Harm Reduction The Pain Management Megathread (Chronic and Acute Pain Discussion) Version 5.0 ~ V

[Doomed2pain]

I hate my drs receptionists they think they are fucking drs, they have not got a clue

 

[bunge]

Possibly the only thing worse then the receptionists (or medical care administration assistants as they call themselves now.lol) are the pharmacists and their assistants.

I once had a pharmacy assistant look at my fresh-from-the doctor script (sleeping tabs btw) and say "do you really need these? Your very young to be using addictive drugs"...erm...yeah, actually i do need them (thats why the doctor prescribed them.lol), you know fuck all about me or my medical conditions.

Instead of trying to give me unwanted medical advice, count out my pills and stick the label on the box because that is your bloody job!.

 

[Toz]

Possibly the only thing worse then the receptionists (or medical care administration assistants as they call themselves now.lol) are the pharmacists and their assistants.

I once had a pharmacy assistant look at my fresh-from-the doctor script (sleeping tabs btw) and say "do you really need these? Your very young to be using addictive drugs"...erm...yeah, actually i do need them (thats why the doctor prescribed them.lol), you know fuck all about me or my medical conditions.

Instead of trying to give me unwanted medical advice, count out my pills and stick the label on the box because that is your bloody job!.

I fucking hate pharmacists that comment on my prescriptions. Especially the "you are so young do you really need all these meds" line. So I am supposed to wait untill I grow old and tired of being in pain and finally off myself because I can't handle it anymore or what? Sometimes I even wish to myself they would get to experience severe pain for a longer period of time just so they would shut the fuck up.

I think that most people seem to think of pain as an aching leg, foot or something similiar. Most have probably never experienced the severeness of debilitating neuropathic pain that can feeling like getting stabbed with a knife and then having it twisted around or alternatively burning yourself on a hot stove.

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

it's a sick world. I wish some of the doctors who gave me tramadol and apap for severe pain to experience it them selves (as this sseems to be the treatment for evere chronic pain here).

also I wonder how trying most of these doctors bacvkrounds were. I'll be willing to bet not much at all.

 

[BigG]

Dont get me stared one doctors receptionists!! "little Hitlers on a power trip" as my later mother used to call them. Its like because they have the power to determine whether or not you get in to see the doctor that sets them on a power trip. Why a completely medically untrained receptionist should think that they can decided whether or not your case is urgent or not is beyond me. Also sometimes they ask you to tell them what is wrong with you...I mean wtf!!!... I just say.excuse me, are. you a doctor?.....no?...then whatever is wrong witu me is private and has nothing to do with you. Ive met one or two nice receptionists but they are few and far between. Some receptionists are worse for perceiving pain patients as time wasting drug addixts who only want to scam pills that some doctors.......rant over!

 

[bunge]

little hitlers is a pretty accurate description.lol

@Toz, i also wish the docs, nurses, pharmacists etc had to deal with ONE day of my pain.
What people dont understand is that just because i dont look like im in pain; i actually am!.
Even with my pain relief i always have a background level of pain (usually muscle spasm related) but the neuralgia flare ups are uncontrollable no matter what i use.
Especially the 'burn' type pains you mentioned where a random area of skin starts to hurt like the worst sun-burn ever.

What i dont need is every "wannabe doctor" in the NHS questioning my right to the treatment i receive.
If i need some paperwork ill see the receptionist, if i need advice on what otc cold med to buy ill ask the pharmacist...the rest is between me and my fucking doctor!.

Rant over.lol

 

[BigG]

Another thing tbat really gets to me is if you cant get to speak to the doctor and you ask the receptionist to relay a message regarding your pain meds you just know they wont pass it on or if they do they will twist it to make you look like a drug seeker......or if they fuck up your prescription and you ring up and they say "there is nothing we can do about it" when what they mean is they cant be bothered. This happened to me once when they got the date wrong and the pharmacist wouldnt accept my script. I countered with "yes there is something you can do about it, you can write it out again properly this time since that is your job and you have made the mistake not me. If you dont then I will write to the PCT (the local controlling body of the NHS) and complain.........10 minutes later it was fixed........ha!

 

[Rybee]

Hey Peeps!

Is anyone able to tell me about their experiences of Tapentadol or Dosulepin for lower back pain (slipped discs) in my thread: Tapentadol & Dosulepin For Chronic Nerve Pain Management.

Tapentadol is a fairly new drug so not heard so much about it, and what I have heard has been largely negative unfortunately. Though my anaesthetist/algiatrist is very keen on moving over from Morphine/Oxycodone which I guess makes sense for the long term management of my pain.

