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Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself
Chronic Pain | Last Active: 13 hours ago | Replies (6812)Comment receiving replies
Thank you for your comments on those of us who find narcotics helpful. I have been taking them for many years responsibly with the care a very forward-thinking well-trained pain management doctor. He is trying his best to deal with all the regulations and does a lot to help minimize the hassle for his patients who have shown him they are responsible and trustworthy with these medications. I never feel like I am being treated like a drug-addict. Without these medications my career (I am a professor at a major University) would have ended years ago because I would not have been able to keep teaching and being on my feet for all these years. I encourage people to find a good pain management doctor who shows them the respect and trust and care that they deserve. My pain management doctor also does many different things and recognizes that pain management medicine is not a one size fits all practice. He uses injections, nutrition, spinal cord stimulation, supplements, and many new and cutting edge techniques. He also refers to other doctors and practitioners who he thinks may be helpful. He is very available to me and his office is extremely responsive. His care kept me out of a surgery that I think I would have regretted many many years ago. This is what we all deserve and while I have terrible pain almost every day which increases as I get older, I know that I can continue the search that we all are on for what works for us with the help of a caring and knowledgeable doctor. It took me a long time to find him. When I began my search, he was probably still in medical school. I guess my message is don't give up on finding good pain management people. And speak up in defense of those of us who use narcotic medications responsibly. We need to advocate for ourselves.
Replies to "Thank you for your comments on those of us who find narcotics helpful. I have been..."
Yes, someone must speak for the masses. sometimes i am so sorry that our country treats us this way. perhaps if the politicians should have our health coverages and not their superior coverage then we would be better off. LET THEM WALK THE SHOES.
Things do worsen with age. I also have a pain specialist. He is helpful in referrals too. No matter the age quality of life is important. I learned that advocating for myself is the route to take.
I appreciate your sharing.
I've been in the opioid tussle for around ten years. My pcp is with a clinic that's tied to my local hospital, which was taken over by a larger hospital. In many ways, the merger was beneficial, but it meant more guidelines for the doctors to follow. One change they made a year or two ago was to limit opioids to a total of 100mg. At the time, I was taking 90mg of morphine sulfate contin, 1mg of Klonopin and ocycodone for breakthrough pain, which I use only rarely. So, my pain specialist had to endorse my need for the meds, but at first the agreement was that he wouldn't prescribe for me.
My wife makes remarks about the # of meds I'm on, but she doesn't understand how much pain I have, or the importance of my antidepressants, or the need for meds that slow the progress of things. It's bad enough to need the meds, and I resent snide or deprecatory remarks, regardless if they come from a family member or from a doctor who should know better or from bureaucrats who are clueless and treat the pain medication issue as a political issue.
Right now, I'm going back to the beginning of the list of neuropathy meds that didn't work a few years ago, to see if they will help as an adjunct to the spinal cord stimulator. I'm doing that, for one thing, to see if I can get off the morphine. I want to be the one to decide to stop morphine, not a regulator.
Jim
Dear Jim, your post says it in a nutshell---you could have read my mind about the medical community and political climate on OPIOIDS situation. I'm sitting here sore as hell since arising 6 hours ago, going through daytime preparations till I can take my first Hydrocodone tablet, which I must use sparingly due to restrictions on monthly allowances by the FDA. I'm always near tears thinking how to better my pain problems. I joined Mayo "Chat" a few months ago and ever so pleased that I did so. It is comforting to know that I'm not alone with my physical problem. Thanks, Jim.
Jeanne
Can't your doctor prescribe more medication for you? Maybe another doctor would understand that you need more than you're getting. Or that you might need to find another medication that works better for you.
Jim
Dear Jim, It's a minefield to hazard a request for more Opioid medication---ask for too much and doctors think you're addicted. I'm told the FDA recommends (?) a certain monthly number of tablets as "approved" or "normal" prescription for chronic pain---and the doctor can exceed that number---still within limits without raising an alarm with the FDA or the hospital administration overseers. I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS TRUE, OR A LOT OF HOOY. My doctor limits my prescription to 40 Tabs every two months, and yet I run out after 5 weeks usually---when the pain is persistent. There are periods (summer) when I've extended 40 Tabs over 3 months. This month I'm going to run out at 4 weeks. That's 1.33 Tabs daily---only relief for about 4 hours a day. I can hardly become addicted at this rate.
I don't think the FDA or anyone is going to do anything if your doctor is seeing you regularly and prescribing a reasonable amount to you.
I went through rationing my pain meds for a while and finally I just could not stand it any longer. My pain doctor has a wonderful Physicians Asst. and one day I just told her I was in such incredible pain that I stayed in bed all day. Now I can get up to 180 tablets of Norco 10-325 in a month. I don't however use this much but it takes the stress off knowing they are there in case I have a bad period of time. Usually it is worse in the cold months and it has been pretty bad lately. My mom died in December and I traveled to Illinois for the burial and it was very cold and I needed them then--plus just the stress from everything. My pain doctor told me that even if I took all that he is prescribing, I am still at about half of what most of his chronic pain people get. So I think sometimes doctors use the current public concerns about opiates in order to just not take the risk of giving someone too much. I also think that my pain doctor has been treating me for a very long time. He makes me come at a minimum every two months and I have to do a drug test/urinalysis every time. When I first started seeing him it was probably 15 years ago and I was using 1-2 tablets a day. So if you think about it, I haven't really increased that much over such a long period of time. I do not however get complete relief from the medication. I have to plan my days to do the most activity earlier in the day and I like to plan a couple of hours in the afternoon just to rest with my feet up. I strongly suggest that you talk to your doctor about the amount of pain you are having and see if you need more or different medication. If this doctor does not trust and understand your pain then there are others out there who will. I am so sorry you have such pain and that it is probably intensified by not feeling that you can ask for what you really need. But you just have to in order to be able to function. If you trust that you are not becoming addicted and those around you are not concerned then don't worry about the reaction you might get by trying to get the treatment that you need. We have to be advocates for ourselves.
@gailg, what an intelligent and thoughtful way to put it.
I concur with Gail that it's unlikely that the FDA has anything to do with your doctor's prescribing. My observation is that you need more than you're getting and if your doctor is even marginally caring about your pain and its interference with daily living, he shouldn't hesitate to prescribe enough so you don't spend half of your time in pain. Put the pressure on him. We have to speak up in order to be heard and treated appropriately.
Jim
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There are alot of us who are responsible about narcotics and I wish the higher ups,Gov.would see this instead of stereotyping us who truly need our meds for pain. It's important to have a good Dr.who ,doesn't throw in the towel ,.