A Debate On Pain Medication Delivery

[Esmeralda]

Something that has drawn My attention over the last several years... maybe a decade or more is a personal observation that more and more people are living with crippling pain and less and less is being done about it by the mecical community.

1. It is true that about twenty years ago more or less there were many cases of pain killer overdoses reported. At the time doctors were prescribing pills such as Oxycondon, Percocets and Morphine Sulphate and others somewhat loosely so the availability could be considered a factor in many of the deaths where pain killer was present.

I believe some of those cases were intentional suicides not reported as such.

I believe some of these cases were ruled "accidental" when a person not perscribed took the pills and died. I don't believe that when someone ..even if a teenager takes a handfull of pills stolen from a medicine cabinet or their mom's purse that it is an accident. It is NOT an accident. It is foolish behavior. Foolish behavior can be lethal.

I believe many of the deaths reported as overdose and unneccesary over-prescription was just fools and thieves dying from foolish behavior.

2. Recently the companies producing pain medication and the DEA have been systematically reducing the availability of pain medication to anyone by threatening doctors with their liscence to practice and in the case of the biggest manufacture of pain medication in the U S A getting on some weird conscience kick and attempting to find ways to reduce deaths by holding back manufacture of the pain medicine.

The DEA has a new and recently superfunded division just for the purpose of taking pain killer out of the hands of the public with NO regard for what many Americans go through from chronic pain.

3. Some of our largest universities specializing in medicine have bought into the myth that it is better the public wrack in chronic pain than a single person die from a drug overdose.

4. It is apparent from knowing several people directly and indirectly with life threatening disease such as cancer or AIDS that that group has no problem getting pain relief even if the "end" may be not in the near future. People who are going to die certainly within X months or years are treated with at least some modicom of compassion. If you are not going to die in a predictable fashion you are on your own with no pity or medication to make your pain bearable.

No one seems to be fighting back at the DEA and the preasure they put on the medical community to make it possible for people with genuine chronic pain to seek some relief with medicine.

I am going to start with this much and ask for comment.

My mother has chronic pain from many things. She suffered a broken hip over ten years ago and she gets shingles at least four times per year. She also has survived a heart attack and lung cancer, but her pain is constant. She is on Vicodin, but the doctors have been trying to get her off of it. She's 82 and just wants to live her life with the least amount of pain possible. Now she is worried that they are trying to take her pain meds away, and Vicodin seems to be the only thing that really works. She has tried other pain meds and none of them is as effective as Vicodin.

Yes, we need to be aware of potential abuse, but some people really do need these pain meds.

I can't imagine what it is like to live with chronic pain. Certainly someone who is 82 should be allowed to live out her life w/o pain.

It is because of those who abuse pain medication that the doctors are so wary of giving out too much. So sad. If someone is truly in chronic pain, they should have access to what they need to ease that pain: it's that simple.

Those who abuse pain killers are causing a lot of harm to people who really need the medication.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

There are some situations where there is zero chance Tylenol is going to work. I get your point, but in the middle of an acute gall bladder attack is not a good time to try Tylenol as a replacement for effective analgesics. Due to a records screw up I had the dubious pleasure of twelve hours in a hospital in such a situation. I have also had morphine post-surgery after a triple bypass and from two major abdominal surgeries. In each case I was off morphine by the fourth day. Frankly there are some things in post-surgery rehab that are not going to happen without effective analgesics.

I'm glad things worked out well for you, and I certainly hope you never have an occasion where stronger pain relief is necessary. But those situations exist whether you have experienced one or not.

My wife flatly refuses to use mind-altering painkillers...she has had her knee 'scoped, sliced her forearm almost to the bone (17 stitches), and had two wisdom teeth out. A few years ago, she collected a strained shoulder, badly-sprained ankle, and bruised ribs in a head-on wreck. She cracked three ribs when a truck clipped her in a parking lot about ten years ago. She didn't take anything stronger than what was basically high-test Advil for any of it (and even that was mostly to get the swelling down on her ankle). When she gashed her arm, the only painkiller used was a local (a shot of Morrocaine, I think).

I'm the same way. I have had two near-misses with getting hooked already...I will NOT be that lucky again. I'd rather eat my shotgun.

There is a difference between injury and healing and cronic pain. It is easy for me to know that looking forward from an injury I will heal and the pain will go away.

I have pulled my own teeth out before rather than go to a dentist that will do the same thing. It hurts sharpely for a few seconds then starts to feel better almost immediately.

