Discussion Chronic pain sufferers and the ever-changing laws

[Nas47]

Here gabas-Lyrica..etc..no problem.benzo with script.no codeine...think may be have import of dhc.original brand(script)

 

[Painful One]

My doctor told me that they are flagging all opiate-opioid medications and benzodiazepines in the U.S. now.
They are taking long term chronic pain patients such as myself (and yeah, the doctors all go silent after seeing MRI etc.)
and forcing us onto buprenorphine.
I was lucky to be able to keep my 1 mg clonazepam prescription, due to needing it for REM sleep disorder.

This is like day 10 for me, coming from 90 mg morphine a day to bupe.
I have had less pain until today.
I am having some kind of body locking up problem throughout the night, I have to throw myself to the side, to get my body to unlock.
I am also needing 16 mg every 8 hours.
I am only prescribed 3 8 mg tablets of subutex a day....so me needing 16 mg every 8 hours is going to leave me a lot short.
I have got to cut these into half doses and just take halves more often.
I’m having a hard time stabilizing on a dosage.

I am not sure that this bupe route is any better than 90 mg morphine a day.
But, it is apparently all I can get now.
I hope I can get this figured out and stabilize soon.

I just cannot believe how they are treating people with serious needs for such medications.
My medical records show a big STOP sign on them and no doctor would take me and continue my 90 mg morphine a day prescription. after my doctor retired. Even though, I have a perfect record for 15 years of never misusing the 90 mg morphine a day.

They are just dumping us all into “addict” classification.
Whether that fits us or not.
It seems to be the only way to get even subutex now.

The broken sleep is killing me.
I used to sleep so good through the night...not anymore.
There are some good things happening but also some bad.

I need to take a nap.

 

[kiely]

I need anger management now So sad too

 

[kiely]

It's a struggle and a challenge not to suffer for sure.

 

[lolis my thesis]

I wonder if anyone needing opiod pain relief in the US finds success in methadone?
I believe that your doctor was your drug dealer; when he retired you were forced to look elsewhere for your medication; leading you to the clinic?

Makes sense to me, but Im a user not a doctor,

 

[Fertile]

Bupe has long duration - ESPECIALLY at huge doses like 8mg [TID[. It's MORE than 90mg of M - bupe is at least x30M.

But you won't nod. So consider you got the best of things. I'm on a lot more but doctors see X-ray/MRI and so on and ask 'how come you can still walk' to which the answer is 'Oxy - lots of oxy'.

It's this or a care home - ant that costs the NHS much MORE so they are generous. Cost of care-home would come out of their bonuses.

 

[papercuts]

My doctor told me that they are flagging all opiate-opioid medications and benzodiazepines in the U.S. now.
They are taking long term chronic pain patients such as myself (and yeah, the doctors all go silent after seeing MRI etc.)
and forcing us onto buprenorphine.
I was lucky to be able to keep my 1 mg clonazepam prescription, due to needing it for REM sleep disorder.

This is like day 10 for me, coming from 90 mg morphine a day to bupe.
I have had less pain until today.
I am having some kind of body locking up problem throughout the night, I have to throw myself to the side, to get my body to unlock.
I am also needing 16 mg every 8 hours.
I am only prescribed 3 8 mg tablets of subutex a day....so me needing 16 mg every 8 hours is going to leave me a lot short.
I have got to cut these into half doses and just take halves more often.
I’m having a hard time stabilizing on a dosage.

I am not sure that this bupe route is any better than 90 mg morphine a day.
But, it is apparently all I can get now.
I hope I can get this figured out and stabilize soon.

I'm not sure how sublingual compares to transdermal, but a transdermal buprenorphine patch of 50micrograms an hour would be equal to the 90mg morphine you were on, that's only 1.2mg bupre in 24 hours.

Buprenorphine is inactive if swallowed, it must be dissolved into the blood vessels of the mouth or through the skin, it's the only thing I can think of might be going wrong for you, make sure you don't swallow any of it or that part is lost.

