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Narcotic pain med poll

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Chronic Pain
Do you take you narcotic pain meds EXACTLY as prescribed?
Yes awlays - 47.5% - 19 votes
No I always run out early - 10.0% - 4 votes
No I take an extra here or there, but never run out early. - 40.0% - 16 votes
I have a script for them, but never take them - 2.5% - 1 votes
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Posted 2/5/2008 1:48 PM (GMT 0)
How many people here who are on narcotic pain meds take them EXACTLY as prescribed? By this I mean every time? I'll admit, that sometimes I will take my normal 2 oxycodone ir, then 3 or 4 hours later take another, I'm supposed only take them every 6 hrs prn. I will also sometimes only take my 1/2 of my 20mg oxycodone cr at bed (the binder is within mine, so I'm not breaking the cr mechanism) and then take the other half during the day. I don't think I every take more than the 8 ir pills (which is my daily max) or more than 1 of the cr. Is there anyone out there who takes them on a consistent basis and takes them exactly as prescribed.

Post Edited (03Mach) : 2/5/2008 6:52:22 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/5/2008 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
tspauld,
I often don't take them every 6hrs, which is what my script says. I mean it's prn, so I don't have a script saying I have to take them every x hours. I have the problem where I end way behind and the pain gets pretty bad. I use to think hey I'll catch up if I take them... But it's not so, and I guess I just don't learn. I'll often got 10 or 12 hours with no meds... I always regret it, but when I get busy or I'm not at home where my pills are I just suffer through the pain. Or if I'm busy doing something physical, the natural endorphins keep me feeling ok, when I slaow down I realize... Darn it I should have taken something awhile ago! I think one of the issues is that I only take 1 extended release and it's at night. If I took the extended release during the day I think it's work out better. But I really don't want to take anymore than what I do now. My regimine is Lyrica 75mg 3x a day, I just started that last week, 100mg Norflex 2x a day, 20mg oxycontin 1x at night and 5-10mg every 6 hours prn for bt pain. It seems to me that usually people are on oxycontin 2 (or 3)x a day and would supplement th 5 or 10 mg ir prn for bt management. But like I said, I don't want to go up in the amount I take at all so I just stay quite about it.
Posted 2/5/2008 3:30 PM (GMT 0)
My meds are always taken as prescribed....I figure that it is hard enough to find a compasionate doctor willing to prescribe narcotics and it be a doctor where our personalities mesh well then I am going to do exactly as I am supposed to so as not to abuse that relationship and lose out on everything.
Posted 2/5/2008 3:50 PM (GMT 0)
I take methadone EXACTLY as prescribed! I take my oxycodone as prescribed which is 1 every 4 - 6 hours as needed and I do, only as needed. Sometimes its every 4 hours and sometimes its not at all. I have bad days and not so bad days (I don't want to use the word good, its never good!) Good luck to all, I hope you are all able to take as prescribed.
Your friend,
Pete
Posted 2/5/2008 4:57 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with Mochiah...I'm lucky to have a great doc who's willing to script my pain meds and give me quality to my life so there's no way I want to jeopardize that! I also use the same pharmacist every time for all of my meds. People who are misusing them and get caught mess it up for all of the rest of us who are willing to follow directions. If your meds aren't working then tell your doc...don't just take more...please!

Chutzie
Posted 2/5/2008 5:31 PM (GMT 0)

Hello:

I myself take my pain medication exactly as perscribed, I would do NOTHING to jepordise me continuing to recieve them as in reality

these medication's give me life, and I'am certain I would not be able to continue on without them they are that important to me

just last week completely out of the blue I was sent to a lab to take a very accurate and drug specific urine test completely out of the

blue. This urine drug screen is so accurate that it not only identifies exactly what type of drug is in your sample but also shows the

amount of the drug in your sample this is to show the doctor that you are taking the medications being perscribed but also that you are taking them as perscribed as the concentrations of the drug is also shown

