One last thing: I was accused of being a “narcotics seeker” despite the fact that all I did was inform them of my medical condition, which was tramadol withdrawal. For those not familiar, tramadol withdrawal is the longest, most agonizing withdrawal of any opiod (with methadone maybe being the only exception). Where acute heroin withdrawal is generally less than a week, tramadol is multiple weeks, sometimes months. And it combines opiod withdrawal with SSRI withdrawal. I specifically never requested tramadol or any narcotic, I just asked for anything at all that could help me. And offensively enough, the doctor came back and asked me if I had tried Tylenol. Tylenol. For opiod withdrawal. An OTC fucking painkiller. That about says it all right there.
Ambivalid, this is one of the cases of collateral damage from the opiate crisis. It makes things so much harder for people like you who need those drugs and do not use them recreationally.
The following story is NOT from the Onion. I wish it was.
TL : DR - an ambulance service in La Crosse, Wisconsin is going to start using essential oils for some patients, in an effort to reduce the use of narcotics. Gee whiz, what could go wrong with this?
Agreed. It seems many of the people who were abusing them are now using street drugs because they’re easier to obtain. I bet that when this has been going on long enough that the multi-year statistics begin to show a large increase in overdoses / deaths from street drugs, the response will be “Oh, those people were drug-addicted low-lifes”. Meanwhile, those of us in chronic pain* will still be trying to find some alternative treatment method that provides pain relief without becoming the target of the next witch hunt.
- Some years ago, my doctor retired and closed his practice. I switched to a different practice where some of the previous office staff had moved to. When I saw the new doctor for the first time, one of the things covered was the list of medications I was currently on. When we got to the Vicodin, the doctor said “Well, I can’t prescribe those to you until you have been my patient for some time, in case you’re an addict looking for drugs”. I said “That’s OK, I can wait. But I’m not an addict… here…” and pulled out an un-filled (but still valid) prescription for 540 Vicodin (3x / day, 30 days, 5 refills) from my valise where I keep all of my current medical information. She was quite surprised, and became even more so when I pulled out others going back several years. (I didn’t feel that I needed to take it that many times per day, so I just never filled them.) Of course, if I’d have known what the last couple of years would be like, I would have filled them and saved them.
Updating this thread:
**Sackler family members [owners of the Oxycontin manufacturer] face mass litigation, criminal investigations over opioids crisis **
It sounds like the litigation over cancer with cigarette makers.
Try being allergic to topical hydrocortisone cream … I always patch test anything I have never had before, and way back in 1982 I got into an argument with some poison oak and went to the doc and ended up with a scrip for it [before you could really get it OtC] and did my patch test to end up with a HUGE weal on my wrist … went back to the doc and he was amazed. He had me dab it on the other wrist and we watched as I got another huge weal there. He was baffled as he had never thought someone could be allergic to it. Documented it in my file [along with my base body temp of 94.6F] Every now and again I have to prove the damned allergy to a new office by letting them deliberately give me an allergic reaction.
A lot of doctors are insanely irresponsible with opiates, even today. When I was 19 (2011) a doctor prescribed me morphine for a pulled muscle, when I had asked for a referral to physiotherapy. I threw the script out, but he really just threw opiates at a college kid…
My sister is a nurse, and she told me that Tylenol and Advil ODs are actually increasing, because most doctors are extremely apprehensive about prescribing anything stronger than an NSAID.
I have an extremely addictive personality. When my snapped off wrist bone was reset, the E/R personnel were practically begging me to take an opioid prescription. I refused.
I got through with aspirin and Aleve. Obviously, I didn’t need anything stronger.
To pretty much any drug.
And what Chimera described links one of the big issues of pain medication: pain doesn’t happen by itself; if we can treat whatever is causing the pain, that’s more effective than something whose only effect is “pain inhibitor”. It’s like the difference between closing a faucet and stuffing a rag in it. Part of the problem is that we don’t always know what mechanism is causing the pain, part is that some people don’t see the point, and part is an issue of patient compliance. Lots of patients would rather keep the hurtful behavior and then expect some miracle from pills than stop hitting themselves.
What’s worse is the “Evidence” they used was a single letter to the editor (not a peer reviewed study) that someone had sent to a medical journal. They knew exactly what they were doing. I hope someday Purdue Pharma gets sued into Oblivion.