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Posted 9/18/2012 2:19 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Maryann,

Decided to respond to you this way, instead of on the other thread where it might get lost :)

You asked about the Actiq and using it in public.

With most things.... I have no issue w/ what others think, lol. That being said - I don't use the Actiq in public or w/ being discreet. Most of the time, if I have a migraine or pain bad enough to use it - I'm at home anyway. But, if I am out... and find the need to use it.... I try to use it as discreetly as possible.

I think I mentioned this reason before.... especially w/ me having so many kids, I never want them to get mixed messages about medication. I think the Actiq being in "lollipop" or "sucker" form.... sort of diminishes what a potent medication it is.... you know what I mean?

I don't even use it at home w/out going in my bedroom or somewhere else.... it only takes about 10 minutes or so.... and then I have a container I even dispose of the sticks safely.

That's why I do like the Fentora better - in terms of it being discreet - but my doc wanted to just stick w/ Actiq for whatever reason.

As I said, I'm usually a person who doesn't care.... but I don't want to let my guard down and use it w/out the proper respect.... and, as I said... if I'm in that much pain - I'm usually at home anyway.

Hey - how are you?

--Tina
Posted 9/18/2012 8:15 PM (GMT 0)
Bump for Maryann
Posted 9/18/2012 8:25 PM (GMT 0)
I know this post isn't to me...lol...but I just wanted to add another reason to always be discreet in public with any medication...Actiq, the patch, or oral medications...is that anyone can be watching us and assume it's pain meds and then try to rob us or even follow us home to rob the house.

It's a sad fact that narcotics are highly sought after to be taken by addicts or sold for profit. This is where we have to be mindful at all times starting from leaving the Pharmacy to being out in public.

Same thing with never telling anyone that we are on pain meds except a close family member/spouse that is involved in our health. I've seen people post about taking meds after surgery on Facebook and have written to them to take it down as people look there, just like they do for people going on vacation...to rob their homes.

I just wrote to someone on the Fibro board as they are traveling by bus across country and I was warning them to hide all their medication and only take them when in the bathroom so that no one sees or knows they have them.

I know that people need to make their own decisions about medications and their kids and what to tell them depending on the age and their friends...

Anyway...just wanted to add this and sorry for barging in...LOL
Posted 9/19/2012 3:22 PM (GMT 0)
SB,

I'm glad you responded and feel exactly the same, although I may not have said that point. Even when I go to the pharmacy.... and live in "relatively" "safe" suburbia (just saying that - things do happen here, of course).... I even feel I'm going to get jumped at the pharmacy, lol. I love my pharmacist and staff, though.... because they know it too as I'm getting 3 narcotics and various other meds. They are always very discreet.

But, as you said - especially something like Actiq - is a highly wanted, abused drug and I'm extremely mind-full of that... and why I wouldn't use in public... or even in front of kids.


--Tina
Posted 9/19/2012 4:50 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with SB, I am afraid to take any meds in public, not because of what people think, but the fact that some junkie might see me take them and follow me home, or try to rob me when I am not even home yet. This is a bit easier now than it was before for me since I am on a fent patch instead of taking pills, but I usually try to be safe when I decide where to place my patch (if I am going to put it on my forearm where it can be seen, I make sure I am not going to be going out in public or for very long if that).
Posted 9/19/2012 5:05 PM (GMT 0)
No SB don't be sorry for posting that! I totally agree with you and I think it's a good reminder for everyone. I am guilty of taking my Fentora in public and wearing my patch on my arm. But the past month or so I have stopped doing that for the exact reasons you listed. I thought I was crazy for thinking a drug addict would see the patch on my arm and follow me home or rob me. But like you said it could very well happen.

Tina you amaze me and I think you are a great mother. I explain to Oliver about my meds also and that he's not ever allowed to touch them or put in his mouth. I think he understands but he's only 2.5 years old. Will be 3 at the end of November.

I will post an update on me in a bit. Have quit a bit to tell.