As I said this type of test came without any warning every appointment I must give a urine sample for testing but this is only a general test for common drugs of abuse this other one is very very accurate

I have also the day of my appointment been called and told to bring in my meds for the doctor to count to ensure they are all their he has done this with everyone I have since learned not just me and if their was a discrepency I would be immediatly dropped and cut off just like that I know he has done this with lots of his patients NO detox or Methadone treatment nothing just cut off and suffer widthdrawl with no help

Sir I do not know what you mean by cutting your oxycodone in half and this binder thing are you saying you are cutting a time released or extended release med in half if you are you are defeating the release mechanism and getting all the drug at ounce

if this is the case and your doctor found out I think he would be pretty angry with that

Posted 2/5/2008 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
I always take them as perscibed by my doctor. The only time I have deveated was when constipation got so bad that I skipped a dose of Oxycontin. I would never want to be labeled a drug seeker and would never betray my doctors trust. I also always use the same pharmacy and never call and bother the nurses at my doctors office. Lately I have cut back on break through meds because of headaches, but I will address this with my doctor next appiontment.

Oxycontin has literly saved my life and I do not want to risk being cut off.

I do worry about what I will do when my doctor retires, he is in his sixties and is cutting back his hours. But I guess that I will cross that bridge when it comes.

 

Posted 2/5/2008 7:29 PM (GMT 0)
I take my pain medication as prescribed, however I recently had surgerey and the surgeon increased my Dilaudid from 4mgs every 4hrs to 8mgs every 4 to 6hrs as needed. This was done with the surgeon contacted my PCP and advising her of the increase, she was in agreement.

I will run out early this month on my breakthrough medication, but my PCP (she Rx's my pain meds) is aware of the situation and will Rx an early refill.

My PCP is absolutely the most wonderful, caring and compassionate doctor I have EVER had and I would NOT break the trust she has in me.

Thank you for the interesting poll!

Shortcake_727
Posted 2/5/2008 7:50 PM (GMT 0)
I can honestly say I would not take extra pills if my perscriptions were cut in half. For me I have this everyday fear that I could get kicked out, I've seen it happen to alot of patients. I tend to take what my doc says to the extream. I know she may get annoyed that I run everything by her before I do it, but it puts me at a little more ease that she knows I would never take her scripts or advice lightly. I mean no jusdgement by that, as I understand why people take an extra pill here and there. Just because I never have doesnt mean I've never wanted to so badly because my pain was killing me. I just feel so unbelievably lucky to have my pain doc I dont want to do even the smallest thing that could come back and bite me in the behind!
Posted 2/5/2008 9:23 PM (GMT 0)
Gramps,
I am with you on this one due to the fact that I was once one of the under dx and under treated patients. My life was miserable. So when I did get a chance for relief in the small amount of pain meds my Dr would give me I would take full benifit of it. Not abuse the meds but would self dose I guess you would say. But then I would be short by about 4-6 days on my meds and suffer till next time. Finally got to a pain clinic and now take my meds as prescribed and feel much better some or most of the time. Just starting with the pain clinic and they said would take awhile to get meds to the strength and dose needed. I also feel for the people who are like I once was. Oh yea,came to find out my PCP had been in trouble for his dispensing pain meds. When comfronted him with this he appologized and said he didn't understand my degree of pain till I went to him and told him I wanted to go to a specialist and he got the report back. I was way under medicated due to his being scared and not realizing my conditions.
Posted 2/5/2008 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
I agree this is an interesting discussion. One thing that bothers me is the doctor's attitude to us all. We're assumed guilty until we prove by drug tests that we're innocent. Something there just isn't right. More people use their medications properly than abuse them, so why doubt me even if I've never given any reason for it. We all know that something is very broken with the pain medication system but to assume we're lying and cheating just isn't right.

Chutz
Posted 2/5/2008 11:59 PM (GMT 0)

Gramps said...