If it's any consolation, it's only a partial agonist, but I find it is a good painkiller and slightly positive on mood too, but not compared to morphine of course.

 

[Painful One]

I'm not sure how sublingual compares to transdermal, but a transdermal buprenorphine patch of 50micrograms an hour would be equal to the 90mg morphine you were on, that's only 1.2mg bupre in 24 hours.

Buprenorphine is inactive if swallowed, it must be dissolved into the blood vessels of the mouth or through the skin, it's the only thing I can think of might be going wrong for you, make sure you don't swallow any of it or that part is lost.

If it's any consolation, it's only a partial agonist, but I find it is a good painkiller and slightly positive on mood too, but not compared to morphine of course.

Hmmmmmm....it might be how I am taking it then.
I am letting it dissolve under my tongue but I have been swallowing a lot of it.
I will try doing pieces at a time and holding them longer under my tongue.

The doctor didn’t think it was too far off, when I told her I was needing 12 mg every 8 hours..
From what I have been reading, 12-24 mg every 8 hours is what is to be expected at first.

I will try harder to get those numbers down.

I am dealing with chronic pain too.
This is a chronic pain dosage.

But Damn! They are putting me on something even stronger now.

 

[Sammydoll412]

Dude I meant to reply this to u. Is your methadone for pain?

Going to Privatley owned small pharmacies I have never had a single problem again filling opioid and a benzo at the same time to present date. They are even friendly to me. They have filled earlier than they were supposed to because I had a business trip.

I have never had to speak to the pharmacist for anything other than one occasion he help me fight the insurance company on a non narcotic med.

If you're going to a big chain They treat you like filth. And you have to act like a fucking lawyer to get them to fill it and half the time they jist say no and literally take joy in watching you withdrawal.

I totally agree with this. I drive almost an hour one way to go to a small mom and pop pharmacy and there's nothing in this world that would get me to ever switch to a different pharmacy. Especially a big chain pharmacy. My pharmcay is amazing! They're all so nice, the pharmacist has filled early for me as well as given me extras when I've happened to run out earlier then I should have, they've waived copays, never once looked down on me for having a suboxone script, and so much more. Small places are most definitely the way to go!

 

[papercuts]

Hmmmmmm....it might be how I am taking it then.
I am letting it dissolve under my tongue but I have been swallowing a lot of it.
I will try doing pieces at a time and holding them longer under my tongue.

The doctor didn’t think it was too far off, when I told her I was needing 12 mg every 8 hours..
From what I have been reading, 12-24 mg every 8 hours is what is to be expected at first.

I will try harder to get those numbers down.

I am dealing with chronic pain too.
This is a chronic pain dosage.

But Damn! They are putting me on something even stronger now.

The sublingual doses always sound higher, it might be the different bioavailability from each route.
Another thing you can try is plugging it, I made a solution of buprenorphine, alcohol and water which was great to plug as a quick relief from pain or stress. It was better plugged than sublingual.

Unfortunately I can't do that any more because I'm using full agonists again and taking buprenorphine on top in any quantity over 1mg risks precipitated withdrawal, I was only guessing the strength of my solution.

The numbers mean very little when it's sublingual because you might lose more by swallowing one time than another, but the half life is very long so the amount in your blood and on your recptors will even out over time. Definitely swallowing it could be the problem. It builds up gradually in your body and might take a week of dedicated keeping it under your tongue to get to the full dose, it stays quite even after that, good for pain relief.

