Veteran has to take 30 painkillers a day after falling ill in Afghanistan

An ex-soldier who sued the army after catching an infectious disease in Afghanistan says it left him addicted to painkillers - with 'less NHS support than if he was on heroin'. Wayne Bass contracted Q fever - a disease caused by breathing in dust particles from cattle, sheep and goats' manure - while on tour with the British Army in Afghanistan. The illness led Wayne to develop severe nerve damage and chronic fatigue syndrome - complications that he blamed on the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) 'failure to provide antibiotics to cure the infection'. The now 41-year-old, who was in the 2nd Battalion of the Mercian Regiment, unsuccessfully tried to sue the MoD in 2019 but his claims were dismissed in court in 2019. To deal with the painful nerve damage from Q fever Wayne claims he was first given the prescription-only opioid tramadol in 2013 following his third and final tour in Afghanistan. But he says this eventually 'ruined his life' by leading to a 13-year addiction to tramadol. The ex-soldier was given the addictive painkiller on a 'short-term' basis to alleviate his pain symptoms, but Wayne said he began going through withdrawals within six months after trying to reduce his dose. At the height of his addiction, the telecommunications engineer was taking up to 30 pills a day just to 'get out of bed' each morning, even resorting to sourcing it from friends if he ran out. Wayne says he has attempted to get help for his painkiller dependency, but insists there's more support for heroin-users than painkiller addicts. Even after telling doctors that he felt like he was getting addicted, he claims they continued to give him 'more and more boxes'. The dad-of-one has successfully managed to drop his dose to six pills a day, but still believes more support needs to be available for tramadol dependency. Wayne, from Redditch, Worcestershire, said: "The Q fever caused severe nerve damage, muscle wastage, fatigue. I was in a wheelchair for a while. It affected my walking, speech, everything. I'm in a lot of pain on a daily basis. "After the Q fever, I went to my doctors and they basically just said take this and this for your pain. It was all opioids and morphine. I was given tramadol, pregabalin, diazepam, and other opioids. I was in absolute agony on a daily basis. "After about six months, I tried to reduce the pills and noticed it was getting a bit weird . I was going through withdrawals." Wayne attempted to wean off the tramadol but noticed his pain would become much worse after stopping the pills, leading to a 'vicious cycle' of addiction. Wayne said: "I attempted to try and come off them but I'm literally body-dependent on these things. If I don't take them, I get withdrawals and the pain gets worse. The doctors always said it would be short-term. "I have had to buy it from other means because I only get prescribed a certain amount so I would actually outsource the medication through friends of friends. I tried to go cold turkey but it's put me in hospital a couple of times. "Doctors just say try and reduce it every couple of weeks but it's not that easy. I'm still in pain - it's a vicious cycle. It did get to the point where I was taking like 30 tramadol a day. I pretty much had to take it to get out of bed in the morning and feel normal. "I'd avoid going out and doing stuff. I'm on eight tramadol a day and now and have been dropping down to six. I'd never heard of tramadol before I was prescribed them. Obviously on the packet it does say 'can cause addiction' but I never thought I'd become reliant on them. "I didn't think I'd be on them that long. I thought there'd be some sort of solution to try and help me." Wayne is hoping to come off tramadol entirely, admitting that the drug has 'ruined his life' after first being prescribed in 2013. Wayne said: "There's less stigma with being addicted to painkillers like tramadol, but there's less support. "I'd probably be better off taking heroin because at least then I'd get help to come off it. Even though there are a lot of people who are addicted to these opioids and are in the same position. Tramadol has ruined my life. If I don't take it, I'm losing quality of life because I'm in pain, but if I do take it, I lose quality of life too. It's a catch-22. "I should've been prescribed it but it should've been better monitored. I'd go for an appointment and they'd just give me a box then another box. I would tell them I was becoming dependent and I'd just get more and more boxes." Wayne's partner of seven years, Lauren Abbot, launched a petition to help increase support for veterans and patients facing prescription opioid dependency. Lauren, 36, said: "He's in pain and has no other option. That's the major issue. It's horrible to see him in pain on a daily basis. He wants help and to better himself. "So many people are just given tramadol so blasé and don't realise what they're getting into and can't get any support once they're addicted." Wayne added: "There needs to be more awareness, more people need to be educated on this and more help needs to be out there." The MOD said Mr Bass lost his appeal for damages after contracting Q Fever while serving in Afghanistan in the High Court judgement in 2020. In dismissing the appeal, the court ruling supported the earlier findings that antibiotics would 'not have been effective to prevent Q fever... based upon expert evidence'. Handing down judgement, the trial judge found that the MOD was at all times 'taking its responsibilities as employer very seriously… the welfare of the troops and the welfare of the operational capacity went hand in hand.' NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) said they do not comment on specific cases. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), a public body that provides guidance on health care, warns that tolerance and physical and psychological dependence may develop with repeated use of tramadol and other opioids. Their guidelines state that withdrawal symptoms may occur on abrupt cessation of therapy or dose reduction. They warn that before starting treatment, patients should be informed of the risks and signs of dependence, and treatment goals and a discontinuation plan agreed.