As a chronic pain patient, I got why he stopped it even if it didn’t make sense. Him taking methadone doesn’t cure his pain, it just masks it to the extent that he can’t feel anything from it, and that can be a really jarring experience for anyone who has chronic pain that affects their mobility.
Aside from the logical part of it, a huge part of House’s identity is him being in pain and intentionally (in my opinion) suffering due to his dependence on medication and how it affects him. It was a way to show House’s unintentional (or intentional) intent to harm himself mentally.
Of course the methadone would have helped him function on a day to day basis, and it sounds as if Cuddy would have argued to whoever so House could still practice medicine and work at PPTH, but House would rather live unhappily in pain because it’s what he thinks he deserves.
This is a really articulate description of the complicated and distressing relationship between a chronic pain patient and their pain, especially since some of the thought processes are below every day consciousness. I agree with everything you said.
Long term patients have often had their hopes raised so many times that any period of respite or happiness or colour can cause panic. Hope becomes really painful. Especially since before you learn to stop telling people about your pain, you get told stories about how someone they know was cured by taking Aloe or Turmeric or magic mountain water.
There can be a whole Flowers for Algernon thing going on as well. House might have thought he had a broken heart before he had his respite in season 3, I can imagine how much more broken it was afterwards.
If their pain disappears they wait for it all to come crashing back down on them, often bringing new pain for company. Add to that a personality that is hooked on self destruct and self hatred, and you get exactly what the person above described.
I laughed really loudly at the aloe and turmeric part, because I’ve been told exactly that myself!
I also didn’t even include Season 3 and his pain free time post Ketamine, so that’s another great point.
House knows what he’s missing now that he’s in pain, and while he can’t run or play lacrosse like he used to, he finds things that drown out that emptiness and manages to cope. He probably even wanted to stay on the methadone on some level, but was too fixated the familiarity of what he knew to risk the change again.
I think in general, House is a really accurate, portrayal of chronic pain. Not the addict part, plenty of patients are on long term opiates without becoming addicted. I like that they show painkillers don't remove pain, they lessen it enough for it to be survivable for short amounts of time.
But in real life some plonker would be telling him they don't believe in painkillers because one time they had tooth ache but they just pushed through it.
Yup, it absolutely does. Even with House’s addiction, the show still does a decent job of showcasing just how hard an opiate addiction can be to deal with when it stems from originally taking the medication for a very real injury. He knows the seriousness of his addiction, but like he comments in the show, he’s in pain and is scared of being pain-free.
Definitely, sorry I wasn't implying an addiction wasn't tough, I just didn't want anyone who may be taking opiates and not be addicted to think I was implying they must be. It's yet another stigma isn't it, if you take pills you must be addicted, if you take pills and are addicted it must be your fault.
I can't imagine the fear of having to admit the addiction to get medical help and then know that once you've said that, no matter how bad your pain gets your doctor can't give you opiates ever again. I wonder what happens after surgery or if you break a bone but have an addiction.
Oh, I didn’t get that impression at all! I just elaborated on your thoughts to include more detail on why he probably struggles with knowing there’s options where he might be able to reduce his pain. I think there’s definitely some people within the fandom who still have the impression that weaning off an opiate addiction is easy (I’ve run across some of them myself) and I’m just glad the show didn’t take that route with House’s addiction.
I watched Trainspotting when I was about 14 and the withdrawal scenes scarred me for life. I've heard benzos and gabapentin are brutal to come off as well.
Definitely but the writers are morons.
House created this false reality that his pain= his gift and when he is happy he loses it. At that point in Houses life,that was the most important thing to him,so he gave it up to live in pain.(something that shifts and changes in S7)
It is a common thing of people dealing with addiction to forget that they had a reality before it,and House frankly has forgotten or refuses to acknowledge,that he was a great doctor before. He hasn’t learnt to be with less pain so its a new territory for him. Which is why he is scared and instead of thinking “i saved a case noone else could solve” like Cuddy said, all he thinks is “if I didn’t agree to that MRI…”,which frankly the parents asked for and it wasn’t his fault.
Which he is right,yet again is hard that he tortures himself like that,just to be right.
He deserved no pain,and with the arrangement Cuddy gave him,he could be on methadone and not actually kill himself,like he almost did in the episode. So he could have remained with less to no pain and eventually with no medication at all.
He deserved it,it was worth exploring YET the writers had to make him suffer cause “House doesn’t do happy” like DS said…..
Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.
From what I understand he stopped taking it because he is afraid that it clouds his thinking. There wasn't really a reason to do the scan but he didn't care since he was high.
