Hi everyone. I am new to BL. I've been reading various posts and threads that I was directed thru Googl and decided to finally sign up. And boy am I lost on this site and need some help.
I am a 50 year old Gay man living with AIDS for the past 24 years and have been on a lot of various meds and have a lot of other health conditions likr my lower back and nerves are shot. Sciatica, poly neuropathy, arthritis, chronic pain syndrome to name a few and I am now waiting for confirmation of AVN (avascular necrosis of both hips due to HIV) following more MRI's. I'll stop here on listing more conditions.
Here is where I need help...for about the past two years specifically, I have been on 15mg ER morphine 2xday along with 6 20mg Oxycodone IR. The my HIV specialist and primary care doc finally said he needed to refer me to pain management as he was at a loss why my pain was not being controlled. Keep in mind, I developed a nasty habit of insufulating my Oxycodone. Anyway, I went to pain management thinking I was going to an office with one doc or maybe two and boy was I surprised. It's a huge clinic with lots of docs, staff, patients of varying ages and health challenges.
I did the intake and I was piss tested and ten days later returned for prescriptions and another fucking piss test all the while complaining of continuous pain and shocked my doc sent me to such a place. Well I tested positive for THC and was warned. I also was told my morphine level was high and my Oxycodone was low. I was given the scripts for the same drugs I had been taking and left bewildered and feeling very judged and very low emotionally and mentally drained. By the way I am also bi-polar and in Paxil 60mg per day along with 400mg of Seroquel which I stopped taking three months ago. More on this another time I hope.
The Next month, I was piss tested yet a ducking again, confused and not having a pain management experience I originally expected and told that my Oxycodone was not in my system but morphine and lorazepam were. ( I ran out of oxy five days early due to snorting and the morphine was carrying me). I was told that I needed to have a oral swab test for genetic testing to see how I metabolize and if I refused I would be discharged. I did it and this time they upped the morphine ER to 30mg 2xday and reduced my oxy to 4x20mg per day. I left only to be called in for a random pill count and piss test.
I was shocked never having been in p mgmt before but who am I kidding, I obviously have a problem as I came up short on the oxy' but had right amount of morphine. They gave me warning again and this time said I could sign an opiate agreement in order to stay on and needed to be seen in two weeks for meds and to meet with the doc who did my intake. I went and she said the oral genetic test was back and that morphine was not for me, doesn't work well for me so she put me on 2x30mg OxyContin Tamper coated or something like that per day and said never break them and to stick to the script as written and prescribed 2x20mg oxy's per day for break thru as needed, if at all. She's expecting that I should not need the short acting at all. What is happening here? I am still in pain, like about a 7 or so. Has she prescribed the right dosages?
My friend said I'll be hurting bad when I start the new regimen on Sunday and said the doc has way under prescribed the opiates for me. Is this true? I know it will reduce my harm to myself by not having the original 6 oxy's per day to use the way I want but I can't live in pain guys. I'm scared, very alone -have no friends or partner. I've been isolating myself for years. AIDS is tuff stuff. Am I being steered correctly with meds? What will OxyContin be like for me. Will I get the nice energy I get on regular oxy's. Did the doc correctly do the math in figuring out a dose of OxyContin to replace the morphine? Am I going to go into some withdrawals? What should I expect on Sunday when I take the OxyContin instead of the morphine and jumping down to 2 oxy's a day instead of 4 which originally 6? Please help. I do have Hydroxyzine, lorazepam, diphenoxylate atropine, oh and I take 4800mg of Gabapentin a day, I have Baclofen too. Again please help and sorry so long. Look forward to responses this is beta3242 saying hello as well.
I am a 50 year old Gay man living with AIDS for the past 24 years and have been on a lot of various meds and have a lot of other health conditions likr my lower back and nerves are shot. Sciatica, poly neuropathy, arthritis, chronic pain syndrome to name a few and I am now waiting for confirmation of AVN (avascular necrosis of both hips due to HIV) following more MRI's. I'll stop here on listing more conditions.
Here is where I need help...for about the past two years specifically, I have been on 15mg ER morphine 2xday along with 6 20mg Oxycodone IR. The my HIV specialist and primary care doc finally said he needed to refer me to pain management as he was at a loss why my pain was not being controlled. Keep in mind, I developed a nasty habit of insufulating my Oxycodone. Anyway, I went to pain management thinking I was going to an office with one doc or maybe two and boy was I surprised. It's a huge clinic with lots of docs, staff, patients of varying ages and health challenges.
I did the intake and I was piss tested and ten days later returned for prescriptions and another fucking piss test all the while complaining of continuous pain and shocked my doc sent me to such a place. Well I tested positive for THC and was warned. I also was told my morphine level was high and my Oxycodone was low. I was given the scripts for the same drugs I had been taking and left bewildered and feeling very judged and very low emotionally and mentally drained. By the way I am also bi-polar and in Paxil 60mg per day along with 400mg of Seroquel which I stopped taking three months ago. More on this another time I hope.
The Next month, I was piss tested yet a ducking again, confused and not having a pain management experience I originally expected and told that my Oxycodone was not in my system but morphine and lorazepam were. ( I ran out of oxy five days early due to snorting and the morphine was carrying me). I was told that I needed to have a oral swab test for genetic testing to see how I metabolize and if I refused I would be discharged. I did it and this time they upped the morphine ER to 30mg 2xday and reduced my oxy to 4x20mg per day. I left only to be called in for a random pill count and piss test.
I was shocked never having been in p mgmt before but who am I kidding, I obviously have a problem as I came up short on the oxy' but had right amount of morphine. They gave me warning again and this time said I could sign an opiate agreement in order to stay on and needed to be seen in two weeks for meds and to meet with the doc who did my intake. I went and she said the oral genetic test was back and that morphine was not for me, doesn't work well for me so she put me on 2x30mg OxyContin Tamper coated or something like that per day and said never break them and to stick to the script as written and prescribed 2x20mg oxy's per day for break thru as needed, if at all. She's expecting that I should not need the short acting at all. What is happening here? I am still in pain, like about a 7 or so. Has she prescribed the right dosages?
My friend said I'll be hurting bad when I start the new regimen on Sunday and said the doc has way under prescribed the opiates for me. Is this true? I know it will reduce my harm to myself by not having the original 6 oxy's per day to use the way I want but I can't live in pain guys. I'm scared, very alone -have no friends or partner. I've been isolating myself for years. AIDS is tuff stuff. Am I being steered correctly with meds? What will OxyContin be like for me. Will I get the nice energy I get on regular oxy's. Did the doc correctly do the math in figuring out a dose of OxyContin to replace the morphine? Am I going to go into some withdrawals? What should I expect on Sunday when I take the OxyContin instead of the morphine and jumping down to 2 oxy's a day instead of 4 which originally 6? Please help. I do have Hydroxyzine, lorazepam, diphenoxylate atropine, oh and I take 4800mg of Gabapentin a day, I have Baclofen too. Again please help and sorry so long. Look forward to responses this is beta3242 saying hello as well.
Last edited by a moderator:
