Opioids [UK} Pain Meds/Inadequate Pain Relief - PLEASE Help

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

I do have some history of addiction where I briefly overused oxycodone I was prescribed. This was 11 years ago.

I have several forms of SEVERE chronic pain. Anyone with the serious pain I have would normally AT LEAST be on a decent dose of morphine, but the most my GP will give me is Dihydrocodeine. I'm so under prescribed for my pain it's not even funny. The max. is 8 pills a day but I often take 10 (occasionally as many as 12) because if I don't I'm bedridden and almost screaming on bad days.
I called for my DHC script today and it was rejected because I'm asking for it 2 days early and the doctor rejected it because "I must be overusing it and taking 9 or 10 pills a day". I told the truth that YES, I do because you won't prescribe anything stronger and my life is hell with pain every day.

So now I have to go two days of terrible withdrawal and unbearable pain and even then I'm just gonna be getting nothing like adequate treatment. I'm so fed up and defeated. I don't wanna live anymore if this is what it's gonna be like.

I took too much of a medication for 3 months 11 years ago and now I'm gonna be punished for the rest of my life,

 

[negrogesic]

I don't know how it works in the UK but can't you get into a methadone program there?

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

I don't know how it works in the UK but can't you get into a methadone program there?

I could, but it's only for addiction and I don't have an addiction or abuse problem, I have a pain problem.

 

[Illyria99]

I could, but it's only for addiction and I don't have an addiction or abuse problem, I have a pain problem.

Well, this is when you draw upon your acting skills. Sometimes honesty is NOT the best policy.

 

[negrogesic]

I could, but it's only for addiction and I don't have an addiction or abuse problem, I have a pain problem.

It sounds like a bit of both. I'm sure you'd be accepted.

The stakes are high of course, because once you're on methadone your tolerance will be raised to a point where other opioids won't really work. So it is a long term commitment. But at least you wouldn't be going through withdrawal a few days every month. But there is a trade off to everything, so make sure you consider the pros and cons first.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

It sounds like a bit of both. I'm sure you'd be accepted.

The stakes are high of course, because once you're on methadone your tolerance will be raised to a point where other opioids won't really work. So it is a long term commitment. But at least you wouldn't be going through withdrawal a few days every month. But there is a trade off to everything, so make sure you consider the pros and cons first.

Yeah, I was on Methadone several years ago. I actually ended up quitting cold turkey (TEN WEEKS of acute withdrawals...no idea how I made it out) due to weight gain and SEVERE secondary hyperhidrosis.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

So...some good luck! I asked if my doctor could call me this evening and he did. He agreed to send my DHC to the pharmacy (meaning I'll be able to get it tomorrow morning) and after a very HONEST conversation with him, he's even agreed to prescribe Sevredol (IR morphine), too. Just like 20mg morphine/day right now, but that's a starter and it is on top of my DHC. He's also made me an appointment at the pain clinic and said he'll be more comfortable prescribing a higher dose of morphine if they advise it...so I'm feel a little more hopeful now.

 

[nznity]

I do have some history of addiction where I briefly overused oxycodone I was prescribed. This was 11 years ago.

I have several forms of SEVERE chronic pain. Anyone with the serious pain I have would normally AT LEAST be on a decent dose of morphine, but the most my GP will give me is Dihydrocodeine. I'm so under prescribed for my pain it's not even funny. The max. is 8 pills a day but I often take 10 (occasionally as many as 12) because if I don't I'm bedridden and almost screaming on bad days.
I called for my DHC script today and it was rejected because I'm asking for it 2 days early and the doctor rejected it because "I must be overusing it and taking 9 or 10 pills a day". I told the truth that YES, I do because you won't prescribe anything stronger and my life is hell with pain every day.

So now I have to go two days of terrible withdrawal and unbearable pain and even then I'm just gonna be getting nothing like adequate treatment. I'm so fed up and defeated. I don't wanna live anymore if this is what it's gonna be like.

