Jenn I will share this with you as a FYI, yes the urine test can show the amount of medication, its always part of the testing, I have seen these reports before and whatever drug is in your system the numbers are there for the dr tro see. This is done by PM drs to see if the patient is actually taking their medication or not. I know someone else posted its more expensive to do this testing, I am not sure thats true, the point of testing is not only to see if other drugs show up but in a patient accepting rx's from the dr and not taking the meds is a good indication the patient is doing something else with their medication. This came straight out of the mouth of my former PM drs nurse. In 4 yrs I had to 2 urine tests. I saw alot of people tested in the clinic and I also saw alot of bawling and squalling over failed urine tests. I was shocked when my nurse shared this with me, but then her and I talked about all sorts of stuff,lol. I said how can people afford to see a PM just to get meds to sell. She said you would be surprised what patients will do to go thru to get medication, I had never thought of that. So, yes the amount of medication shows up.
PaLady gave you very good info. Above all being honest with your dr is the only way to go. When you start being dishonest, then you are setting yourself up to be eventually caught and given the boot. Once booted by a PM dr, it goes in your medical records and that follows you around and then no other dr will want to take you on as a patient. I too have crohns disease and have absorption problems relating to surgery because of the crohns. I do hope you have shared this info on your crohns with your PM dr.
I think like PaLady you know you are not following drs orders by not taking your medication as prescribed according to the directions on your bottle. I think this is what has you so worried, among other things. Whats with your fear of losing your insurance, is this something that is coming up in your future? The only way to know the expiration date on medication is if you are given the original bottle of medication. You are in a tough spot no doubt. So, if you have been stock piling for a year there is a chance some of your medication is outdated.
I would not say anything until it becomes an issue if it were me. If it comes up then you can try to explain again the absorption problem. But, I would not say it makes me throw up beecause no one is going to take medication over and over that makes them throw up.
Everyone metabolizes medication differently so there is no clear cut way to say how long this medication will stay in your system. I do know if your dr thinks you are stock piling your meds he most likely will either cut you off or put you on a mild pain medication with the thought your pain is not as bad as he thought it was.
Personally, I think your dr is over reacting with all the the publicity or he may just be using this as an excuse to incorporate drug testing in his practice if this is not something that was done before. The drug that has caught everyones attention on Michael Jackson at the moment is Diprivan which is a drug used for surgery patients given by IV only. This drug is to be used in a hospital setting only and now they want to know how he managed to get it and who gave it to him.
Like you, when my former pain mgt dr stopped doing pain mgt last fall, he said to me if all of his patients had been like me to deal with, his life would have been much simpler. He went as far to tell me that the new dr taking over my care was informed that I was an excellent patient. I took this as a compliment, but then I was there for 4 years as a legitimate pain mgt patient. I never had a problem with any of the rules his office practiced and I think most of us feel this way.
Try to calm down about this, you may be taking alot of it out proportion.