No Narcotics Work Except Methadone For My Severe Neck Pain
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I had a surgery in 1998 for "smashed" disks found during the surgery and after trying every narcotic known to man, I obtained immediate relief with methadone. I was on it for 15 years until the recent government fiasco, which IMHO had no business interfering as no one knows but the patient and their primary doctor just how severe the pain is. I have no clue why methadone works so well and other even more powerful narcotics don't, and for 15 years I lead a rather normal life. Now I've been cut back to 4 methadone a day plus MS-Contin and still three 10mg methadone provide me more relief than two 30mg MS-Contin not to mention the MS-Contin has nearly doubled my prescription bill. They took bone from my hip but had to insert a steel prosthesis as almost all of my disks were literally smashed, and I have no idea how that could have happened either. I'm not terminal but I might as well be as the pain can get so bad, I've considered suicide but I just couldn't do that to my family even though as a Mother and wife, life is not nearly as happy as it used to be given now my pain is not well controlled at all. My doctor has done her best, but if she prescribes more methadone, she could lose her license, so I can't blame her. Plus I am not addicted. If my pain went away, I would have no need to take any pills. I've never done drugs or felt a need to feel "high". Just having no pain would be my "high". The bottom line is the government has lumped those of us that truly need pain relief into one big group, and taking methadone for long-term pain relief is not considered an acceptable drug to use, even though I used it for 15 years, followed all the rules, had constant lab work to monitor my liver, kidney and many other organs and have always had normal results. I've taken oxycodone, hydrocodone, used Dilaudid patches, and many more types of pain relievers, and none of them gave me the relief that methadone did. The MS-Contin helps slightly but nothing else had any effect on me at all. For doctors to be told how to treat their patients by government officials that didn't go to medical school for numerous years is beyond my comprehension, and to have to be terminal in order to take a certain medicine, I would like to know who was the "wise" person that issued this ultimatum. Further, I am NOT addicted mentally; I'm addicted physically. Again, if my pain was to leave my body, I would have no need to ever take another pill. This is what the government doesn't understand about addiction; yet they've been allowed to ruin thousands of people's' lives due to their ignorance. Plus now they're saying methadone isn't as "terrible" as they were claiming in the beginning of this mess. But I've yet to see any improvement as far as letting a highly trained doctor do their job without having to adhere to someone's ignorance and I've read where many doctors are outraged at this new methadone policy as many of the so-called "evils of methadone" simply aren't true. How was I able to live 15 years taking 11 methadone a day and having completely normal lab results the entire 15 years? There are still just as many people dying from trying to feel high as there were before; thus blaming methadone is totally obscene. Now those of us that truly have severe pain are paying the price for these addicts dying. Taking away the methadone hasn't made any difference at all except for people like me who no longer have the pain control we once had, plus I'm paying more for less pain control. Where is the common sense in all of this?

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Re: Lola (# 22)

This is just me not pertaining to anyone else. When I was in my 40's, and had 2 alcoholics raise me, drinking while in utero....it was a given I'd search for a HGH. I did and the idiot doctor kept raising my dose. Now I realize instead of alcohol I picked drugs. At 65, and for 6yrs now I take only the smallest amt. and no longer search for a high. I guess in youth we learn and in old age we understand. I understand that I may have ruined my kidneys, Oxy rotted my teeth from the inside out and don't think Methadone is a piece of cake. Remember: TWILIGHT SLEEP which every gastro uses for colonoscopy and oral surgeons use will NOT WORK so have that discussion that U may not be OUT with Twilight Sleep..it is horrible to go thru ordinary procedures without anything! I promise!

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Re: Becky (# 15)

KETAMINE!!! I believe it's a horse tranquilizer. I'm 65 and in my youth we took it 2x and in 15 mins came out of it naked and doing things like playing drums or dancing. Many in a class of 69 DIED because of this animal drug. Please be cautious. It's not what should be used by humans unless things have changed.

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Re: Angry 65 year old (# 40)

I've had several "twighlight" procedures. On one I even bet the anesthetist that I would remember 1 of the ampoules of the versiad was 1 day outta date. I said fine use it instead of me sitting in this ungodly position that's killing me. He said I'd never remember that conversation. I said put $20.00 on that. He said "it's a bet" & shook my hand. As soon as I saw him again I said hey I guess that outdated Versaid didn't kill me. Pay up! He stiffed me. He disappeared. So on my copay of his services I withheld $20.00. He was actually going to start collection procedures. I paid him. Answer's yes, I'm on 400 a day w/ 40 of valium. I go in Wed to see if I can even get any. New Medical director. I've been on Methadone since 1990 & over 300mgs split 4 xs a day since around 2000. I'm litterally scared S*** less. If my clinic won't help detox me at a reasonable rate oh & they want my benzo's too. & no split dosing... I litterally fear for what I'm facing. I did nothing wrong. They just changed M.D's.

