The link between COVID-19 and opioids

Treating long-term cases may lead to more prescriptions

BY DETECTIVE KRYSTA KAUS

KANE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Recently, various news outlets have reported that prescription drugs were being used to treat long-term COVID-19 symptoms. Long COVID is described by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as symptoms from COVID-19 that last for weeks or months. The CDC specifically says that the symptoms can happen to anyone who has had COVID-19, even if the illness was mild or someone didn’t initially have symptoms.

You might be thinking this is an article about opioids – why are you talking about COVID-19? A study published by Nature in April showed that for every 1,000 long COVID patients treated at a Veterans Affairs facility, physicians wrote nine more prescriptions for opioids than they otherwise would have. The researchers also found other medications being prescribed in addition to opioids were anti-anxiety and antidepressants.

Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly and his colleagues examined data collected from 73,000 people who had reportedly had COVID-19 but had not been hospitalized. That means that with more opioid prescriptions written, there are potentially 657 people who could become addicted to opiates just from this study alone. The study was done based off of databases of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

As a way to combat the opioid epidemic locally, Kane County Sheriff’s Office – like many other agencies – has partnered with the Rx Abuse Leadership Institute to distribute Deterra Drug Deactivation System. Deterra can be used at home to deactivate unused or unwanted prescriptions.

In 2021, the Sheriff’s Office participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The next Take Back Day is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. The Sheriff’s Office collects prescriptions year-round in the collection box in the lobby at the main entrance and has recently instituted a soft relaunch of the A Way Out program.

Krysta Kaus

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

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Detective Krysta Kaus of the Kane County Sheriff’s Office used the following resources for information in this article. n Adams, K. (2021, April 28). Rate of opioid prescriptions written for

COVID-19 long-haulers prompts addiction concerns. https://www. beckershospitalreview.com/opioids/rateof-opioid-prescriptions-written-for-covid19-long-haulers-prompts-addictionconcerns.html n Al-Aly, Z., Xie, Y. & Bowe, B. Highdimensional characterization of postacute sequelae of COVID-19. Nature 594, 259–264 (2021). https://doi. org/10.1038/s41586-021-03553-9 n Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention n Wamsley , L. (2021, April 22).

People With Severe COVID-19

Have Higher Risk Of Long-Term

Effects, Study Finds. https://www. npr.org/sections/coronavirus-liveupdates/2021/04/22/989874986/peoplewith-severe-covid-19-have-higher-risk-oflong-term-effects-study-finds

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“I often reflect on the words of Charles Taylor, a 70-year-old Black man from Aurora, in and out of custody 12 times over 50 years who said when [he] left our jail for the last time after experiencing our Recovery Pod: ‘Sheriff Hain, I never realized anyone in uniform ever cared about me until now.’ ”

RECOVERY AFTER SOBRIETY

One of the people who assists detainees once they are detoxed and receive treatment is Daryl Pass.

Pass works with clients who are in Drug Court, one of the county’s specialty courts, helping them get into halfway or sober living houses. He’s also a recovery coach because it’s not enough for the clients just to be sober. Sobriety means a person is no longer using drugs but recovery means that person is learning how to live without using drugs.

“If you are a dry drunk, nothing has changed – you are what you are,” Pass said, using an expression for people who sober up but don’t deal with their underlying problems.

“But recovery – this is where I work. … When you really start understanding that it’s imperative that you live better – not perfect – but intentional in your actions to be a better person,” Pass said. “Recovery is a beautiful thing. It is transformative thinking and behavioral change. It’s a totally different way of living. ... Life is life. You’ve got to suit up.”

Pass said he understands the challenges as he himself suffered from heroin abuse for 23 years and is now nine years sober as of June 18.

“Since being sober, my understanding of what that really is, and what my issues really were, have evolved,” Pass said. “We are so immersed in the stigma that … they’re losers, dope fiends, addicts, crackheads. Those labels do not apply. These are individuals who struggle and suffer with a substance abuse disorder. … Left untreated, it’s progressive and deadly.”

Pass works for the Kenneth Young Center, leading its Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act Project, according to the Kenneth Young Center website, kennethyoung.org, where he also coaches those in recovery. Pass also has a nonprofit, New Beginnings Recovery Mission, with two halfway houses in Elgin.

He said he has seen where people leave prison or treatment without recovery, then pick up where they left off and die of an overdose.

“I’ve seen three people die personally,” Pass said. “They left treatment after 28, 30, 30-plus days, got high and died the same day. I worked at Lutheran Social Services for five years and kept a diary – 94 people died just from substance abuse disorder.”

If you are depressed or thinking about harming yourself, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 and https://suicidepreventionlifeline. org/ is open 24 hours in English and Spanish and provides free confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones and best practices for professionals.

Daryl Pass, a comprehensive addiction and recovery act project lead for Kenneth Young Center, also does work with the Kane County Drug Court helping people who have detoxed learn to live with reality.

Photo by Sandy Bressner