Just Wondering If I am A Rare Bird

[Blazer230]

My Dr has still been prescribing me 240 (down from 360 per month, been his patient for 8 years) 30mg blue oxycodone every month. He also gives me Ketamine nasal spray and has for about 2 years now. And now he gave me Clonidine for if I run short during a month he says it will help with withdrawal symptoms by a little bit. Of course he is always talking about needing to decrease the dose just because of government pressure. He is a VERY meticulous note taker but we both know he just writes scripts for the most part. He is a firm believer in nobody should suffer from pain. He has been hinting at retirement and said his main concern is finding another Dr that would continue me at my current levels. He said he had 4 other Dr's and they ALL backed out on him as far as continuing his patients scripts. He is actually an American Dr and Iraq war vet Purple Heart recipient (Was in a helicopter crash). So he knows pain. He is a Neurologist. He also says that if he could legally write a script for pot he would. Illegal here in NC. I don't smoke it anyways and never have. I have always had a clean urine test and always been on count if and when they ever ask. That has not been an issue last couple of years due to the plandemic it has been all telephone visits. Does anyone have ANY suggestions as to maybe finding another Dr for if and when he does retire? I am in Eastern NC. It seems MOST Dr's around are scared to death to write anything anymore. I have legitimate back knee and shoulder issues that can not be repaired surgically and this has been my only option for the most part. So just looking any advice someone might could help with.

Thanks
Blazer

 

[nznity]

Indeed, you're probably a very lucky guy for now but if I was you I'd start tapering and saving pills here and there. You never knoe when they can cut you out and thsts gonna fuck u up real bad. I'd stock up on some loperamide, ask ur dr to prescribe u lyrica for wds aswell so u can keep going down. Get down to at least 150mg or they could cut u off anytime tbh.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

You simply have to get him to a fountain of youth somewhere and have him drink generously. You have to keep him alive and in practice. He is indeed a rare bird and you will never find another one like him.

Yes....start tapering. Stockpiling like nznity said. Do whatever you can to get your tolerance down to at least 120 mgs per day ( 4 pills ) and then sock the others away. I know you have legit pain but if this guy retires anytime soon you are going to be in a world of hurt as no Dr. will prescribe anywhere near as much as you are getting now.

Not sure your Dr. really did you any favors by giving you such a large script. I understand you don't abuse them and adhere to your pill counts and stuff and you do have legit pain but giving you such a large script only enabled you to take 8 pills a day, not run out, and send your tolerance through the roof. If he retired tomorrow unexpectedly on you I almost think you would have no choice but to go straight to methadone.....the WD's from that much oxy would be horrible.

There have been several threads on here lately of members that have had their oxy scripts reduced to TWO blues a day....that's it. They get 60 pills per month....no exceptions. I mean different States have different Dr.s and some may give more...some may give less. But either way I think you would be hard pressed to find any Dr. to give you 240 a month.

Taper...taper....taper. If he stays in practice....you are golden. If he quits, at least you won't be in a world of hurt going from 240 pills a month to zero. Heck, you can't even be guaranteed that a new Dr. will give you any at all.....not even 60.

Send your Dr. to me please. Pretty please
And btw...........Welcome to Bluelight.

 

[Blazer230]

Indeed, you're probably a very lucky guy for now but if I was you I'd start tapering and saving pills here and there. You never knoe when they can cut you out and thsts gonna fuck u up real bad. I'd stock up on some loperamide, ask ur dr to prescribe u lyrica for wds aswell so u can keep going down. Get down to at least 150mg or they could cut u off anytime tbh.

Yes I probably have 1000 Lyrica. He has been giving me those forever and I never take them just been filling them every month though that's my biggest fear tbh. Him just gone 1 day. I actually have an appointment this week and going to ask him to increase me back to 360 worst he can say is no I guess, so I can start to put some away for when it happens. He is in good health but said he is just tired of all the red tape that is constantly changing on his practice. It is just him in a single practice.