I can really relate to englandgz74's post at number 233 of this thread/page. I need to move from daily MS Contin to a long term solution, and only rely on opiates for breakthrough pain. Though very hard to do when you're in pain. It's a horrible Catch 22 really isn't it...

 

[bunge]

With Tapentadol i think your looking at tramadols bigger, more potent cousin.
I think it hits the same receptors, but with a greater affinity and longer half-life.
Tbh, ive heard better stuff about it as an anti-depressant rather then straight painkiller (though mood has alot to do with pain).
Personally i found tramadol to be the most effective for my nerve pain but it unfortunately interects with my other meds so i had to change to DHC.

 

[Rybee]

With Tapentadol i think your looking at tramadols bigger, more potent cousin.
I think it hits the same receptors, but with a greater affinity and longer half-life.
Tbh, ive heard better stuff about it as an anti-depressant rather then straight painkiller (though mood has alot to do with pain).
Personally i found tramadol to be the most effective for my nerve pain but it unfortunately interects with my other meds so i had to change to DHC.

Thanks for the reply mate. That's the impression that I keep getting with it, everyone seems to compare it to Tramadol. I was quite keen to give methadone another go, I've read some really positive things about its ability to help with nerve-related pain but my pain doc said it can have detrimental effects on the heart, and since I get quite bad palpitations, it wouldn't be wise to try it.

 

[hangyourhead]

I fucking hate pharmacists that comment on my prescriptions. Especially the "you are so young do you really need all these meds" line. So I am supposed to wait untill I grow old and tired of being in pain and finally off myself because I can't handle it anymore or what? Sometimes I even wish to myself they would get to experience severe pain for a longer period of time just so they would shut the fuck up.

I think that most people seem to think of pain as an aching leg, foot or something similiar. Most have probably never experienced the severeness of debilitating neuropathic pain that can feeling like getting stabbed with a knife and then having it twisted around or alternatively burning yourself on a hot stove.

Are you talking about opioids or gabapentin, Toz?

They've made comments to me before with my history of scripts: clonazepam, alprazolam, temazepam (BEST script I ever had; 30 x 30mg Restoril capsules), codeine, methadone, buprenorphine (Suboxone), zolpidem, hydrocodone, gabapentin, and pregabalin. Well they always act like I'm "up to something" or whatever, they act weird and ask me more personal info questions than the ppl before me. It pisses me off.

In a way, I'm glad I dont get my 70mg/7mL of Methadose at a pharmacy and I get to go hide and drink my 'done in peace haha.

 

[Rybee]

Agreed with pharmacist comments, it's my number one pet hate. Your job is to dispense what the signed prescription says, not to pretend you're a doctor. Some of the remarks I've had in the past were so catty and actually quite nasty. I used to entertain their remarks with an explanation, but I've come to realise that all they need to know is that my all of my prescriptions are legitimately prescribed by a qualified consultant, and absolutely nothing more. I just remind them that they were prescribed in complete confidentiality and they need not know what for.

 

[hangyourhead]

Yeah, it's against our rights for them to be discussing prescribed narcotic drugs (i.e. benzos, opioids, stimulants, GABAergics i.e. pregabalin or gabapentin even though they aren't really scheduled, they are strong/stronger than many scheduled narcotics, ironic...) loudly or in front of customer(s), it's embarrassing and for some people w/ horrible SAD won't ever enter a pharmacy again bc of something like that.

 

[bunge]

Methadone is meant to be a pretty effective painkiller if you dont have a heroin tolerance but the issue is that once you gain a methadone tolerance, you can kiss goodbye to lower potentcy opi's having any effect....and the WD is a real bitch.lol

 

[edgewise1]

Ah pharmacists you say. What I don't like is getting a refill 1 or 2 days ahead of time. My lyrica script ran out on the 18th of May, a Sunday and this pharmacy is closed. So I decided to get my refill on Friday. Called and gave the information. Got a call back a minute later with the response that my insurance would not allow the refill early . Now my insurance will allow refills 4-5 days early as I have called them to ask! I said "that's odd, I have talked to them and they told me they allow refills 4-5 days early." She said " well that's what it says, and you will have to wait until Monday." Just shook my head and said "ok" since their is nothing else I could do.

I just hate how some pharmacist set themselves up as guardians of the controlled substances. I don't abuse my meds and I have been going here for 2 years and have not made it a practice to ask for early refills.

So theres my pharmacist rant for today. Everyone have a great day!

