Opioids Should I be upfront about past drug use with a new doctor? Don't ask don't tell?

[crestfallen]

A few years ago I started self-medicating my anxiety with hydrocodone/other Rx opiates that I had found from my mom's past scripts. Yeah, I was abusing them but I never got physically addicted. Well, my parents found out, flipped a shit, and made me go to a rehab. I found one that used Suboxone for maintenance and lied my way into the program (faked being physically sick in w/d)...thinking I could still get opiated everyday legally while still getting my rents of my back. So while I never "truly" needed the sub, I stayed on it for a year because it kept me from feeling anxious like I had been. I got off it last year c/t and now EVERY dr I visit sees that I was on it and treats me like a junkie. It's impossible to get scripted anything controlled practically (im not dr or script shopping btw) even though I have been getting panic/anxiety attacks recently. Other than adderall, which is surprisingly easy to get , I constantly get the junkie treatment just bc I was on Suboxone. They push SSRI's, anti-histamines or TCA's/anti psychotics to control anxiety/help sleep. I've tried all of them and none really work.

I found a psychiatrist who had really good ratings in my area and made an appointment. I'm wondering if I should just tell her upfront about my past since she is going to find out anyways. Maybe she will see it as being honest and NOT as if i'm just there seeking drugs. Or would it be better to wait until she finds out(2nd appointment) and questions me about it. I feel a low dose benzo as needed would keep the anxiety away. I'm just tired of being judged from a stupid past mistake.

I don't how the hell they find out, I think my insurance notifies them or something

 

[limonov]

while I'm sure some users will disagree with them I have always followed a strict SAY NOTHING policy. You just don't know how they are gonna react- they could be totally fine with it and use the information appropriately or they could literally throw you out of their office and refuse to take you on as a patient. You certainly have no idea what they'll write on your file and once something is on your file you're stuck with it.

Now obviously, because you've gone to rehab and been on bupe there are things that you can't lie about- so you'll need to be honest about your background...but that's historic information, I'd try to avoid discussion of your present-day behaviours. Just because someone was/is on a maintenance doesn't mean they're a 'drug seeker' (from a medical point of view- addicts obviously do seek drugs in a general sense)- for example, a lot of doctors will prescribe benzos for anxiety/insomnia to someone who is/has on an MMT programme (despite there being a warning on benzos fact sheets that they shouldn't be prescribed to anyone with addiction problems).

What it really boils down to is this- if you are completely honest and get a bad doctor they'll put a note on your file that will mean you will never, ever be prescribed a benzo for anything, ever. I you get hit by a car in 5 years time that note will still be on your file and they will NOT give you appropriate pain relief as well as being generally suspicious of and hostile to you.

Maybe I'm just overly paranoid, but until all drugs are legalised I'm not telling my doctor anything he doesn't NEED to know.

Oh and don't ask for a benzo. Don't mention benzos in general, don't talk about medication- knowing anything is itself suspicious. Don't even say something vauge like 'I wish there was something I could take when I start having a panic attack to kill it before I start not being able to break properly'- this can be interpreted as just wanting to take a pill that will fix you, and this is bad (despite the 'SSRIs solve all mental problems' being basically a dogma).

Speak honestly about your anxiety, what your experience of anxiety is like, how your anxiety restricts your life, what you feel like you're missing out on due to your anxiety.

Also don't expect benzos the first time round- they like to rule out all the other options first. And just because you think benzos will help you (and they may well do in the short term) benzos are not a sustainable way to deal with anxiety...don't ignore everything said in the session until you get to the prescribing. I ignored the mindfulness exercises/meditation stuff for over a decade and took the benzos/opiates/cannabis instead...and I'm being completely honest when I say that doing mindfulness exercises regularly has done more than any chemical has done for my day-to-day anxiety/social phobia.

Even if you don't end up addicted to them, benzos also lose their therapeutic value fairly quickly- abusing them is a great way to get a massive tolerance (rendering most therapeutic doses useless) as well kill off any therapeutic use they have. I've taken 10mg of alprazolam and it didn't stop a panic attack- it blunted it a bit so I didn't stop breathing and pass out, but it didn't stop it. 10mg Alpraz = 100mg diazepam....if you want to use benzos as a medicine you really can't abuse them.

 

[SaY4cT]

Uhm, no reason really. She wouldn't expect you to either. Doctors are still people, whether you think so or not, they know they have to work with you for your trust. You're their client. It's only natural.

So play dumb like that

Cheers

 

[Ksa]

A few years ago I started self-medicating my anxiety with hydrocodone/other Rx opiates that I had found from my mom's past scripts. Yeah, I was abusing them but I never got physically addicted. Well, my parents found out, flipped a shit, and made me go to a rehab. I found one that used Suboxone for maintenance and lied my way into the program (faked being physically sick in w/d)...thinking I could still get opiated everyday legally while still getting my rents of my back. So while I never "truly" needed the sub, I stayed on it for a year because it kept me from feeling anxious like I had been. I got off it last year c/t and now EVERY dr I visit sees that I was on it and treats me like a junkie. It's impossible to get scripted anything controlled practically (im not dr or script shopping btw) even though I have been getting panic/anxiety attacks recently. Other than adderall, which is surprisingly easy to get , I constantly get the junkie treatment just bc I was on Suboxone. They push SSRI's, anti-histamines or TCA's/anti psychotics to control anxiety/help sleep. I've tried all of them and none really work.

