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  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

Pain Management in Australia

I too am afraid that with my other health conditions that I may have to go into hospital again, because my scripts are for a much lower dose of oxy than I am taking pain relief that I may be given in hospital won't cover me and I may withdraw. I have no idea if my script dose would hold me...I'll try it soon enough if I can continue this taper. Took a total of 90mgs yesterday will try about the same or less today. I'm waking up absolutely hammered from my evening before dose of Lyrica....man I forgot how much this stuff effects a person when you're not used to it.

Crap....2 year wait for public PM? I think Sixbuckets (Bluelighter) posted earlier in this thread maybe on the first page that they were accepted into public PM after a month or two? I'll have to check. My GP has only referred me into Private PM and my first appt is same date as you RTP - 1st of June - how synchronistic! I'm trying to get my doses down for that reason too. I'll get a referral for public also cause I have no idea how I will afford private even though I have cover, you know how it is - you can have full cover and still have to fork out for any number of treatments. I wonder how long I'll be quoted for public admission?
 
I was referred to public PM after about one and a half years of treatment by my GP and finally some time with a rheumy. The waiting list for PM was only a couple of months, but I don't know what was going on behind the scenes - they may have had people drop out? I've now been through intake and had a second wait of around a month before I can actually see the clinicians.

If you're in Sydney, PM me and I'll tell you which clinic I went to.
 
Runtoparadise said:
Apparently the wait is usually two yrs. my first appt isn't til the first of June, for four hours!! Drs, physio, psych etc talking. Really just doing this to go through the motions & be on the system at the public hospital (where the ED is).

Rtp
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Thats insane. I hope you don't have to wait that long!
 
^SKR I totally understand your predicament if you were to be hospitalised. However, it's likely that if you were, your pain meds would be increased.

The beauty of my plan going ahead as I write this is that I only have three crappy days of wd rather than seven. A day and a half left. The private hospital always requests you don't bring on your own meds, & I have the current list of meds for the public hospital.

Although my PM heads the public pain team, at the public hospital, he only has registrars running infusions up to 500mg/24hrs.

Only certain specialists can consult at the private hospital. As he is director of the private pain clinic he is thus entitled. As I mentioned before, I have infusions at 1000mg/24hrs.

He's written to my gp regarding the plan, so fingers crossed it's all going ahead smoothly.

Rtp
 
SKR said:
I too am afraid that with my other health conditions that I may have to go into hospital again, because my scripts are for a much lower dose of oxy than I am taking pain relief that I may be given in hospital won't cover me and I may withdraw.
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Same. Needing pain relief freaks me out while Im suboxone. I mean, how many times are they going to listen to me say "No, that dose isnt working, more please."
Ugh and doctors always assume Im on suboxone because of a nasty IV habit. Idiots.
 
^Yeah, that's why I wouldn't touch methadone for chronic pain. Too much judgement already!!

I'm scared as hell of being in some accident & not being given adequate pain relief.

Glad though that the anaesthetist called me for appt regarding my meds. They'll be the one ordering post surgical meds & are aware I may have more pain than the average person.

Ps: my folks just collected sweet child of mine, they're off on a big trip up to Alice & Uluru!! Miss dearly already but things have kinda aligned perfectly if ya know what I mean ;)


Rtp
 
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^ Lucky Lady! Getting a break however short or long of a time from parenting can be a godsend. We love 'em to bits but a break really helps. And absence makes the heart grow fonder lol. Regarding anaesthetics I am always given a bit more due to having the red-head genes (Auburn Hair). Apparently this is well known amongst anaesthetists these days. I was a sick kid and required the removal of my tonsils and adnoids when I was nine - I watched and heard about 20mins of my surgery, I couldn't feel any pain or communicate except I was able to blink my eyes which is what alerted my surgeon and anaesthetist - they increased the dose and next thing I know I'm waking up in my room post surgery. It was my first psychedelic experience cos the Ketamine that was in the mix was cranking - My surgeons eyes were replaced by a sort of mandelbrot fractal swirling in a clockwise direction. I think it set the tone for my life in regards to chasing psychedelic experiences later in life.

Regarding pain-relief in hospital - they're pretty good in my experience when it comes to adequate pain relief, nurses would rather you were comfortable because ultimately you are easier to care for lol. It helps that my wife is a clinical nurse at the public hospital that I usually go to for emergancy, she's usually the team leader and no one wants the bosses husband upset lol. And yes RTP the Private hospital I go to would rather you save your drugs for yourself, they have plenty to go around. I must say Private is so much better than public - the care has been quite consistent between private and public in my experience but the difference is having a big private room for one and a beautiful garden with a creek/pond where ducks and other wildlife frequent. My last health scare was cushioned nicely because the hospital was so nice - I often thought that if I have to die I would like to do it here. Fortunately for me I escaped death that time, just lost 30kilos and my gall bladder in the end. Such is life.
 
Personally I've had not so great experiences in the public system. Like taking twelve hrs to set a frigging drip up. Or one endone for kidney stones. Or the time I was given an iv shot of ketamine grrrr.

Last time was ok though, fent shots;)

The wing I go to at the private hosp basically just do infusions, or other care for chronic pain patients. Ketamine, lignocaine, general medical care. I know the nurses & they know me & my pain well.

To be honest, I don't mind a few days bring K'd out, having meals brought to me, zoned out watching tv or wandering the courtyard. Not having to parent leaves me with zero responsibilities. And have my NDIA lady helper do housework & shopping for me!!

