After graduating college, Linda found success working as an extra in Hollywood, achieving the glamorous life she always wanted. But her dreams died when she came down with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by joint dislocations. Linda started taking fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times stronger than morphine. As her painkiller use escalated, she claimed that different sources were causing her pain, including electricity, energy, colors, and even specific people. Despite Linda's wild claims, her mother clings to the belief that Linda's pain is real and she must do everything to help her, including depleting the family's savings and sending her son to be Linda's caretaker.
Missed the episode? Watch it here.
Edited by aetv_dlg, 4 years ago
Dr. Oz said something interestin
http://en.
In other words, that might be a reason Linda reported being unable to sleep back in the bad old days. Although pain and medication
Edited by haroldcarvey, 1 year ago
I was tipped off by a comment on Dr. Drew's show.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000949.htm
http://www.rapiddrugdetox.com/detox-facts--drugs/actiq-drug-facts--actiq-detox-information.html
Actiq withdrawal can be a painful process, particularly after heavy use. Symptoms are typically experienced within hours of stopping the use and can last up to several weeks after, depending on the intensity of Actiq use. Symptoms of Actiq withdrawal can include sweating, malaise, anxiety, depression, cramp-like pains in the muscles, severe muscle and bone aching, leg kicking, yawning, sneezing, tears, severe and long lasting sleep difficulties (insomnia), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, goose bump skin, cramps, and fever. Some patients complain of a painful condition called “itchy blood”, which results in compulsive scratching causing bruising and open sores on the skin. All of these symptoms can be quite pronounced, causing the patient to experience such intense pain and suffering that a “cold turkey” withdrawal is unbearable, causing the patient to continue their drug use.
That's partly why Linda in the episode was so erratic and in so much pain. Actiq is short-acting, and she was taking a ton of it. She was in withdrawal daily.Maybe she's still having some of that today, as she apparently still takes opiate pain meds, a reasonable dose, though possibly unnecessarily.
There could be psychological dependence, too. Everyone knows Linda has underlying issues that began in childhood. My conclusion is that, a few years ago, the meds would start wearing off, her unhappiness with life would bubble up and magnify the physical pain she was feeling, and she'd desperately want more medication. She freaked out on here during the plume, if you want to know the dark stuff that's in her mind.
I suspect that one reason she loudly advocates for others to get pain meds, besides the attention-seeking that involves, is a sort of empathizing with those people and maybe feeling her own emotional pain rise up when hearing the stories. I think she's assuming that others having outbursts from physical pain are like her, won’t be able to cope without heavy doses of pain meds and without meds might completely self-destruct. Even she could learn to cope - and probably should get off any remaining meds, to prevent long-term damage and tolerance. If only Linda would do the inner work that everyone wants her to do. What a waste of talent and opportunities.
Edited by haroldcarvey, 1 year ago
Thanks so much Linda! I'm definitely
I'm slogging through a Reddit thread with most posts directed toward an Intervention cameraman.
One good quote not about Linda specifically...“I think it depends on the personality. Some addicts want to help people by showing how bad their life is. Others want to try and prove that they are not that bad, and still others want to put on a show. It all depends on the person."
Linda's so erratic she does all three.
"How was the episode with Linda? Did any crazy stuff happen that you couldn't show? I felt so bad for her brother and it really sucked how duped her mother was."
"It was a challenge, she was always changing her mind about what was hurting her and what was not. I had to keep the mic transmitter away from her body because she said the electricity hurt her. Yeah her brother had put up with a lot. I hope that her and her family are doing well."
He doesn't say if he was the one she attacked.
"I sort of thought that an intervention in this case was some-what inappropriate. Yes she was abusing her prescribed medication ... but that was completely incidental. Her mental health issues were the real problem ... I guess she ended up getting the help she needed regardless.I feel like for the most part the interventions are spot on though ... do you guys often get into situations where the addict isn't really in need of treatment ... or similar situations where there are much more significant mental health issues... and the family was more or less mistaken?I guess this stuff would probably be sorted out by the time the camera crew came onto the scene ..."
"OK firstly, you must know that I am obsessed with Intervention. I have seen nearly every episode. That being said, I am willing to claim that the best episode of all time was Linda. She was the actress from LA who took those Fentanyl lollipops and claimed she could feel energy. Do you remember this? If so, how were you not laughing when she started doing her weird stretches on the ground? Thank you so much for doing this!"