 

[Blazer230]

You simply have to get him to a fountain of youth somewhere and have him drink generously. You have to keep him alive and in practice. He is indeed a rare bird and you will never find another one like him.

Yes....start tapering. Stockpiling like nznity said. Do whatever you can to get your tolerance down to at least 120 mgs per day ( 4 pills ) and then sock the others away. I know you have legit pain but if this guy retires anytime soon you are going to be in a world of hurt as no Dr. will prescribe anywhere near as much as you are getting now.

Not sure your Dr. really did you any favors by giving you such a large script. I understand you don't abuse them and adhere to your pill counts and stuff and you do have legit pain but giving you such a large script only enabled you to take 8 pills a day, not run out, and send your tolerance through the roof. If he retired tomorrow unexpectedly on you I almost think you would have no choice but to go straight to methadone.....the WD's from that much oxy would be horrible.

There have been several threads on here lately of members that have had their oxy scripts reduced to TWO blues a day....that's it. They get 60 pills per month....no exceptions. I mean different States have different Dr.s and some may give more...some may give less. But either way I think you would be hard pressed to find any Dr. to give you 240 a month.

Taper...taper....taper. If he stays in practice....you are golden. If he quits, at least you won't be in a world of hurt going from 240 pills a month to zero. Heck, you can't even be guaranteed that a new Dr. will give you any at all.....not even 60.

Send your Dr. to me please. Pretty please
And btw...........Welcome to Bluelight.

And on the legit pain issue to be totally honest I am not even sure they help with the pain anymore. Yes I have been trying to save when possible but after so long I am afraid its more of a habit to just pop 2 and roll on. I'm pretty sure I take them when I do not 100% need to. But without them I start to feel like crap in a couple of days of course. But I can also take a couple hydrocodone 10's and will atop feeling so crappy. The ketamine helps TRMENDOUSLY from just popping a couple pills but always having to fight off purple dragons to get something from the fridge is no fun... :lol: Seriously the ketamine spray does not make me hallucinate but just makes me feel extremely distant from what's going on around me. I have never liked the feeling of being high. Same as with the pills. I get absolutely NO euphoric feelings and am always 100% present so that leads me to thinking I am taking them now for more of a "preventative maintenance" to avoid the withdrawal symptoms. Meds react 100% different on me. I used to be thicker than a Snicker gained a ton of weight after messing up back. Had the RNY Gastric Bypass surgery to lose the weight and ever since then meds are only 30% as effective as they once were. Also having been on them for the last 14 years certainly has built a tolerance. Dr said if hurting badly take 3-4 of the 30's every now and then, I can do that and there is no change in anything. So between the surgery and the years of taking them I guess that adds up. I used to be on the fentanyl patch. Didn't like them because they would never stick to skin. So I went to Dr told him about it and said I wanted to stop them. He said the withdrawal is going to be bad. He said how long ago was your last patch I said 2-3 weeks he said wow. I NEVER had the first withdrawal symptom from stopping using them. It was a 75mcg patch. So my body is really weird with meds. I think I go through more of a psychological thing if I think I am going to run out vs physical thing. Another issue is since the bypass surgery everything I take has to be IR no ER because of the time it takes for a pill to break down. So anyways sorry for the book here and thank you guys very much for the advice I will take all given and apply it the best way I can.

