Boyfriend is in severe pain and can't get anything. Advice please!

[Miss Hollywood]

Hello fellow bluelighters!

If you recall my boyfriend overdosed on heroin last year and nearly died. Well before that happened he broke his neck skydiving (he was going heads down and couldnt get his main parachute out so he pulled his reserve and it snapped his neck) and didn't even know it was his neck until after his OD. He had 5 strokes, aspiration pneumonia, seizures and was hooked up to life support. He pulled through even though he had to learn how to walk, talk, eat and dress himself all over again.

When they did an MRI and found out he broke his neck and they found out the break was so bad it was compressing against his spinal cord and if he fell he could have become a quadriplegic. They rushed him in for emergency surgery and the surgery was successful. They put a plate in between his two vertebrae. They prescribed him 10 mg of oxy codone every 4 hours. He has spent the past year in a nursing home and we recently got an apartment so he was discharged with just a few days worth of his meds including oxy.

Well he ran out Tuesday and he's on day 4 of withdrawl and he is in severe pain. He took his discharge paperwork to the ER at the Veteran's hospital(he's a veteran of the Army and Air Force. He did 18 years. He was honorably discharged after the incident luckly. He is now retired and is working at the VA hospital under a medical program) and they REFUSED to give him any pain medication because of his overdose. They were even as snotty and rude to remark "I can't believe a doctor prescribed you oxy. If you can get ahold of the doctor that prescribed it to you let them take responsiblity. We aren't giving you anything." They wouldnt even give him a clonodine patch to help with withdrawl or any extra strenth IBprofen. They didnt give him a damn thing. Not even suboxone or methadone.

He has insurance through the VA but obviously the VA isn't an option. He is also insured under medicaid. I am wondering if there is anything we can do or anywhere we could go under these circumstances. He has to work Monday and he's in a lot of pain.

We tried buying Percocet from a "friend" but he ripped us off and took off with our money. So buying anything off the street is not an option and neither is doing heroin again.

What should we do? Please help, I'm desperate to help him. Any advice would be apprechiated. Thanks!

 

[Missykins]

I'm not certain what you're question is. Are you looking to detox him or continue his pain meds?

 

[Fresco]

Kratom will really help with his withdrawals, and its legal too

 

[Miss Hollywood]

He wants to continue his pain meds we just don't know where to get any now that the VA denied him of them. Detox is an option but that still leaves the question what should he do for pain.

What is Kratom and where do you get it? How much does it cost?

 

[Fresco]

He wants to continue his pain meds we just don't know where to get any now that the VA denied him of them. Detox is an option but that still leaves the question what should he do for pain.

What is Kratom and where do you get it? How much does it cost?

You're in a fairly large city like Cleveland, there must be head shops who sell it. I personally would buy it from the internet however, and make sure you get the powdered leaf. Dont mess with extracts because they're expensive and not necessary for opiate WD's.

I'm off my codeine habit now thanks to kratom, and I never wanna go back to those pills again

 

[Miss Hollywood]

You're in a fairly large city like Cleveland, there must be head shops who sell it. I personally would buy it from the internet however, and make sure you get the powdered leaf. Dont mess with extracts because they're expensive and not necessary for opiate WD's.

I'm off my codeine habit now thanks to kratom, and I never wanna go back to those pills again

Does it help with pain? Pain is the main issue. He's dealing with the withdrawl pretty decent. I mean he's got the restless leg thing going on, the hot and cold sweats, the insomnia (he's got Ambien for that). He's been taking Imodium and that has been helping with the shits. He hasn't puked or anything which is good.

Any recomendations for dealing with the pain? *original content removed - no pricing questions, please!*

 

[Missykins]

Does it help with pain? Pain is the main issue. He's dealing with the withdrawl pretty decent. I mean he's got the restless leg thing going on, the hot and cold sweats, the insomnia (he's got Ambien for that). He's been taking Imodium and that has been helping with the shits. He hasn't puked or anything which is good.

Any recomendations for dealing with the pain? How much does Kratom leafs cost?

It's my understanding that prices and sources can't be discussed on TDS.

