Leonidas_IV
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2010
- Messages
- 1
Firstly a big humble hello to Bluelight and its community. I wish my first post could of been more positive, but unfortunately i find myself caught in a huge dilemma and i was hopeful to get some advise before i dig deeper into my self dug rabbit hole.
I can't sleep my mind is racing around so much. I went to see my GP today, and i came out in a panic.
This is a complex situation that has been ongoing for some time now. I'm a vinyl layer subcontractor thats having time off because of an injury that happened. Since i was 20 i've been having typical sciatica symptoms that were tolerated a lot of the time. I'n my line of work it's very easy to damage your back lifting something and i've done something that hurts like hell.
I've also been addicted to H before... never a full blow addiction but more like a casual user and a binge or 2 in between. for the last 2 years i've managed to kick the binge out of my "thing" and have used 7 or 8 times this year.
Sorry this is going to get long... i'll get to the point. I always have been honest with my GP and he doesn't prescribe me anything strong when i was having moderate symptoms. at the time of my injury my GP was on a 2 week leave so i decided to go to another clinic. I went in to this new GP and told him of my pain and injury, showed him a diagnostic report of an MRI i had done 4 years ago and also the referral i got from the hospital that had that they gave me dilaudid on the report. He gave me some dilaudid. so i decide to see him again even though my regular GP would be available. this time he gives me 60 10mg ms contins. I'm hooked line and sinker. i see him again and organised to have tests done at the hospital, he ups the dose to 30mg without any fuss and i'm finally getting relief from my pain and as an added bonus the medication is suppressing my urge to use H... typically it was too good to be true.
I went to see him on friday and he asked me if ive ever been on and used heroin. I froze up... i didn't know what to say but in a split second i decided to lie and said no. he then hands me a piece of paper and asked me what it is. I sit there in shocked to see a doctors name i instantly recognise as one i saw around 2 years ago.
The paper i was holding is a document sent by the department of health to him stating that it intends to refuse his application for a permit to prescribe me a schedule 8 drug for my treatment. I can barely read this as my mind was racing for a response. The document continues...
'Department records show another practitioner Dr * ****** holds a pharacotherapy permit to treat the patient with buprenorphine/methadone for opioid dependence, consequently you are not administer, supply or prescribe schedule 8 drugs for this patient at this time without first contacting the permit holder'
'The department advises that before you prescribe opioid analgesia for this patient, an assessment by a specialist physician should be sought to determine if this treatment is appropriate'
'if the patient has transferred to you for ongoing management, a cancellation notice from the current permit holder must be received by the department. If this issue has not been address in 5 days, the application will be refused in which case you will need to submit a new application for a permit'
About 2 years ago i went on the methadone for around 3 weeks. I was getting bad effects from it so i just stopped going(to the chemist) and never saw that GP again. now its popped up and bit me in the arse. In a matter of seconds from looking at the document i said, without thinking "i was on it for pain management" I was in panic mode and basically had no control of the moment and couldn't rationalise with him. He was basically saying I can't prescribe you anything any more... you have to go back and see this doctor. I tried to explain and asked why he couldn't continue my treatment, but he just kept saying that he's not allowed to prescribe for me any more... but from what it says on the letter all he has to do is contact the permit holder and for me to undergo an assessment by a specialist.
I don't know what he's going to do. he had received the letter on the monday and didn't notify me until i saw him on friday. I wonder if he had requested information on me from medicare or something. Is it possible that he can find out what other GP's i've seen and request information about me? He may have already talked to my regular GP and caught me in a lie. maybe now that i've said that the methadone was pain related, it might make him suspicious and may act on it... I have no idea where i stand. I've already made an appointment with this methadone GP for monday. I've only ever seen her once, and she's over the other side of the city. I remember telling her i had a $100 a day habit just to get a reasonable dose of methadone. What do i tell her?
Sorry if this is some much of a read, but i really need some guidance on this. Do i keep up the methadone for pain act? do i tell her the truth, and ask her for discretion? It's not practical for her to be my regular GP as she's so far away. I just need her to cancel the permit for me. I don't understand why he didn't explain the situation to me and why he couldn't prescribe any more. he could have contacted the mentioned GP and got her to sort the permit out over the phone, but the reaction from my gp wasn't positive at all and i wonder if thats because he's already found out about my addiction by contacting my regular GP. maybe he just didn't believe me, and I'm worried he'll report me to medicare or something.
The way i see it is i have 2 options. 1 is to go to the GP who holds my permit and go from there. I honestly don't know what to say to her. I don't want to do any further damage, but maybe she could help me find out where i stand with regards to being listed on as a doctor shopper or drug seeking registers.
2. i go back to the GP and address the reasons for the refusal of his application and continue my treatment through him. i really wish i didn't lie to him. now I could go back and be completely honest and apologise for the lie and say i was embarrassed to admit at the time and hope he forgives me. I just hope the damage is not permanent.
I've seen this GP for about 5 months and in that time he's prescribed me 4 or 5 scripts of a months worth of morphine. i don't know why this has just come up now. I thought about contacting the department of health regarding my situation and see if i can find out where i stand. Its not knowing thats killing me, i wonder if the department will disclose any information to me. It really sucks because everything was fine and i was getting treated for pain and now i instantly look like a drug seeker faking injury to this GP because of this stupid permit thats 2 years old. now I'm going to find it impossible to get prescribed anything and won't be taken seriously any more just because of a split second decision to lie because of embarrassment. I just hope he hasn't talked to my regular GP
Well i guess this may be an interesting read for anyone who's got a spare 5 mins
Any thoughts on where i stand and what action i should take? I would really appreciate anything to be honest, and am willing to cop a bit of flac as well. I just want to do EVERYTHING possible to rectify the situation and minimise the harm as much as possible.... after all, this site is harm reduction.