Unfortunately, there are those who are undertreated & are forced into taking more than prescribed. When your pain meds aren't relieving your pain & your dr won't increase your dosage, it's hard not to take an extra pill. Undertreated CPP's show a lot of characteristics as addicts but they are only abusing their meds to relieve their pain. The term for this is pseudo-addiction. It's easy for us who have adequate meds but there are many who don't have access to good dr's, proper meds, dx problems, etc that cause pseudo-addiction. We have to be careful not to judge. It's those who abuse their meds for recreational purposes that make it difficult for us not those w/ untreated or undertreated pain. Can anyone here honestly say that if their meds were cut in half tomorrow that they wouldn't take extra pills in a day or two when the pain became unbearable?

yeah  You are right Gramps, it is easier to stick with "as prescribed" when we are receiving adequate relief and the proper diagnoses.  I'm not so sure I would be able to say I'm a good girl and wouldn't cave in and take more of my meds if my pain increased or my dosage was decreased.  I would probably have to take temptation away and store my medication at my parents house, locked up, having them dispense exactly what is allowed per week or every few days.  We do need to be careful not to judge because we are all in this fight together, and it is an uphill battle, if any one of our circumstances changed tomorrow we would probably be singing a different tune, I could just about guarantee that I would.  I guess I am still naive in my thinking that my doctor and I are in this together, too, because if push came to shove and it was me and my doctor's license against the DEA I am pretty sure I'd be the one on the losing end of the battle.  I can only say that "for now" I take my medication as prescribed, but all of the the tomorrows may be a new battle. 


Posted 2/6/2008 5:11 AM (GMT 0)
I guess I'm in the minority here. I feel no shame or guilt in admitting that on occasion, like I said I will break the 6 hour rule and take a 3rd pill. That 3rd pill is usually enough to keep the edge off for another good 4-6 hours, so it really 3 pills is 8-10 hours vs 4 pills in 12 hours. As far as being a cpp, I feel that at times I must make a judgment call and do as my back tells me. I think I a, tettering on the edge of being under prescribed. Over the 1.5 years I have been on the meds, my pain has increased but never my dosage. I always make sure to tell him "it's not working as good as it did at first but I'm still feeling good enough" I have rejected his idea to increase my amount. I really don't want my dependency to escalate any further than were it is. When they fix my issue (and by golly they will!!!) I want to be able to kick this dependency without too much stress. As I said I never run out early my scripts usually last an extra week or 2 over due time. Much of my reason for not running out is due to the fact that I never carry my meds, and if I'm somewhere busting my A double s I don't feel the hurt until I slow down at home. There are many day's where I'll go 12 hours with no meds... If I'm doing hard manual labor, and I get adrenaline and exercise endorphins going I feel OK, but when I stop.... watch out!!! Give me a hot bath---->my heat pad----->some meds and some food!!! like today 10 hours of back BREAKING labor.... I was fine when I was there, when I got home and started to come down....owiee!!! I took 2 5mg oxy... than a few hors later I took 1 more, and it knocked the edge down enough so I could concentrate on my school work. Imagine that oxy to help me concentrate, how contradictory is that? I'm sorry if you guy's feel I'm abusing my meds.

Bob1344,

Quote "Sir I do not know what you mean by cutting your oxycodone in half and this binder thing are you saying you are cutting a time released or extended release med in half if you are you are defeating the release mechanism and getting all the drug at ounce

if this is the case and your doctor found out I think he would be pretty angry with that"

The release mechanism of the oxycodone ER I'm taking isn't affected (or is it effected) by the splitting of the pill. The ER component of my specific pill is contained within the filler/binder, in order to get an IR use from it, one would have to turn it into a very fine powder. This information came from a pharmacist and the manufacturer.