I took too much of a medication for 3 months 11 years ago and now I'm gonna be punished for the rest of my life,

Man fucking americans abusing/misusing oxycodone have fucked up the entire global system of pain management. Now, people who truly need pain medication can't access them or Physicians label us as "drugseekers".....it's all fucked up. People who are in severe pain can't have adequate treatment, gosh it's all tits up nowadays. Drs treat u like scum now and only wanna prescribe dhc( in the uk), tramadol worldwide and if u do get an oxy script they give u doses that won't treat your ailment properly. Fml

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

Man fucking americans abusing/misusing oxycodone have fucked up the entire global system of pain management. Now, people who truly need pain medication can't access them or Physicians label us as "drugseekers".....it's all fucked up. People who are in severe pain can't have adequate treatment, gosh it's all tits up nowadays. Drs treat u like scum now and only wanna prescribe dhc( in the uk), tramadol worldwide and if u do get an oxy script they give u doses that won't treat your ailment properly. Fml

EXTREMELY true.

 

[insommer]

This sounds really similar to my situation, i was taking up to a max of 25-30x30mg codeine tablets a day for nerve damage. The best i could get from the doctor was codeine even though it would be easier and more accurate to give an oral amount of morphine. I started off taking the prescribed amount of 2 every 4 hours but it didn't do anything for me, so i upped it until i felt relief which was about 5 tablets every 3-4 hours. Didn't matter how many times i went to my doctor in tears telling him i couldn't coupe, codeine was the best he would give me, at the time opiates weren't recommended for my type of injury. They would always offer me gabapentin, pregabalin or amitriptyline none of which did a damn thing for my pain and just me feel really odd and unwell.

Anyways to get to the point, i'm from the UK too, due to my habit i was ordering codeine via online pharmacies, and after spending a whole lot of money i went to the doctor and told them what i was doing, they offered no real help and now i have drug abuser permanently on my "record" so i went to a local drug rehab place and they put me on buprenorphine. I had the choice between that and methadone, and i had read at the time there was some new research into nerve damage and buprenorphine being effective, so i tried that and i can honestly say it's solved my pain issue more or less completely.

I know that your issue is probably different to mine, but who knows, maybe it may help you too, and it's free
it also means that you dont have to do that weekly panic dance of chasing scripts and phoning around 10 different chemists because you've gotta make it look like you dont have an issue. They havn't tried to make me quit or reduce my dose either, i've been on 18mg of subutex for around 2 years now, the only thing i had to do was change over to espranor due to supply issues. My support worker (if you can call them that) phones me once a month to see how i am and thats the only contact i have, they are happy for me to stay on my dose without any issues as it's helped me so much.

probably isn't what you were looking for but i thought maybe you could gain something from my experience, i've been a long time lurker here and decided to make an account and post as your situation sounded similar to mine, as im from the uk i can probably help you out with any questions you may have about the system.

good luck!

 

[Bad Obsession]

I know it doesn't seem it but ur lucky to get prescribed dhc on its own nowadays as most GPs are very reluctant to do so. When I first developed sciatica I was prescribed co-dydramol (10mg dhc/500mg paracetamol) to be taken as required. I rarely asked for a repeat as I was using em only when in severe pain but even then, the addiction team doc I was seeing contacted my GP & requested I stopped getting em - the reason being I shouldn't be on methadone & dhc at the same time, even tho she knew I was prescribed it for ages. So I was stuck with a naproxen script - ugh!!!! Anyway, that's good news that he's prescribed u morphine too, hopefully u'll get ur dose increased enough to manage ur pain

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

This sounds really similar to my situation, i was taking up to a max of 25-30x30mg codeine tablets a day for nerve damage. The best i could get from the doctor was codeine even though it would be easier and more accurate to give an oral amount of morphine. I started off taking the prescribed amount of 2 every 4 hours but it didn't do anything for me, so i upped it until i felt relief which was about 5 tablets every 3-4 hours. Didn't matter how many times i went to my doctor in tears telling him i couldn't coupe, codeine was the best he would give me, at the time opiates weren't recommended for my type of injury. They would always offer me gabapentin, pregabalin or amitriptyline none of which did a damn thing for my pain and just me feel really odd and unwell.

