War On Chronic Pain Patients (Page 2)

Thanks to all you drug abusers there has been an ongoing war on us legit chronic pain patients. Thanks to all who abuse pills and alcohol, because of you they wage war on us. Street drugs are cheaper so why do you all have to mess with the pills and make life difficult for us chronic pain sufferers? Are you stupid or just self centered? Britain uses our military to protect Afghan poppy for people like you, so quit trying to cook up the pills. We legit chronic pain patients would really appreciate it, not that you care, but maybe when you stop acting so self centered, people will actually begin to care about you. You reap what you sow.

To stem cell labs worldwide: We need you to cure degenerative discs and herniations for those that want to be cured instead of on pain meds. Make yourselves known. We need options. We know you have the cure. We need the FDA to help make up for lost time.

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REPORT

cancer and severe chronic pain need medication. however, everything comes with risks especially opiates. after a period of time the opiate rewires the brains reward system and you no longer have the God given natural feeling of wellness mentally, instead the drug will provide the feeling. UNTIL the drug stops working, and it will. I know and Drs know. that is when some move to street drugs and some like myself continue with the 10-325 purcucet and Xanax prn which for me is when I become so depressed I'm miserable. The low is lower than the high and what goes up must come down. Praying for solution.

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Re: Aeiou (# 1)

I was where you are and it can and does get better with a little help and people who love you. I thought my family would never be able to accept me. After being a pain patient I became an addict, but the addict surprised me and fought for me. I also tried to kill myself and I thank God everyday I did not succeed. Going to rehab was the scariest thing I ever did in my life but it turned out to be the best experience I ever had. I was so afraid because I knew going into rehab I would end up back on similar drugs again due to my chronic pancreatitis, but surprisingly I went to a rehab with a special pain management program and a special program meant for professionals like me. They taught me how to handle having to take pain medicine again safely without the addiction. I was in therapy 13 hours a day to deal with all the things in my life that helped create the switch from pain patient to addict. I leaned coping skills to handle the problems in my life. I was there for 3 months and honestly I would have stayed more if it had been really necessary. This was all 10 years ago and I haven't abused another pill since. So I have been on both sides of this coin everyone keeps talking about.

Don't listen to those who don't know what addiction feels like. You can't know unless you have been through it. They are quick to call us selfish and people who are having fun but as you and I know we aren't selfish. We were/are trapped and there is absolutely nothing fun about being an addict. Everyday is hell on earth and you just wish you could die and be done not just for yourself but for everyone around you. But I'm telling you that you are a worthy human being with a soul like all these other people. I was forced back on pain medication because of the severity of my illness but now I never abuse a pill, pass every drug screen, and have been a faithful patient to my pain management doctor for years now. If I can do it you can do it. You need encouragement not more people telling you negative things which your mind is already doing. Reading these posts is danger if you are using and suicidal. Some people here are kind and understanding and realize you aren't the real problem, the government is playing a game and using addicts to play it. But I know I support you and I will be praying for you. You can message me anytime you need someone to talk to. Sometimes all you need in life is the kindness of a stranger. God bless you.

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I can absolutely understand your frustration. Chronic pain is an awful affliction now made worse by ill-informed policies. Blame, however, should be placed where it belongs. The “snorter and pill popper” situation hasn’t changed. Britain absolutely is not using US troops to protect Afghan poppy farmers - the decision not to wipe out the poppy farms was taken as more affordable than providing assistance to supplant opium as a means of income for those Afghan farmers.

The very real problem is that government decided that opioid pain killers were addictive, (even after the CDC testified that only up to 7% would likely become addicted to them). Pharmacies are required to monitor such prescriptions and report, under penalty of law, anything they deem excessive - despite having no medical degree nor knowledge of the patients concerned. Next came the arrest of doctors for over-prescribing, again a determination made by law enforcement officers with no medical qualifications or knowledge of the patients’ medical history.

