******!

[Burnt Fingers]

About a year ago my primary care doctor at the VA told me they were going to start weaning up chronic pain patients off the opioid medications we take. I told her they were going to kill people if they went through with the plan.

She was so against this that she gave up primary care.

Well, I was just told that I have three months to taper off the medications that have given me a reasonable quality of life for the past eight years. They are cutting my prescription by 1/3 this month. Instead of 45 mg twice a day I have to go down to 30 mg twice a day, next month it will be 15 mg twice a day, then a month of 15 mg once per day. After that there will be a month of taper dosage and that's it.

I tried to taper off last winter. In my case it just doesn't work. It destroys my quality of life. The solution, according to the doctors is to take more of certain medications that are much harder on my liver and kidneys and cause me to sleep up to 18 hours a day. That's not living, that's waiting for death.

This parallels the gun control debate. Since there are those who can't behave let's punish those who can. Addicts will continue to use street drugs and those of us who need these medications to have a somewhat normal life are going to be punished.

Needless to say this has me pissed off.

[Ozark mike]

My mom has a lot of problems with pain between rheumatism blood clots and broken back they just cut her off about 2 months ago. She can't even see a doctor. We may have to take serious action and start putting knots on someone's head so people can have a life in this country

[metricmonkeywrench]

Thank you Obamacare... the gift that just keeps giving

Sorry to hear of you potential future. is there a secondary healthcare you can use as a primary and use the VA as a secondary (which seems to be the way they are pushing us vets)

[cwlongshot]

Sorry to read.

Its something I have lived with now since '91 myself. I wont take the opioids more then initially. I usually bring 2/3 PILLS home after a surgery cause well I dont
Like them, They dont work well and I truly HATE the "experience" I cannot comprehend why it would be appealing to folks.

It does severely effect the quality of life. i push thru dealing as best I can. Most dont understand. My wife didnt. She didnt think I was exaggerating or complaining. (Cause I never do, BUT Ill bow out of many things not giving explanation. Not wanting to cast any neg on others enjoyment.)
Making matters worse 9/1993 I was in a bad auto accident... Ironically driving to Hospital to PU my wife. We where visiting her prenta and found my FiL had had a stroke and we called ambulance. She went to hosp with him. I would follow and pick her up.

Well I made it... on a stretcher in the ambulance!! Cop friends found me in the hall awaiting DR (busy day) I asked her to find my wife. She did and we spent a couple
More hours before I was released. NO XRAY!! I was told hyper extended my spine. Basically whip
Lash in my mid Thoracic.... After three months of misery, not able to lye down. Sleeping standing or few hrs in a recliner. I was given a MRI. Drove myself. (Been working right along. I did take a week off) Nurse all but hollered at me to "LAY STILL". I explained BEFORE i was in pin and lying down was very difficult.

I tell All this to lay a bit of ground work.

She came out and was a white sheet. "YOUR SPINE IS CRACKED... and the last four ribs are not attached to your spine!!"

Yup, we can deal with allot... Quality of life suffers.... For years my montra was pain is fear leaving the body. Many I cant possibly fear anything anymore.

Prayers my Brother.

CW

[BamaNapper]

Prayers for you. Most of us can't imagine what you go through physically or mentally. Although something tells me you will find an avenue to get on with your life and not let the pain stop you.

[MaryB]

My doc cut my dose back bot no taper off. To many docs are misreading the FDA guidelines and think they have to stop them when hey are supposed to try to drop doses to a certain level and never stop them! My doc wasn't aware of it until I showed her the follow up bulletin the FDA put out!

[JimB..]

Idiots, folks using illegally will just turn to another source that is harder to regulate. That’ll drive up the price of drugs on the street which will drive increased supply, which will drive increasing enforcement costs for what are ineffective interdiction efforts. Basically the law abiding folks get no meds, the illegal users change sources, the dealers make more money and the taxpayers fund it all. Good job!