Anyways to get to the point, i'm from the UK too, due to my habit i was ordering codeine via online pharmacies, and after spending a whole lot of money i went to the doctor and told them what i was doing, they offered no real help and now i have drug abuser permanently on my "record" so i went to a local drug rehab place and they put me on buprenorphine. I had the choice between that and methadone, and i had read at the time there was some new research into nerve damage and buprenorphine being effective, so i tried that and i can honestly say it's solved my pain issue more or less completely.

I know that your issue is probably different to mine, but who knows, maybe it may help you too, and it's free
it also means that you dont have to do that weekly panic dance of chasing scripts and phoning around 10 different chemists because you've gotta make it look like you dont have an issue. They havn't tried to make me quit or reduce my dose either, i've been on 18mg of subutex for around 2 years now, the only thing i had to do was change over to espranor due to supply issues. My support worker (if you can call them that) phones me once a month to see how i am and thats the only contact i have, they are happy for me to stay on my dose without any issues as it's helped me so much.

probably isn't what you were looking for but i thought maybe you could gain something from my experience, i've been a long time lurker here and decided to make an account and post as your situation sounded similar to mine, as im from the uk i can probably help you out with any questions you may have about the system.

good luck!

Thanks! And that actually is pretty helpful, thanks. Methadone just wasn't really for me so it's good to know that if it comes down to it, there's a decent chance that at least buprenorphine could help.
I'm really glad you got out of that situation and finally have something that works for you! And that was really nice of you to make an account to offer me advice, I absolutely appreciate it.

Welcome to Bluelight! (officially)

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

I know it doesn't seem it but ur lucky to get prescribed dhc on its own nowadays as most GPs are very reluctant to do so. When I first developed sciatica I was prescribed co-dydramol (10mg dhc/500mg paracetamol) to be taken as required. I rarely asked for a repeat as I was using em only when in severe pain but even then, the addiction team doc I was seeing contacted my GP & requested I stopped getting em - the reason being I shouldn't be on methadone & dhc at the same time, even tho she knew I was prescribed it for ages. So I was stuck with a naproxen script - ugh!!!! Anyway, that's good news that he's prescribed u morphine too, hopefully u'll get ur dose increased enough to manage ur pain

Thanks
And I'm sorry, that sucks. That was really weird of the addiction team to do that since you are prescribed a static dose of methadone to treat addiction (which obviously you'll now have a complete tolerance to) while the DHC was prescribed to treat pain.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Thanks
And I'm sorry, that sucks. That was really weird of the addiction team to do that since you are prescribed a static dose of methadone to treat addiction (which obviously you'll now have a complete tolerance to) while the DHC was prescribed to treat pain.

Exactly buddy, there was no rational reason to take me off em but when ur reliant on these people for the methadone script what can ya do? I guess I could always ask my GP to put me bk on em as I came off the methadone in December 2019 after 19 yrs of being on it but my GP obv knows my drug abuse history & may be unwilling to reprepscibe it. Luckily I haven't had a bad flare up of sciatica in a while but if I do I'll try anyway, all he can say is no

 

[AutoTripper]

I do have some history of addiction where I briefly overused oxycodone I was prescribed. This was 11 years ago.

I have several forms of SEVERE chronic pain. Anyone with the serious pain I have would normally AT LEAST be on a decent dose of morphine, but the most my GP will give me is Dihydrocodeine. I'm so under prescribed for my pain it's not even funny. The max. is 8 pills a day but I often take 10 (occasionally as many as 12) because if I don't I'm bedridden and almost screaming on bad days.
I called for my DHC script today and it was rejected because I'm asking for it 2 days early and the doctor rejected it because "I must be overusing it and taking 9 or 10 pills a day". I told the truth that YES, I do because you won't prescribe anything stronger and my life is hell with pain every day.

So now I have to go two days of terrible withdrawal and unbearable pain and even then I'm just gonna be getting nothing like adequate treatment. I'm so fed up and defeated. I don't wanna live anymore if this is what it's gonna be like.