Maryann
Posted 9/19/2012 5:23 PM (GMT 0)
This thread also reminds me of the news lately how kids have been swallowing the new colorful gel packs of laundry detergent that look like candy to them.

And just wanted to add...I'm not a mom to any kids but a goofy yellow lab:) And this is one other reason that at home, I take my medicine in the bathroom with the door shut because there was one time after my divorce that I was renting a room and my roommates dog came barreling in my room and startled me and I dropped my medication but thankfully I grabbed it quickly before their dog or mine ate it.

My dog is an "eat first, ask questions later" kind of dog! LOL

And then we have another thread going on here about the person who's meds keep getting stolen month after month out of their own home so it's someone they know!!

So...I think these types of posts are great reminders for all of use to be careful about our meds in so many ways...And that the Drs. expect us to treat them like gold..

I definitely admire ALL the parents on HW:)
Posted 9/19/2012 6:32 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your kind words you guys.... I have many flaws, but I try to be the best mom I can be. Had made many mistakes... but my kids are the most important thing in my life.

SB - I know, I use those Tide "pods" - and the girls help me w/ laundry (before reading of the dangers).... by throwing them in the washer. They DO look so attractive to kids! Ours are way out of reach in a locked cabinet above washer...

We have a dog too (maltipoo)... she's a mess, lol.... but so good w/ all the kids.

Anyhow, good stuff here... on being careful w/ our meds and everything. Take care.

--Tina
Posted 9/19/2012 6:54 PM (GMT 0)
I love this thread, it really is a good reminder of reality, that because of our illness, we have something that people with a different form of illness want. Make no mistake, I thoroughly believe that full blown addiction is an illness, and one of the worst sort, I think for alot of addicts, at first, they choose to lead down that path, which is the sickest part of all considering the information out there on the use of drugs recreationally, but eventually, it has their whole life swallowed up, and there's nothing they can do about it, without making the choice to surrender their whole existence to some real help.

I have personally made the choice, to not even discuss my medical problems in public, especially with a stranger. It doesn't take a very smart person to hear what you're suffering from, and see that you indeed have some form of function, so you must be on medication, maybe I'm just paranoid, but I have never discussed my meds with my brother, and he sure figured out pretty quick that I was on something. Without my meds, I hurt so bad that I can't even get off the bed, there's just no movement that's not completely agonizing. And somehow I managed to scrape myself up and make it to work without the slightest bit of relief for months, so it was pretty obvious I guess, when I finally started getting some real support from the doctors.

Personally, if anyone ever did follow me home, they're going to be staring at the business end of my pepper spray, and if it came down to it, the business end of my desert eagle mark 19. Though I'm sure my pepper spray, and the couple pairs of hand cuffs that I have would offer more than ample restraint until police arrived, gotta love all the defense technology available today, and I'd suggest everyone here invest even $20 in a small can of pepper spray, it could save your life. Although, like with Snowbunny lol, yellow labs are the most naturally protective dogs, we had one when I was a kid, and some guy hopped our fence while my brothers and I were in the backyard playing, that dog, one of the biggest cuddle bugs on the planet, tore that guys arm to shreds, he was pretty messed up.

Well I'm rambling lol. I'll give someone else a chance, hope you all take care.
Posted 9/19/2012 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
I just had to drop in a post here about being careful with meds. I have the pharmacy make duplicate bottles of my "serious" meds to split some for my purse and some for home. This way I don't have all of them in the same place.

I do have a somewhat funny story about it too...my tiny yorkie (still sort of a puppy) can get into anything!!!!! Gidget is her name...kind of the girl/midget combination from the old movie. So.....Gidget has had to had hydrogen peroxide many times to make her vomit things she has eaten and boy has she eaten many unnecessary things. The worst was a bottle of oxy IR I had on the table in the den. I went back to pick it up to take my dose. All other bottles were there, but it was gone. I found the bottle sitting straight up under my daughter's bed....with the lid off. Gidget had been chewing on the bottle and the lid. Thankfully the med is bad tasting and we later found where she had dumped out pills in little piles all over the house. She had to be given the peroxide and threw up all over me on the way to the vet. I was crying so hard thinking I had killed my daughter's dog.

