it's easy to fall into overuse of pain meds.  when you hurt, most often you'd prefer not to. there are non chemical ways to deal with pain and  with our health care system duct taped together, we need to learn to advocate for ourselves at whatever levels we can.  it can mean  trying to make  sense of medications and if that is beyond understanding or coordinating- very easy to happen  - get help.  pharmacists try to catch things but...the best thing is to request copies of all paperwork and tests always be sent to your primary care doc. at least all your info is in one place and a problem more easily spotted.  for the families of people who have truly  accidentally overdosed themselves and just don't wake up?  grief. nightmare.  heartbreak. guilt. shame.  that's a pain there is no medicine for.