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Re: Becky (# 8)

Hi, I have your neck. C1 thru T1 all screwed up. Some retroverted or turned the wrong way. I'm waiting until symptoms get too rough and very careful not to slip which caused this anyway. Years ago in my 40s, I was on 120 mgs of Methadone a day. I withdrew and for 8 mos. made it alone but Methadone takes almost 3 yrs for U to feel normal again. So even tho I said, I'll never take it again, at 65 yrs. I now take 5 mgs. 3 X a day. Minuet comparabily but it works. The older you are, the less medicine you need. BE AWARE...METHADONE MAKES YOU ALLERGIC TO LOTS OF THINGS: Worst is Twilight Sleep or Versid. Be certain because I have been thru a procedure and a Pacemaker replacement under local..NOT FUN !!!

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Re: BL (# 38)

Finally some one else who knows what they are talking about. That is exactly correct. Any M.D. or D.O. can prescribe methadone for severe chronic pain. However it takes a special license to RX methadone to an addict or for detox purposes. I have been on this drug since 1990 every day. save 5 months I had a run in w/ the law. However I can tell despite all it's s/e's etc. I'd long be dead from either apap caused cirrhosis.

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Doctors do not need special training to prescribe Methadone for Chronic Pain. Private doctors cannot prescribe Methadone for drug addiction.

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Re: Tori (# 17)

RE;Methadone. My GP thought he needed a special license to prescribe Methadone. It's a common misconception. I just go to a pain doc for the VERY low amt of Methadone I take. They will never get rid of Methadone bc it is all they have to use on the thousands of real addicts 'fixing' H now.

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Hi, sorry for your pain. First there are no restrictions on your MD for giving you methadone aside from the 10mg or less per tablet rule, he/she may give you 2 scripts for the month u fill every 2 weeks. It seems you where on 11 pills a day, so regardless if you where taking 5mg or 10mg, . I would simply ask her as I would do write the Sig as 3 tabs PO q6h prn for pain. Yes docs are under lot of pressure but as long as we are not over prescribing or writing then too early they should be fine with doing our dame job. Unless they do not do complete chart work and have you do a pain log they need to help. Ma y doctors are doing tb e very thing they took an oath not to do and thus course no harm.

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I have been on Methadone since 1988 at 17 when I fell landing on my feet only 12 feet down. However, I was born w/ severe scoliosis, which is quite rare in boy's/men (the severe form). I think that's why 7 of my vertebrae were compression fractured. I've had 7 major Surgery's from 4/2/87 -1994. The 1st surgery I recovered quickly as I was 17 & very muscular & did floor maintenance walking a buffer miles each night. I went back to work after only 2 & 1/2 months, no M.D release. My store manager needed me. I was told when discharged from hospital I'd need 1 more additional surgery in about 18 months. I figured yeah right. I kept all appointments etc in about a year the pain was getting outta hand. I was working 60-65 hours a week, every week. So I moved to the Liquor Dept. Less walking but those boxes were heavy even after getting help. 2 months later I had to start taking the original Rx medication given at Discharge. 100 Percocet 5/235. I only used 6 of those 100 when I returned after going in for what was gonna be a long but final surgery. It was long 10 hours. Not final the 2 harrington rods came off their hooks & went through my skin the day after my 2nd surgery. They went in & did a 3rd 11 hour surgery. 2 days later I coughed & rods popped out through my back again. So I went in for my 3rd operation in 9 days.

