• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Opioids doctor pain management questions - getting help and being labeled an addict

T

thurston

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 26, 2010
Messages
520
Location
America, Fuck Yeah!
I have taken lortab for pain for the last two years. I am addicted and want to stop. If I talk to my doc about this will I be labeled a drug addict. I want to talk to her about getting subs to taper. One other problem after two surgeries i'm still in pain but they are going to cut the meds soon i fear (they dont work for the pain any more, they just keep me from being dope sick).
 
Only certain doctors can prescribe Suboxone/buprenorphine for opiate addiction treatment (per the DATA 2000 legislation). However, your pain doctor should be able to prescribe Suboxone for pain.

We can't tell you what to say to your doctor to get drugs though, it's skirting on Harm Reduction...
 
Last edited:
probably..he will have to document that. go to a different place to get help..maybe an addiction/therapy place..if you tell your doctor he will document that you are addicted
 
i can not imagine the prescribing physician not understanding that you are addicted and not wanting to help you. if that doc is unsympathetic to your condition perhaps he can recommend some specialist that has encountered this honestly severe pain that you suffer and has a better idea of how to deal with the consequences of addiction.

i would say that you are dependent rather than addicted as you take pain meds for the very reason that they were prescribed.

is your back smashed up or something that equally difficult to repair with a surgical procedure?
 
OP, my apologies about misreading your post :(

I'm with hobhead on this one, but its still hard to tell you 100% for sure, every doctor is different, and every doctor's patient is different. I was under the impression that it was a pain management doctor that was prescribing you the Lortab.

Your doctor should be understanding that taking hydrocodone (Lortab) for that amount of time will result in a dependency, no way around it. Plus you need pain relief even after coming off the hydrocodone.

perhaps he can recommend some specialist that has encountered this honestly severe pain that you suffer and has a better idea of how to deal with the consequences of addiction.
Click to expand...

I think this is the best course of action, a specialist with more training and experience with opiate medication, and tapering off them, either with Suboxone (buprenorphine) or another drug, is probably who you would want to see about getting on Suboxone.
 
Don't be worried about being called a drug addict as addiction is merely a side effect of regular opioid use no matter the reason (depending on one's defintion of it of course as some would say addiction due to valid prescriptions is not addiction at all).

Being labelled a drug abuser (one who takes excess drugs for recreational purposes) or a drug seeker (one who attempts to acquire drugs in order to abuse them), is a different story. So long as this isn't true you needn't worry about it.

Even if it is true that you are abusing your meds, it seems that you want to get clean and it might not hurt to accept an "abuser" diagnosis as it could help with treatment and prevent future addiction. Albeit there are then issues with being prescribed drugs you may actually need as doctors will take your previous history into account in an attempt to "help" you as much as possible. For example a Dr. may delay trying benzos as first treatment for an alcoholic in favour of non abusable meds even if benzos would usually be the usual first attempt.

There is an unfortunate but undeniable stigma with addiction which many people end up having to deal with.
 
Go on Suboxone.com and it lists all the dr's in your area that can prescribe it. I'd just go to a specialty dr for the sub's and not even tell your pain dr.
 
I have had two neck surgerys. One for a ruptured disk and one for the calcium deposit that formed afterward. A friend gave me a sub when my regular doc sent me to a pain clinic and they would not give me opiates. They just gave me 6 cortizone injections at once. Most painful experience of my life, no anistetic, felt like i had been raped, cost $5000! It took them about 10 minutes they were hurding people in like cattle for the same procedure the day i was there. Im in worse pain now than ever i am trying to ween off with my last 30 tabs and i dont know what to do. I think my doc doesnt believe me about the pain. The mri before my last surgery she said there were no significant finds. It took me and an orthopedic surgeon friend about 10 minutes to find the mass that was pinching my spinal cord in half. I have to return to work in two weeks and dont want to deal with the pain and be dope sick. Ive talked to my wife about the addiction but she thinks i can taper with the tabs but i dont. She just doesnt understand the cravings. Im sitting here right now dying to chew up 3 tabs but its not time on my taper schdule. Also i have only bought one illegal pill in my life, an opana and i used it divided for pain over the course of a few days.

I have attached a picture of the "insignificant findings" notice where I circled.
 

