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Posted 1/17/2011 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
i have been gone for awhile because my dear friends I was hospitalized from an overdose of methadone prescribed by a doc I had mentioned I was nervous about.
I stated I had been placed on subutex to see if it would help with the chronic head pain. This was not my idea but my pain doc insisted so I had to be the "good patient". When i went back after 3 visits saying I was having no luck on the subutex and could I please go back to the norco, my pain doc never returned my call so I had to go back to this addicitionologist who I again explained my reluctancy to use either the subutex and he insisted i go on methadone, 80 mgs. When I went to fill the script the pharmisist would not fill it at first saying so had never gotten an order for that high a doseage but I told her that yes, this is what the doc ordered. I started the methadone slowly, first 10, then 20 then 30 and had worked my way up to 60 milligrams by monday night. Tuesday morning last my husband could not wake me and when he did I was vomiting blood and rushed to the ER. The diagnosis? methadone overdose.....and I had not even taken the entire dosage the doc ordered. They had to give me narcaine(sp) whichh my friends is the most horrific experience I have ever been through. They finally got me stable and into a room by tuesday night where i remained for 4 days with bacterial pnemonia. Seems I had been asperating all monday night into my lungs. When a pain doc showed up wed night he said the most overdose he runs into was from methadone and not to take it. YOU THINK??? The hospital could not reach the doc who prescribed the meds, they took me off all pain meds for the week so i have been in horrible pain and now I have to start all over but frankly don't know who to go to or who to trust? Obviously nit the doc who ordered the methadone, not the pain doc who did not return my call so where??
I am just beside myself and so angry. I did what I was told even though my body was telling me no but being a good patient i did as the doctor ordered!!

please be careful and listen to yourselves if something doesn't feel right.

i'm sorry if i sound off but i am still weak and am heading back to bed. I just wanted to let you know what i have been going through.
be careful my friends

cat
Posted 1/17/2011 3:17 PM (GMT 0)
Cat, I'm so sorry for what happened to you! There is no excuse for it!! I just can't believe that this idiot started you on such a HUGE dose of methadone!!!! I've been taking methadone for about 7 or 8 years and I'm only at 30mg a day!! I think, no I know that if I tried to take 80mg, it would kill me evan w/ my tollerance to it!!! I've heard of high doses being prescribed but only to patients who were already on huge doses of other narcotics! I think this doc if you want to call him that is a moron!!! He should be reported for what he did to you! I hope that someone at the hospital does and if not, I think you should!
Your right, methadone is dangerous if not used properly! It really is unlike any other pain med out there w/ it's long half life! No wonder there are so many overdoses & deaths from the stuff! You are so right> Be careful my friends!!!
Hugs,
Pete
Posted 1/17/2011 4:49 PM (GMT 0)
Oh my Cat, how scary! I cannot believe that a doctor did this to you. I am at a loss for words, I don't know what to say. I am just so glad you are ok now (well as ok as can be expected after that). I sure hope you can find a doctor that you can trust. Hang in there and please keep us posted.
Posted 1/17/2011 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
I am sorry that you went through such a horrific ordeal....but, I have been on Methadone for many years and I take 120 mg. daily....This can happen on any pain medication, not just Methadone. I am a Methadone Advocate....so when I hear anyone saying this is all about Methadone I get a little upset....Not at you, You went through something that nobody should have to go through...Not only with the Overdose of medication..but with an uncaring and stupid Dr. After being on Subutex he shouldn't have put you on such a high dose of Methadone...or anything for that matter....You should have been monitored, not just let loose on the drug....He should be ashamed...

And with your CP you shouldn't have to be in pain...Find a new Dr. One that actually knows about Pain meds...I hope that you are doing ok and I will be thinking of you...

Rhonda
Posted 1/18/2011 2:51 AM (GMT 0)
I was stunned when I read your post. What a horrible, horrible experience. Thank God you are alive. So, so sorry this happened to you.

It is such a betrayal when you put your trust in a doctor and he/she does something like this. No excuse for such callous, incompetent behavior.

So happy you are going to be okay.