 

[Blazer230]

He said the magic number around here is 90 per month max and anything he writes over that sends up a red flag. I have a small local pharmacy that has zero issues with filling them but he is telling me the government is getting more ridiculous everyday and it is just hard for him to keep up with the constant changes. He is more frustrated than anything else it seems.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

And on the legit pain issue to be totally honest I am not even sure they help with the pain anymore. Yes I have been trying to save when possible but after so long I am afraid its more of a habit to just pop 2 and roll on. I'm pretty sure I take them when I do not 100% need to. But without them I start to feel like crap in a couple of days of course. But I can also take a couple hydrocodone 10's and will atop feeling so crappy. The ketamine helps TRMENDOUSLY from just popping a couple pills but always having to fight off purple dragons to get something from the fridge is no fun... :lol: Seriously the ketamine spray does not make me hallucinate but just makes me feel extremely distant from what's going on around me. I have never liked the feeling of being high. Same as with the pills. I get absolutely NO euphoric feelings and am always 100% present so that leads me to thinking I am taking them now for more of a "preventative maintenance" to avoid the withdrawal symptoms. Meds react 100% different on me. I used to be thicker than a Snicker gained a ton of weight after messing up back. Had the RNY Gastric Bypass surgery to lose the weight and ever since then meds are only 30% as effective as they once were. Also having been on them for the last 14 years certainly has built a tolerance. Dr said if hurting badly take 3-4 of the 30's every now and then, I can do that and there is no change in anything. So between the surgery and the years of taking them I guess that adds up. I used to be on the fentanyl patch. Didn't like them because they would never stick to skin. So I went to Dr told him about it and said I wanted to stop them. He said the withdrawal is going to be bad. He said how long ago was your last patch I said 2-3 weeks he said wow. I NEVER had the first withdrawal symptom from stopping using them. It was a 75mcg patch. So my body is really weird with meds. I think I go through more of a psychological thing if I think I am going to run out vs physical thing. Another issue is since the bypass surgery everything I take has to be IR no ER because of the time it takes for a pill to break down. So anyways sorry for the book here and thank you guys very much for the advice I will take all given and apply it the best way I can.

Well, it seems like you have a handle on it all. Especially if you think you can get by on less and still have your pain controlled.

I know the feeling of thinking you need them to go about your day and mostly just taking them to stay out of WD. Taking meds that long becomes a habit more than anything else....even when they don't work that great. Our mind is a powerful gatekeeper. It keeps us prisoner sometimes for no reason other than we can't break a bad habit.

I do wish you luck.....whether your Dr. retires or he doesn't. I'm glad to hear that you can get by with less as someday you may have to.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

He said the magic number around here is 90 per month max and anything he writes over that sends up a red flag. I have a small local pharmacy that has zero issues with filling them but he is telling me the government is getting more ridiculous everyday and it is just hard for him to keep up with the constant changes. He is more frustrated than anything else it seems.

Yep. That sounds about right. His hands are tied.

 

[Cream Gravy?]

Does anyone have ANY suggestions as to maybe finding another Dr for if and when he does retire?

Start shopping now. Be honest and straight forward, and really... don't expect to ever get that much oxy or ketamine ever again.

I had to go through three different doctors before I finally got to a fourth who gives me alprazolam for extreme abdominal cramping. First three treated me like a junkie. Finally the fourth was compassionate. Those six months of searching though... they were hell. I contemplated suicide many times.

 

[nznity]

Yes I probably have 1000 Lyrica. He has been giving me those forever and I never take them just been filling them every month though that's my biggest fear tbh. Him just gone 1 day. I actually have an appointment this week and going to ask him to increase me back to 360 worst he can say is no I guess, so I can start to put some away for when it happens. He is in good health but said he is just tired of all the red tape that is constantly changing on his practice. It is just him in a single practice.

Ojhhh those are gonna come in real handy st the time of dropping to 0. Lyrica makes wds intensity drop by 50,,,-%, at least. Makes it bearable.

 

[nznity]

Start shopping now. Be honest and straight forward, and really... don't expect to ever get that much oxy or ketamine ever again.

I had to go through three different doctors before I finally got to a fourth who gives me alprazolam for extreme abdominal cramping. First three treated me like a junkie. Finally the fourth was compassionate. Those six months of searching though... they were hell. I contemplated suicide many times.

No other dr is gonna give him the same amount of oxy EVER. He shud dtsrt slowly tapering tbh