If you have ever had kidney stones and the worst pain of that experience is somewhere else in your body like say one of your legs..24/7..you can't fall asleep because there is no position that will allow it. THEN if you are too stupid to get some kind of help you WILL swallow your shotgun.

Unless you have walked in someone elses shoes you have no right to say what they have endured.

Your fear of addiction is YOUR fear. When I had my ciatic nerve pinched in job related accident I thought after a month of the horrible pain that I might consider suicide. Then I went to a couple of emergency rooms at hospitals and got morphine shots directly into the leg. Some relief ..felt nauseous. Directed to a doctor that prescribed oxycondon and codiene..no help.. eventuall I was swallowing handfulls of methadone.. It took away almost all of the pain. Story short ..I laid on my stomack in the bottom of my 35 ft Chris Craft for another two months with ice packs on my spine .. I healed and when the pain was actually gone I kicked the massive dose of narcotics in three weeks. Sure I was addicted but so what. The ablility to sleep and stay still definitly aided in my recovery and healing. So I DO know of forced addiction AND the further work of injury recovery to force one's self off that which saved his life.

I also have chronic pain and understand how different it is from injury pain. There are times when you wonder if you're losing your mind.

I had someone close to me with Stage 4 breast cancer that went on for several years. The pain from end stage cancer is horrendous and yet, right up until the moment of her death doctors were saying they didn't want her to become addicted or for the morphine to depress her breathing.

WTF??

IMO, there are times when we need to forget about addiction. Even in non-terminal situations, if there is no end in sight for that horrible pain, isn't quality of life, the ability to actually function the more important factor?

We would not expect our pets to live with that kind of pain and yet we demand it of other human beings.

 

[Tresha91203]

The government needs to F'off in most of these cases. Arthritis, bulging discs, spurs, lack of cartilage and a ton of other issues can be medically PROVEN, yet they are still looking at someone's teeth ffs in order to cover their asses. That is because of the government and it is just wrong, IMO.

[squote=HUGGY;8710360]Something that has drawn My attention over the last several years... maybe a decade or more is a personal observation that more and more people are living with crippling pain and less and less is being done about it by the mecical community.

1. It is true that about twenty years ago more or less there were many cases of pain killer overdoses reported. At the time doctors were prescribing pills such as Oxycondon, Percocets and Morphine Sulphate and others somewhat loosely so the availability could be considered a factor in many of the deaths where pain killer was present.

I believe some of those cases were intentional suicides not reported as such.

I believe some of these cases were ruled "accidental" when a person not perscribed took the pills and died. I don't believe that when someone ..even if a teenager takes a handfull of pills stolen from a medicine cabinet or their mom's purse that it is an accident. It is NOT an accident. It is foolish behavior. Foolish behavior can be lethal.

I believe many of the deaths reported as overdose and unneccesary over-prescription was just fools and thieves dying from foolish behavior.

2. Recently the companies producing pain medication and the DEA have been systematically reducing the availability of pain medication to anyone by threatening doctors with their liscence to practice and in the case of the biggest manufacture of pain medication in the U S A getting on some weird conscience kick and attempting to find ways to reduce deaths by holding back manufacture of the pain medicine.

The DEA has a new and recently superfunded division just for the purpose of taking pain killer out of the hands of the public with NO regard for what many Americans go through from chronic pain.

3. Some of our largest universities specializing in medicine have bought into the myth that it is better the public wrack in chronic pain than a single person die from a drug overdose.

4. It is apparent from knowing several people directly and indirectly with life threatening disease such as cancer or AIDS that that group has no problem getting pain relief even if the "end" may be not in the near future. People who are going to die certainly within X months or years are treated with at least some modicom of compassion. If you are not going to die in a predictable fashion you are on your own with no pity or medication to make your pain bearable.

No one seems to be fighting back at the DEA and the preasure they put on the medical community to make it possible for people with genuine chronic pain to seek some relief with medicine.

I am going to start with this much and ask for comment.

My mother has chronic pain from many things. She suffered a broken hip over ten years ago and she gets shingles at least four times per year. She also has survived a heart attack and lung cancer, but her pain is constant. She is on Vicodin, but the doctors have been trying to get her off of it. She's 82 and just wants to live her life with the least amount of pain possible. Now she is worried that they are trying to take her pain meds away, and Vicodin seems to be the only thing that really works. She has tried other pain meds and none of them is as effective as Vicodin.

Yes, we need to be aware of potential abuse, but some people really do need these pain meds.

I can't imagine what it is like to live with chronic pain. Certainly someone who is 82 should be allowed to live out her life w/o pain.

