What to do now?

Hello everyone! Just registered and looking so forward to these ideas suggestions, etc...

I injured my back in 2004 and in no time found myself at an orthopedic specialty. The doctor was never able to help and referred me to PM. I was immediately given an MRI and nothing was found. The doctor was very determined to help and tried another MRI thinking the problem was just missed or bad resolution. 2nd MRI nothing found. I felt so defeated but he assured we would find it and I began taking hydrocodone w/ ibuprofen twice a day. I miss those days.

He did a disco gram on me and found a rather serious L4 L5 annular tear, showing where he was injecting the dye on one side of my disc it it just running right out the other side. I was so upset. What now? Well it's been 10 yrs and I've been prescribed hydros, percocets, they tried opana, morphine, hydromorphone, even a couple more I can't remember before finally prescribing methadone. The day after prescribing methadone to me was the first time since my injury I was pain free. I stayed on methadone, worked daily, just operated as I did before I injured myself. Zoom to the present---

I began getting "weird" vibes on my appointment days. I guess I was supposed to be miserable and in pain but meds worked, life was good. They asked for me to go have an EKG, no problem, did it, sent it over and all normal... 6months later, same request and my follow up was good, I even asked how the EKG looked, "great" they said.

Then my doctor transferred. My next appointment, I got attitude from a physician asst telling me that they were just at a loss with me and she was thinking my last option was a high risk referral. I assumed it meant something related to my condition and should have questioned but didn't. She was implying that I was abusing. How? I take it as prescribed. Always have!!

My next appt.... We are taking you off of methadone (50) mgs a day and putting u on OxyContin 20mg 2x a day. When I asked why they said there was an issue with my Q-T interval. Never showed me. I have since missed 3 days of work. Pain was so severe I called and they said, ok take 2 20's 2x a day. OxyContin appears to affect me just like aspirin. I seriously do not know what to do. In tears all the time, pain ebbs away for about 2-3 hours then back with a vengeance. hot, cold, hot, cold. Sleep 2 hrs a night. All of their concern over my QT interval is going to give me a heart attack. I have type 2 diabetes. My sugars are way out of control now. AM glucose level abnormally low for me 48-58 afternoon, ok, last night before bed, 288. No real change in diet either. Am I wrong to want to go back on methadone? Should I just keep suffering until it's over? I stopped methadone cold turkey and began the OxyContin. I keep telling myself just walk, pretend the pain isn't there.

Right. I am a single 50 yr old woman and homeowner. Most everyone here knows, that means bills. I can't miss work but now I'm worried I'm not viewed the same at work because of "personal/medical issues. Hard to cover up crying in a bathroom stall, then walk out and smile. I need help! I' m considering asking for fentanyl but don't know anything about it. Does insurance pay enough?

I also feel my Dr. Wants me to get a neurostimulater implanted but I'm having issues with my insurance paying. My dr. Sends nurses in to speak to me now, he won't even come in. I'm at a total and complete loss. What did I do? What should I do? Sorry about this being painfully long!!



I have made some paragraphs in your post to make it easier to read. Some of our members have tracking problems when reading. Thanks-Susie

Post Edited By Moderator (straydog) : 6/6/2015 5:30:52 PM (GMT-6)

Welcome to the cp forum. So sorry for your issues and as a 13 year methadone user I can honestly say I know your feelings. Our stories are very similar. I was put on methadone by my longtime Internal med Dr after years of building tolerance for hydro and oxy and at a time oxyC was taboo and had no clue what it was about just knew like you I went from walking with assist devices, days at a time never leaving the house and horrible pain to doing pretty much all things I had not in years!! It was the answer to all my prayers and the beginning of a 13yr nightmare. I also threw a bad ekg pre-op, surgery postponed, cardiologist called in and I signed a Against medical advice waiver and continued to take the methadone a few more years. Started noticing brain fog, lack of emotional abilities, I pretty much just floated along with life and took whatever it sent my way, hearing loss was a issue from something else but noticing a lot of increase in background noise in my ears. Weight gain from preferring sweets and little Debbie was a must for my nightstand, family had been saying for years I had changed and didn't do things I use to love doing. I always blamed my pain when in reality I had very few pain issues on the higher doses of methadone but I was trading everything else for that pain relief. Everything that was important since it was literally robbing me of who I was.

Fast forward and the time came after a few missed attempts to get off and you can read this story here at HW day by day by using the search criteria. I got down to a low dose but just couldn't go off no matter how hard I tried. With my awesome Dr I finally made it and these folks played a big role as well with their prodding, pushing and support.

First let me say Dr's that don't know that methadone has to be tapered slowly to successfully be d/c'd don't know enough to be prescribing it. Methadone hits on a totally different receptor in the brain than other opiates, it's broken down, metabolized and stored different than other opiates and it's got a far greater half life thus it's success in once a day dosing. It takes many months for it to clear your system after years of use and It shows up in bone marrow as long as a year out in some people.

You should have been slowly tapered down adding the oxy as you went after getting as low as you could get. Instead your body gets the shock of sudden removal and makes you miserable and lessens the chances of the oxy being a good trade off. The oxy dose is too low in a 1:10 ratio for replacing the methadone with any other med but fent and subutex. Those amounts of oxy of course are not going to happen so your going to suffer the w/d off the methadone.

This is what's happening to you from the sounds of it but rest assured it will end it just wasn't necessary for you to be put through it there were better ways. It doesn't sound like you have a very good relationship with your Dr so not sure how much if any help he's going to be. Sounds as if he's one that thinks one opiate replacing another works.

I don't know how long you have been taking the oxy now but try to hang in there and it will eventually give you some relief it just can't totally do the job until the methadone clears your system.

It sounds like this office isn't exactly being forthright with you and I am not sure I wouldn't start working on finding a different clinic or Dr.

Try staying distracted as much as possible and try to eat healthy and drink plenty to help stay hydrated. If you talk to the Dr tell him what you have learned about methadone an you believe that you are having trouble with the w/ds from the suddenly stopping and ask if you could use clonidine to help you through this and give the oxy a fair chance to work.

Good luck to you and if I can answer any questions please feel free to let me know.