This is a pretty interesting post... I'd like to hear from the others that voted like I did though... Come on don't be shy.
Posted 2/6/2008 5:19 AM (GMT 0)

Hi,

I do take my oxycontin as prescribed, within 1-2 hours.  By this i mean I am supposed to take them 12 hours apart and the odd time I will take them say 8:00am and then 6pm.  My doctor has increased it to 40 mg q 12 hours but the problem with that was I have 3 kids and am not able to function.  Way to sleepy, but I am also on other drugs-non-narcotic that make me sleepy as well.  I am seeing a pain management Md tomorrow as my meds are not very effective.  i've tried take them  20 mg every 8 hours and this helps but wondering if maybe they should switch it to a BT med instead.

My pain is caused by RA and Diabetic Neuropathy.  Narcotics do not usually work well for this but I have pain in the areas surrounding the joints.  Anyway I need to find a solution and feel sometimes that there is no solution and this is as good as it gets!

Raven

Posted 2/6/2008 5:50 AM (GMT 0)
Um, I didnt complain the Lortab wasnt working...I told her it helped my pain. I hadnt even taken the lortab until they told me to. When I called back to tell her it worked for my pain thats when she asked me about the flu even though she already knew. I went to the ER for vomining, I needed to sto pthrowing up so I could take my meds. After they gave me an anti Vomit med, they refused to let me take my oral meds...They forsed me into taking an IV med dose. I had no other choice if I didnt want to rithe in pain and have withdrawls for the 6 hours I was there. My point was, without going into the whole story in my thread was that if your going to treat my pain then treat it...if your going to say I am not allowed to take my own meds then yoiu have to give me what is equal to my regular perscribed dose. I make a VERY big deal about the ER notifying my doc of everything they do. I will never and have never taken more than I was supposed to or done anything i wasnt supposed to do. Gramps...I find you questioning my own feelings and opinions so strange. And what if I did tell my doc the lortab wasnt working...I have the flu, this isnt my regular pain. There are extenuating circumstances. I rarely ask for extra even if I was dying in pain. It took me 1 year to even ask for BT meds. I didnt ask for the dilauded...they gave me no other option...
Posted 2/6/2008 6:22 AM (GMT 0)
PS your question was if the doc was to cut meds in half would you take extra pills...My answere is and will remain no. I can understand it...but abusing meds is abusing meds. When you call your doc and ask them, thats not taking something extra. If pain docs ever find out that anyone is taking meds not as perscribed...even if you say its just a pill or two it doesnt matter. They will either cut you off or flag your chart and be very weary of you and wonder what else you taking extra of. Giving the law any sort of amunition to prove that people abuse meds is what they want. They are looking to prove that everyone abuses there meds and CP sufferes shouldnt be treated with high dose opioids.To the law taking even one extra pill is abuse. You cant try to change things in the pain management world by saying its okay to take a little extra. Support those that are proving the law wrong, dont try to find indescrepensies in what people say. comparing someones posts tying to prove them wrong is infuriating.
Posted 2/6/2008 10:10 AM (GMT 0)
Well it depends on what is considered early...My insurance company will refill when 75% of my meds are used...

The doc is very annoyed if I go one day early..and most times I have to go early cause hes only in 1 or 2 days a week and I can only get a baby sitter on certain days..so it rarely works out..