I can't sleep my mind is racing around so much. I went to see my GP today, and i came out in a panic.
This is a complex situation that has been ongoing for some time now. I'm a vinyl layer subcontractor thats having time off because of an injury that happened. Since i was 20 i've been having typical sciatica symptoms that were tolerated a lot of the time. I'n my line of work it's very easy to damage your back lifting something and i've done something that hurts like hell.
I've also been addicted to H before... never a full blow addiction but more like a casual user and a binge or 2 in between. for the last 2 years i've managed to kick the binge out of my "thing" and have used 7 or 8 times this year.
Sorry this is going to get long... i'll get to the point. I always have been honest with my GP and he doesn't prescribe me anything strong when i was having moderate symptoms. at the time of my injury my GP was on a 2 week leave so i decided to go to another clinic. I went in to this new GP and told him of my pain and injury, showed him a diagnostic report of an MRI i had done 4 years ago and also the referral i got from the hospital that had that they gave me dilaudid on the report. He gave me some dilaudid. so i decide to see him again even though my regular GP would be available. this time he gives me 60 10mg ms contins. I'm hooked line and sinker. i see him again and organised to have tests done at the hospital, he ups the dose to 30mg without any fuss and i'm finally getting relief from my pain and as an added bonus the medication is suppressing my urge to use H... typically it was too good to be true.
I went to see him on friday and he asked me if ive ever been on and used heroin. I froze up... i didn't know what to say but in a split second i decided to lie and said no. he then hands me a piece of paper and asked me what it is. I sit there in shocked to see a doctors name i instantly recognise as one i saw around 2 years ago.
The paper i was holding is a document sent by the department of health to him stating that it intends to refuse his application for a permit to prescribe me a schedule 8 drug for my treatment. I can barely read this as my mind was racing for a response. The document continues...
'Department records show another practitioner Dr * ****** holds a pharacotherapy permit to treat the patient with buprenorphine/methadone for opioid dependence, consequently you are not administer, supply or prescribe schedule 8 drugs for this patient at this time without first contacting the permit holder'
'The department advises that before you prescribe opioid analgesia for this patient, an assessment by a specialist physician should be sought to determine if this treatment is appropriate'
'if the patient has transferred to you for ongoing management, a cancellation notice from the current permit holder must be received by the department. If this issue has not been address in 5 days, the application will be refused in which case you will need to submit a new application for a permit'
About 2 years ago i went on the methadone for around 3 weeks. I was getting bad effects from it so i just stopped going(to the chemist) and never saw that GP again. now its popped up and bit me in the arse. In a matter of seconds from looking at the document i said, without thinking "i was on it for pain management" I was in panic mode and basically had no control of the moment and couldn't rationalise with him. He was basically saying I can't prescribe you anything any more... you have to go back and see this doctor. I tried to explain and asked why he couldn't continue my treatment, but he just kept saying that he's not allowed to prescribe for me any more... but from what it says on the letter all he has to do is contact the permit holder and for me to undergo an assessment by a specialist.
I don't know what he's going to do. he had received the letter on the monday and didn't notify me until i saw him on friday. I wonder if he had requested information on me from medicare or something. Is it possible that he can find out what other GP's i've seen and request information about me? He may have already talked to my regular GP and caught me in a lie. maybe now that i've said that the methadone was pain related, it might make him suspicious and may act on it... I have no idea where i stand. I've already made an appointment with this methadone GP for monday. I've only ever seen her once, and she's over the other side of the city. I remember telling her i had a $100 a day habit just to get a reasonable dose of methadone. What do i tell her?
Sorry if this is some much of a read, but i really need some guidance on this. Do i keep up the methadone for pain act? do i tell her the truth, and ask her for discretion? It's not practical for her to be my regular GP as she's so far away. I just need her to cancel the permit for me. I don't understand why he didn't explain the situation to me and why he couldn't prescribe any more. he could have contacted the mentioned GP and got her to sort the permit out over the phone, but the reaction from my gp wasn't positive at all and i wonder if thats because he's already found out about my addiction by contacting my regular GP. maybe he just didn't believe me, and I'm worried he'll report me to medicare or something.
The way i see it is i have 2 options. 1 is to go to the GP who holds my permit and go from there. I honestly don't know what to say to her. I don't want to do any further damage, but maybe she could help me find out where i stand with regards to being listed on as a doctor shopper or drug seeking registers.
2. i go back to the GP and address the reasons for the refusal of his application and continue my treatment through him. i really wish i didn't lie to him. now I could go back and be completely honest and apologise for the lie and say i was embarrassed to admit at the time and hope he forgives me. I just hope the damage is not permanent.
I've seen this GP for about 5 months and in that time he's prescribed me 4 or 5 scripts of a months worth of morphine. i don't know why this has just come up now. I thought about contacting the department of health regarding my situation and see if i can find out where i stand. Its not knowing thats killing me, i wonder if the department will disclose any information to me. It really sucks because everything was fine and i was getting treated for pain and now i instantly look like a drug seeker faking injury to this GP because of this stupid permit thats 2 years old. now I'm going to find it impossible to get prescribed anything and won't be taken seriously any more just because of a split second decision to lie because of embarrassment. I just hope he hasn't talked to my regular GP
Well i guess this may be an interesting read for anyone who's got a spare 5 mins
Any thoughts on where i stand and what action i should take? I would really appreciate anything to be honest, and am willing to cop a bit of flac as well. I just want to do EVERYTHING possible to rectify the situation and minimise the harm as much as possible.... after all, this site is harm reduction.