 

[cj]

You need to find a doctor who doesnt know about his OD. What happened to the doctor that originally prescribed the Oxy?

 

[Miss Hollywood]

You need to find a doctor who doesnt know about his OD. What happened to the doctor that originally prescribed the Oxy?

The doctor that originally wrote the script is in Cincinatti (thats where he's from. he moved up to cleveland a year ago and was in a nursing home for the duration of the year. the doctor at the nursing home wrote him the script). He even showed up at the VA hospital with his discharge papers and everything he's prescribed and the only thing they gave him was his Abilify (he's bipolar), Neurotin( for nerve pain. he had strokes and his right side is affected), and Ambien for sleep. He is also prescribed Ativan for anxiety but he ran out of that so not only is he going through opiate withdrawl he's also going through benzo withdrawl. they wouldn't even give him his ativan. thats how big of pricks these people were to him at the va hospital. its a shame. he served this country for 18 god damn years and this is how he gets treated just because he ODED.

what im thinking is we try to find a doctor that accepts medicaid and will write him the script. now its just a matter of finding one.

in the mean time, anybody have any suggestions to alievate pain? ive been trying to get him to get in the bathtub but he refuses. as i type this he is laying in bed next to me tossing and turning even after he took his ambien.

 

[Missykins]

I'll be honest with you, it will be a challenge for you to find a physician who will simply prescribe the medications that your boyfriend has been receiving. Frankly, I'm surprised that he was maintained on oxycodone in a rehabilitation facility for as long as he was. I would have expected his doctor to have gradually switched him to a different medication before discharge. If what you say is correct, it was irresponsible for him to be discharged without the medications he had been taking for a year, or at least with a referral to a physician in the community. It's unlikely that the doctor at the nursing home will write him a prescription as he is no longer under that doctor's care.

Any doctor that you see now will not simply give your boyfriend a prescription for a controlled substance, regardless of his history of substance abuse. A doctor will want to know if your boyfriend is really in pain (because he shouldn't be if the surgery and following PT was successful), or is physically dependent and experiencing symptoms of withdrawal. These are two different clinical entities that patients often confuse.

And if you want a doctor to treat you and your boyfriend fairly and with respect, then treat your doctor with the same, and tell her/him the truth about your boyfriend's overdose.

 

[bpayne]

so dude has barely survived all this and someone still ripped him off? that's as low as I can possibly imagine, I would try different hospitals, urgent care whatever, drive to another state that doesn't have his exact history in their computer from his recent surgery and being in pain he should get adequate treatment for his pain..

 

[rangrz]

In as far as Palliative, symptomatic treatment, and more broadly, the reduction of suffering are also goals of medicine, would you not be able to have him present to a civilian/non VA Dr? Assuming the laws and the RXing habit of Drs is the same there as here, I would not think it a terribly difficult undertaking to find a physician willing to treat him for pain and/or dependence on a medication due to his previous RXs.

 

[villian]

Have you considered going to the methadone clinic just until he can find a doctor to prescribe something else?

They usually start at 20mg or so which is better than nothing. You pay per day as well so it is pretty affordable. It isn't ideal but it is something.

Good luck.

 

[Fresco]

Another thing you might wanna try is suboxone. It too has a painkilling effect

 

[Azn]

I've been through this myself, nothing will take the pain away if he is withdrawing from heroin, if he go on suboxone or methadone thats just another addiction, he will have to go through the same procedures to get off them, how ever there are pills that will make him feel abit better, if you can get a local doctor to proscribe panadeine forte for him that will help him reduce the pain, panadeine forte tablets contain 30mgs of codeine but that is nothing compared to heroin, so don't worry he wouldn't get hooked on them if he just took a packet, but just take 2 at a time, also I belive he can't sleep at night, valiums would help him sleep, I know it's gonna be very hard to get them because most doctors are pricks, they like to see people go through pain and beg them for the pills, my suggestion is you go with him to the doctor and don't tell the doctor he has OD before, just say he wants to change his life and wants to get off those nasty drugs, I don't know how high your boy friends dose is, but it took me more than 3 weeks to get off heroin, I was a bad junkie though.

