Medication Responsibilities!

It just seems to be coming up more and more lately about the use of extra and non prescribed meds. Please no one should take this personally, that is not what this post is about at all, just a general statement to all of our HW family and visitors just browsing.

Its just very important for everyone to follow your medication doseages and how they are prescribed. One of the reasons it is becoming more and more difficult to get proper pain management in the US is the abuse that is going on with pain meds. What used to be a relationship between patient and doctor has now been complicated by the need for monitoring. Whomever the blame lays with, its happened and it is what it is. It makes it very difficult for those that follow their pain management drs recommendations and contracts to receive proper care when others dont take it seriously. Of course there are so many factors going into the PM nightmare at this point in time but as the patients we are the ones that need to show responsibility and respect to our physicians. The point is, lets not make it worse than it allready is!

There have been so many times I wanted to take extra meds due to not having proper pain control, but as CP patients we just cant take it into our own hands to make these descisions even if our drs arent listening or helping. Making a phone call to the dr to ask for their recommendation, finding a new dr, going to the ER, using other modalities to get thru the tough times, we have options to try other than taking meds not as prescribed.

Just food for thought!

Very well said Shell. As CP patients we have a terrible stigma attached to us and this sort of behavior adds fuel to the fire. This is one reason some drs do pill counts every month. Our pain meds are there to help with our pain, not make it totally go away. We do have to learn how to be creative when managing our pain, whether it is hot showers, listening to some soothing music, hot tub soaks, reading a good book, anything to help distract our self from the pain.

Once a person starts with oh I will just take this extra pill this one time, before they know it, its happening every time because its just too easy to do. Its just a bad habit that should never get started.

Totally agree. Once a person starts in with "I am really hurting so I will take an extra pill just this once" they quickly find themselves on a very slippery slope, as if the usual slope with just being on narcotic pain medications isn't slippery enough.

I would be shocked if there was anyone here who has not been tempted from time to time to take an extra pill thinking that they will have some good days and 'replace' that extra pill down the road. Every time I find myself in that position I tell myself a little short term suffering now is a lot better than long term later if I either run out early or my doctor finds out I am violating the script and refuses to prescribe me any more.

I have my 7 day a week, 4 times a day pill container. I don't take anything that can't fit in this so it works perfectly for me.

Each Sunday I fill the whole week up with all my meds so it's plain as day to be able click open the compartment for that time of day to see whether the meds have been taken or not.

My only pills that are in a different spot are my Ambien. These stay in their own container in another dresser since they look too much like another pill I take and it would be awful to ever mix them up.

Hi all,

I wanted to mention that my phone actually keeps up with my med schedule for me. It is a free program and sends an alert when you have told it to. Once you have actually taken the med, you touch the alert and it records the time. If you have a need to take certain meds on a different schedule, then it will accommodate. The biggest thing for me is if I happened to be in a place were I could not gt my normally taken meds, then I could take It as soon as possible and then adjust the next few doses back until I am on schedule again.

It also keeps me from double taking and the data can be downloaded and provided to your dr if you wish. I don't do that, but I have sent two or thee dr's the link so other patients can use it.

Finally, the program was indispensable during and after my recent hospital stay because things were just so jumbled. It was the ONLY way I could keep up with med schedules at all because pain was blinding me .....you understand.

I think there are several programs out there, but I know this is free and in the iPhone App Store.

Best of luck my friends!

I absolutely agree with you Shell....It's all about communication with one's Dr. FIRST before ever taking an extra pill of any kind.

I was just saying this to someone else but people with heart meds or bp meds wouldn't just take one, two, or more pills on their own without consulting their Dr. So people need to respect these controlled substances just as much.

As Shell has written, it's not just our own health on the line but the practice and license of our Dr. They have to answer to the state and the DEA about every single patient who is on long term opiate therapy for chronic pain. If someone has a bad urine test or runs out of meds early and calls the Dr. for more...the Dr. has to now write all of this down in your medical file because they have to explain everything that happens.

It's never worth it. And all of us here empathize what it's like to be in severe pain. To where we just don't know what we are going to do. But the answer is to not just do what we feel like and play Dr. on our own and go against the prescription directions.

This is why it is crucial to have a comprehensive pain program set up with one's Dr. So that there are dozens of modalities to use when to help lower our pain.

