• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | Eligiu | deficiT

Really need advice -15+ year opiate use

W

woolybuggin

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 17, 2017
Messages
8
Back in 2000 or so I became severely depressed and from that point on my physical health went downhill.
I went on an anti-depressants, every type in the book, but none of them worked a lick.
I've always had medical issues so I thought it would be okay.
However, in 2001 I started going to a pain management clinic because of chronic back pain and fibromyalgia.

To make a long story short, my Doc of 15 year retired 3 months ago.
When he did they gave me 3 months worth of prescriptions and said when I got back
I would have a new doc assigned.
New doctor is a complete asshole.
He immediately started treating me like a criminal and said, with new DEA regulations we are going to have to cut your pain medication by 2/3rds
and you're not getting your meds today, come back next week.
First of all, I have never asked for a bump in my meds, never failed a drug test (they give them randomly)
and have never sold or lost my pills.
I was on 60mg of Morphine Sulfate ER 3x a day and 20mg of Oxycodone 4x per day.
I personally requested twice in the last year to have my dosages reduced, and had them
down to 20mg twice of a day of Morphine and 5mg of Oxy 3x a day.
Then for this Doc to come in and say, "hey that dose your on, we are going to knock it all the way down
to 60mg split up by 3 tabs of 10mg a day and the Oxy probably get rid of it completely or dock it down to once a day."
I calmly ask why.
Because of new DEA regulations.
I searched high and low online and can find no such new DEA regulation about that.
It didn't seem to matter to him that I voluntarily asked the previous doctor at least twice to reduce my presciption
or that I have never "gotten in trouble" with the clinic or the law.


This was Friday.
I had enough meds stashed to last me 4 days.
I have until this Friday on 2.5 days left of medication.
So anyway, Its Monday morning, I feel sicker than I ever have in my life (and that's saying something)
I keep seeing those few little pills I have left and I know they wont last me until Friday, and even if they did by some miracle,
the reduced plan he will have me on is what I am left with now.

So what are my options?
Can I go to a local ER and get them to help?
There aren't many pain rehab places near me, I already have to drive 40 mile round trip as it is, so going
to another clinic isn't a real option.
My family doctor wont prescribe narcotics under any circumstances, so that's out.
I'm also on permanent physical/mental disability with a limited income and just Medicare.

I am a father of two with a wife and I have no one in my life that I can really talk to about this.
My wife is really religious and all she will say is to "pray it away"

I pretty damn scared right now as I don't know how long I can feel like this and not go batshit crazy.
I've slept maybe 3 hours at the most at a time and haven't ate in 2 days.
I'm hypoglycemic and with high blood pressure (which the withdrawal is making really bad) so that's dangerous for me, but everytime I even think of eating I want to vomit.
 
what a horrible situation to be in... DEA went and fucked everything up

i hate to say this but if i were you id say fuck it, fuck the doctors, fuck withdrawal, and go get something off the street. doesn't matter what but just any opiate or dope and use it to keep you well and hold you over until you get your new prescriptions

thats what i would personally do but i know people are going to give me backlash for suggesting such a thing... you could also try to get into a methadone or suboxone clinic explain to them your situation and try to get on it asap

goodluck man i wish you the best
 
^I can understand why you would recommend going to the street but I definitely disagree--to me that opens the door to a severely compounded problem and puts you in a lot of danger. In the interests of harm reduction I am going to ask that you not recommend buying street drugs, particularly heroin, to someone that has never done so. Trying suboxone might be the best advice.

Woolybuggin, I know that you are going to go through a very tough time but would it help to know that if nothing else this decrease will lower your tolerance over time and let you re-set to lower doses? In the meantime you can get some relief from over the counter sleep aids as well as trying to drink at least a smoothie for calories. Here is an Opiod Withdrawal megathread that may be helpful:http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/569872-The-Opioid-Withdrawal-Megathread-and-FAQ
 
