Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict Paperback – Bargain Price, July 13, 2010

There are a lot of memoirs out there about heroin, coke, and even meth addiction, but not a ton about pill addiction (yet). The phenomenon certainly isn't new (Valley of the Dolls and so on), but the pervasiveness of pill taking outside of the extremely rich bored housewives of the major cities, does seem to be quite new. Even when I was in high school (almost 15 years ago) there were tons of pills around at my house, my mom and dad were/are both on pain medication and others, but the thought never even crossed my mind to take their pills to get high, nor did it occur to any of my friends (but maybe I just had the wrong friends), I don't think any 15 or 16 year old today would be able to say the same without lying. For me, college was where I first started "hearing about it."This memoir was fabulous for several reasons, and I love bullet points so here we go:- Joshua Lyon managed to write a memoir without it being all about him, something amazing in its own right. That's because this book isn't just Joshua's memoir, it's also the story of those around him and their varied pill addictions. I think this adds a lot to the story and enables to reader to see the road to addiction for many characters, and just maybe see more of themselves in that.- Joshua himself, he has a wonderful voice that allows the reader to breeze through the book. I'm a marathon reader so once I start a book, I don't put it down and I never give up before the ending, but I REALLY couldn't put this one down, it was just so well written, with wit and charisma. Joshua tells that he started taking pills in order to be more outgoing and less self conscious, but you would never know it from his writing. Though, at the same time, I could also tell that he was an avid people watcher, just in the way he described people and situations. After all, people don't become observant as the center of attention, they do so by standing on the sidelines watching those who are the center of attention.- Outside of the personal stories of Joshua and his friends/acquaintances, there is education, which is pretty crucial if you're a family member or parent reading this. I'm neither, just someone who likes to learn, but either way, this was a great inclusion. Especially Joshua's trip to the DEA where he manage to accidentally smuggle pills in and out without getting caught. He covers the history, the legal issues current and past, and the statistics. And he manages to do all this in a way that is extremely entertaining. I repeatedly found myself mentioning things I learned in this book to family and friends.- The fact that a good portion of Joshua's field work (research and interviews), not sure about the actual writing, was done while he was still popping Vicodin. I think that's pretty amazing and truly shows you how highly functional some drug addicts can be. It also really goes to show that you never can tell, that just because your sister, child, friend, co-worker holds down a job and acts "normal" doesn't mean a damn thing, and that is a really important fact to understand when it comes to pill addictions especially.- I found the story extremely relatable. But I'm also someone who lives in NYC (and moved here from the south), so myself and the author have that in common. And while this story takes place primarily in NYC, pill popping is by no means a big city phenomenon, so don't think you are safe in the suburbs, in fact, I see it much more (and MUCH more openly) when I visit my family who still live in the rural south.Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone: an addict, a recovering addict, friends/family of addicts, parents, teenagers, and everyone in between. It really is a must read and I'm extremely happy that I chose to do so. $10 well spent!

Running Away From Me Last September, there was an article in Time magazine about a national epidemic of prescription drug addiction and accidental overdosing. With the proliferation of internet pharmacies and physicians prescribing more opioid painkillers than ever, the last ten years have seen a monumental increase in this type of drug use. "Pill Head" by Joshua Lyon uncovers the underworld of pain-pill dealing and the trap users find themselves in when they need help and seek treatment. "Pill Head" is part memoir and part journalistic research into this ever-increasing pill-popping scourge. Except for the gay sex scenes, ahem, Lyon has written a heart-felt portrayal of his own addiction and the struggles of others he meets along the way. He also unveils numerous little-known facts about addiction and treatment. The thing about pain-pill addiction is that it is so easy to hide and so easy to fall victim to. Anxiety-ridden people and those suffering from depression seem to be easy prey for the opiate monkey. It's warm embrace melts all fears and troubles away and seems to oil the gears of life, making the most tedious tasks glide along effortlessly. At first anyway. It seems that our brains have a pre-set amount of chemical neurotransmitters, and once they're burned up, the party's over. You can never go back. You've had your good times, and if you continue to grasp for more, you'll only get hell in return. "Pill Head" looks into this and so much more, including the DEA's dubious prosecution of over-prescribing doctors, internet pharmacy scams and successful prison programs for addicts which politicians are afraid to fund. He also looks into the newest research that includes vaccinations for addiction that are already in the works, and he discovers that many treatment centers out there don't have the addict's best interests at heart. Newcomers to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are sometimes turned off by one or two things they don't like about the program. They tend to "throw the baby out with the bath water." But they're told, "Take what you can get and leave the rest." That's what I would say about "Pill Head". Running Away From Me

This was a great unexpected read. The book follows several "pill heads", how they began and what happens to them (to date), while also skillfully intertwining hard facts about the exploding popularity of prescription drug abuse and what is being done to regulate them. Even the facts are artfully told, such as how at the height of the OxyContin panic the media was "collectively ejaculating over the idea of hillbilly heroin". I learned a lot about what prescriptions are commonly abused, what they feel like, and the process of addiction. I was invested in the outcomes of the characters, but specifically the author. He asks over and over, how do you regulate between those who really truly need it and those who are abusing? Not an easy question. One thing each character seemed to have in common was the recreational use of other drugs, club drugs such as Ecstacy, acid and mushrooms, prior to their discovering pills. I didn't understand, and still don't after reading this book, why each felt so free to make those choices, but it would seem to me you have a much greater likelihood of trying pills for fun if you've also made these other choices. Because of this portrayal, it seems to me becoming addicted to pills may be linked to this kind of personality, but the book didn't go that far. Whatever the reason, I would have liked more explanation about this. Still, this did not take away from my enjoyment of the book.

This is not a book on how to get off these horrid pharmaceuticals unfortunately. If you are an addict please avoid, as reading this author’s memoirs of how these drugs created a warmth “a bubble” around him only adds to the agony of withdrawal. It’s a shame he hasn’t researched a second book on the best ways of tackling this addiction as a follow on. He might want to watch Ryan Donnelly on YouTube as he is an absolute legend on this topic!

I found this book very interesting and easy to read. I myself have had codeine addiction and could relate to some of the experiences. A must read.

thank you

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I couldn't put this book down its was such a good read.Anyone who has a problem with opiate drugs should read this book.