He hasn't replied to that.
Several other posts expressed curiosity in Linda.
Maybe someone should post over there that Linda is here posting about her proudly screwed-up life. A&E wants traffic and that's probably why this thread isn't locked, so bring it on?
Edited by haroldcarvey, 1 year ago
On cue, Linda pops up to report praise of her. In a way that produces the opposite.
Yeah, reporting on time (even at an awful hour) and not trying to weasel out by overstating disability are right behaviors.
But passing up a chance to earn hundreds of dollars in order to goof off at some minor event is not appropriate. And the ability to do jury duty with some accomodation (for the hips) indicates Linda could be working. (Many people with EDS would love to have that chance.)
But she's probably not trying to work, because she'd rather goof off. If the state of California figures that out someday....
Granted, most people are rejected for serving on trials for some reason, and I suppose someone eventually would figure out that it's Linda from Intervention and disqualify her due to the various problems that would cause.
I don't know if pain meds Linda takes now affect her thinking, but the extreme doses she used to take could still be affecting her, judging by her ongoing behavior.
Edited by haroldcarvey, 1 year ago
2
"Fav" is not the word I would use to describe someone being in that situation.
Anyway, as shown in this thread, people easily can believe themselves to be okay psychologically when all evidence says otherwise. EDS patients often are predisposed to mental health problems. Physical pain or limitations can make anyone more depressed or anxious, but that usually will not turn a stable person into a wreck.
Any doctor who sees a frantic patient, especially a new patient, who has a murky condition and wants meds should worry what that person might do with the meds. Referring to a psychiatrist can be a cover-your-[bleep] method and a way of testing patient compliance (which, in my experience, doctors do prior to offering risky treatments).
But it could be helpful. Because probably Linda was not receiving ongoing mental help during those years of opiate misuse; and if she had been, she'd likely have learned some psychological coping mechanisms to lessen the impulse for pain meds. Plus, a psychiatrist can evaluate a patient and then vouch for him or her to the other doctor.
Another thing, which I assume didn't happen in Linda's case, is that it can help if family goes with the patient to the doctor. Then the doctor and the family might trust the patient more.
Edited by haroldcarvey, 1 year ago
I'm just posting this as a teaching moment for EDS pain. obviously everyone knows how Badly i wanted to meet the Castle cast. Well got totally suckerpunched cause 5 minutes after arriving in La my fingers started burning /hurting at a scale of 10 and DODO head me forgot to bring pain meds. But they were hurting so Badly I was ready to hop back on the bus and go home just to make it stop. But I jus...t hoped and prayed that by the time I got to Beverly Hills it rwould stop. But it really wasn't that much better. Luckily they were serving Drinks at the festival and it helped a bit. So I had to sit through the whole event in miserable pain. Of course Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic were a huge great Distraction so I was able to forget about it once in a while. But man alive how EDS pain can disrupt life!! You know I'm looking at it this way.
Whenever my fingers start hurting like that again It will remind me of seeing the Castle Cast live!!
Well, until the last sentence, the story sounds fairly sane and refreshingly free of boasting. Of course taking a long probably uncomfortable trip apparently alone to attend a dull-seeming event with the cast of a mediocre TV show suggests deeper issues. (That makes going to a Star Trek convention seem sensible by comparison.)
Beyond that, the teachable moments:
1) I don't like references to using alcohol to try to relieve pain. Even though it was offered and I believe not used to excess. Because that's probably led some people to being on Intervention. I really don't know if it is medically permissible for someone to drink at all while opiods are in the system at low amounts. In an emergency, why not just buy or 'bum' an OTC pain pill?
2. Burning pain in the fingers not from hand usage? Then it probably should be examined closely by a specialist. Maybe nerve meds could relieve some of it. Again, opiods for that is not appropriate.
3. A 10 on the pain scale would involve crying and probably screaming and surely complete inability to enjoy the surroundings. That wasn't even a 9. Exaggerations like that discredit people and make medical professionals more distrustful toward all.
4. Posting about able-bodied activities (the ability to tolerate that travel) while supposedly "handicapped" would raise suspicion with California State Disability .
Edited by haroldcarvey, 1 year ago
You know It took me a while to figure this one out. But when Susan Sullivan Handed me back her autograph she gave me a rather confused, odd, oh it's you look?.....
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