 

[fastandbulbous]

Well, provision for treating neuropathic pain has always been piss poor. In fact, so bad for sufferers of phantom limb pain, that I felt I needed to take the next step into my hands (well hand!). Very few people (docs included) have such a poor understanding of my condition, that I've taken to telling them that anyone who has the same number of limbs as they came into the world with, really has no idea (pain in a part of your body that no longer exists has the markings of something from 'Alice in Wonderland'). A pain that is so fucked up, that most normal analgesics don't even scratch the surface. Also behind the creation of mxe (neccesity being the mother of invention)

 

[Deleted member 569363]

Wow. I very well could be you. If I am, I'm so sorry. lol
Very similar issues to me.
And you're right, who wants to sit around thinking about their health all the time?
I feel forced to because of the issues, like if I don't feel physically okay, how am I expected to feel mentally okay ontop of it?
I'm so tired of all the SNRIs & antipsychotics. SNRI's have been making me puke & giving me hand tremors & extremely high body temperature.
I tell doctors this and they're like "omg, okay, well we better get you on another SNRI then"... Like.. helllloooooooo.
You're absolutely right. Doctors have no idea wtf they're talking about. Of course they know some thing but they don't know it all & they take it as offensive if their patient tries to educate them on anything.
I'm so frustrated with it that I've stopped even going or making appts, except to get my usual meds.
If I die, I die. At this point, maybe having a terminal illness would be a blessing & a ticket out of here.


Thanks for the suggestion!
I have not unfortunately. I've read about some but I'm not sure.

I've considered fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue. As I did have severe mono as a teenager that gave me bad brain fog & lethargy for awhile, but none of these doctors seem to wanna test for anything of the sort or go any further than xrays & catscans. If those & my bloodwork seem fine, they assume I'm fine, but I know damn well I'm not. Autoimmune or neurological issue does seem very likely though. I've had a few docs say it sounds like fibromyalgia but of course idk how you test for that & they don't seem to care to give me a proper diagnosis.

One issue I've had is severe all body-muscle aching. It feels exactly like how one would feel if they did a hard work out & woke up sore the next day. Except I feel this way everyday (give or a take a good day here or there) and I don't even work out anymore.
I might have had this problem for a long time but covered it up with heroin & tramadol & other drugs for years. I use to exercise a lot & go walking alot all through out my 20's on heroin & tramadol & loved it.
And now that I've been on bupe & had to stay 'clean', I've noticed these physical issues have really come to the forefront. Just getting up to go do normal everyday stuff like go to the store can hurt like hell & rob me of my energy. Not to mention give me anxiety & irritability from having to do it. This is not the quality of life I'd like to have forever. And apparently nobody can tell me what it is.

I have Lupus, which has given me fibromyalgia. I have neuropathic pain. Regular pain meds weren't helping much. Then I got put on Lyrica. It took away so much pain. I'm not on the verge of screaming all the time. What a difference.

 

[xtcgrrrl]

Actually - a lot of my pain is likely neuropathic, but a displaced hip replacement with broken pins... well they can SEE that.

Maybe THIS is what I need to do, break a bone or have a botched surgery. I am in so much pain daily that it’s unreal. But because they can’t figure out the source of my pain, it doesn’t exist to them. They only believe in things they can see.

 

[Fertile]

For me it's analgesics or living in some kind of home.... and it's CHEAPER to give analgesics.

 

[Painful One]

Maybe THIS is what I need to do, break a bone or have a botched surgery. I am in so much pain daily that it’s unreal. But because they can’t figure out the source of my pain, it doesn’t exist to them. They only believe in things they can see.

Tell me what symptoms you are having?
I will try to help.


I told them once “Just because you cannot find it, does not mean it is not there!”
I know where you are coming from.

 

[papercuts]

Maybe THIS is what I need to do, break a bone or have a botched surgery. I am in so much pain daily that it’s unreal. But because they can’t figure out the source of my pain, it doesn’t exist to them. They only believe in things they can see.

I feel for you. I had years of symptoms before they diagnosed me with a painful condition I'd had from birth. I wasn't diagnosed until I was in my 40s, they didn't know to treat my pregnancies as high risk and I almost died twice as a direct result. Now I'm on buprenorphine patches for pain instead of being dismissed as a time waster.
I hope they take you seriously soon, I got determined in the end and paid a lot to doctors to get my diagnosis, but now, life is easier. I even get some disability payments for only being able to work part time.
Make it your goal to get a diagnosis, there must be something causing your pain. Modern medicine ignored women during the development of every drug before the 1990s, trials only included men (unless gynae) so all the drugs and tests were developed suit a male metabolism, ones that male hormones don't interfere with.
Then they were released to the general population and women were found to be less happy with the results. Gradually doctors are realising the problem isn't women lying about being in pain, it's the tests and drugs weren't ever developed to work on women, so a lot of the time they don't.