Everything from exercise, physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, aqua therapy, ultrasound therapy, traction, injections, steroids, ice, heat, TENS unit, hot shower, biofeedback, yoga/stretching, nerve ablation, RFAs, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, meditation, prayer, eating well and maintaining a health weight, not smoking, and plain old rest.....etc....

And then other medications in addition to any opiates. These are nerve pain meds like Lyrica, Cymbalta, or Neurontin. There are muscle relaxers that target that type of pain. These are Flexeril or Amrix, Robaxin, Skelaxin, Baclofen, or Zanaflex.

Even some older antidepressants are used to help with nerve pain or overall pain like Elavil or Prozac...A new medication called Savella.

If someone has used every single possible modality they can and still has relentless pain that is getting worse then they just need to contact their Dr. and tell them about it and ask them what to do. This is the reason we choose these Drs....because they have the knowledge and the training in this area.

I am friends with my PM outside of our appts. and his greatest pet peeve is when patients try to tell him what to do...he's like, "Gee...I guess the 12 years of medical school and getting Fellowship trained and Board Certified and another 10 years in my practice I know nothing and this person who googles knows more than I" LOL....***No...he doesn't say this to them but jokes to me...he just thinks it!

Now, this is completely different than a patient who takes an active role in their care and wants to learn about their diagnosis and their medications and what their treatment plan is. As well as does a good job at telling the Dr. what hurts, where it hurts, and when it hurts. These are things that he likes in a patient..

It's about a "relationship" between two people who trust one another. If we don't trust our Dr. to know more than us than I would be running the other direction. I certainly do this with my Neurosurgeon, and all my other Drs. I would never try to do my own neck surgery!!! LOL...So this is why we shouldn't try to play PM and take the medication the way we want and not the way it's prescribed.

It truly isn't judgment towards anyone....it's about wanting the best for the people who come on these boards. We don't want anyone to be kicked out of their PM's office for doing the wrong thing and then not getting the care they need. And as Skeye just mentioned, it can be dangerous or even deadly to mess around with our own medications...

That is why most all Drs. will start someone on a new medication at a very low level and tirate up as needed. So we may have to have a bit more pain in the beginning until the correct dosage is found. Or, you can be surprised that when switching medications some people need less than the "conversion" chart would say so there is no reason to go up.

People who are new to PM or chronic pain need to be patient even though I know it's very hard to do. It takes time to figure out the best treatment plan for someone that includes both medicinal and non medicinal modalities.

Good thread Shell!

Sadly enough I understand the reasons for stricter laws here in Florida but also know they are hurting more legit patients and not so many of the abusers. With the kind of money involved in all of this they always find away around it. Many times the responsibility of these meds getting to the street falls to the Drs and pharms.

Just last month I ended up in er to get meds to cover 3 days when I had a script but could not fill due to one of those new policies stating they filled cs II meds only during the week and office hours of your Dr and him faxin back the new form they require. Being a good CPer and not attempting early fill I took the script in late Fri when I had used up my last day of med. I couldnt get it til Monday after the office opened. 10 YRS same meds,same pharm,same Dr,and it mattered none it was new policy.

The very next day they arrested a sting of 22 ppl who had actually called pharms pretending to be Drs and ordered hydro and then others picked them up. They succeeded in 3 pharms filling 7 scripts in 2 days and I couldnt get a legit script filled? Reall aggravating.

Sorry got a little long and winded, I wanted to say that especially overtaking on the fent can be even more so dangerous as there is no way of knowing exactly how much fent is in your system at any one time,scary to think you could feel fine take an extra done it before but this time it could be lethal.

 

CPP who think opioids are the only answer are what I call "chemical copers". My fentanyl works great but it's not the only answer. I do so many other things to help my pain and I get so annoyed with those who just constantly think their OxyContin script is the answer. So I just let SB answer those threads, haha.

But seriously, this is a good thread and I hope others are reading it and taking the advice listed here.

One thing that I have found works very well for me when my Durgesic patch isn't doing what it should and my oral, break through pain medicine is also failing me is to do some stretching exercises. I sit on the edge of a stable chair and raise each leg, hold as long as possible, then arms way up over my head gently bending from side to side then the grand finale is to bend as far forward as I can then raise my arms up inline with my head. I do this several times and it seems to help a great deal. It sure beats taking yet another pill and movement of any kind is always a good thing.

Spinal stenosis, fused from L-4 down, arachnoiditis, failed back syndrome, etc., etc., chronic MRSA acquired during first "routine" back surgery.