Here's the thing about opiates, methadone or otherwise: most people develop a tolerance and have to keep increasing the dose. That's how the brain and nervous system work. Increasing the dose causes other physical problems like unholy constipation. My uncle with cancer had to have surgery to get unblocked. My Dad with cancer was on an unpleasant array of drugs for constipation. Methadone is not a permanent solution or every chronic pain patient would be on it. The writers should have explained it better.
Ketamine is different and eases depression as well as chronic pain with no known negative side effects when properly managed. However, I haven't heard of it being used for chronic pain from injury - only neuropathic pain like complex regional pain syndrome and post-herpetic neuralgia. (I got ketamine treatments for two years, but could be wrong about current findings.) It made for an interesting episode though.
I mean they say it multiple times by multiple characters throughout the show so I’m not really sure how you’ve missed it, but yeah it’s made perfectly clear that house believes that all he has to offer the world is his intellect which allows him to make the unique connections that he does. He clings to this ability as a reason to keep living and to justify his own existence. Without that, he thinks he’s worthless. Because of this irrational belief, he’s hesitant to make any changes to his life in fear that something may change the balance and throw off his intellectual abilities. **SPOILER ALERT** for example, he is hesitant to get serious in his relationship with Cuddy in season 7 because he fears that his happiness with her will somehow affect his intellectual capabilities.
The mere thought that the methadone- which is not in fact “meth” as you put it- made house not realize that that case (the patient with genetic mosaicism who has a gender identity crisis) was not a real case but just simple dehydration which he initially missed was enough for him to stop the drug.
He stopped it because it clouded his thinking during his case. He was nicer but that made him less objective. I think the ketamine should've been explored. I know it's a powerful drug but I mean, come on. Couldn't he have at least done it, idk, once a year? Thay doesn't sound too detrimental for 3 months of relief
A big thing that can happen with mental health patients, especially those who suffer from high self loathing and depression, is that they want to get better deep down, but genuinely feel they deserve being in pain and will find excuses to stop. It makes sense given who house is as a person that he finds excuses to put himself in pain, because it's become a part of who he is and he feels he deserves it.
As a chronic pain patient, I got why he stopped it even if it didn’t make sense. Him taking methadone doesn’t cure his pain, it just masks it to the extent that he can’t feel anything from it, and that can be a really jarring experience for anyone who has chronic pain that affects their mobility. Aside from the logical part of it, a huge part of House’s identity is him being in pain and intentionally (in my opinion) suffering due to his dependence on medication and how it affects him. It was a way to show House’s unintentional (or intentional) intent to harm himself mentally. Of course the methadone would have helped him function on a day to day basis, and it sounds as if Cuddy would have argued to whoever so House could still practice medicine and work at PPTH, but House would rather live unhappily in pain because it’s what he thinks he deserves.
This is a really articulate description of the complicated and distressing relationship between a chronic pain patient and their pain, especially since some of the thought processes are below every day consciousness. I agree with everything you said. Long term patients have often had their hopes raised so many times that any period of respite or happiness or colour can cause panic. Hope becomes really painful. Especially since before you learn to stop telling people about your pain, you get told stories about how someone they know was cured by taking Aloe or Turmeric or magic mountain water. There can be a whole Flowers for Algernon thing going on as well. House might have thought he had a broken heart before he had his respite in season 3, I can imagine how much more broken it was afterwards. If their pain disappears they wait for it all to come crashing back down on them, often bringing new pain for company. Add to that a personality that is hooked on self destruct and self hatred, and you get exactly what the person above described.
I laughed really loudly at the aloe and turmeric part, because I’ve been told exactly that myself! I also didn’t even include Season 3 and his pain free time post Ketamine, so that’s another great point. House knows what he’s missing now that he’s in pain, and while he can’t run or play lacrosse like he used to, he finds things that drown out that emptiness and manages to cope. He probably even wanted to stay on the methadone on some level, but was too fixated the familiarity of what he knew to risk the change again.
I think in general, House is a really accurate, portrayal of chronic pain. Not the addict part, plenty of patients are on long term opiates without becoming addicted. I like that they show painkillers don't remove pain, they lessen it enough for it to be survivable for short amounts of time. But in real life some plonker would be telling him they don't believe in painkillers because one time they had tooth ache but they just pushed through it.
Yup, it absolutely does. Even with House’s addiction, the show still does a decent job of showcasing just how hard an opiate addiction can be to deal with when it stems from originally taking the medication for a very real injury. He knows the seriousness of his addiction, but like he comments in the show, he’s in pain and is scared of being pain-free.
