"Managing Pain Without Opioids- Changing Patient Perceptions"

[samari46]

Tylenol #3 is a joke. My back went out and back then I had a RN coming to the house 3 days a week. Was all I could do was stand up. My GP prescribed the tylenol #3. Could have done better with advil. I have these lidocane patches and use two at a time. They at least do provide some relief.Think they are 1.3%. Frank

[MrWolf]

Those patches are basically topical like Voltarin (sp) cream. Glad you can get some relief from them. I used to a long time ago but ... Good luck.

Just a thought for those that say they take Tylenol or Aleve everyday vs opioids. Taking something everyday to relieve pain would still be considered an addiction. Just a thought.

[Handloader109]

I am required to drive 45 minutes each way every month to see a pain management doc so I can have my prescription. Really is a joke and we both know it based upon my history. There for maybe 20 mins. Problem is after sitting for 30 minutes it becomes painful. Actually I see a pharmacy guy then doc/pa. Called insurance company yesterday as we were looking into other formulations. Gave them four choices and all were either outright denied or they would only issue seven days worth. They also grade you on your supposed overdose probability or something like that. Really is a joke on folks who really need the meds vs being told to just take an aspirin and ignore it.

My wife does almost the same. No MD except for a pain dr will prescribe her her meds. She goes quarterly (was monthly for about 6 months. She was one of the few that would bring in 5 to 10 pills over her required remaining. (yes the MD counts the pills left. If you should have 3 days left in the month, you should have 9 pills...... not 3 or 4.) But issue as of yesterday, is that now CVS is requiring monthly Precertification by our insurance company. We've already gone thru this last year. The insurance co had a half dozen different meds they wanted to prescribe before her current, but almost all interacted with her heart meds. Can't take tylenol or any NASIDs.
Oh well, we'll see what we can do...

[NyFirefighter357]

There is a good alternative, Suboxone. The problem is it's labeled as a drug for addiction the FDA & many states won't allow it to be used as a pain management treatment or ppl won't take it as the stigma as it's for addiction. It's harder to get off then opioids but if your in for the long haul your not worried about getting off of it. It's much safer if you take other medications, it can be taken at lower levels than opiods and has the same effects as opiod and very hard to overdose with (it's an opioid but not the same as the others). I've listened to Dr. Drew Pinskey for 30ys+, he's an addiction medicine specialist. He's not fond of using suboxone for addiction but says it's a better alternative for some patients with long term pain management for chronic pain. Speak to a pain management specialist! He's also not the only one that thinks it's good for long term chronic pain either.

https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2018/11...scribe-it.html

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000433702821

https://drdrew.com/2019/current-opioids-crisis-ep-11/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...n/id1167326349

There is a lot of information on opioids at https://drdrew.com/

[bmortell]

There is a good alternative, Suboxone.

its also a big hit recreationally. ive seen more people take it for fun than there are people addicted to opioids in the first place.