The upside of opioids: a Percocet user says the drug saved her life

Lauren Ross was just 15 years old when she suffered a brain injury that left her with crippling headaches.

What followed was a years-long search for relief from the pain.

Ross tried everything — from chiropractors and cold laser therapy, to spinal injections and nerve blockers. She spent two months at a brain clinic, and worked with a doctor who treats concussed hockey players. 

But the pain persisted, and depression set in. 

When you're at a point of desperation, you'll take anything you can get.- Lauren Ross

Then her doctor prescribed Percocet — a powerful painkiller that combines acetaminophen and the opioid oxycodone. 

At the time, says Ross, both she and her doctor had reservations about treating her symptoms with an addictive opioid, but felt they had little choice.

"When you're at a point of desperation, you'll kind of take anything you can get," she says. "My body was beginning to shut down and I was at a point where some of my organs were slowing down. I really couldn't do anything... so it wasn't a matter of will I try the next thing."

Three years later, Ross, now 20 and a student at the University of Victoria, credits Percocet with saving her life.

But as opioids claim more and more Canadian lives — and public health officials struggle to get a handle on the crisis — she says it's become increasingly difficult to escape the stigma that comes with using prescription painkillers.

And despite years of responsible use and close monitoring by her prescribing doctor, it's also become increasingly difficult to access the drug she relies on. 

Seeking treatment at a walk-in clinic in Victoria last year, Ross says she was asked by a physician how much the pills sell for on campus, before he wrote her a prescription to "get off the stuff."

The incident left her shaken. 

"I had never taken a look at what I was doing or using and thought, am I doing something wrong? I had never had my character or motive judged without any consideration of any other aspect of my life."

As hard as it is to prescribe something to someone that can be a very harmful substance and very addictive substance, there comes a point when you're just dealing with pain management.- Lauren Ross

Ross says she understands the pressure doctors are under to prescribe less painkillers.

But that doesn't absolve them of their duty to help, she says. 

"As hard as it is to prescribe something to someone that can be a very harmful substance and very addictive substance, there comes a point when you're just dealing with pain management." 

And by making it more difficult for people like her to get the help they need, Ross says, doctors risk doing more harm than good.

In the end, she says, it all comes down to having compassion for people whose quality of life has been destroyed by pain. 

"If you can give somebody a little pill that helps them get through the day, that helps them get back to who they are, that helps them be a functioning member of society, then that needs to be available to them."

Click the "play" button above to hear the interview with Lauren Ross.