How brave Lara woman overcame prescription drug addiction

Lara woman Janelle Sullivan has detailed how she became addicted to prescription medication after a series unimaginable traumatic events — and fought back.

Lara 57-year-old Janelle Sullivan spent more than a decade addicted to prescription medication after a six-month period of unimaginable trauma.

When she was aged 40, she was involved in two horrific car crashes within three months.

Janelle Sullivan is a former inpatient at rehab at the Geelong Clinic. Picture: Alison Wynd

She said the first, in late 2005, saw her basically lose her face and break her humerus, which snapped again in the following crash.

She stopped working and was put on a disability pension.

Following the crashes, Ms Sullivan’s wife died.

Ms Sullivan said the period was intensely traumatic.

In 2006, she was prescribed “massive” doses of opioid medications for pain, and benzodiazepines for muscle spasms.

She said she was prescribed six valiums a day.

“Of course I just slept for more than 10 years to avoid everything,” Ms Sullivan said.

“I was just a mess — emotionally, physically.”

She became addicted to the pain medication – which she said was all acquired legally, which seemed crazy.

She described one of the pain medications as like “legal heroin” and said she was emotionally “out of it” for a decade.

“I was a bit of a hermit. Socialising was just too overwhelming,” she said.

If she did not take the medications, she would suffer withdrawals, with symptoms including restless legs and body aches.

Janelle Sullivan is a former inpatient at rehab at the Geelong Clinic. Picture: Alison Wynd

She eventually asked her GP for help after realising she was unable to stop by herself.

She said she was funded by the Transport Accident Commission to enter inpatient treatment at The Geelong Clinic, a private health facility in St Albans Park, in late 2018.

The Geelong Clinic general manager Janine Haigh said community demand for addiction treatment had been very high for a number of years, and remained at elevated levels throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Sullivan was in the centre for five weeks, doing a week in detox before taking part in an inpatient addictive behaviours program.

She said she learnt “heaps”, including about resilience and grief.

Ms Sullivan met other patients who had also suffered trauma, and said the staff were an integral part of her success.

She recently finished up with the relapse and maintenance support outpatient program – a weekly group program at the clinic.

“It keeps you in touch with everything you’ve learnt, and it holds us accountable for where we are up to in our lives,” Ms Sullivan said.

“It’s a total non-judgmental, fully accepting space.”

Ms Sullivan, who has remained free from the prescription drugs since rehab, said life was “terrific”.

She has made new friends and her family proud, and is volunteer carer for her mum.

Her message to others struggling with addiction was to get help as soon as they were ready.

“Reach out for help, there’s lots available,” she said.

Doctors take caution on opioids

As awareness of the risks of opioid use has increased, so has the caution of doctors prescribing these drugs,a local GP says.

Western Victoria Primary Health Network clinical spokeswoman Anne Stephenson said many prescription drugs were misused.

Opioids such as oxycontin and benzodiazepines like diazepam were the most commonly misused in Australia, she said.

“There is increasing evidence of the harms of opioid treatment for chronic pain,” Dr Stephenson said.

“Risks include decreased pain tolerance, immunosuppression, decreased libido and sexual function, osteoporosis with increased fracture risk, dental decay, constipation, cognitive impairment and overdose death.”

SafeScript, a clinical tool that doctors use when prescribing high-risk medications, was implemented across Victoria in 2019.

As of April 2020 it became mandatory to check SafeScript prior to writing or dispensing a prescription for a medicines monitored through the system.

Dr Stephenson said it provided access to a patient’s prescription history to help make safer clinical decisions.

“This has also helped reduce the challenge of ‘doctor-shopping’, where people visit multiple doctors to try and gain access to additional medication,” she said.

A report recently released by the Coroner’s Court of Victoria found pharmaceutical drugs contributed to 75.2 per cent of overdose deaths in Victoria in 2021.

Barwon Health runs an addiction specialist service, which aims to support GPs working in the community to care for people experiencing opioid dependence.

Harry Hill, an addiction psychiatrist at Barwon Health, said potential death following an overdose, especially from variable use of high-dose opioids, was a significant concern.

“That is why the harm reduction team in Geelong works hard to ensure patients, families, friends and co-workers are trained to administer naloxone as an antidote to save lives,” Dr Hill said.

“Opiate use disorders can start in many ways, including either initial use for pain relief or from heroin.

“It is important that people do not suddenly stop taking appropriate pain relief, but if they are concerned about developing dependence to the medication, they should speak with their prescriber or link with a support service.

“In recent years, new treatments for opioid use disorders have become available.”

Originally published as How brave Lara woman overcame prescription drug addiction