So yes, SKR, lucky lady indeed. Couldn't really ask for more. The transfer etc is all sorted & I'll be under a colleague of my PM dr.

I may whinge a bit but I'm far luckier than so many Cpp's regarding pain meds & treatments.

There's plenty of anti opiate PMs out there. If it helps anyone, patients do travel interstate to see my PM dr. I'm happy to share his details via PM,

Rtp
 
Runtoparadise said:
Or one endone for kidney stones.
Rtp
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Oh god. Kidney stones are the worst right? When mine were passing it was like being stabbed with red hot barbed wire. My doctors failed to even diagnose the stones and I had zero pain relief. Sigh.
 
Well, "supposedly", the usual that get bucketed out. Lyrica, amytriptyline, Diaz, & most recently mitrazapine.

Amytriptyline I just fill my script every now & then to keep my drs happy;) Does nothing for me. The lyrica I keep for wd days :( Diazapam potentiates the oxy nicely :D

Mitrazapine does help me sleep, but I find it more like a hypnotic, crazy vivid dreams & sleepwalking etc.

@Brighton, I thought your pain was sorted? R u just curious?

Rtp
 
Runtoparadise said:
Personally I've had not so great experiences in the public system. Like taking twelve hrs to set a frigging drip up. Or one endone for kidney stones. Or the time I was given an iv shot of ketamine grrrr.
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Ew. Sorry to hear that. One end one for kidney stones even if you had never touched an opiate/opioid in your life it wouldn't touch the sides, like peeing in the wind. I got given more for pancreatitis and I was opiate naive at the time and my pancreatitis was not the worst albeit idiopathic in nature. I hear some shocking stories from my wife - not all nurses should be nurses and not all doctors should be doctors. And some hospitals should probably be burnt to the ground I suspect.

Runtoparadise said:
Last time was ok though, fent shots;)
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Ahh yeah - nice.

Runtoparadise said:
The wing I go to at the private hosp basically just do infusions, or other care for chronic pain patients. Ketamine, lignocaine, general medical care. I know the nurses & they know me & my pain well.

To be honest, I don't mind a few days bring K'd out, having meals brought to me, zoned out watching tv or wandering the courtyard. Not having to parent leaves me with zero responsibilities. And have my NDIA lady helper do housework & shopping for me!!

So yes, SKR, lucky lady indeed. Couldn't really ask for more. The transfer etc is all sorted & I'll be under a colleague of my PM dr.

I may whinge a bit but I'm far luckier than so many Cpp's regarding pain meds & treatments.

There's plenty of anti opiate PMs out there. If it helps anyone, patients do travel interstate to see my PM dr. I'm happy to share his details via PM,

Rtp
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Yeah I think the best part of hospital is being treated with meals cooked for you and brought to you in bed no less. Being an adult with responsibilities can be a real drag sometimes lol. You really don't whinge that much from what I've seen but I don't have to live with you so I cannot comment.;)


brighton said:
What meds are you on RTP and SKR apart from the oxy? Out of interest.
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Hey Brighton, apart from oxy I'm on 75mgs of amitriptyline in the evenings. It doesn't seem to help my pain at all but I suspect it has finally had a positive effect on my anxiety and depression, although my GP says that doses in the 150-200 range is where the anti-depression qualities are. But I dunno, all this depression and especially anxiety is new to me. I'm trying though.

How are you going on the subs?
 
I've pretty much written myself off again..

From what? Pushing a shopping trolley for my first unsupervised shopping trip since this started.

I might need to beg my doc for something for the breakthrough pain.. Which she's unwilling to do until I've seen a specialist, which I can't afford..
 
^Sorry to hear that Ashstorm, Pain is a bitch and so is the cost to see specialists. GP's are certainly reading from a script when it comes to how to approach patients who are in need of pain relief for a chronic condition. Are you on meds now?
 
Ok so yesterday I had my initial consultation with a Doctor from the "QLD pain clinic" (private)at a cost of $295.00 ($167.00 out of pocket, the rest returned through medicare).

I went in with perhaps a little ill-deserved optimism and left there feeling much the same way. He seems to think I'm a good candidate for a nerve cut/burn procedure that he performs on many patients with good success. However, the fact that both the drugs Endep & Lyrica had no positive effect on my pain led him to believe that my issue isn't nerve related. Apparently just about all his patients with nerve issues get at least some relief from either Endep or Lyrica or both so this threw him a little....but we could all agree, pain that originates at the back and wraps around the ribs ending at the insertion points of my sternum is a fairly strong to absolute indicator that nerves are involved...so as usual, or as I have experienced over the past year, my health issues are "highly unusual and never yet seen with any of my patients of which I have had thousands" kind sir.....Yay for me and my idiopathic complaints. So here ends the "pity party" within this post.

With private insurance cover, any of the day procedures like nerve cuts/burns and a host of other surgeries he performs, there is no gap to pay so for once hip-hip hoo fucking ray, my insurance is actually worth a damn! Actually my insurance has been very helpful with regards to my problems over the last 12 months or so - the hospital stays, the surgery etc, that's where it really makes a difference but you would rather not need it in the first place I suppose.

I'm booked in for a surgery in two weeks time which is swift, and of course I am eager to see the outcome - a positive outcome with a bit of luck. I want to come off oxycodone but I would like my pain to be better controlled because it's hard enough trying to get off oxy without pain.
 
@ RTP - Hey Sweetness and Light - time to do some house cleaning, your PM box is full and and won't accept my awesome messages until you throw out some of the junk I've been sending you lol, cheers xxx
 
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