 

[xtcgrrrl]

I want to chime in on the pharmacists rant. I FUCKING HATE them all. I have only met one or two good, kind ones and they're too far for me to drive to. Most of the pharmacists I have met feel they have the right to judge you, chime in on your medication, tell you you can't get it even a SINGLE DAY early, etc etc. Pharmacists are the people I would wish my crippling pain on. I would wish they would wake up every morning wishing for a bedpan because they were in such agony they didn't think they could make it to the bathroom. I go all day long with my ENTIRE BODY aching, migraines every other day now, things are only getting worse not better. And I'm living a double life - to "prove" to my family that I'm not acting out of addiction, I currently go to a PM place that doesn't prescribe narcotics. At all. They only give you strong NSAIDs and they do alternative therapies like biofeedback. I'm waiting to hear if I can get an epidural steroid shot. If my insurance will cover it, I will get one. And they are VERY TOUGH with the PT. They put me on the machines right away and I was so exhausted when I got home yesterday that I slept all day which did NOT endear me to my family, who wants me up and about. EXCUSE ME...how the hell am I supposed to be up and about when the strongest thing I have at hand are poppy pods?! Not that the pods don't work...I put them in capsules and they take a long time to kick in but then they last all day. I also discovered that if I make a nice tall cocktail of tonic water (WITH quinine) and white grapefruit juice and use that to swallow down 4 Tagamet, THEN dose about a half hour after (I have to take 3 Tums after the grapefruit juice or I get really bad heartburn) then the morning's dose will last all day. But I have to swallow TWENTY 0 size capsules filled with ground poppy to feel ok. And even then sometimes I have to redose at night to get to sleep. I'm trying to rely on my Zyprexa, Topamax, Soma and etizolam to put me to sleep fast so that I don't lie there suffering until I'm forced to get up and swallow another handful of pills (I can usually get by on just Kratom for night time pain because I just need to take the edge off, I don't need to be up and active.) And I smoke e-cigs like you wouldn't believe. They really help with my anxiety but it's got to the point where I almost always have one in my hand. I swear, e-cigs are the thing that get me through the day because they force me to breathe deep breaths which help with my anxiety and the nicotine feels good too, I have non-nicotine ones for times when I just need calming not the nicotine but nicotine helps me to be more alert and focused. And I have a ton to do today and I can already feel the migraine starting so that's all from me for now.

Bottom line: pharmacists are EVIL.

 

[chase_in_56ace]

Happy to report I saw a New pain management doctor last Thursday. He told me he didn't write meds on the first visit. I of course went along with this as it sounded purposeful to discourage Med seeking. He still however wrote me 350mg Soma 2x a day and 30mg roxicodone 3x a day which obviously was an awesome turn out.

He also prescribed a topical ointment that contains ketamine but I haven't been able to fill it... has anyone heard of this?

 

[percojerk]

Ok so I call my pain management doctor monday morning, for my monthly pain meds (oxycodone) 10mg #120, an # 60 op 20mg. Been seein my seemingly generous aprn since November. Usually when I call in it is a week or so early, but they always call me within 24 hours to tell me my scripts are ready. Well like I said I called Monday morning and it is now wed. Night and no phone call. The office moved to a new location and opened Monday there. They were right at the hospital beforehand. And they have this new automated system when you call in refills. It also says refills require 48-72 hrs. Its so frustrating. Tomorrow is dsy 29 of my last script. I am out and in adout hour 30 of cold turkey from 60-75 mg of oxycodone ir daily. I gave 0 energy and feel bad already. Thoughts and comments? I pray they call me in the am.

 

[Kittycat5]

Happy to report I saw a New pain management doctor last Thursday. He told me he didn't write meds on the first visit. I of course went along with this as it sounded purposeful to discourage Med seeking. He still however wrote me 350mg Soma 2x a day and 30mg roxicodone 3x a day which obviously was an awesome turn out.

He also prescribed a topical ointment that contains ketamine but I haven't been able to fill it... has anyone heard of this?

Yes. It needs to be compounded and usually combined with an nsaid and maybe baclofen. Good for neuropathy.

 

[Doomed2pain]

I'd love to try a ketamine topical cream but no go in this country my pain management sucks, the warmer weather is definitely a relief though from October to May I go through absolute hell I wouldn't wish it on anyone, with the exception of my PM drs they all deserve it they've done nothing but cause me pain

I went through a bad fentanyl withdrawal last week wed, thurs, fri, sat, sun, mon evening. All because my pharmacy messed up, oh it was horrible definitely worse than methadone wd.