I took too much of a medication for 3 months 11 years ago and now I'm gonna be punished for the rest of my life,

Not to patronize somebody I am trusting to be very well informed and experienced generally, but take this as rhetorical (and open, I aim never to oblige an answer) I assume therefore you have tried kava?

Many who are accustomed to strong pain meds will report it as weak here.

It makes the world of difference for me personally, soothing, coping with any pain by being heavily loaded on kavalactones.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

Not to patronize somebody I am trusting to be very well informed and experienced generally, but take this as rhetorical (and open, I aim never to oblige an answer) I assume therefore you have tried kava?

Many who are accustomed to strong pain meds will report it as weak here.

It makes the world of difference for me personally, soothing, coping with any pain by being heavily loaded on kavalactones.

I've tried it in the past (several years ago) and didn't feel anything at all from it, although I was on 2-3 times the overall opioid level that I am on now. I don't have the funds to buy stuff right now either, really, so unless someone out there wants to provide it to me for free out of the goodness of their heart ...I suppose I could check out whether any sites that sell it do free samples so I could at least know if it would help so if I did decide to purchase some, it would be under the knowledge that I knew it would help? :/

P.S. You didn't come across as patronising at all, and I appreciate you taking the time to offer some advice

 

[AutoTripper]

Yeah, I was on Methadone several years ago. I actually ended up quitting cold turkey (TEN WEEKS of acute withdrawals...no idea how I made it out) due to weight gain and SEVERE secondary hyperhidrosis.

Amazing will power! Where there's a will...

Is actually true within reasonable realms of actual possibility.

My decision, will so many tines, kind of permanently but very critically at times has seen me transcend things on paper no chance.

Conversely I have observed lately that it is possible to end your life by sheer will to die alone.

Which too makes full sense to me.

I observed this on two occasions. I officially abandoned the will and plan tonlive.

It took a day possibly but there was a sensation of the body and energy system closing down.

It was interesting. I was in the darkest places and had taken too much extrene stress pain trauma too long, and to say Covids have done a real number on me is wildly understating.

Atm without extra typical amounts of Kava, and still large benzo intake, I'd have no hope of managing both very extreme PTSD & nerve damage.

But I broke my back last September. Ironically, I recall an early 2021 knee injury being harder!

Lots substantial physical injuries, pain. Most of all, 6 months plus of hemorrhoids from Covid which alone have made turned "The Shire" useless for me.

Kava has always helped me to find enough pain relief, except the hamorrhoids where it's boiled down to just surviving it.

By changing the mind, spirit, both those times, I reversed the shutdown.

 

[AutoTripper]

I've tried it in the past (several years ago) and didn't feel anything at all from it, although I was on 2-3 times the overall opioid level that I am on now. I don't have the funds to buy stuff right now either, really, so unless someone out there wants to provide it to me for free out of the goodness of their heart ...I suppose I could check out whether any sites that sell it do free samples so I could at least know if it would help so if I did decide to purchase some, it would be under the knowledge that I knew it would help? :/

P.S. You didn't come across as patronising at all, and I appreciate you taking the time to offer some advice

If I was a physically, practically capable man of following through tomorrow with a mere word of today, as I am in an elevator hands tied full to brim rolling dice in such a surreal abnormal reality just securing that survival first, still, then some coal for activities....


I would say...I will send you some, to try at least.

I can't make a single promise atm. Need mum's assistance parceling, posting etc.

150% energy is towards vital efforts in such high chronic fatigued state.


I'm in UK too. Kava is very legal and safe...for your pet Hampster, Rabbit or Fox lol!

There is a genuine reverse tolerance factor too for some, not all.

Like week to two daily use not much, suddenly a new drug hello!

And actual product, prep method, exact dosing and routine etc all play into it.

Kava is not plug n play at all.

See this post in case maybe you did not approach it right, had virtual dudd, or needed to persist a little longer past reverse tolerance.

Ethnobotanicals - Has anyone ever tried Kava?

