sip of water or chew gum. By the time I got into the OR I was in agony and relieved when the anesthesiologist walked in. I figured I'd be conked out peacefully in a few minutes and wake up with a repaired shoulder. Almost immediately the pain dissipated somewhat, from a 10 to an 8.

Then I discovered I'm not a candidate for surgery anytime soon because I have an airway obstruction and tumor on my thyroid. Almost immediately my pain escalated to 11 on a scale of 10, and stayed that way all night and this morning. I finally took the full dosage of pain meds and the pain eased up to a 6 or 7 level by this afternoon. My blood pressure was elevated and I took a BP med on an as-needed PRN basis, which seems to help reduce headache pain as well.

I'm pretty sure that was a combination of real physical pain and stress from the anticipation of surgery, followed by the letdown of realizing it would be months before I can have the shoulder repaired, and I'm looking at a new and potentially more serious health issue.

So, yup, I'm as susceptible to the placebo effect as anyone (or reverse placebo effect with enhanced stress), although I also believe I can consciously moderate the pain and need for meds somewhat by listening to pleasant music, audiobooks or radio programs. I'm a big fan of old style radio theater and will queue up a bunch via the internet archives on my player, or listen to some favorite podcasts until I fall asleep.

That's why I don't dismiss the efficacy of getting the mind and emotions involved in the wellness game. Even if we're aware of the manipulations of the mind and emotions, it can still work.