Thankfully she is still our little Gidget and stays crated at night and if we leave the house now because she can climb onto full sized tables and can jump like you would NEVER imagine. She's a wonderful and loving pet, but she was one high little doggie for a while just from the powder that the med makes on the lid. I also went and purchased this small purse that is hard sided to keep the meds that I have to take during the day in. It is a locking purse that I picked up at the local Goodwill.

It's in plain view, but it looks like decoration and nobody knows what's in there....including Gidget...lol

Good luck!
Posted 9/20/2012 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
I really have never thought about having the pharmacy make duplicate bottles of my narcotic meds before. This is really a good idea. Thank you for that.

Also, Maryann, I applaud you for going through as much pain if not more than I (and if more, even more praise) with a 2.5 year old as a single mother. I am a father to a 2.5 year old boy as well, his birthday is in April. Just having him for half of the week is really a handful, and as much as I enjoy and love my son (he is a blessing!) he can wear me out at times, even while on my pain meds. Just the fact that he loves dunking a small basketball into a 7' high basketball hoop in our backyard really puts a strain on my back and when I am finished, I am very happy but also in an enormous amount of pain. The fact that you have a child the same age as I do and parenting 100% of the time really puts things into perspective. I bow to you.
Posted 9/20/2012 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
Outtammo, I know what you mean, I have full custody of my two yearold, he'll be 3 November 14. I am so thankful my aunt was able to take him while I recover from my fusion surgery. Also, at the rate he's going with her, he'll be fully potty trained by the time I get him back! I just can't believe it, NO MORE DIAPERS!!! They took him to Disneyland today, I really wish I could have been there, and seen in person, the look on his face seeing Mickey Mouse, that's his favorite character. My aunt messaged me a video of it, he just totally flipped! You would've thought someone won the lottery, "Mickey Mouse, Auntie it's Mickey my friend come see me, go say hi Mickey!"

Yup, they really are a blessing, and its a good thing for me he's there, doesn't matter how I'm feeling, there's always room on my lap or in my arms for him.

I am like Tina with him, I don't ever take medication in front of him, and I have worked my hardest, to teach him that my medication, and the bottles are a biiiiiggg no no. He doesn't know that it goes in daddy's mouth, he just knows that it exists, and hopefully, to never touch it.

Regardless, I don't take any chances, I have my sentry safe, and all my meds stay in there, and I have a pill case, to take the amount that I think I'll need with me, when I'm going to a doctors appointment. I'm under strict orders from the PM, to only bring my meds if I'm specifically asked to, and there's a security service that I'm supposed to call, if I'm bringing meds, or picking them up, bad part of the city where my PM is located. It really is such a mess trying to do anything when you're dealing with medication. I wrap each pill in a tissue when I put them in the case, so people won't hear any rattle, and I keep a box of tic-tacs in the car to put in my pocket, in case I forget or don't have time to do the tissue thing, and make sure to pull them out strategically when I think people are starting to wonder what's rattling.

Guess I'm ultra paranoid, but there's some really big drug problems in the city where I see all my doctors, I see shootings on the news almost every day, and seems like at least once a month, I see a story where an elderly man or woman was robbed of there meds, sometimes beaten up, sometimes tied up, and last year a couple was killed for them, the news said the only thing missing from their apartment was $35, a full months supply of ms-contin, and a months supply of percocet. What a horrible thing to kill someone for. So I'm beyond discrete about any medication, and I stay out of certain areas and places as much as possible.

Personally, I'd rather not carry duplicate bottles of anything, but I get a card printed by the pharmacy every month to put in my wallet, so if I was questioned by a police officer, or hospitalized, I can show them that I'm taking medication, and it's legal, not street drugs, which are beyond popular here.
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