This has led to some very good doctors not being prepared to risk their licenses and consequently refusing to prescribe pain meds. Inevitably, this forces those in pain to seek alternative remedies - street drugs. This is inherently dangerous because the buyer has no clue what is in the street drugs. Is it laced with fentanyl? Who knows? But it clearly leads to unnecessary deaths. I know of three local GPs, each with practices exceeding 25 years who were forced into retirement by the Feds or face prosecution. Two of them I have known personally for years and their crime was to continue to treat their patients’ chronic pain as they had for decades. In one case a doctor had provided opioid pain killers post hemorrhoid surgery. The elderly patient, almost understandably, decided to take two pills before what he knew would be an excruciating bowel movement... he died of a heart attack. Law enforcement second guessed these doctors and their careers are now victim to publicity and conviction “thirst”.

So, the opioid crisis is a direct result of political addiction to headlines, a law enforcement addiction to prosecutions and a ridiculous commitment to treating addiction as a criminal act instead of as a medical issue.

The real victims of our politicians camera time addiction are the chronic pain sufferers. That is the real crime here and it’s not committed by the addicted or the British armed forces but by our own elected “leaders”.

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Re: Hop63 (# 15)

First I pray you find solution to your problems. Insurance may pay for dual diagnosis for example chronic pain & addiction or depression. If so maybe you can have inpatient treatment in a better environment. I know that I wouldn't want to be locked in a facility were I felt uncomfortable.

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You said it all very well! Because I have trouble sleeping I have trouble getting insomnia medication occasionally.

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john (# 22) --

First of all we need to pray for people with addictions instead of disrespecting people. I've been a chronic pain patient for over 26 years. When a child is asked what do they grow up not a one will say "I want to be a drug abuser." If it wasn't for the grace of God, I would be dead. I would've committed suicide a long time ago. I've never been addicted to anything, but drugs & alcohol addiction are an illness. We need to support each other to get someone to listen to us that are going through this daily. I truly do understand the anger & frustration from being sick all the time. I've been there & have said that until I became a Christian. I will continue to pray for all of us. God bless.

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Think it's that easy? Think people wake up, "think I'm going to become a junkie", instead of superstar or Dr? It's 2018 man. People always have and always will abuse drugs. Our health care is the problem... Mexico can get everything under the sun without a script.

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I so totally agree with you. I am using vicodin (for many, many years) in my attempts to control and manage my pain. I don't abuse or misuse my pain pills and always follow the Rx without self medicating. I.e., I always have pills left over on my "one month" Rx. We do NOT have an OPIOID crisis. We have a long standing DRUG abuse crisis. I have addressed these issues with many people including politicians that want to make it their raison d etre'. So many people abuse the Rx they get from doctors and refuse to obey the directions. Is that an Rx crisis or is it an abuse crisis? I intentionally didn't say opioid or vicodin because it can be said of any medication pill ever invented. For one thing, the "me generation" expects instant results, instant gratification. If they have pain, the pill(s) is supposed to get rid of the pain instantly and if it doesn't, just keep popping pills until it does. You have red blurry eyes, a couple eye drops and oops, still red, just keep adding more eye drops until the red is gone. Its called self-medicating and its "ABUSE".

Recently, in my county a teen broke his arm. After his cast was put on, his parents were given an Rx for vicodin for his pain. They did NOT obey the regimen and the teen was asking for pills so often the parents finally relented and gave the bottle to the teen. He was with a friend and complaining the pills took to long to work. His hoem-boy told him to crush a couple pills to power and take them that way. The results were shock and death for the teenager. ALL the local newspapers jumped on the OPIOID CRISIS. That was BULLS***. The teen abused the drug, absolutely nothing to do with a mythical crisis. This is like so many things congress does, make up a mythical problem, write asinine laws and instantly turn millions of law-abiding Americans into criminals. How about we start checking our politicians for common sense and if they don't exhibit any they don't get sworn in?? To further this asinine path, all these people that want recreational marijuana and other hard drugs to be legalized are many of the same people yelling we have an opioid crisis. Not everybody that uses marijuana goes on to do hard drugs but it's a pretty sure bet everybody using and abusing hard drugs has at one time or another abused marijuana. So these druggies get their hands on legitimate drugs that help people with chronic pain and aren't abusing their meds and screw it up for us legitimate users. Just one more case of federal elected officials and bureaucrats screwing law-abiding Americans over to justify their existence. There is no opioid crisis. There is an abuse and common sense crisis.