When I came out of anesthesia, I was in ICU and nearly died from all the anesthetics/gasses. I was given Demerol shots IV or IM as they weaned me off shots. Then onto percodan. I was 18 and I didn't know what they were. I had attended an inpatient pain & stress 3 weeks of daily therapy's of all kinds: bio-feed back, light, aroma. massage, relaxation techniques. I tried I did this before the 2-4th surgery's in an effort to avoid them. This was 1988. Anyway, I went in late September 1988 & was an inpatient for nearly 3 months. When I got out of the Hospital after 3 months I had to wait 6 hours until my medications could be brought to me. I lived 30 miles out in the middle of no where, I was already in agony from the 30 miles of very rough roads. I remembered the Percodan. They really saved me from a really pain storm. I took 2 & 2 helped a bit but not even close. It was poor planning I should've taken the shot they offered me to go home on. & I should've had the meds filled the day before. It was then I new I was in deep s**t pain & medication wise. The M.D who ran that in patient pain & stress ward I called him. Saw him & he said the best thing You can do is cross slowly over to Methadone. Smartest thing I've ever done. My dose is rather high but I take 400mgs a day. 4 100mg doses. Methadone is great for chronic pain. But for acute or breakthrough pain, it's the wrong drug.

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Long term usage of methadone (certain types) are linked to problems later in life. I found it a very efficient pain killer, it works on your receptors the best, but as above, later problems can influence this prescribing. In hard core opiate patients the benefits outweigh the risk.

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To Kristina from her May 17, 2017 post: We don't have methadone clinics where I live so that's not an option for me. Plus I DID have a neck surgery 15 years ago and that's when all my pain started. Stupidly, I smoked, and they said there was a 5% chance it wouldn't work if I smoked. But it didn't matter as when they got in my neck, my disk damage was far worse than they had suspected so smoking or not, it probably wouldn't have worked anyway. My biggest problem is even with the methadone, I'm not addicted to it. It's simply the only pain medication that worked when my PCP and I were trying out numerous pain medications to control my pain. As I've said before, if my pain went away, I could care less about methadone as I'm not taking it to feel high; I'm taking it to relieve my pain, period. Why would I need to keep taking it if I had no pain?? I've never done drugs and have never been "high" in my life. My "high" is my family's love, doing things I enjoy, and having good friends. I've never felt the need to take drugs recreationally as I'm very happy with my life, or I should say I was happy until I started having neck pain. I survived a brain aneurysm surgery at the Mayo Clinic; I've had to have numerous surgeries but through it all, my family was there for me and if you have to take drugs to feel high, IMHO, you must have something missing in your life. And I still feel, unlike BL who said "Corinne, there are no new laws telling doctoring how much they can prescribe. But, there are Guidelines. It is up to each doctor to decide what dosage is best for each patient. Have you talked to your doctor about taking the Methadone without any other pain medications?" (you should have said doctors, not doctoring) these so-called Guidelines are NEW.

There have always been Guidelines, but these are new guidelines that the sole purpose of them is to decrease the deaths of drug addicts. However, these guidelines did not take into account that TRUE chronic pain patients are suffering the most as they did it across the board. They lumped chronic pain patients and drug addicts together which common sense should tell you was a very unwise thing to do as there is a huge difference between a drug addict who just wants to feel high and a chronic pain patient who just wants to control their horrific pain. Because of the new guidelines, the chronic pain patients are paying the price while the drug addicts will still keep getting high as however they're getting their drugs, they're getting them illegally and worse, they are not being monitored by a doctor whereas chronic pain patients sign a contract and have to undergo numerous lab evaluations and doctors' visits to ensure their pain medication is not affecting their health. I took methadone for 15 years and my lab evaluations were always normal, but that doesn't matter. They cut my methadone and now my pain is unbearable as they have something against methadone, even though any drug can kill you as everyone reacts differently to different meds. I'm done as ignorant people will continue to be ignorant, as they're too lazy to do any research like I have and it's easy to say something without backing it up if you don't have pain. You are wrong about the Guidelines.... next time do your research before you comment on something or just don't comment if you can't back it up. I'm done as nothing will ever change and we all know that MONEY is behind this whole issue. If you have enough money, you can get away with almost anything.

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hopeworks, Patients Bill Of RIghts say your pain should be addressed. It does not say how it must be treated. There are No Laws that require any doctor to prescribe opiates to any patient.

