Editor’s Note: The following letter was written in response to the Oct. 26 column about how recovering addicts deal with chronic pain.

My husband and I live in the Greater Portland area. We believe medical professionals need to be better educated about addiction. They should be much more cautious about prescribing addictive medications and much more aware of alternatives to “traditional” pain management.

My husband is a recovering alcoholic, sober for more than ten years, who became addicted to several prescription drugs (including pain medication) last year after a relatively minor outpatient surgery. His concerns over taking pain medication were not addressed and not taken seriously by his doctors, who insisted on prescribing powerful drugs to control his pain.

For a good six months, I appealed to all of his prescribers to find alternatives, only to be shrugged off with the explanation that “If he’s in pain, he needs relief. Why don’t you take the responsibility for dispensing it to him?” This situation nearly destroyed our family.

I question the logic behind the idea that addicts have a choice whether or not to abuse, especially once the substance is introduced to their systems. Once my husband had the drugs in his system (and, actually, the problem began with the Valium he was given before the surgery) his “choice” was made. He became “the addict” once again. I cannot speak for others, but when “the addict” appears, my husband’s ability to make responsible choices dissolves.

Only through intervention from old friends who had lived through his alcohol rehab with him (long before we met) is he drug-free again today. We now work together to be extremely vigilant about monitoring the types of drugs prescribed to him. Even I no longer accept pain meds from my prescribers for my chronic, debilitating migraines (or any other cause of pain) because it is too risky to have such drugs in the house. My husband loves me and our children, and he is still devastated by what happened last winter.

So, what do we do in situations where pain medications are normally prescribed? We take each situation one day at a time, one hour at a time, one moment at a time. We actively seek alternative therapies such as Reiki, accupressure-puncture and cranio-sacral therapy, among others. If either of us is unable to manage pain by other means, our plan is to be admitted to the hospital and receive pain meds only under direct supervision of professionals. Even this idea, which we are fortunate to not have had to try as of yet, is risky and frightening to us.

One psychiatrist told us to think of addiction as an allergy. If someone is allergic to strawberries, do they not avoid strawberries at all cost? Do they not request alternatives if dining away from home? This idea makes sense to us.

– Anonymous in Portland

Please join our weekly conversation about Maine’s substance abuse problem. We welcome stories, comments or questions from all perspectives. Letters may be mailed to Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04401. Send e-mail contributions to findingafix@bangordailynews.net. Column editor Meg Haskell may be reached at (207) 990-8291 or mhaskell@bangordailynews.net.