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How to talk to doc about pain medication?

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Posted 1/14/2014 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
Hello,
Wel recently I was diagnosed with sever Schuermann's disease with 100% curvature of my thoracic column... The pain is horrible I was taking ibeproufen till the whites of my eyes turned yellow. I will have to get surgery for kyphosis this severe. I'm 17 and went to the doctors office with my mother and was apprehensive to mention pain medications because she is strictly opposed to them, for whatever reason is beyond me. I have only smoked pot once at a party and I did not enjoy it. As for drinking, all of my friends do it but the hangover is never worth it. One day the pain was so bad, I called a kid at my school who sold drugs and asked for vicodin. I bought some. I took one and it ameliorated the pain and I felt normal, certainty not high. I was able to walk normally and partake in my favorite activity surfing. I have taken a 2 in the last week, no more than 5mgs and have had the same result. I know this medication is addictive and tolerance builds but I do not have any predisposition to addiction. I am a senior and currently working on applying to a number of colleges but this pain is draining and in some respects killing my motivation.
How can I talk to my doctor about some low dose opioid to treat my pain, I'm not talking Oxycontin or fentanayl but perhaps tramadol, vicodin, or tylenol with codeine?
Posted 1/14/2014 3:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Jeeves and welcome to the chronic pain forum. I know just a tad about about your disease & from what you have written here you must have a severe case of Schuermanns. When you say you & your mom went to the dr what kind of a dr did you see, a primary care, surgeon or what? Also, is it your mom that is dead set against pain medication, if so, why?

Here is a couple of things I will share with you. The big factor here is your age. Drs do not like to rx pain medication to someone as young as you are. Their reason is to start someone your age on a pain medication there are issues of tolerance to deal with and that means either increasing the dosage or going to a more potent drug. Then by the time you reach say 30 you have gone through the entire gambit of meds & there is nothing left to give you should the occasion arise. This is something we hear all the time from people in their 20's so you can imagine what its like for a 17 yr old.

Do you have surgery scheduled? A surgeon will give a patient pain medication after surgery for a certain period of time only.

Primary care drs rarely rx pain medication for chronic pain because of the new laws & guidelines in place for treating chronic pain. The DEA is involved now & pretty much running the show and all drs are terrified of the DEA and terrified of losing their medical license. It is a whole new set of circumstances these days when it comes to pain medication for any reason.

Most of us here in this forum have been chronic pain patients for many years, more than we would like to think about. We also see a pain mgt dr for our care because treating pain is their specialty and they are better equipped to managing pain. We do not just get pain meds, we do lots of other procedures to verify this pain really exists.

You mentioned buying from a friend, I will tell you this is something that is only going to eventually get you in a lot of trouble if you continue doing it. I am not going to preach to you about this because you seem to have a good head on your shoulders & seem to be pretty intelligent for your age. But, I also think or would like to think you know this is not the way to go too. Lets something landed you in ER & they did some blood work & it showed up in your system, can you imagine the big storm that would create not just from your mom but the medical community. You would then be labeled an abuser/junkie & no dr would touch you with a 10 foot pole. You probably did not know this. We have to be extremely careful these days, there is no room for not even one screw up.

Do you have an appt coming up any time soon with a dr? I have an idea and will wait to see what you can tell me about these drs you are seeing.

Susie
Posted 1/14/2014 4:27 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, I have an appointment as well as an MRI in two weeks. The surgery will take place depending on my parent's schedule. I also understand the DEA has quite the stick up their *** about narcotic medications. Drug seeking patients are infuriating, they seem to be creating a hysteria in the medical community . The only drug I've ever used was pot and it was a one time thing, I also don't drink because I like having control over myself.I'm a straight A student who participates bi-weekly in community service and I used to do a lot of sports but this pain is a massive interference. When I took a Vicodin I was able to do rowing and surfing without pain. I also didn't feel 'high' I just an absence of the constant ache. Yes I was also concerned about being tested prior to surgery or what not??
The reason my mom is so opposed I think is because her ex-husband abused oxycontin. Maybe I could have a one on one with the doctor?
I also have several X-Rays confirming the curvature as well as a possible dic herniation. I just want something to take the pain away temporarily before surgery but I don't want to have to go down an alleyway to get it :( this blows.
Posted 1/14/2014 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
Some drs do tox screens. So you might want to stop taking anything that you don't have a rx for. For the first one, they usually don't tell you before you have to have it done. But, if you refuse, it is a big red flag, even if you want to return on another day to have it done.

Your age is a big factor. Your parents are still responsible for you and if they don't agree to pain meds, I doubt you get them. Also their insurance is what pays the medical bills. But, even if you were 18 and on your own, I seriously doubt a dr would want to start you on anything that you've mentioned for chronic pain.
Posted 1/14/2014 8:13 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Jeeves, have you ever sat down & told your mom just how much pain you have & how it is affecting you? Does she know that you are not participating in sports now because of the pain? If she had someone close to her that abused medications that would certainly explain her reaction to pain medication, thats pretty normal.

What type of dr are you seeing in two weeks as I understood you have an appt with a dr. I do not think any dr will give you medication because of your age.

Unfortunately, I do not think a dr will prescribe anything for you because of the age factor. Like I said above, we have people come here in their 20's and the drs will not rx a thing to them because they are young. You can always ask a dr if there is something you can do to help relieve the pain or if there is anything he/she can do to help relieve the pain. I would not ask for a script for pain meds as that will certainly raise a red flag.

Actually the war on drugs has had a huge impact on the chronic pain world and how patients are treated. The drug seekers helped make it what it is today. Its been like a domino effect. Yes, the DEA got in the middle of things and it is like mass hysteria in the medical community. My PM dr was visited yearly and always had an audit. She has excellent record keeping & that is where many drs get in trouble, sloppy record keeping. My dr says the DEA will help a dr out if they can, she said they gave her office some very good tips on some things, but she is not intimidated by their presence either, where many of them are. She said what are they going to do eat me. I think if a dr is doing everything & keeping it on the up & up then he should not be worried about someone doing an audit. It may be a bit of an inconvenience but that is life itself.

Anyway, stay away from the illegal stuff because if they ever drug test you & find something they shouldn't you are done with the medical community & you don't want that happening.

Susie
Posted 1/14/2014 10:53 PM (GMT 0)
I have to echo what Susie said... Because of your age, you may have a lot of trouble. I'm not sure if you are aware but there are other modalities that can help with pain control. Perhaps a doctor can help you alleviate pain in other ways.

My son had a tumor in his epidedimus two years ago. He was in a lot of pain for over a week and we went to the ER several times and they would not help him. He was admitted and they started giving him morphine but that was only after quite a few blood tests. Even after his malignant tumor was removed and he had ten stitches in his testicular sac, they sent him home with twelve percocet 7.5/325. By day two he didn't like the way they made him feel so they called in Tylenol three and he only used that until four days post op. When his pain started to come back after a month he could only get pain medication if we called his urologist and mostly it would be Tylenol 3 or percocet 3.5/325 and this was with a very painful cancer!

I hope that you are able to find relief... Pain does not have an age requirement. I also hope that you are not anchored down with prescription narcotics when youhave so much of your life ahead of you. I hope they find a way to help get you out of pain.

Good luck to you! You sound like a fine young man. I'm sure your mother is proud!
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