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I think I've already answered this but it was in reply to BL who had asked if I had talked to my PCP about just taking methadone and nothing else. I told her I would be willing to give up everything and just take methadone but I 100% believe the guidelines don't have an answer for my specific situation because if they do, they've never answered this question. They still insist given my medical history 4 pills should suffice which is ludicrous as I sincerely believe my body is trying to reject the steel prosthesis I have to replace my disks as essentially it's a foreign body, meaning what nerves remain are inflamed as they keep trying to get rid of it. IMHO, the guidelines simply don't cover my situation so they choose to ignore my steel prosthesis issue as no one wants to open this Pandora's box as it would be a lot of work and God forbid if they had to admit they should have covered issues like this. Do you really think anyone is going to admit they left something out and/or didn't cover an issue they should have??? You know the answer to that. I have decided to either have my patients' rights FULLY explained and sent to me in writing as I finally got smart and can go on the Internet and talk to a "real" person without having to wait .... imagine that .... and I'm also going to explore the avenue of making someone pay for all the pain, suffering, lack of sleep, worry and especially the fact I was not tapered off my methadone. When they cut my dose, there was NO tapering, and I know for a fact people have died when they were abruptly yanked off a high dose narcotic. Thank you for your interest; it is truly appreciated.

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Having to go to a pain clinic every day is also not common sense. If you're in pain the last thing you want to do is to have to go into a clinic every day when you're in horrific pain. I'm also beginning to question exactly what our patients' rights are. With all the laws our so-called well-meaning politicians have passed, surely they've passed a law stating what a chronic pain patient's rights are as overall, everyone has rights, be it civil rights, rights for people that are discriminated against, etc. I refuse to quit fighting for "real" chronic pain patients until I take my last breath, which probably won't be long as when you can't live a life with any meaning or joy because you're in so much pain, exactly what is the point in living???? If you can't help other people, abused animals or provide some sort of help where it's needed, again, what's the point in living.

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Becky, I just read your comment & was surprised to see your mentioning of ketamine. I can see now, if this medication ever DOES get FDA-approved, it will be another potential insane gold mine for whatever pharmaceutical company manufactures & produces it. I worked for 2 different big Pharmas for over 10 years & as an employee I received daily FDA emails that I looked forward to getting every day, as they had a section on pipeline drugs in the works, which stages these drugs were at, clinical trials, etc., and it was late 2012 when I first read about very crude clinical studies being done with ketamine, however it was being labeled for depression, not pain.

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I'm so sorry for the loss of ur mom....yes methadone is a great pain med...I was at a clinic for 15 years...I only had to go once a month...I was also taking morphine...when my doc changed the morphine to oxy the program had a fit....they made me come in 4 days a week and tried to get me to take a higher dose of methadone...I was already taking 80mg a day...yes methadone is the best pain med out there but the control they had on me was crazy...one morning I went in and the nurse accused me of drinking...I never drink....instead of giving me my take home medication she made me return the next morning to see doctor...all was well...the doc said she should of done a is on me to prove I was drinking....this was total control on their part....I have no idea why she thought I was drunk....again I don't drink at all!...well one day I go in and the doc put a hold on my medication so I had to wait several hours until he got there to see him...again he wanted to increase my dose...i told him the methadone makes me sleepy and I did not want to sleep all day...he gave me a choice...take more or a ten day detox...I had had enough so I decided...although I had hundreds of old morphine pills put away I went though hell for a year....it's tempting to go back on but I refuse to go back on a program...never came across a doc who will prescribe it...so although I take oxy...I suffer with pain.

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I'm truly sorry for your loss. My doctor had me on 175mg of methadone and due to federal law he stopped and I'm suffering from withdrawal and pain. I have systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, sjrogren's syndrome, fractured tailbone, polyarticular arthritis. I have it in every joint in my body not to mention fibromyalgia which causes pain in every muscle in my body for over 11 years. I am permanently disabled and every doctor I see treats me like a junky seeking pain meds. Do you know what it feels like to cry every day in pain by just laying still? Help me please. I live in Philadelphia PA and I don't know what to do anymore. I know that is selfish but this is not living. I don't want to go to a clinic because I've tried and I have to sit in 3hr groups with recovering addicts that have nothing in common with me. I have chronic pain not illicit drug dependence, so what can I do? I can't take another day of crying from pain.

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See the picture below your post or above it that great looking getaway that you would love to have no pain and come off methadone? Just like that jackass that's say he use to be an addict but isn't one anymore!!!!!! A commercial for a place in FRIGGEN Malibu California. Ya I wonder if my insurance will take that? ROTFLMAO

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U r so right ..Promblem being ..when I stopped taking the methadone it took over a year of withdrawals....also program rules ur life..if u do not do exactly as they say they will throw u off...also going 6 days a week sucks

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Corinne, there are no new laws telling doctoring how much they can prescribe. But, there are Guidelines. It is up to each doctor to decide what dosage is best for each patient. Have you talked to your doctor about taking the Methadone without any other pain medications ?

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