Do Suicide Survivors Lose Access to Their Pain Meds Afterwards?

[starlightchasin]

Hello. I just want someone to answer two simple medical questions about the legal repercussions of suicide attempts. With prescription pain meds.
No judgments, just honesty.

***Backstory:
SWIM uses oxycodone for chronic pain. They have a pain management doctor, and it is a completely legal prescription. It is necessary because they have several severe chronic injuries and chronic illnesses causing pain. This person’s life is horrible and hopeless and they’re really sick. All their family doesn’t care if they live or die. Their boyfriend is abusive. They have no money to leave. No money for medical treatment for severe illnesses they have.

This person just wants all the suffering to stop.

Let’s say SWIM has about 30 pills of 10mg oxycodone right now. (Plain oxy, no Tylenol mixed in). Let’s say that this person takes a bunch of their oxycodone to kill themselves.

1) What if, for some reason, it fails. (Maybe she throws it up. Maybe someone finds them and calls an ambulance and they miraculously live. She knows two people who survived overdose attempts. So weird stuff happens.

So let’s say that SWIM survives. And in the hospital after the overdose attempt, she’s go through all the standard treatments. Hospitalization, inpatient psych ward until they’re no longer at risk, then outpatient therapy, etc.

Will her doctor cancel her pain management medications afterwards?
How will she manage her pain?

Will a record of an overdose attempt blacklist her from receiving pain medication in the future?

This person is scared. Because if she fails, and survives... and if doctors refuse to give her pain medication for the rest of her life...

It is a fate worse than death.

It will be pure torture. Constant agony. Her pain is unbearable. She has 9/10 to 10/10 level pain 24/7.

She has stabbing nerve and bone pain in the back that is 10/10 pain most days. 7/10 on a good day. Arthritis in the low back. Damaged vertebrae.
Also whole body pain due to the chronic health problems. Also a severe chronic reoccurring infection in her jaw and sinuses. Severe digestive problems causing stabbing abdominal pain.

And liver problems causing toxicity and pain all over. And Fibromyalgia. And Heavy metal poisoning, which causes stabbing pain on every inch of the body.

Basically she often feels like a million fire ants crawling in her veins, biting her millions of times a second. Stabbing pain on every inch of the body.

Without prescription main management help and oxycodone.... the pain is unbearable.

SWIM is scared that if she fails, she will be left in an even worse situation.

So. Will SWIM lose her ability to get pain medication, if this happens????

2) What does death by oxycodone feel like? And how long does it take?

 

[MsDiz]

I’m really sorry for the issues you’re having. No one here can tell you how to kill yourself though.

I would advise you talk to your pain management dr about your current pain, clearly your treatment isn’t optimal if you’re still in so much pain. When you have the right pain meds and have it under control maybe things will feel different. There are treatment options for you out there for sure, if your dr says he can’t help get a second opinion.

 

[TheInvisibleStoner]

Methadone is usually where pain patients go that can no longer get pain meds. Around 50% of the patients are actually pain patients. Usually a last resort, though. Easier to get your pain meds from a doctor, as the clinic comes with lots of hoops to jump through (but once there for a while and get 2 weeks / 30 days worth of take homes, it becomes less of an issue). Not sure where you live, but in the states any clinic will happily take you and keep your dependency and pain in check without the worries of ever being cut off (unless you cannot pay of course).

I am certain methadone is better for your liver than pills. Its certainly not like a vitamin, though. Still a pain med / powerful narcotic.

I would imagine...yes...your doctor would cut you off. If I were a prescribing doctor, and my patient overdosed on my script, I would remove them as you are a risk to my practice.

Nobody can tell you what death by OD feels like..because they are dead.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

It depends on your doctors, really. I tried to kill myself with my Phenobarbital prescription. I was in a coma in intensive care and after I never did get them back.
But I have tried using many other meds (including opioids) and have never had them taken away.

 

[deficiT]

Welcome to BL. No SWIMming allowed, check out the BLUA in my signature. This thread is locked, because there are no "how/when/why/should" I kill myself threads allowed, per forum guidelines.