[tankgunner59]

If these VA folks had any common sense they would find a alternative and test extensively before considering any reduction/cessation. Prayers for you brother that God will provide a new path for you to follow to manage your pain.

[dangitgriff]

I hate to read stories like this about how Socialism never works. It always destroys people’s lives.
Our government is insolvent and these types of failures will only increase in number as this decade wears on.
R/Griff

[farmbif]

been dealing with this for decades with 4 crushed vertebrae, busted disks, nerve damage and just about every medical procedure known to man over the past 4+ decades your fortunate they've allowed you 90mg/day for so long. I live my life now in about 30 minute segments, you have to learn to do what you can when you can.
and to metricmonkeywrench-- all this has nothing to do with Obamacare nothing at all-only thing remotely related is that policy put in place two years ago took away medicare prescription coverage for commoners like myself, my little bottle of 60 percocets a month now costs me $110 instead of the $5.00 it used to be.
all this has to do with a whole lot of people abusing medications and doctors prescribing pain meds to people who don't really need it and so with all the abuse the powers that be, they take it out on everyone. the people that are dying from overdoses for the past 5 years or so are on heroin or something they got illegally because other than VA patents everyone else got cut back 4 to 5 years ago.

[Burnt Fingers]

Thank you Obamacare... the gift that just keeps giving

Sorry to hear of you potential future. is there a secondary healthcare you can use as a primary and use the VA as a secondary (which seems to be the way they are pushing us vets)

Nope. Private docs will only prescribe opiates for cancer pain. It's all about that FDA advisory that most doctors have never read. They've just been told by the bean counters to not prescribe opiates.

[dtknowles]

Nope. Private docs will only prescribe opiates for cancer pain. It's all about that FDA advisory that most doctors have never read. They've just been told by the bean counters to not prescribe opiates.

It is not quite that bad. I had a kidney stone blocking my Ureter just a few months ago. The doctor prescribe me 5 mg Norco's, 4 per day. I know that is not much and it did not do much but I would not have wanted to be without them. Of course the Doc knew I would only need them until they could fix the problem.

Tim

[farmbif]

that another rule they put in place, if you need anything stronger than aspirin for a chronic condition you have to be referred to and accepted by a pain management specialist. if your in a state where medical weed is legal they tell you its one or the other, because of federal law, you have to pee in a cup every month or two if you get accepted by one of these pain specialists. Ive been through all of it and don't wish any of it on my worst enemy. at one point thought about moving to another country.
medical care and insurance and the dang medical system in the USA is---is I guess pathetic. Even with copays the out of pocket costs add up real quick and they keep sending you to all their specialist friends cuz they need new vacation homes too.

[nvbirdman]

And above all, be sure to limit the amount of morphine a terminal cancer patient may receive because he or she might become addicted.

[Wayne Smith]

Except that it is now known that long term use of opiates actually increases pain - they are good for and used for breakthrough pain and this is an appropriate use. Chronic pain requires other approaches that are not being used - including lifestyle changes and learning different mental focuses to work around pain. Debilitating pain is the problem - and there really is no good approach to debilitating pain.

[dtknowles]

that another rule they put in place, if you need anything stronger than aspirin for a chronic condition you have to be referred to and accepted by a pain management specialist. if your in a state where medical weed is legal they tell you its one or the other, because of federal law, you have to pee in a cup every month or two if you get accepted by one of these pain specialists. Ive been through all of it and don't wish any of it on my worst enemy. at one point thought about moving to another country.
medical care and insurance and the dang medical system in the USA is---is I guess pathetic. Even with copays the out of pocket costs add up real quick and they keep sending you to all their specialist friends cuz they need new vacation homes too.

This is not true. My primary care doctor prescribed the Norco's when I went to him even before I got the CAT Scan that showed my kidney stone and the Urologist refilled them when I went to his office. I never went to a pain management specialist. You need to go to the pain management specialist if you have chronic pain as opposed to acute pain. They don't worry so much if you are only going to need pain meds for a few weeks or a month or so. If you are going to be in pain for the rest of your life they want you to consider alternative treatments for your pain. If you are going to be taking opioids or opiates for the rest of your life you will become addicted, you will develop a tolerance for the drugs and will need higher and higher dosages to get relief.

