Pain meds

Hello & welcome to the forum. Out of curiosity what state do you live in & what pharmacy were you using? We are seeing problems with folks filling scripts at Walgreens in Florida. If you will look on page 2 or 3 there is a post about this problem. Was this your dr saying he could not rx this to you or was it a pharmacist?

To be honest I an surprised that you have been getting valium this long. It is very rare for someone to get it long term as you have. They stopped rxing it years ago because they said it was too addicting.

Things are getting very restrictive for chronic pain patients & I see it getting worse before it gets better.

Take care.

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Hello 7.6 and welcome to the CP forum at HW. Florida is actually one of several states who have laws for prescribing benzo's and opiates together, TN is another off the top of my head but we have been seeing a trend in many states across the nation heeding the FDA's warning on prescribing certain classes of drugs together. Those recommendations come from the numbers that are astounding really. Last year there were 241 million prescriptions written for benzos and close to 20,000 deaths related to the combination of opiates and benzos and the Academy of Pain management called for stricter guidelines in their March 2014 annual meeting. The one point that stood out from that meet was that the majority of those scripts written were not done so by PM but rather Primary care Doctors.

We unfortunately are going to see many more changes in how Pain management is approached and with more freedom to refuse and override Dr's pharmacy's will be kicking back numerous prescriptions that are FDA contraindicated. I have been in PM for 14 yrs and am 60 with multiple health issues and spent the last 6 weeks without meds due to a policy change at Walgreens and there was nothing whatsoever my Dr, me, or anyone could do about it.

We're going to see tighter restrictions and control on these meds and the DEA and FDA are going to force Dr's and Rph's to adhere to the prescribing guidelines set forth for these drugs and that means no off label prescribing, following recommended daily allowance, paying heed to contraindications, and the FDA protocol for treating with opiates long-term in non-cancer related pain.

We are going to see all the progress Pain management has made in the last few decades go out with the bath water!

If I were some of the younger CPers being treated with the higher ends of the spectrum of opiates I would be searching frantically for other options before going to the pharmacy one day and getting turned away, or the Dr having to cut meds completey, or Dr just throws in the towel and changes specialty or retires from medicine altogether due to his refusal to allow other entities to direct his practice. They're already setting limits on the number of certain drugs they can manufacturer in the course of a year and set limits on the amounts a pharmacy can order and have onhand. CP as we have known it is going to see even greater changes in the coming year.

Rocc, I imagine with all of the health issues you are dealing with this is why you are getting rx'd these meds. They stopped rxing valium as a muscle relaxer many, many years ago because they claim it is too addicting taken long term. Of course with the new junk we are dealing with now pretty much folks that have had spine surgery get it rx'd right after surgery but not for long term use. People are not getting it that pain mgt has changed drastically & it is moving across the country with the changes.

I understand what y'all are saying, and trust me, I don't mean to be glib.  It makes no more sense to legislate "proper use of opiates" to CP folks than it does to legislate "proper use of guns" to law-abiding citizens. 

People who use illicit drugs will continue to do so.  People who need PM will be denied.

People who murder, rape, deal or steal with guns will do so.  People who are good and honest and decent will use their registered firearms to end their personal suffering. 

It's not right, but it's REAL.

As for the potential for respiratory failure...I will no longer need my lungs (or my liver, etc.) when debilitating documented pain has caused me to hit the exit door.

~~Dixie 

I'm surprised they gave you Valium for all those years and taking them together is some cocktail I suppose. I bet it'll take some pain away. Look into Soma if you can. It's probably the strongest muscle relaxer on the list and many DR's don't like to prescribe it. My Dr. does prescribe this and I find it ok, some days it works and others it don't. However I do not mix it with anything, mixing Soma with a narcotic would probably land you in the ER.

Thanks to all, I guess I'm gonna try Flexeril again along with Norco, Maybe after a while the bad side effects (restless legs) will subside.

Soma is another one that a lot of drs will no longer rx due to it being so addictive. Soma plain is a Schedule II in Louisiana.

jpjr50, medications affect different people differently. Some people can take Soma with opiates and it doesn't have any adverse affect. Some people can take them together and it will knock them out. Valium and opiates are the same way. Or just one med. The side effects that are listed first on meds are the ones that affect the most people.

Soma taken as directed is no more lethal then anything else and that was never the issues with it. Those came from those wonderful folks who can't deal with life on life's terms and feel the need to be numb to their world or those who simply trust all Dr's know what they're doing and don't question why they're taking SOMA/cod with something like oxy and hydro in max doses as well. Enough SOMA onboard and you get loopy and evidently a vast number of these young folks prefer to be in that state an SOMA is cheaper on the streets and was more plentiful.

Just as with everything else those who abuse cause ripples for everyone else. You can't even trot to your local 7-11 and pick up a bottle of cough /decongestant anymore when your sick you have to make a trip to the pharmacy and sign your life away leaving with stares from the techs watching to see if you also pick up antifreeze or drano!!

The biggest question of all continues to go unanswered. Why do the majority of our young folks feel such great need to escape life??

For my issues I'm doing hydrocodone 3/325 along with 800 Skelaxin (half at a time) and Ambien
10's...also half at a time. Tonight is a real bad night as it's 1 in the morning and even the sauna didn't
kick the pain. I'm like you guys with a grocery list of ailments...some I've had since 7 yrs old and at
60 now it's really catching up to me. I decided to get hit by a dump truck and mess me up even more
so now the pain is way off the scale. I wanted to walk 2 miles tomorrow morning but don't think I'll
be up to it ....this I do for the diabities. Hope you guys are having a great night...Merry Christmas

crazy, it isn't any laws that are preventing some drs from prescribing benzos. It is being suggested not to due to the number of deaths we are told are from benzo & opiates. But, it is still up to each individual dr to decide what the will and won't prescribe.