medication question: working in Australia long term from USA

[runninwild]

Hello, I figured this would the perfect plcae to ask friendly Australians about a medical question before i finish up resume and going to work where I have always wanted to:D

I am on a pain contract after a good skydiving injury (OUCH!) which in the States is an agreement that you wont see any other doctors and you are given opiates on a constant. I am a sheetmetal worker/lagger. Right now I am on Opana 30mg 3x (90mg daily). I know when I was working in Canada I was told it would be hard to find a doctor willing to prescribe like that. I had to have my parents meet me half way with a delvery to make it 3 months.

So my question is: Do they have Oxymorphone available(legally) and do doctors recognize pain management there and in high doses? One thing to remember is that 30mg Opana=60mg oxycodone=90mg morphine.
Do construction jobs there usually require a drug screening?
I need to know this before I disclose it to possible employer, and I also will have to find what I am allowed to bring with. I know in Canada it was supposed to be 30days max unless permit but when i called the border they said no problem.bit i also had a 4 month work visa. I am sure the 30 day is because you can travel without a visa for 30 days there.

I need these so I can sleep as long as i move I am fine..its resting that kills me but now ofcourse I am dependant. I was on morphine for short time after oxycodone but got hassled to much inorientation. Belive it or not oxydodone doenst show up on most employment drug screens because it break down diffenrt then heroin.

what this means is that I probably would show up in a UA but cant wetback work will have to have a work visa if i want to stay longer than 30 days. I also must hope that employers allow you on opiates wiht prescription and note that it doesnt affect my alertness
thanks for your help!

 

[Crankinit]

Well, we don't have oxymorphone available at all, so you'd end up on another med, my guess would be oxycontin.

As to whether you'd be able to find something at all, I'm not certain. Aussie doctors can be pretty opio-phobic, especially when it comes to prescribing to young men. I'd imagine a detailed letter from your current doctor would go a long way towards helping you, but chances are you'll still need to shop around to find someone willing to provide you with the meds you need. I'm honestly not sure beyond that.

Maybe ask your current doctor what he generally does for patients in this position? Or if the international phone bill isn't too much of a deterrent, look up a doctor in your destination online and phone around, or even email them, to get some opinions.

If construction workers were drug tested, we wouldn't have any construction workers, so I'm sure you'll be fine in that regard

 

[Mr Blonde]

^Good advice there; bring as much documentation as possible and maybe even try and arrange for your pain management doctor in the States to contact the doctor you see here. I would aim to get on to a pain management program here, last time I heard there was a three month waiting list for the programs.

 

[Crankinit]

Yeah 2 - 3 month wait, so that doesn't really sound viable.