By no means am I abusing my meds...I look at it this way...If i have allot of physical stuff to do..Im not the type of person to ask for help..Ill stupbournly just work thru the pain and then just take an extra dose..which works for me..and really dont have any other options..Have no choice but to work...I couldnt live off of what id get from disability and were only talking about 2 or 3 days early..but this month im screwed big time...I dont keep my meds locked up ..and I will from now on..but we had people over for superbowl sunday and people were all over the house and I counted my pills today..and 15 are missing....I called a few people and everyone said that it had to be the same person..I was unaware that he had a problem or I would not have just left them in my medicine cabinet....stupid me...ill only make that mistake once....and cant really call the police on a friend...I am going to speak to him about it tomorrw..but I doubt ill get a straight ansswer
Posted 2/6/2008 3:23 PM (GMT 0)
This topic made me have a conversation with my pharmacist sister in law, I was curious if I was abusing my medication by taking the 1 pill after 4 hours. She said that even though the script says 6 hours, the recommended time is 4-6 hours so technically I'm still taking them properly. As ffar as my 20mg oxycontin, she really didn't know what to say. Like I said the continuous release mechanism is within the binder/ filler so breaking it in half and only taking the 10mg isn't abusing it, but if I take the other half sometime other than bedtime (which is when my script says to take it) it's taking it off script directions so it could be considered misuse. She said it's not really abusing it, but it's not taking it as directed either. So I guess I won't be doing that again. I usually only did it when I knew I wasn't going to be home for a long period of time, since I don't take my meds outside of the house. Anywho... I'm really amazed that most people take them exactly as prescribed. What would all the people who take them exactly do in this situation; You take 3 20mg oxy ER (every 8 hours) daily. One day you wake up late at 9am (you would usually wake up at 5am) and take you you 1st Oxy. 8 hours later at 5pm you take your second dose. you have an early day tomorrow and need to get to bed a bit early at say 10pm. Your not due to take your next dose until 2am, and you know if you don't take it, not only will you wake up in agonizing pain but you will also be further disrupting your schedule. If you just take it at 10 pm which is 4 hours early you will pretty much be back on schedule. What would you do?
Posted 2/6/2008 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
This is a debate that can go on forever. The fact of the matter is that there are both sides to perscribed pain medication. As long as anyone sells or abuses meds there is amunition for the law to say that cp sufferes should not be on opioid pain regimens. I'm not nessesarily saying taking an extra pill is abuse, in the eyes of the law even one extra pill is abuse. Perhaps I didnt state correctly that I was looking at it from the other side, which is what we all have to do at one time or another. I am undertreated for pain. I have been stuck in bed for a while. Sure there is a day or two out of the past 6 months I have been able to go out for an hour or so. But for the most part that is considered a best case senerio right now. I am probably on about half of what I should be on. I dont need to look up psyedo-addiction as I am a huge pain management advocate in my county. I'm just luck enough to be able to see pain management from the perspective of the law because of my advocacy. If anyone in the ER experiences withdrawls from recrational use they will send you to the detox unit(if you have one in your hospital) but if your on pain management(on any dose) and they refuse you your perscribed medication, they are required to keep you from withdrawls. And while they did help keep me from withdrawls for a little while, 1mg of dilaudid in 6 hours does not equal extended relief oxycodone. Did the ER do wrong by this patient right...yes. If you go in having took your regular dose, they are not required to give anything extra. Is it always right...defenitly not. But it falls under the hospitals rights. If those rights are changed then they would be giving anyone with a head ache pain meds. I'm not saying any of it is right. None of my posts had anything to do with someone not being treated at all, they referred to those being under treated. Which includes me on a daily basis. I was venting about one incident not an every day occurance. I dont like when someone tries to use my own opinions between two different situations to prove some sort of point. And I defenitly dont like someone throwing my meds at me stating that some people dont even get anything. Hence why I said I considered myself lucky. I am very aware of people suffering and I am very aware of the ER's not treating pain properly. Thats why I dont judge people for what they do...but I am who I am and I always look at both sides of the coin. Anytime you question peoples actions your judging...and you questioned my actions and my words. Whether you want to see it that way or not.