Attachments

  • mri.jpeg
    mri.jpeg
    91.2 KB · Views: 84
Last edited by a moderator:
Here is the pain management mega thread
The Pain Management Mega Thread v2.0

For nerve pain tramadol and gabapentin are options and to help with your supportive muscles in the areas some muscle relaxant and anti inflammatory as well perhaps.

I'm confused why you are trying to get off of narcotics when you are still in so much pain. If hydrocodone isn't cutting it switching to a more powerful opioid would be the normal course of action until you can have surgery.
 
I had my second surgery a month ago. I'm in a place where they are cracking down hard on doctors. I tried gabapentin, gave me insomnia and seemed to lower my IQ and made me not give a shit about anything. I think my tolerance is too high for tramadol to do anything. I can take 30-40 mg of hydrocodone and feel nothing. Based on my doc saying their were no significant findings, which as you can see their was, I believe my doc just thinks i'm trying to get drugs (that happens a lot around here, hillbilly heroin) and just wants me out of her hair.

Please ignore bad grammar and typos. Most of my posts are from my iphone because using a computer makes my pain worse.
 
i agree with amapola...if you are actually in NEED of pain meds then you cant go on suboxone....Im confused i guess. so what exactly are you hoping for? Maybe get a referral to a specialist...this happens to tons of people who have chronic pain..
 
I dont think I will get anymore pain meds and I dont want to go through withdrawl or buy from the black mkt. Pain clinics are being busted left and right around here and the legit ones only want to give cortizone injections, which dont do anything for my pain and I will not go through that again.
 
well if you don't want anymore meds and you don't think you can kick on your own you could try to get some professional help/ suboxone.
Or you could try to taper yourself too...there is lots of info on opiate taper/withdraw on this site...it will probably be good for you to experience what you pain level is without any meds
 
can you get a second opinion regarding yet another surgical procedure that may get the pressure off that obviously damaged nerve?
i have had a crushed ulnar nerve that the nerve release and relocation procedure was done too late . now i just live with the pain that only neuropathic pain can deliver . i was offered a never ending prescription for opiate pain meds but turned that down. i tried neurontin (gabapentin) or 'morontin' , it was effective but the side effects gathered momentum and i was forced to grin and bear it.
my friend is close to having to have spinal fusion because his lumbar spine is crushing his sciatic nerve . one's own carcass can be treacherous to us.
 
Piebald it's not that I want to stop taking meds for pain I just don't think I'll get any more and I'm trying to figure put what to do so I'm not stuck cold turkey.
 
^Methadone and buprenorphine, although generally prescribed for opioid maintenance, are also opioids and therefore analgesics and will help with pain issues as well.

I think my tolerance is too high for tramadol to do anything. I can take 30-40 mg of hydrocodone and feel nothing.
Click to expand...
30-40mg of hydrocodone is notable, but not that high on the whole opioid scale. As for tramadol, it has serotonergic and noradrenergic effects as well and is therefore sometimes found to be especially effective for neuropathic pain and may be worth a shot. Not OTC unfortunately so you're still stuck with the same problems of availability.
 
ok, then try to taper what you have and do some research on some other pain specialists you can see..obviously not the shady pain clinics but there are alot of places that deal with chronic pain mgmt/medication issues; ask your doc to refer you..i dont think suboxone treatment sounds like the right thing b/c you will need meds
how much hydro do you take everyday? depending on how much how long-you can kinda figure what your withdraws will be like, of course its different for everyone..but since you know you are up in the air about getting the meds maybe start tapering now just so u wont be stuck
 
When I did take the sub i got from my friend. I took 8mg total over two weeks. It was the best pain relief I have had. I don't know why it's not used for pain in the US. The pain relief is one of the reasons I have been thinking about trying to get on subs. I don't want to go to my doc and say hey my friend gave me one of his subs and it worked great, can you give it to me. Those two weeks were great, little pain and no waking up in the morning with watery eyes and waiting 45 minutes for the hydro to kick in so I can move. Also as for tramadol I've went through ssri withdrawl with zoloft took a year and a half to taper from 100mg.
 
i was going to say "try to get a sub" but then i felt like that was bad advice...but thats how i started to clean up..got em from a friend..i think bupe (drug in subs) is only a partial agonist but it is strong if you dont have a tolerance...u should def see a specialist because of all the shit u got goin on...you dont want to have to start buying stronger shit off the street.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top