 

[nznity]

My doctor told me that they are flagging all opiate-opioid medications and benzodiazepines in the U.S. now.
They are taking long term chronic pain patients such as myself (and yeah, the doctors all go silent after seeing MRI etc.)
and forcing us onto buprenorphine.
I was lucky to be able to keep my 1 mg clonazepam prescription, due to needing it for REM sleep disorder.

This is like day 10 for me, coming from 90 mg morphine a day to bupe.
I have had less pain until today.
I am having some kind of body locking up problem throughout the night, I have to throw myself to the side, to get my body to unlock.
I am also needing 16 mg every 8 hours.
I am only prescribed 3 8 mg tablets of subutex a day....so me needing 16 mg every 8 hours is going to leave me a lot short.
I have got to cut these into half doses and just take halves more often.
I’m having a hard time stabilizing on a dosage.

I am not sure that this bupe route is any better than 90 mg morphine a day.
But, it is apparently all I can get now.
I hope I can get this figured out and stabilize soon.

I just cannot believe how they are treating people with serious needs for such medications.
My medical records show a big STOP sign on them and no doctor would take me and continue my 90 mg morphine a day prescription. after my doctor retired. Even though, I have a perfect record for 15 years of never misusing the 90 mg morphine a day.

They are just dumping us all into “addict” classification.
Whether that fits us or not.
It seems to be the only way to get even subutex now.

The broken sleep is killing me.
I used to sleep so good through the night...not anymore.
There are some good things happening but also some bad.

I need to take a nap.

Wow, and to think clonazepam is OTC in my country Perú (). Morphine is also easy to get and I've never encountered a fake pill or vial when I used to IV. I take this fact for granted... I should be grateful. well, ppl here don't even know what an opioid is....only some ppl, there's more ketamine addicts than opiate users. They all inject but still it's a very selective minority so it doesn't alarm the autorithies. Thanks LatinAmerica, at least one thing had to be good here.

 

[FrankiesCloud]

I couldn't agree more with everyone this form. I suffered from DDD and incurable disease that they can only slow down and for fucking two God damn years told me I was just making up fucking shit because I want to drugs. Oh really yeah that's why I can't lift up my leg in most of my toes sure yeah that makes sense why would person would intentionally not use one of their fucking legs and most of their toes for for several years (in total 11 fucking years) makes sense. I swear to God most of these doctors either got their God damn degree from Devry or Kinko's or they just don't give a fuck about Around the Clock chronic pain patients. If I want to take fentanyl or Dilaudid or Opana or all of them at the same time it's my fucking choice! Anytime there's a doctor that tells you I'm not prescribing you your routine pain medication and you're in my situation remember this there's a law called continuity of care if you were on a medication for 6 months or a year or what have you just a long enough time to say it's your routine maintenance medication and they don't prescribe that medication to you and tell you to screw off they are breaking the law. Mind you that is in the setting of you getting to pain management from your primary care physician and the pain management doctor saying screw off which has happened to me 10,000 times over. Even when I go to a hospital or like again? I'm like yes again I see a pain psychologist and a psychotherapist I've tried every other means not to be on opioids but these dick heads keep telling me to try other things. Even though it's been 10 years on Dilaudid and Opana! My mother works for one of the largest insurance companies in America and the goddamn insurance company is approved my medication till the year 9,999 why God's fucking name am I having any trouble? Dumbass regulations and doctors that would rather care about their license than actually giving a fuck about the patient. I really don't care if you're a drug user or a chronic pain patient it's pretty much the same fucking thing at a certain point so to all the doctors who denied patients access to care whether it was in a hospital outpatient procedure or just routine medication eat Hepatitis B ass and die. That's my rant for today I'm out peace .