Posted 2/6/2008 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
This is a debate that can go on forever. The fact of the matter is that there are both sides to perscribed pain medication. As long as anyone sells or abuses meds there is amunition for the law to say that cp sufferes should not be on opioid pain regimens. I'm not nessesarily saying taking an extra pill is abuse, in the eyes of the law even one extra pill is abuse. Perhaps I didnt state correctly that I was looking at it from the other side, which is what we all have to do at one time or another. I am undertreated for pain. I have been stuck in bed for a while. Sure there is a day or two out of the past 6 months I have been able to go out for an hour or so. But for the most part that is considered a best case senerio right now. I am probably on about half of what I should be on. I dont need to look up psyedo-addiction as I am a huge pain management advocate in my county. I'm just luck enough to be able to see pain management from the perspective of the law because of my advocacy. If anyone in the ER experiences withdrawls from recrational use they will send you to the detox unit(if you have one in your hospital) but if your on pain management(on any dose) and they refuse you your perscribed medication, they are required to keep you from withdrawls. And while they did help keep me from withdrawls for a little while, 1mg of dilaudid in 6 hours does not equal extended relief oxycodone. Did the ER do wrong by this patient right...yes. If you go in having took your regular dose, they are not required to give anything extra. Is it always right...defenitly not. But it falls under the hospitals rights. If those rights are changed then they would be giving anyone with a head ache pain meds. I'm not saying any of it is right. None of my posts had anything to do with someone not being treated at all, they referred to those being under treated. Which includes me on a daily basis. I was venting about one incident not an every day occurance. I dont like when someone tries to use my own opinions between two different situations to prove some sort of point. And I defenitly dont like someone throwing my meds at me stating that some people dont even get anything. Hence why I said I considered myself lucky. I am very aware of people suffering and I am very aware of the ER's not treating pain properly. Thats why I dont judge people for what they do...but I am who I am and I always look at both sides of the coin. Anytime you question peoples actions your judging...and you questioned my actions and my words. Whether you want to see it that way or not.
Posted 2/6/2008 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
This is a debate that can go on forever. The fact of the matter is that there are both sides to perscribed pain medication. As long as anyone sells or abuses meds there is amunition for the law to say that cp sufferes should not be on opioid pain regimens. I'm not nessesarily saying taking an extra pill is abuse, in the eyes of the law even one extra pill is abuse. Perhaps I didnt state correctly that I was looking at it from the other side, which is what we all have to do at one time or another. I am undertreated for pain. I have been stuck in bed for a while. Sure there is a day or two out of the past 6 months I have been able to go out for an hour or so. But for the most part that is considered a best case senerio right now. I am probably on about half of what I should be on. I dont need to look up psyedo-addiction as I am a huge pain management advocate in my county. I'm just luck enough to be able to see pain management from the perspective of the law because of my advocacy. If anyone in the ER experiences withdrawls from recrational use they will send you to the detox unit(if you have one in your hospital) but if your on pain management(on any dose) and they refuse you your perscribed medication, they are required to keep you from withdrawls. And while they did help keep me from withdrawls for a little while, 1mg of dilaudid in 6 hours does not equal extended relief oxycodone. Did the ER do wrong by this patient right...yes. If you go in having took your regular dose, they are not required to give anything extra. Is it always right...defenitly not. But it falls under the hospitals rights. If those rights are changed then they would be giving anyone with a head ache pain meds. I'm not saying any of it is right. None of my posts had anything to do with someone not being treated at all, they referred to those being under treated. Which includes me on a daily basis. I was venting about one incident not an every day occurance. I dont like when someone tries to use my own opinions between two different situations to prove some sort of point. And I defenitly dont like someone throwing my meds at me stating that some people dont even get anything. Hence why I said I considered myself lucky. I am very aware of people suffering and I am very aware of the ER's not treating pain properly. Thats why I dont judge people for what they do...but I am who I am and I always look at both sides of the coin. Anytime you question peoples actions your judging...and you questioned my actions and my words. Whether you want to see it that way or not.
Posted 2/7/2008 12:13 AM (GMT 0)