I've seen this drink called kava or kava kava being advertised online, it seems to be legal in most countries around the world. Apparently it is a natural alternative to xanax and benzos and is pretty potent. Has anyone ever tried it? Apparently it affects GABA receptors and is a MAO B enzyme...

bluelight.org

 

[Julies1221]

I do have some history of addiction where I briefly overused oxycodone I was prescribed. This was 11 years ago.

I have several forms of SEVERE chronic pain. Anyone with the serious pain I have would normally AT LEAST be on a decent dose of morphine, but the most my GP will give me is Dihydrocodeine. I'm so under prescribed for my pain it's not even funny. The max. is 8 pills a day but I often take 10 (occasionally as many as 12) because if I don't I'm bedridden and almost screaming on bad days.
I called for my DHC script today and it was rejected because I'm asking for it 2 days early and the doctor rejected it because "I must be overusing it and taking 9 or 10 pills a day". I told the truth that YES, I do because you won't prescribe anything stronger and my life is hell with pain every day.

So now I have to go two days of terrible withdrawal and unbearable pain and even then I'm just gonna be getting nothing like adequate treatment. I'm so fed up and defeated. I don't wanna live anymore if this is what it's gonna be like.

I took too much of a medication for 3 months 11 years ago and now I'm gonna be punished for the rest of my life,

I do have some history of addiction where I briefly overused oxycodone I was prescribed. This was 11 years ago.

I have several forms of SEVERE chronic pain. Anyone with the serious pain I have would normally AT LEAST be on a decent dose of morphine, but the most my GP will give me is Dihydrocodeine. I'm so under prescribed for my pain it's not even funny. The max. is 8 pills a day but I often take 10 (occasionally as many as 12) because if I don't I'm bedridden and almost screaming on bad days.
I called for my DHC script today and it was rejected because I'm asking for it 2 days early and the doctor rejected it because "I must be overusing it and taking 9 or 10 pills a day". I told the truth that YES, I do because you won't prescribe anything stronger and my life is hell with pain every day.

So now I have to go two days of terrible withdrawal and unbearable pain and even then I'm just gonna be getting nothing like adequate treatment. I'm so fed up and defeated. I don't wanna live anymore if this is what it's gonna be like.

I took too much of a medication for 3 months 11 years ago and now I'm gonna be punished for the rest of my life,

Unfortunately, this is just the current reality for most people suffering with chronic pain. I have two forms of cancer, stage 4 endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, trigeminal neuralgia, four autoimmune disorders, two rare diseases. And I don’t get nearly what I need to function. I’ve been bedridden for over ten year. Anyone who runs out of their pain meds early in the US is immediately and permanently fired from pain management. So, you’re lucky your doctor didn’t fire you.

Have you tried adding weed or kratom? They don’t work for everyone but might help if your doctor allows it and if they’re legal where you live. Otherwise, it’s getting into addiction treatment where you’ll get high dose methadone, or street drugs. Until policy makers and people in health care start treating pain adequately, we’re all screwed.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

Unfortunately, this is just the current reality for most people suffering with chronic pain. I have two forms of cancer, stage 4 endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, trigeminal neuralgia, four autoimmune disorders, two rare diseases. And I don’t get nearly what I need to function. I’ve been bedridden for over ten year. Anyone who runs out of their pain meds early in the US is immediately and permanently fired from pain management. So, you’re lucky your doctor didn’t fire you.

Have you tried adding weed or kratom? They don’t work for everyone but might help if your doctor allows it and if they’re legal where you live. Otherwise, it’s getting into addiction treatment where you’ll get high dose methadone, or street drugs. Until policy makers and people in health care start treating pain adequately, we’re all screwed.

I'm so sorry for all that you're going through.

I'm not in the U.S. Never heard of a doctor "firing" someone here. If they suspect or find out you have an addiction or are abusing meds, they do the right thing and try and get you help

Kratom does absolutely nothing for me at any dose.
I'm definitely gonna try weed when I can, but currently in a situation where I can't access and street drugs (weed is not legal here).