Never felt more dismissed than I have by Doctor

[Princessruby]

Hi everyone, glad I found you I have to vent and don't know where else to do it better. 8 years ago I had an accident and hurt my neck. Found out that I have cervical spinal stenosis from arthritis and the accident compounded or set it off. My old doctor ( I am a Kaiser patient) had me on 15mg of oxycodone every 4 hours and after several years of trying almost everything from injections to my spinal cord to physical therapy and going through different other meds, I finally got to the point where I had some sort of life again due to suffering from chronic pain 24/7.
My doc resigned and the new younger doctor upon me getting my refill lowered my mg's to 2 every 6 hours without so much as consulting or an examination. There was no contact between us at all before he just decided on his own to taper me down. I'm pissed to say the least! I met with him a week later and he begins to explain that he has a job that he wants to keep blah, blah, blah but he adds 15mg of Morphine ER every 12 hours, makes me sign a contract and says to "trust him." He send me to pain management and that Dr also is more concerned about the cdc and he starts incinuating that I'm abusing my meds and recommends I be put on something like lyrica etc. The last straw was when he offered me some kind of puffer spray in case I stop breathing. At that point I just walked out because he was not hearing me.
2 refills later, I see that the new dr once again lowered my oxycodone. Again without my knowledge. I found this out because the front desk called me to say he wanted a phone appt with me on Friday which I thought was odd and went to check the info on my pill bottle and sure enough he went from 2 every 6 hours to 8 hours.
My pain is back and is constant again. I used to have to get cortisone shots in my right forearm which I have not had to do in years, and that again has returned. I am at a stand still and don't know what to do or say. I told him that he is going to do what ever he wants and anything I say or do doesn't matter. At this point I want to take my scripts and throw it in his face but......
now for the kicker-

I am 52 years old and was addicted to meth but I've been clean for 22 years now. I have never been into pain meds or anything that makes me feel drowsy or loopy. I don't even like weed for that reason. The only way that Kaiser even knew about the addiction is because I told them that the proudest moment in my life was graduating rehab and out of 13 women I was the only one who stayed clean. I am in no way lying or abusing my meds I am honestly hurting but no one can hear me......................and advice is appreciated.

 

[T. Calderone]

I'm in a similar situation only my pain management doctor is a bit more conservative with the medications. Has it been suggested for you to have surgery? I think the climate nowadays is that physicians are so scared of over-prescribing that patients cannot get the meds they need. We have a couple threads you may want to join the conversation:


http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/793435-The-Pain-Management-Mega-Thread-v-7

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/521747-Chronic-Pain-MEGA-Thread

 

[isaaccain]

I feel you, man. I was put in a mental asylum maybe 6 months ago (although I don't remember anything really) and forcefully medicated with medication to make me hungry and gain weight, and given antipsychotics that made me feel like I had a hole in my lungs three times a day and wasn't allowed outside or out of the sight of at least two people 24 hours a day. That's the opposite actually, but my point is I've had stupid stuff happen to me relating to medication. I also have radial tendon damage in both wrists and in my right elbow and shoulder blade, and I'm expected to get by without ANY medication. My condition is obviously nowhere near as painful as yours but it's still so frustrating that I can't even get ibuprofen and I have no idea why. I also have ADHD and anxiety, and the antidepressants I was given to help my anxiety make me depressed, and I'm not allowed benzodiazepines or ADHD medication like methylphenidate or amphetamine because my psychiatrist is afraid I'll abuse them. It's weird because all of these conditions make an impact on my schooling, having bad attention and constantly day dreaming isn't good for catching up after being away in a mental hospital, and I can barely write because of my wrists. Doctors are assholes, I've learned that in my short time as a psychiatric patient. To them, the worst "medical condition" there is is recreational drug use, and they'll let you suffer just to avoid it. I was once told by a nurse I could've died from taking 390mg of codeine, when I know for a fact the lowest ever recorded lethal dose was about 630mg. Doctors lie to keep you sober, or scared, or both. Honestly there's no advice to give, expensive surgery is expensive and meds you need are hard to come by, even from people who are meant to help you. Drug conservation and anti liberalisation is one of the worst things on this planet and there's nothing anyone can do, just suck it up

 

[JBrandon]

To the OP this is happening to many people. It's a consequence of the crackdown on opioids and honestly I have no clue what we can do about it.

I do something where 15 years ago my colleagues would script out a month of percs without blinking. Now, I honestly cannot write for more than a 3-day supply of 7.5mg Vics without being ready to explain myself to the state and the DEA.

There is always collateral damage when the pendulum changes direction. When it was swinging the other way 20 years ago, we created an entire generation of opiate addicts and the current heroin epidemic. Now the push is to go as far as possible in the other direction and people like you are going to get screwed.