Blessings,
V
Posted 1/18/2011 8:20 AM (GMT 0)
x 2 what Vannie said Cat.I'm glad to see that you're going to be okay.Thank goodness that you didn't just go home and start with the full dosage.I'm thinking that maybe the prescribing Dr. should be reported for his incompetency before somebody gets killed by him.I sure hope you can find a new Dr. that can help you soon.Take care and may God Bless You............Rod
Posted 1/18/2011 5:37 PM (GMT 0)
omg -- I just went off methadone after getting sick from taking 10mg/day. I can't even imagine being given the amount that you were given. I've read that 80mg/day is the starting dose for hard-core heroin addicts. It seems that the addictionologist had not a clue about how to treat normal pain patients.
Thank God your husband got you to the hospital in time! I think the moral of the story is that doctors don't always know best. And they ought to have monitored you closer. Mine checked up on me every 2 weeks with the methadone. He started me on 2.5mg/day and built up over a few months to the 10mg/day.
It may be time for you to drop the addictionologist & find a new PM. If you didn't have addiction issues to start with, I can't quite figure out why they wanted you on Subutex. That seems kinda odd. I know it treats pain, but still ... kinda odd. Find a good PM -- one who is trained in anesthesiology. If possible, get one who does all sorts of different treatments, but at least make sure he has lots of training with meds.
Posted 1/19/2011 1:58 PM (GMT 0)
It's often not the doc but the person answering the phone or the person responsible for calling back the patient who drops the ball. I have had this happen in several offices.

I mention to my docs when I do not get call-backs, and I have heard some of them chew out the phone people right away - like the time I reported an infection a few days after a hand operation and got no call-back. I treated it myself before it could get serious. The doc got mad at the staff, and chewed them out on the spot, because he was in the office and would have had me come right in!

I'm not forgiving a doc who is chronically unreachable, but choose the doc you think is best, who's medical judgement you trust, and knows you. Then ask why he is unreachable, why you didn't get the callback ... If you don't trust any of them medically, then jump to a new one.
Posted 1/29/2011 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
checking back in to say hello. I'm still very week and I guess that is the worst part of this whole situation. I wanted to thank you all for your kind responses. I think i need to apologize to uniquelyme. I didn't mean to say that no one should use methadone. If it works for you, then go for it. I guess I was just so upset when I realized that I would have been dead had my so not found me that I blamed the tool( methadone) as opposed to the doctor who prescribed it. Now I am in the phase of "what do I do about this". Do I just let it go and be thankful that I am alive or do I seek legal counsel against this doctor. I have been involved in 2 lawsuits in my life and firmly believe that no one "wins" except the lawyers and swore I would never go that route but if I don't do something this man will be allowed to continue to do this. Obviously I will never be seeing him again and told the receptionist why when I cancelled the followup appointment. I have an appointment this wednesday with my pain doc who had insisted I see him and "work with him" even when I told her I was not comfortable with his medcation and the side effects I was experiencing on them. I also want some answers as to why she never returned my calls.
Its very difficult. When I was a caseworker and some doctor abused one of my clients I would have no problem reporting him or her, as a mandated reporter, to the proper agency. Now the shoe is on the other foot and I am the patient feeling there is no one in my corner. At this point I don't know what to do.
In any event, thanks to you all, I am getting stronger though in much pain as I have no medication at this time and have not had a nerve block since before thanksgiving.
I wish you all a pain free weekend.
cat
Posted 1/29/2011 5:16 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Cat, hope you are feeling better now. I do hope that you will report this dr to the proper authorities. It is our duty as patients to report these drs that are way in over their heads and have no clue what they are doing. Incompetence is something no patient should ever have to deal with, but if this one goes unreported then he will continue on till he possibly kills someone.

It will be interesting to see what your PM dr's reaction is when you tell him what this idiot did. I do hope he will think again before referring anyone to this guy. Please let us know how your appt goes.

Take care.
Posted 1/29/2011 9:26 PM (GMT 0)
Cat, no need to apologize to me for anything...I mean that...I have seen many people on Methadone either overdose or die...usually due to taking Xanax along with it...but still...I know that Methadone is a very strong and misunderstood drug...Yes, it is given to "Opiate" addicts...not just Heroin....and Yes that WAS its main use...until recently..Now that it is used for CP it is being used on people that shouldn't be using it... That Dr. should be ashamed...and the ones that wouldn't return your calls? They are just as bad if not worse..

I have been on it for so long that I sometimes forget how serious of a drug it is...I am not immune to bad effects...I need to know that...and you really reminded me of that...Thanks..

I am a Methadone Advocate but not an advocate of overdosing due to Dr.'s misuse of the drug.... I hope like hell that you do something about this...you could have died Cat....and that's not acceptable.... Please take care of yourself...

I can't believe that you have to endure the pain now...it wasn't your fault...they should help you...