Thanks for the help. The street thing really isn't possible for me. One, I live in a more rural area, so I don't really know anyone I could trust, two the cops here are hard asses about this sort of thing, I mean seriously bad, they beat a guy to death last year over a baggie of weed, and three, I have a wife and kids, no way I can risk spending time in jail.
I did the take the smoothie advice for calories and was able to keep it down for about 2 hours, at least now I don't feel like I'm going to pass out.
I do have sleeping pills from my psych doc, but I've never used them, as I didn't want to mix morphine w/ the sleep meds because I was told the mix could stop your breathing.
Being so low on the morphine in my system, I will probably try them tonight.
Anyway, I called my pain doc office and requested the doc call me back. A PA called back and said there was nothing they could do for me and if I asked for pills early again they would kick me off the program!
15 years and never have I ever asked for any increase or pills early, actually the opposite, and this is how I get treated.
I live in the Bible belt, so this type of thing is already looked down on by a lot of backwards thinking people.

That hardest thing is trying to explain to my 11 year old son why Dad can't really "hang out" with him right now.
I tried explaining the best safe way I could without scaring the shit out of him, but I'm not sure he understood.

It's going to be a rough damn night. I cant stop the shakes and it feels almost hopeless, but knowing that at least two people out there in the world gave a shit to write back helps a little bit.
thank you.
 
I found my sleep doc had given me a bottle of Temazepam.
Would this help with my WD?
Or would I be digging a bigger hole for myself in the long road since temazepam is a light benzo?
 
5:50 am
Took a temazepam last night, put me out for about 3 hours.
Looking at another long day.
3.5 days until a refill is possible.
 
i don't think you can get off of it man. you will be in withdrawal hell. i think you need some help with that.
 
Well, I have appointment with pain PA today.
For some reason the switched me from refill visit to PA visit.
Not sure what that's about.
I hope to God they're not going to be like "You're outta here for asking for an early refill"
Wish me luck.
 
well fuck me sideways
Went from 90mg of Morphine per day to 30mg
Oxycodone completely cut out.
Oh, get this, they gave me a medication that will drastically lower my blood pressure for my withdrawal symptoms.
(take as needed when feeling my bp rising from lowered med levels.)

Called my family doctor just as I was about to take it.
Was told, do not, under any circumstances take that, with your medical history it will drop your bp to fatal levels.

Now, please understand, the medical system where I live are all under the same umbrella.
The pain clinic is part of the same hospital system that my family doctor is.
you would THINK they would all have the same medical history on me right?

At a loss for words.
 
Thank you Herbavore, you are such a kind soul.
If there is anything I can ever do to help you, send me a DM. I mean that.
Just your words have helped me greatly when I don't have anyone else.
 
Thanks back at ya!<3 Is there any way that you can have your GP actually call the doctor at the pain clinic that told you to take the BP lowering drug. That is sounds so depressingly familiar (doctors not communicating even in the same clinic).
 
Hey WoolyB, I'm sorry to hear your being put through this knee jerk reaction that's going on across the country and having to deal with Doc's that don't use any tapering or substitution to make the cuts humane. What happened to the oath "Do no Harm ?"

I've got a 16 year Rx opioid history similar to yours and 5 years methadone maintenance up until a little over a year ago. I'm now back to Rx'ed Oxy IR 30mg- 4x/day and some MS (morphine sulfate) sprinkled in non-Rx. I'm in southern California and it's fairly screwed up out here as well. I have a friend about 20 mins north in Los Angeles with some moderate damage to her back and lower neck, she got cut way down last month with a kind of vague "It's the DEA's fault" excuse that bureaucracy is encroaching on Pharmacotherapy.

I've been lucky that my Doc has jumped through all of the hoops and hurdles and hasn't cut me down even though I was honest and told him that my pain levels were better than usual. He has an electronic key-chain Fob that is connected to the DEA via Wi-Fi and once he presses a button a new DEA prescribing code appears every 30 seconds. He no longer uses paper prescriptions and fills meds with an encrypted electronic service and his key-chain fob. It's like he's sending in Nuclear codes with the "football" like orange hitler would. I'm not sure if this electronic system is going to make things worse on my end because he sends the electronic script to one pharm. A couple years back I would have to go to 15-18 pharmacies every month to find someone that a.> Would fill my script & b.> Had the meds in stock. I had to complain to the corporate offices that I'd been using my current pharm for over a decade and the problem finally resolved itself but what a mess.