 

[SameOldShit101]

suboxone only has a painkilling effect at a ridiculously high dosage, and the withdrawal can last months at these dosages. I don't recommend suboxone for pain management unless it is your absolute last option, and your husband is literally unable to live his life without pain management.

 

[painenduser]

He wants to continue his pain meds we just don't know where to get any now that the VA denied him of them. Detox is an option but that still leaves the question what should he do for pain.

What is Kratom and where do you get it? How much does it cost?

Miss Hollywood, please keep in mind that this is a harm reduction site and while we can help by recommending someways for him to detox, or make suggestions like Kratom (link) as a way to ease the withdraw, we can not tell you/him how to get any meds regardless of whether or not your purpose for them is legitimate. It doesn't matter this is not just a TDS rule but a Bluelight (as in full site) rule.

Also as for being a harm reduction site it would be against our better judgement and practices to advise you about meds that the Dr's clearly do not want him to be on. It would be reckless on our part to give you information which goes against his doctors orders.

My suggestion would be to see if he can hang on a couple more days using some OTC remedies as depending on how bad his dependency was opiate withdraw can over come usually in a week to two weeks or so. Keep in mind that while opiate withdraws are down right evil and might make you wish you were dead, detoxing from opiates is not considered to be deadly like from Alcohol or Benzo's.If trying to detox at home is not an option for him and the pain is that severe and neither his Dr or the ER will help him come down comfortably, you should have him checked into a detox program, most insurance companies will pick up the bill (depending on his insurance benefits). So please understand as much as some would love to give you more info in here, it is against the guidelines, and we can not tell you to do anything that is against the recommendations of his Dr.

I wanted to bring this up before the thread gets locked.

So choices..

1. Attempt to detox at home with some OTC meds, like motrin for pain, benydral to help relax him, make sure he gets plenty of fluids and eats healthy. You can also try some herbals like the Kratom and maybe some Valeran Root to help relax, but any time you go to take any OTC's or herbals you should double check with your Dr to make sure there are no contradiction with his health or any meds he may be on.

2. Check him into a detox program, but call his insurance company as they may have some centers that they would refer you to and possibly pay 100%.

This is about the best we can advise with out getting this topic locked for guidelines violations.

I hope this may help, if not, I'm sorry and hope he gets some relief soon. Good luck to you both!

-Pain

 

[jeebis]

the EXACT same situation with a friend of mine, except it was due to injuries he sustained in Iraq. his od was accidental once he got back. he was desperate because he couldn't get to the pharmacy for 3 days (the first time in 2 years of daily oxy use) for his prescription, so he bought some oxy 10's and blew half/ate half. turns out they were 10mg opana (which shows the importance of google on your phone! although i wish i got 10mg opana for the price of a 10mg roxi ), which resulted in hospital visits and a note on his medical record.

he was later in the year when he was in a serious car crash (as he legally drift races) and broke a vertabrae and his leg. they refused to give him anything outside of the dilaudid/morphine he had in the hospital because of the accidental od he had to report. they gave him 7 op20's to take home, and then he couldn't find a doc for more besides the sketchy management clinics that are long gone. We found that a combination of moderate doses of klonopin (2-3 1mg pills daily, less/more as needed) + lyrica (as it is a better analgesic than gabapentin. idk his dosage but i can provide info on mine if you pm me) + kratom for opiate w/d/opiate-esque light analgesia/a moderate buzz (the first few times with no tolerance, kinda like tobacco) the first time or so + extremely potent cannabis. While im not sure if you have access to the benzos (due to doctors being pricks) or cannabis although most people smoke these days so it wouldbnt be too hard *not that im advocating going out and searching for drugs+ so I can't really comment, the lyrica is an easy switch from neurontin (i did it with my nerve disorder. helps both the tremors, restless legs, anxiety, but the lyrica does have an analgesic/anxiolytic effect).