Rhonda
Posted 1/30/2011 10:48 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with uniquelyme...methoadone can be an amazing wonderful drug providing relief to many patients if used correctly..


I dont believe you said when you STARTED taking the drug...Idk why your pharmacist said thats a lot because there a probably 100,000s of people taking more then that maybe hes not been a pharmacist long? Im just wondering how long you stayed at each dose? and the way you put it you went up 10mg each time? was that a day or 2 days or? and were you taking this at once or twice a day or splitting it up like every 4 hours taking equal amounts?

Im also seriously wondering why at 60mg you all of a suddent didnt wake up...are you saying that at 50 the day before or whenever that you werent even taking a nap or drowsy? I just dont understand why within a day or so and only 10 mgs especially if your splitting it up into 2 to 6 times a day...thats not TOO much I wouldnt think.

But at the same time I wondering why this, as you call him 'addictionologist' is giving you methadone iafter giving you subutex? did he try soboxone? I know its still subutex based but maybe itll work better for you without the side-effect?

Did you not get any relief from any of the earlier doses as you were ratcheting up the level of mg? like did you not notice relief or help at 40? The reason I ask is did you not think to stop at an earlier dose if one of those helped? I honestly think your main issue with this drug was you were made to go up to fast, not necessarily to high but maybe to fast or maybe a little of both...if your using it to just fill in/up your receptors then Id assume theyd have enough methadone in them prior to this 60mg, and its still weighing on me quite hard at if you basically passsed out sleeping and wouldnt wake up...why the day before were you not even drowsy or taking a nap at the very least?

I feel awful for you...this has happened to me before. been prescribed to much...I had to be taken to the ER in an ambulance and given narcan to reverse the effects of the opiate on my receptors but i was ok immediatly afterwards within seconds
Posted 1/31/2011 4:40 PM (GMT 0)
The doctor wanted me to take 80 mgs all at once, period. On wed. he had me taking 32mgs. of subutex. He told me not to take anymore subutex on wed. and take all 80 mgs of methadone on thursday night. During the evening of Wed. and during the day of thursday I was to take norco for pain. It was the pharmicist questioning the dose that caused me to start at 10 mgs.
I don't know why I was "ok" on friday, sat., sun., and monday. All I know is I took 60mgs monday night and did not wake up on Tuesday.
I call him an addictionologist because that is what my pain doctor called him.

cat
Posted 2/17/2011 1:57 PM (GMT 0)
Just an update and sorry I have not been posting. It took a good three weeks to finally get the physical strenght to get up and about after hospital. Unfortunatly what I seem to be left with is PTSD from this experience and I just can't shake it. I no longer can sleep at night, even with the help of ativan for fear I won't wake up. I don't know if methadone can cause hallucinations or if in deep that is what it was. I just remeber this experience from when I was in the ER. I found myself in a room with windows but it was only the studs, no wall covering. In whatever state this was I kept seeing myself move from room to room.The only time I would come out of this "whatever it was" is to find myself retching from the narcane they gave me, then I would sink back into this place. I also recall the seizures durin the purging. Now the problem is in the middle of the day out of no where I find my self back in this room and it scares the hell out of me, as it did at the time. I have a feeling it will take a while to get over this. My GP wants to try additional anti-depressants to see if there can be any effect.
I finally got back to see my original pain doc who referred me to the "addictionologist". I was suppose to see a few weeks ago expressed concern that she had no returned my calls to her for help. She was stunned. No one in her office told her I had even been in hospital. Another member on the team had been on call that day so all he did was put a note in my chart and the first time she saw the reports was when I was in her office. There was also no records of my phone calls. Needless to say she was quite upset..very visably so and stated they would never refer that other doc again and he would be "handled". She agreed to let me go back to my norco, which doesn't completely relieve the pain but right now is the only thing I am comfortable with. We have once again begun the nerve blocks having the first on the mastoid bone/nerve yesterday. We can only hope. She told me she had been concerned when she hadn't seen me in awhile and had been consulting with 2 other specialists about my case . When she got the whole story I really felt her concern and sympathy for the entire situation.
All I can say is it was almost 3 months of hell switching to the subutex, then methadone, no nerve blocks but now we seem to be back on track....I hope.
The bad part, I guess, is I have decided to contact a lawyer about the "methadone doc". I really don't believe in lawsuits as I have been involved in 2 in the past and the only thing that happened is the lawyers got rich and i had to pick up the emotional pieces. I just think its too important to let this guy continue doing this to anyone else.
I'm trying to catch up on all the posting I have missed, sorry for neglecting you all.
I wish you pain free days ( really free not just reduced!!!)
cat
Posted 2/17/2011 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
being on Methadone for as long as I've been doesn't make me an expert...but I do know a lot about it...and taking that amount all at once is what they do for addicts....taking a lower dose over several hours is how they treat CP....I know, I've done it both ways... The reason that CP'ers take it in several doses is so they can take BT pain meds and have them actually work...if you take the dosage all at once then take a BT mned it won't work...the Methadone will block it....That's why addicts take it...to block the other drugs....so, your Dr. is an ASS....but that's my opinion.....
Posted 2/17/2011 9:32 PM (GMT 0)
i totally agree but thankfully he is no longer my doctor and if my PM has anything to do with it he won't be anyone elses.
I feel guilty , in a way. He stared me on subtex 3-8mgs. I told him it wasn't helping, made me vomit, gave me mood swings and his response was to go to 8 mgs 4 x's a day. The first time i saw him I brought in my pain journel, which my pm has always said to keep. He told me I needed to increase my prozac because I was OCD, just focusing on my pain and I just needed to forget it. In my gut I knew I should get out but felt trapped because I wasn't getting help elsewhere.
I guess we just really need to trust those little hairs on the back of our neck.
cat
Posted 2/17/2011 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
Oh Cat. I'm so glad that you're ok. *hugs* That dr. needs to be put out of business risking your life like that. I'm glad that your pm dr. is going to "take care" of him. I'm glad you're feeling better. I have ptsd, so I know a little of what you're goin' thru. I hope you can get to feeling better in that way too. Bless your heart.