As someone who has been lucky at the moment but dealt with this problem before, I would have to say that if you cannot find a way to resolve any of this and are reduced to a medication level that you cannot function on, methadone is strong enough to help with pain as well as extinguish the psychological symptoms that arise from 15 years of use. I know it's difficult to utilize a place that is designed for heroin users when you have no such history, but it can provide relief and allow you to function even if it's just a long, slow taper to help yourself become accustomed to a lower Rx opioid level. Also there are a lot more people using Methadone clinics to get off Rx''d opioids then there were a decade ago. Out here it's about 50/50 so the heroin stigma is dissipating a little bit although I still understand how it's tough to acquiesce to the methadone clinic "system". At least you are in control of the amount of your daily dose though and it is a powerful opioid. Being in a rural area might pose some difficulty but suffering for months to adjust to the new levels set by your Doc does also.

Wooly-B Could you share the BP drug you were prescribed if you are comfortable in doing so? I'm guessing it's an ACE inhibitor like Benazepril but I'd like to know if it's something else like clonidine. I'm feeling for you and the other millions of people going through this right now. I'm also worried what Chris Christy is going to propose with his Opioid Abuse task-force coming soon, or maybe this reaction is their first step, but I keep hearing references to something happening in July that's causing this pain management panic. I guess we'll see.

Hang in there WB..
 
woolybuggin said:
I am a father of two with a wife and I have no one in my life that I can really talk to about this.
My wife is really religious and all she will say is to "pray it away"

I pretty damn scared right now as I don't know how long I can feel like this and not go batshit crazy.
I've slept maybe 3 hours at the most at a time and haven't ate in 2 days.
I'm hypoglycemic and with high blood pressure (which the withdrawal is making really bad) so that's dangerous for me, but everytime I even think of eating I want to vomit.
Click to expand...

i see your plight. My advice is go to the ER when your at your bottom, any decent doctor with compassion will AT LEAST help you with a tapering plan, maybe give you suboxone for a few weeks (and it really sounds like you would need this), and thats your time to fight the mental aspect of addiction while the suboxone holds the physical aspects aside while you taper....slowly off that. with high blood pressure your doctor needs to be careful not to withdrawal you too quick, but dude...you need to get your energy back.

one step at a time pal. baby steps are better then biting off more then you can chew.
You need to remember that the human body is very resiliant and 99% of the time your body will remember how it functioned before the drugs. hence, in time you will be returned to 'normal'. And when you do you will understand that alot of positive emotions and energies will begin to flow back through your body and mind, you will regain emotions you thought were lost forever, happiness, empathy, ENERGY, POWER. its not like you go through all this pain, withdrawal, sickness, and...at the end of the road you feel like shit still...no
quite the opposite. Everything you have lost through your pain you must regain. Show your family how strong you are :) your wife sounds like a good woman, praying things away only work if both parties are 100% committed. God gave us free will, some problems and some blessings. So through all our adversitys whom amoung us is stronger? the devil brought you to his table, you got to leave it, and eat where the lions of triumph feast healthily ;)

oh and please....stay away from the benzo's. the withdrawal on those is about 10 times longer and more agony then opiates. stop those while you can. let us know how you feel bud :\
 
mrsnowygrainius said:
what a horrible situation to be in... DEA went and fucked everything up

i hate to say this but if i were you id say fuck it, fuck the doctors, fuck withdrawal, and go get something off the street. doesn't matter what but just any opiate or dope and use it to keep you well and hold you over until you get your new prescriptions

thats what i would personally do but i know people are going to give me backlash for suggesting such a thing... you could also try to get into a methadone or suboxone clinic explain to them your situation and try to get on it asap

goodluck man i wish you the best
Click to expand...


^^^jeeez.
take your negativity and begone while we help this man who can think more logically then you. get something off the street and spend your withdrawal in a cell with 40 others sharing a toilet. 8)
 
I don't know exactly how it works there, but here In canada you could just find a different doctor and tell them your last doctor was a quack who tried to take you off your pain meds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top