Tim

[Battis]

My doc sent me to a pain clinic because he didn't want to prescribe Percocet anymore (radiation nerve damage, 4 back surgeries). I told the doc at the pain clinic that I only wanted a few a week, as needed. He said OK, but he said they'd test my blood once a month. I said, what if I didn't need any the day of the blood test. He said if it didn't show in my blood, they'd assume I was selling it. I declined. I weaned myself completely from the Percocet after 16 yrs. One thing I don't miss is the panic at the thought of not being able to get more Percocet.
Since then, I've tried other treatments - melatonin worked for awhile, then it turned on me. CBD pills - not bad, but a limited, mild relief. Pot - not bad once in a while (it's legal in my state, but it's $18 for a joint, $450 for an ounce). Naproxen, Ibuprofen, etc will ruin your stomach. I sometimes use Lorazepam for sleep, but that's habit forming and has next day side effects that suck.
Exercise is good, but it hurts. It's important to keep the weight down, and to keep moving. I'm waiting for #5 back surgery to be scheduled later this year. That virus messed up everything.
My dog has Lyme disease and he's been in alot of pain (he's getting better). I asked him if he wanted to recreate the end of "Thelma & Louise" - I told him I'd let him drive. He didn't answer.

[Battis]

As far as opiate use actually increasing pain - that might be true to a point, and it's a small point. I developed small, annoying pains in my neck as the Percocet wore off, which, according to my DR, meant that I was addicted to it. But those small pains were nothing compared to the pain that the Percocet took care of. I never needed more and more of the drug - I was satisfied with the level of pain relief that I got from the pills I took. I can honestly say that during all those years that I was taking Percocet, I felt better, and got more accomplished. Now, I lose a day of recovery after mowing the lawn, or doing home and car repairs, etc.
The "experts" have to shut their educated mouths and help people that suffer from chronic pain with that which works - opiates. If and when the "experts" suffer from that level of pain, mindsets will change. Is there opiate abuse in society? Yep, right along with alcohol and pot. So what?

[MrWolf]

This is not true. My primary care doctor prescribed the Norco's when I went to him even before I got the CAT Scan that showed my kidney stone and the Urologist refilled them when I went to his office. I never went to a pain management specialist. You need to go to the pain management specialist if you have chronic pain as opposed to acute pain. They don't worry so much if you are only going to need pain meds for a few weeks or a month or so. If you are going to be in pain for the rest of your life they want you to consider alternative treatments for your pain. If you are going to be taking opioids or opiates for the rest of your life you will become addicted, you will develop a tolerance for the drugs and will need higher and higher dosages to get relief.

Tim

Tim not true for all states. I found that out when I moved out here from Jersey. I am required to drive 45 minutes each way to see a pain specialist in VA each month. After 30-45 minutes of sitting the pain starts. Ironic that I have to be in more pain to get my monthly prescription. For some of us there are no alternatives. I had to beg a doc to operate on a single disc to help my legs. They wouldn't touch the other dozen or so they are so bad.

[frkelly74]

Well I learned something yesterday. My dad fell about a week ago and broke his hip, The surgery to fix it happened but he reacted poorly to the anesthetic and other drugs they gave him and had a heart attack. So he was in bad pain, thrashing around and out of control, Making it worse but not rational enough to be persuaded to lie still. The people at the hospital seems to not know how to deal with pain and if they think you will live they give you Tylenol or norcal. My opinion is that they are so afraid of creating addicts that they will let you suffer. He got worse and his life expectancy dropped from 6 months to a few days and recommendations went from rehab to hospice. The thing I observed is that once you are in hospice they will make you comfortable. When you are terminal you can get all the morphine that you want. He passed yesterday afternoon. comfortably out of it, he was 92.