 

[Painful One]

To understand what is happening, you need to understand how the medical system works.

Do some quick research.
Look up “Why are doctors cutting off pain patients cold “? Read
Look here https://reason.com/2019/07/10/state...se-and-dropping-him-after-he-became-suicidal/

look at this

patient abandonment at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

It isn’t about if you are truly hurt or in pain or not even...,the doctors and hospitals look at you, not as a human being who is suffering but as a Risk.
It is more of a “Risk” to them if you have family who love you.

You need to understand what “Hospital Protocol “ is.
The doctors that work there are not allowed to use their own “medical opinions “ they must do a set treatment by the hospital.
They are basically owned by that “hospital group” .

We live in a world where it is not Human beings treating Human Beings anymore but Risk management, Big pharmaceutical, and Big money!
Made off the blood, sweat, and tears of others.

We really must go after the “policy makers” and “Big Pharma “.
But...good luck with that.

I am way too disabled to even take a car ride over 45 minutes and that is hell for me.
Also, cannot stand for very long. Cannot walk for very long etc.....

No one knows our pain, except for us.
Most of our families do not understand.
You cannot understand until you are in this situation.

 

[Painful One]

I couldn't agree more with everyone this form. I suffered from DDD and incurable disease that they can only slow down and for fucking two God damn years told me I was just making up fucking shit because I want to drugs. Oh really yeah that's why I can't lift up my leg in most of my toes sure yeah that makes sense why would person would intentionally not use one of their fucking legs and most of their toes for for several years (in total 11 fucking years) makes sense. I swear to God most of these doctors either got their God damn degree from Devry or Kinko's or they just don't give a fuck about Around the Clock chronic pain patients. If I want to take fentanyl or Dilaudid or Opana or all of them at the same time it's my fucking choice! Anytime there's a doctor that tells you I'm not prescribing you your routine pain medication and you're in my situation remember this there's a law called continuity of care if you were on a medication for 6 months or a year or what have you just a long enough time to say it's your routine maintenance medication and they don't prescribe that medication to you and tell you to screw off they are breaking the law. Mind you that is in the setting of you getting to pain management from your primary care physician and the pain management doctor saying screw off which has happened to me 10,000 times over. Even when I go to a hospital or like again? I'm like yes again I see a pain psychologist and a psychotherapist I've tried every other means not to be on opioids but these dick heads keep telling me to try other things. Even though it's been 10 years on Dilaudid and Opana! My mother works for one of the largest insurance companies in America and the goddamn insurance company is approved my medication till the year 9,999 why God's fucking name am I having any trouble? Dumbass regulations and doctors that would rather care about their license than actually giving a fuck about the patient. I really don't care if you're a drug user or a chronic pain patient it's pretty much the same fucking thing at a certain point so to all the doctors who denied patients access to care whether it was in a hospital outpatient procedure or just routine medication eat Hepatitis B ass and die. That's my rant for today I'm out peace .

Yup.
Most of us have got conditions that are degenerative and are worsening with time.
I worked for the major insurance companies for most of my life, they know me well.
My doctor retired a few months ago and they couldn’t even find another doctor who would see me.
I sat and called doctors all day and got hung up on by the few that even had a valid phone number or answered the phone.
The second they heard “Chronic pain” bam .,,hang up.
It was ridiculous!
We need to stop using the term “chronic pain” , we have “degenerative medical conditions “!
As in DEGENERATIVE DISK DISEASES!

They are taught to “blame the victim “.
It is a tactic we all know well by now.

Too bad we are not living in 1980’s or even the 90’s....people got real treatment then.
We should never have turned in any of our expired, old medications!
Now we understand why the old generation who went through wars never threw out anything!

Now, we are not up against just the doctors!
It is the pharmacist too!
The pharmacy I have used for 16 years told me they didn’t have Subutex and I had better find a new pharmacy.
A compounding pharmacy because they are not getting their shipments.
They told me things were really bad.