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Re: Katbird (# 26)

You make a very important point. No one, absolutely no one becomes intentionally addicted to anything. We certainly should not disparage those who suffer from this disease any more than we would disparage someone suffering from diabetes.

Our focus on criminalizing drug usage not only makes a normal life or treatment less likely but is now increasing the suffering of those with chronic pain and the terminally ill.

It’s time to start caring for those who need our help. Not punishing them for needing it.

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Re: Sissy (# 12)

I understand everything you are going through. You stated that your Dr wanted to give u an implant and/or stimulator. I have both. Although I found the stimulator caused other issues & no longer use it. But the pain pump is a good alternative. Your Dr can put medicine in the pump that you would never get a script for. They also can increase or decrease the amount that is released. Although, it doesn’t help for breakthrough pain, I am getting my meds without having to take pills. He also prescribed Soma for spasms & breakthrough pain. It’s a good alternative. You will still be getting your meds however it assures your Dr that you are taking pills as prescribed Or someone else stealing your meds. They are concerned that kids are looking for meds for the high. As far as the government is concerned is BULL. They have no idea what we go through on a daily basis. They need to stay our of the health care your Dr is prescribing. We are lumped in with the war on drugs. But you may want to have a talk with your Dr about a pain pump. Make sure you know exactly what they give you & how long it will take before you get the full effect & ask exactly what will be put in & also some meds until the pump is fully effective. There will be a few months until you are on the most effective drugs. What really ticks me off are the insurance companies. They should have no say in how we are treated. Instead if they really care, they would approve procedures that fix the problem not mask it. I have degenerated disc disease & no disc at L4-L5. I don’t want a fusion. I want a disc replacement but that will be denied. There are fixes out there & the insurance companies should be authorizing them. We don’t need to live in pain anymore. There are many new advances that can help a lot of us. It’s about time, they allow us to get the proper care. Good luck & God Bless.

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Re: john (# 21)

I will keep you, John, in my thoughts and prayers.

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Re: Katbird (# 26)

I agree with you! Finally, I can say I read a post today that was obviously written by a mature adult. I simply cannot believe the name calling & finger pointing I see on this forum daily. Thank you for your post!

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Re: BobH (# 29)

I had a wonderful doctor years ago (she's retired) say: "if you are truly in pain, you will not become addicted."
My 2 cents, I agree.

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Re: Hop63 (# 15)

Just a bunch of Bullcrap! My Pain management Dr. wrote my scripts for 4 years then pulls a 180 on me. Unbelievable!

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Wow! What an ignorant post! I understand your frustrations but to lash out @ people dealing with addiction whose stories you know nothing about & put them all into one stereotypical category of your own making is pathetic, judgmental, & shows the lack of knowledge you have on the facts. Of course there are addicts who get pills from Drs to abuse them which is a shame but just as often there are pain management individuals who become addicted &/or physically dependent on opiate pills & start abusing their medication, begin Dr shopping, & in many scenarios wind up turning to street drugs. It’s an epidemic in all types of facets & on all different levels. Choosing to have such irrational, biased, & disturbing opinions on such a serious topic as this, is disgusting but then to take it a step further & share your remarks to the public makes me truly wonder what you could possibly think you will gain from it? Empathy? Understanding? Maybe..had you kept your hate-fueled rant out of it. And maybe if your opinions were completely factual. To be so hostile & angry must be such a miserable way to live. People like you don’t want a solution, rather you’re self-seeking, self-serving, & self-centered attention seekers who only want to condemn others to feed your ego & false sense of pride. Addiction doesn’t discriminate buddy, unlike you! Unfortunately, there is only 1 outcome for people who play the blame game, point the finger, & hurtfully belittle others: YOU will eventually REAP what YOU SOW.

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Re: Laura (# 35)

YES, your ignorance is glaring. There should be a "BLOCK" button for people like you.