kratom and weed would probably be the easiest. even controlled alcohol comsumption like my cousin does with his grandfather (he's dieing of kidney failure eventhough he's lived a great life as an even greater man) who is on high dose hydrocodone and lyrica daily) in times of necessary breakthrough pain (helps the meds work apparently + he gets a little buzz then goes to sleep)

when his pain is at it's worst, yet cant exceed his 40mg max dosage (he gets the 10/500's but starts getting really sick because of the tylenol. he has trouble with hands so unless im over with my cousin there's noone to cwe it for him), he'll have his wife pour a small glass of wine or take a shot or 2 (max) of high proof vodka in a double shot glass. half vodka, half orange juice/cranberry juice to help with the pain.

i feel your pain though. it's one of the hardest situations to be in, but dont underestimate medical-quality cannabis and kratom. from personal experience between kratom (my sibling and i) cannabis for medical reasons (me-neurological/psychological/addiction maintence as it worked miracles for my psychological issues with a ~100mg oxy/30mg opana/24mg dilaudid once every 3 days] habit My sibling - residual pain from dual knee surgeries + working construction/physical addiction maintenence in regards to methadone/suboxone/high dose oxy/dangerously high hydro dosage, father - countless surgeries/nerve abuse/damage/ and his labor intensive job, mother - one of the few terminal (yet treatable diseases thats in EVERY mmj state and is benefited a GREAT deal from medical cannabis), it's irresponsible to not have mmj in some form. honestly i'd either be dead due to my mind or a junkie right now due to self medication if i didnt use those resources. if you can get the gabapentin switched to lyrica, right on. if you cant find a script for benzos from a doctor, im pretty sure etizolam is still legal to purchase online.

if he wants to maintain the opiate root though, there's also always poppy tea and longer acting opiates (namely oxys in the new OP formula, Opana er, morphine er, methadone, etc) from the streets, although i'd say that done would be the best bet. he has to make the choice to make the sacrifices for the drugs or not. we've all been there. i just have to ask you to please be patient with him. He's having a rough time now, so try to take the little things with a grain of salt. i watched my friend's engagement end because of similar stances, all because w/d's makes you everything you hate about a human being, but in a slightly functional, distorted, distracted mind of one who's going through that sort of physical situation...shit will get said and things will happen. just remember. it'll get better. it always does (interms of the withdrawl alter-ego as i've experienced it).

edit: I also recommend mangos, oj, granola, cranberry juice, hot cereal, water, a multivitamin, and legit tea (my favorite is currently a wonderful pineapple tea) right after a long hot bath (specifically with a hand towel over the back of your neck, letting hot water hit it but no neck pressure, and try to feel betterl. will make you feel better gauranteed.

 

[Ninae]

I agree with Kratom and Lyrica.

You should probably get the strongest extracts (UEI and Full Spectrum Tincture) but you could try him with normal Kratom leaf first and see if it does anything. It's much cheaper and tolerance won't rise so quickly. I gave some UEI to my BF when he had a fucked-up shoulder and it took away all his pain, but he had no tolerance. Tolerance goes up so quickly it soon gets very expensive and almost useless. Not like synthetic opiates. So you should rotate with something else.

Possibly Neurontin too (a weaker form of Lyrica) and maybe Tramadol. That's all I can think of. At least these things are available and legal.

 

[Fresco]

Also, the poppy pods are known to have very beneficiail effects

I heard poppy seeds are dangerous. Because you never know which batch has exactly how much active drug in it.

http://teenhealth.about.com/od/substanceuse/a/poppyseed.htm

The Dangers of Poppy Seed Tea

Opioids are dangerous. They are highly addictive, and addiction has destroyed many lives. Additionally, the suppression of the respiratory system that opioids can cause can lead to death by respiratory arrest after an overdose of the drug. Because it is almost impossible to tell what the concentration of the active drugs might be in any one crop of poppy pods or poppy seeds, it is impossible to “control” the drug enough to avoid overdose.

Poppy tea can be addictive and can be deadly. There have been a number of documented cases of death from the use of poppy tea. One study from Denmark notes seven deaths contributed to the use of poppy tea. In 2003, a teen from California died from the use of poppy seed tea. Although he had used the tea before, the concentration of opiate in the seeds can vary. He was shown to have had a morphine overdose through testing done after he had died. Another death from poppy seed tea was reported in March 2009. The University of Colorado student's death was also ruled as a morphine overdose. His roommates said they had no idea that the tea could be deadly