It is because of those who abuse pain medication that the doctors are so wary of giving out too much. So sad. If someone is truly in chronic pain, they should have access to what they need to ease that pain: it's that simple.

Those who abuse pain killers are causing a lot of harm to people who really need the medication.[/QUOTE]

 

[HUGGY]

Note to self and others.

Forgot how strong methadone 10mgs are. Take with food. Took my morning pill with tylenol, ibu.. with just a small gulp of water. after 20 min.. major waves of nausea. All good now but I won't repeat THAT mistake ... .

 

[HUGGY]

Well... It has been nearly two months and three weeks since I started this thread.

I'm two months into my enrollment into the pain specialty clinic that took over two years to get approval for. The Doc prescribed methadone.

In spite all of the red flags for failure that were imposed on me by several so called experts in the field things are going much better than I could have hoped for.

My VW Bus transmission blew up three weeks ago and I found one in a wrecking yard which I had to pull myself on Monday.

There is NO way I could have done this job before I went on the pain meds.

I would have had to pay a mechanic at least a couple of thousand bucks to do the work. Because I could once again be my own repairman and get out to find a tranny and pull it I only spent $200. I did have to put off getting out to the wrecking yard several times because I felt too nauseous to do the work.

The methadone is not without side effects which can be troublesome.

Spontaneous nausea leading to dry heaves on occasion..dry mouth..constipation.

The relief from crippling pain is certainly a fair and acceptable trade off.

Thinking back over the last two and a half years of agony I am still angry at the pain clinics I was sent to with no real help offered in mitigating the pain.

The advice I offer from this experience to others is DO NOT GIVE UP !!

Don't take NO from anyone if you are living with crippling pain.

There ARE doctors that will take you and your affliction seriously.

Be persistant ! Don't let a doctors fear be a sentence of pain for YOUR life !

 

[sameech]

I can't imagine what it is like to live with chronic pain. Certainly someone who is 82 should be allowed to live out her life w/o pain.

It is because of those who abuse pain medication that the doctors are so wary of giving out too much. So sad. If someone is truly in chronic pain, they should have access to what they need to ease that pain: it's that simple.

Those who abuse pain killers are causing a lot of harm to people who really need the medication.

[/QUOTE]

It is not that simple unfortunately. I know my mom's doctor moved away from prescribing a lot of pain meds because he observed too many side-effects, especially in liver and kidney functions of his patients. Looking at it more globally, it is a matter of which route one prefers to take I suppose.

 

[Manonthestreet]

We are all potential drug dealers now....that shift in govt and medical outlook is why you have to fight to get decent pain meds.

 

[whitehall]

I guess the FDA mandates Ad. agencies to list side effects of prescription medication advertised on TV and sometimes the side effects are shocking. How many "fatal events" can one person experience? Only one I expect. MD's are trained to medicate patients and sometimes medication takes the place of real medical treatment. It's rather shocking to surf the channels on cable and find ads for a prescription drug and on another channel a law firm advertising a law suit for legitimate use of the same drug.

 

[oldfart]

Well... It has been nearly two months and three weeks since I started this thread.

I'm two months into my enrollment into the pain specialty clinic that took over two years to get approval for. The Doc prescribed methadone.

In spite all of the red flags for failure that were imposed on me by several so called experts in the field things are going much better than I could have hoped for.

My VW Bus transmission blew up three weeks ago and I found one in a wrecking yard which I had to pull myself on Monday.

There is NO way I could have done this job before I went on the pain meds.

I would have had to pay a mechanic at least a couple of thousand bucks to do the work. Because I could once again be my own repairman and get out to find a tranny and pull it I only spent $200. I did have to put off getting out to the wrecking yard several times because I felt too nauseous to do the work.

The methadone is not without side effects which can be troublesome.

Spontaneous nausea leading to dry heaves on occasion..dry mouth..constipation.

The relief from crippling pain is certainly a fair and acceptable trade off.

Thinking back over the last two and a half years of agony I am still angry at the pain clinics I was sent to with no real help offered in mitigating the pain.

The advice I offer from this experience to others is DO NOT GIVE UP !!

Don't take NO from anyone if you are living with crippling pain.

There ARE doctors that will take you and your affliction seriously.

Be persistant ! Don't let a doctors fear be a sentence of pain for YOUR life !

I'm glad things are going well! I know it sucks to have to fight for an ordinary life, but sometimes that is the job we have to do. Kudos too to the new doctor.