love ya
Loretta
Posted 2/18/2011 10:27 AM (GMT 0)
I am so happy that you are okay. I can't believe that that doctor did that. Wow. It sounds like your PM will work with you now. I'm so sorry that you're having PTSD symptoms. I can't imagine going through what you did. It will probably take time for you to be better. Give yourself time.
Posted 2/18/2011 11:13 AM (GMT 0)
Oh Cat,

I just read your entire thread again. Somehow I missed posting a reply earlier.


First, I want to say how sorry I am that you had to go through this and second that I am so happy you are OK.

I'm afraid what you describe sounds like some lingering hallucinations that need to be brought to the attention of a good psychaitrist. That person can help with the PTSD (I have that too) and after my fusion (when I dared to complain about a nurse charting my meds as given and refusing to give me my meds....which is 100% true), they gave me a shot of haldol (sp?) which threw me over the edge for a while. I didn't have hallucinations, but I did have some horrible anxiety and kind of "freaked out" for a while. My psychiatrist had a fit when I told him!!!! He was so enraged that a Dr would give me something that can cause damage if give to someone who is not psychotic (and I was not)!! I reported everthing correctly, but apparently the patient is the last one to be believed....they just right down that you have been doing something strange.....not sure what.....

I also don't normally believe in lawsuits, but I say this guy needs to be taught a valuable lesson. If human life is not enough to make him sit up and pay attention, perhaps a lawsuit will be. I'm going to file something (probably just a complaint) on my last bladder surgeon after my next surgery because he KNEW something was wrong and refused to fix it or to refer me to someone to fix it. He just blew me off when my procedure failed. I even told him the exact moment when it failed.....but no....that wasn't enough. No matter how many times I went back in, he didn't never even did another test....turns out he either placed it wrong or it "popped" (I think popped because it was placed wrong) within two months. Now more surgery follows on the 14th of March. Yuck!!!

I'm so glad you are back with us and are starting to feel some better. I wish there was a way to get rid of the PTSD. I uses Xanax CR and it helps alot...but the atavan doesn't help me....just makes me more nervous. (If you do try the Xanax CR, and take the generic....make sure they don't give you the green tablet....I just made a report to the FDA on that company. All the other generics I have ever taken of Xanax CR have been great, but this one green tablet doesn't work at all and I think there is a screwup somewhere along the line with this one. The pharmacy was kind enough to order from the other generic company to make sure the tablet was correct this month.

Good luck and God Bless!!!!
Posted 2/20/2011 5:17 AM (GMT 0)
Dear Cat

It is so good to hear that you are starting to feel better. I am so sorry that you had such a terrible

experience.

I will keep you in my thoughts. I hope you continue to get your strength back.
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