I found a psychiatrist who had really good ratings in my area and made an appointment. I'm wondering if I should just tell her upfront about my past since she is going to find out anyways. Maybe she will see it as being honest and NOT as if i'm just there seeking drugs. Or would it be better to wait until she finds out(2nd appointment) and questions me about it. I feel a low dose benzo as needed would keep the anxiety away. I'm just tired of being judged from a stupid past mistake.

I don't how the hell they find out, I think my insurance notifies them or something

The way I treated my anxiety is through my beliefs. You need to stop panicking at the slightest palpitation. On a scale from 1 to 10, having these beliefs obliterates anxiety:

1) If I die...hmmm...sniff sniff...Oohhhh God no...but I wont!

5) I will not die because this happened to me many times and I was ok, but dying is bad.

10) I dosed everything right, it's improbable for me to die and even so, weather I live or die is meaningless.

#10 is a direct cure for anxiety. How you get yourself to believe that varies from person to person. Regarding the doctor, if you know what you're doing, say nothing, if ur clueless to what you do to yourself, say everything.

 

[Ksa]

The way our society is currently structured, drugs are abomination, like anal sex was described as an abomination in leviticus 18:22, highly reliable stuff indeed. Baby-boomers on CNN tell you stuff that triggers a panic attack on whoever took a pill in his life. Baby-boomers do however have some issues:

1) They formed families because everyone else did so in their time and it was a standard they felt obliged to follow, not because they were fulfilling their own free will.

2) Always living in the same mind-state makes them upset, irrascible, stressed out.

3) They are intolerant to other approaches, are afraid of change because they are stuck in their ways and cannot change.

4) They are unable to alter their body functions in any way without going to the doctor because they are NULL in biochemistry, chemistry and anatomy. They are like a printer with one button "Power". Waking up and going to bed is their only controlls. Anyone who has more buttons, like color printing, recto-verso or timed printing is labeled as a junkie.

5) They are old and hope that new generations will adopt their boring lifestyle.

6) They are persuaded that we cannot do things as well as them, and that drugs will be our doom, and they even try to save us!

7) They are post-modern-pessimists, adepts of post-modernism, they think every synthetic substance will kill them and every natural one will heal them. They doubt highly reliable science and technology that themselves develloped through hard work and sweat. In one sentence, they doubt themselves. Confronted with these doubts, they try to go back to the cave eating grass and flowers in a post-modern environment.
.
.
.
I could go on forever. If you open the TV and listen to that grey hair dude, you will get a panic attack.

 

[Lady Codone]

I was in your same situation when I discovered opiates. All my social anxiety and depression were suddenly gone, and I felt like a normal human. I'd tried every anti-depressant under the sun and none of them helped at all. I used opiates every day at the same time in the same dose for 6 years without developing addiction (physical dependence is a different story).

While it's important to be honest with your doctor, this is not one of those times. Docs are scared shit-less of losing their licenses by over-prescribing narcotics. They don't want to be responsible for someone's overdose or addiction, so they only prescribe them for the most severe pain cases. You could be labeled a drug seeker and ruin all future chances for getting a legit prescription. You're more likely to get benzos, but don't ask for them by name. Try anything she/he prescribes and tell them politely next time that it didn't work.

If she asks about past drug use, just tell her you "experimented a bit". Avoid words like "addict" or "rehab" unless she specifically reads it from your charts. Remember, you don't have to share anything with a psychologist that you don't feel comfortable talking about. That includes drug use.

 

[Ridethecircuswheel]

1) They formed families because everyone else did so in their time and it was a standard they felt obliged to follow, not because they were fulfilling their own free will.

2) Always living in the same mind-state makes them upset, irrascible, stressed out.

3) They are intolerant to other approaches, are afraid of change because they are stuck in their ways and cannot change.

4) They are unable to alter their body functions in any way without going to the doctor because they are NULL in biochemistry, chemistry and anatomy. They are like a printer with one button "Power". Waking up and going to bed is their only controlls. Anyone who has more buttons, like color printing, recto-verso or timed printing is labeled as a junkie.

5) They are old and hope that new generations will adopt their boring lifestyle.

6) They are persuaded that we cannot do things as well as them, and that drugs will be our doom, and they even try to save us!

[/QUOTE]

I never thought about this before. I want to totally send this to my parents and see what they say about it. haha.

 

[dopemegently]

I regret telling my doctor; there was no cure for what i had, i had to withdraw on my own, making my candour pointless. I think there's a bias in the medical profession towards addicts, and society at large. I'm probably being paranoid, but I hate the fact my records say "addict", and wonder if that will cloud their treatment of me.

 

[2cAlex]

Yes, don't lie to a doctor if you are going to him for a serious problem.

The only time telling a doctor about drug use could be bad is if you were seeking a drug, as past drug use is a red flag to doctors for prescribing stuff.


It's up to you. Go to the doctor as a drug seeker or don't.

 

[Psychedelic Jay]

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish...

No: If you want to get high legally of prescription drugs.

Yes: Maintain your health and sobriety.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Lets just say I like the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for more than just people in our armed services.

 

[cj]

Why will she find out eventually? Just tell her you dont have any relevant doctor records.

 

[shreddedlettuce]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you want the best therapy then you have to be completely open and honest with your therapist.
Leaving out "pieces of the puzzle" in therapy makes the therapy a waste of time and money.

If you are seeing a psychiatrist or whatever to get a script of what you would like, then this thread is against the rules of OD.

I'm going to have to close it.

Sorry.

/closed