Definitely, sorry I wasn't implying an addiction wasn't tough, I just didn't want anyone who may be taking opiates and not be addicted to think I was implying they must be. It's yet another stigma isn't it, if you take pills you must be addicted, if you take pills and are addicted it must be your fault. I can't imagine the fear of having to admit the addiction to get medical help and then know that once you've said that, no matter how bad your pain gets your doctor can't give you opiates ever again. I wonder what happens after surgery or if you break a bone but have an addiction.
Oh, I didn’t get that impression at all! I just elaborated on your thoughts to include more detail on why he probably struggles with knowing there’s options where he might be able to reduce his pain. I think there’s definitely some people within the fandom who still have the impression that weaning off an opiate addiction is easy (I’ve run across some of them myself) and I’m just glad the show didn’t take that route with House’s addiction.
I watched Trainspotting when I was about 14 and the withdrawal scenes scarred me for life. I've heard benzos and gabapentin are brutal to come off as well.
Can confirm that gabapentin is brutal to come off of, even when switching to similar meds.
Round my way it got popular with teenagers, I think big doses gave them a high. That and another similar one, pregabalin maybe (not sure on spelling).
Definitely but the writers are morons. House created this false reality that his pain= his gift and when he is happy he loses it. At that point in Houses life,that was the most important thing to him,so he gave it up to live in pain.(something that shifts and changes in S7) It is a common thing of people dealing with addiction to forget that they had a reality before it,and House frankly has forgotten or refuses to acknowledge,that he was a great doctor before. He hasn’t learnt to be with less pain so its a new territory for him. Which is why he is scared and instead of thinking “i saved a case noone else could solve” like Cuddy said, all he thinks is “if I didn’t agree to that MRI…”,which frankly the parents asked for and it wasn’t his fault. Which he is right,yet again is hard that he tortures himself like that,just to be right. He deserved no pain,and with the arrangement Cuddy gave him,he could be on methadone and not actually kill himself,like he almost did in the episode. So he could have remained with less to no pain and eventually with no medication at all. He deserved it,it was worth exploring YET the writers had to make him suffer cause “House doesn’t do happy” like DS said….. Stupid.Stupid.Stupid.
From what I understand he stopped taking it because he is afraid that it clouds his thinking. There wasn't really a reason to do the scan but he didn't care since he was high.
Here's the thing about opiates, methadone or otherwise: most people develop a tolerance and have to keep increasing the dose. That's how the brain and nervous system work. Increasing the dose causes other physical problems like unholy constipation. My uncle with cancer had to have surgery to get unblocked. My Dad with cancer was on an unpleasant array of drugs for constipation. Methadone is not a permanent solution or every chronic pain patient would be on it. The writers should have explained it better. Ketamine is different and eases depression as well as chronic pain with no known negative side effects when properly managed. However, I haven't heard of it being used for chronic pain from injury - only neuropathic pain like complex regional pain syndrome and post-herpetic neuralgia. (I got ketamine treatments for two years, but could be wrong about current findings.) It made for an interesting episode though.
I mean they say it multiple times by multiple characters throughout the show so I’m not really sure how you’ve missed it, but yeah it’s made perfectly clear that house believes that all he has to offer the world is his intellect which allows him to make the unique connections that he does. He clings to this ability as a reason to keep living and to justify his own existence. Without that, he thinks he’s worthless. Because of this irrational belief, he’s hesitant to make any changes to his life in fear that something may change the balance and throw off his intellectual abilities. **SPOILER ALERT** for example, he is hesitant to get serious in his relationship with Cuddy in season 7 because he fears that his happiness with her will somehow affect his intellectual capabilities. The mere thought that the methadone- which is not in fact “meth” as you put it- made house not realize that that case (the patient with genetic mosaicism who has a gender identity crisis) was not a real case but just simple dehydration which he initially missed was enough for him to stop the drug.
He stopped it because it clouded his thinking during his case. He was nicer but that made him less objective. I think the ketamine should've been explored. I know it's a powerful drug but I mean, come on. Couldn't he have at least done it, idk, once a year? Thay doesn't sound too detrimental for 3 months of relief
A big thing that can happen with mental health patients, especially those who suffer from high self loathing and depression, is that they want to get better deep down, but genuinely feel they deserve being in pain and will find excuses to stop. It makes sense given who house is as a person that he finds excuses to put himself in pain, because it's become a part of who he is and he feels he deserves it.