Aftr reading this post I though I would chime in again for myself in reality have I ever wanted to take more med's than perscribed due to increased pain or pain not controlled the truthful answer is yes many time's but I never have simply for the reason's I described in my earlier post of drug specific urine test and random pill counts but also for the main reason is if I take more one day I have to make it up on another day or if i continually took more I would run out of med's early a option I refuse to explore not only would I have uncontrolled pain I would also have sudden widthdrawl and I will not go through that by any actions by myself I get exactly enough medication for a specific time period he will not give any extra and he will or has ever given a early refill no matter what the reason even if legitimatly stolen with a police report no exception's with this guy

In the past I had a doctor who had his ability to perscribed pain med's suspended by our goverment here no warning to me at all went in one day and was told no more pain med's can be perscribed just like that I searched and searched and found no Dr. to help so when I ran out the widthdrawl from these med's are absoluptly horrid the worst plus you have the pain go completely out of control to contend with also if I have anything to say about it I will never go through that again they really are that bad and the higher the dose the worse they are and prolonged

If I could I would take less to try to build up a small amount extra for any emergency like I had before but with the amount I get I can not and yes as stated above I in the past have been severly undermedicated for what I need them for cause it takes so long here to get MRI or test's so I know what that is like also and it is very common I feel right now I'am undermedicated but I am so very grateful I have atleast som medication cause it truly gives me a life

regard s

Bob

As for the cutting in half of time released medications myself I only know the Oxycontin and doing that is dangerious I know if any of my Dr's found out I did that I would be kicked me out the door as for any other type of medication I have no knowledge if a Pharmacist and the maker say s it is OK than it is OK I was told only split med's to take half if they have the score line on them Myself if I could cut a medication in half and it was ok to do it in a attemp to take less and get by with less than I certainly would no question at all

Posted 2/7/2008 4:14 AM (GMT 0)

Hi,

Mach03, many CPP's take their meds as directed.  You mentioned in your last post about getting up at different times to take meds ie; getting up early that going to bed early.  Personally, I have other health issues as many do and I also take insulin injections therefore I make sure that I get up at the same every day and take my meds at the same time.  Doesn't mean i don't go back to bed but keeping a schedule is something i have control of. 

Gramps, you mentioned about if people would take extra meds if their meds where cut in half.  I hate to think that this happens in the United States and I'm sure you have heard many horror stories.  I'm not sure what I would do in that situation.  I guess I would do what I have to survive.  Chronic Pain has pushed me very close to the edge a few times but I've been fortunate to have a good medical team which includes an Oncologist, Rheumatologist and Primary Physician.  Even with good Doctors I still have a lot of pain and I'm not very confident that this will ever be resolved, it's been so long. 

Just wanted to mention as well that I live in Canada and although I heard a lot about abuse with meds the people I know with chronic pain have been as lucky as I have been. 

I am disheartened by the fact that so many have to live with so much pain every day without proper care.  If it were high cholesterol or blood pressure we were speaking about we wouldn't be hearing about MD's cutting patients meds.  It makes no sense.

Take care all

Raven

Posted 2/7/2008 5:20 AM (GMT 0)
Raven - your last paragraph speaks of the problem EXACTLY. We don't see people asking if we take our cholesterol medication as directed, or if I take my depression medication correctly.....pain medication should not be looked on any differently??!!!

I could see more of an issue being made with a diabetic being asked if they take their insulin properly, mainly because under-treated or untreated diabetes causes a whole host of other problems up to and including death.

I know that if or when I am asked to bring my medicine in to be counted, I am going to bring in my Lipitor and Celexa right along with the others and have the nurse count them too. Gramps has made reference to this in other threads...and the more and more I think about it, the more it irks me mad (I was going to make a reference to growing gonads, but in different terms, but then figured it might get me flamed or booted) nono ...they are all medications that are needed for different health reasons, treat them the same!!! 

Posted 2/7/2008 5:34 AM (GMT 0)
I feel out numbered here that's for sure..... Which I guess can be seen as a good thing, if the people taking as prescribed are comfortable and not in pain. Didn't mean to start such a debate.
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