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Re: BiggerBrat (# 28)

One of the big problems we have is the huge variance in pain threshold. In the current environment doctors are trying to prescribe as little as possible to try and meets some government idea of what is an appropriate dosage for everyone and every condition. This “idea” I might add does not seem to be made by anyone with medical knowledge, nor with any knowledge of the patient. “One size fits all” is not an appropriate approach to medicine. Never has been, never will. No-one has any clue about the teenaged patient in your example. Was he looking to “score”? Did he have a low threshold of pain? Was he a “big baby”? We don’t have a clue. Without intimate knowledge of the injury and of the patient we cannot pass judgement. And we do not and should not have access to that type of information. My wife recently had surgery and in the same room was a 93 yr old lady who had spinal surgery the previous night. She told the doctor she was in pain, (surprise!) and the doctor said he could not prescribe anything because of recent arrests of 3 doctors in the area. Personally, I don’t believe anyone should suffer pain in this day and age. We seem to be of the opinion that it is better to condemn people to a longer life in pain than a potentially shorter life pain free. Prolonging the agony seems to be public policy - including for the terminally ill. We are required by law to treat animals better.

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Re: BobH (# 37)

I went around a few times with my previous doctor about taking addictive medications. He didn't want to prescribe pain meds and I was dying from sleep deprivation and had no quality of life. He finally relented because I told him at my age and being retired, being addicted was NOT a problem for me. I have such a high tolerance level to pain my wife doesn't like me working with tools of any kind since I have cut myself, didn't know it until I saw the blood. I don't feel that I am addicted since I have been on vicodin for a couple decades now and my 30 Rx lasts me past the 30 day limit. I personally know people that run out before the 30 days are up because they expect immediate relief for one thing so they pop pills until the pain goes away. I've never done that. But these people also have done other street drugs. They'll beg me for pills but I refuse. As far as doctors getting arrested, I live in Pennsylvania but my doctors are a short distance just in NY just across the border and so far NY doesn't have that problem. A local doctor here where I live was arrested and prosecuted by the state AG for treating patients for pain management and she didn't have the credentials according to the AG. Eventually she was exonerated but now in PA doctors are scared to prescribe an Rx for pain meds. That mean PA patients have to suffer because of people that self medicate and other problems created when people don't follow the Rx. As far as that teen that died, from the newspaper article he was in intense pain from his broken arm. I fully understand that since years ago my step-son had a stress fracture in his arm and even though he had a cast on and we had pain meds for him, the little guy just laid on his bed holding his arm and crying from the pain. We knew better than to double up his meds or deviate from the Rx. Apparently the teen that died here was having intense pain and his school buddy told him crushing the pills to powder was a quick way to kill the pain. Before that, he had never had exposure to drugs. His parents had gotten upset because he was having such incredible pain and they didn't want to deal with administering his pills so they gave him the bottle. Bottom line, self medicating and abuse of opioids has given some people opioids are the problem and its creating serious problems for thos of us that do not abuse our Rx's. And laws they intend to pass for this phony crisis will only make criminals of law-abiding people that are in anguish and being sleep deprived. I don't think that should be a function of government. YES, we do have a drug crisis in America, its been around for too many years, decades to count. Politicians calling this an opioid crisis gives them a reason d etre'. Gonna fix this really bad problem by writing laws to prosecute doctors trying to help people that don't abuse their Rx's and make criminals of people that function real well in pain management programs that include opioids. This article was in yesterday's newspaper. I was especially impressed by the last sentence.

detroitnews.com/story/life/advice/2018/06/12/doc-opioid-use-tricky-navigate-todays-crisis/35972207

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Please! People that are addicted to painkillers please stop! You are making it so hard on people that really need it! Like my husband who is suffering from brain cancer, I'm going through hell every month trying to fill his prescriptions. And you all are making the laws and the insurance company hell on earth too. I know this message won't help most of you but I hope that it helps someone, please get help.

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Re: Lori (# 39)

As I'm reading your post, I'm thinking Did she really just say to the addicts.... Please Stop??!! You have got to be kidding me!! You need to educate yourself obviously on this topic before you should make comments such as this! No offense, but it's so true.

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