 

[Manonthestreet]

FLORIDA — A wheelchair-bound man, suffering from paralysis, severe chronic pain, and multiple sclerosis, was raided by masked, gun-wielding agents and ultimately sentenced to 25 years in prison for possessing a one-month supply of his own doctor-prescribed painkillers. Mandatory minimum sentencing laws enabled this to happen, and remain a dangerous threat to the freedom of Americans who have never been accused of a violent crime. Paralyzed man raided by SWAT, sentenced to 25 years for possessing his own medicine | Police State USA

 

[HUGGY]

It's been a while since I have chimed in on this thread.

My life has become far more "doable" and rewarding with the pain management physician's help. I have set new and interesting goals that will be realistically achievable. Now that I can climb stairs more ably and lift more weight AND walk more than a few feet at a time..I'm up to about a 1/4 mile without too much discomfort. I bought a new welder and will be getting back into repairs for $$$. I'm outfitting my VW Camper Bus to be a mobile repar welding rig. It's great to be back into the flow and not sitting around worrying what to do about the discomfort.

The Methadone has been working well but it's effectiveness predictably over the months has become less helpful. My regular doctor has shown me info about the methadone that is troubling so I will try the Morphine Sulphate for a while with my DRs permission. I think it will be more manageable and as I become more immune to it's effects a "bump" in dosage won't be as dangerous as with the methadone.

Anyway as I have indicated MY situation has greatly improved just like I had envisioned with some relief from the debilitating pain.

I wish any of you that have had a similar problem arise in your life to have patience! Don't give up. Be persistent! There IS help to be had. They just make it hard to get engaged with it. Once you are signed up and prove to be responsible at least I have had good results.

 

[Tresha91203]

I'm so glad you are doing well! (Hug) Thanks for the update.

 

[HUGGY]

I'm so glad you are doing well! (Hug) Thanks for the update.

WAS doing well.

My primary doctor convinced me that to get extra pain meds for those occasional break out chronic pain occurrences and for relief from the pain from occasional Kidney stones and other injuries which I as a mechanic am constantly doing to myself...not even counting getting bounced around by 200lbs of pitbulls I need for protection of the property I live in and guard.... his advice was to accomplish"The Best Medicine" to have one physician be in charge of ALL pain medications.

On this advice I sort of fired my pain specialist, who only prescribed for chronic pain meds, and in the process a parting gift. 84 pills of 15mg morphine and a see ya later.

I started taking the Morphine ER at 15mg every 8 hours for this month starting on the 3rd. I was taking 10mg of methadone every 12 hours for almost a year but the effects had nearly completely become ineffective. My pain specialist has a policy of adjusting pain meds once a year. That was another reason to push him out of the picture. Since around October the small dose of methadone that had worked pretty well last spring, had lost most of its pain relief effects. The one year waiting period as it turned out was draconian.

The regimen of seeing the pain doctor once a month just to get refills is kind of odd in that there was never any discussion. The dude just typed on his computer while I sat in the same room speechless. This past three weeks have been HELL. Methadone is ten times stronger than morphine. I SHOULD have been prescribed at least 60mg morphine every 8 hrs just to have the same pain relief as when I started the methadone a year ago. one quarter of that dose barely registers. I am stuck back in my room with the dogs again unable to perform even the most modest physical tasks.

I see my primary Physician with all the bright ideas on Friday. He has little to no experience with prescribing pain meds to those with chronic pain. I believe he is genuinely interested in learning how to take on this responsibility but I fear I am his first patient in that area of medicine. He kinda pussed out in insisting the other doctor specialist do the prescribing of the morphine transition from methadone. If this new doctor, that promised me "good Medicine", stabs me in the back with ANY dumb ass excuse that HE isn't the expert and we will just have too trust the prescription from the a-hole that KNEW he had screwed me over I just don't know what I will do.

I got SO much accomplished up till late last year with the help of the methadone. I have been in agony for just over three weeks now. I can't even take the garbage down the stairs to the dumpster. It is just piling up in big black plastic bags on the next landing down from my third floor residence.

So no..as of late life sucks again. I will know on Friday morning if my life will be manageable and reasonably pain free again.

 

[Tresha91203]

I am sorry to hear that, Huggy. I'd be pretty clear to your PCP that his advice got you here. I hope he steps up at least until you find another pain mgmt doc to take you. ♥

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Something that has drawn My attention over the last several years... maybe a decade or more is a personal observation that more and more people are living with crippling pain and less and less is being done about it by the mecical community.

1. It is true that about twenty years ago more or less there were many cases of pain killer overdoses reported. At the time doctors were prescribing pills such as Oxycondon, Percocets and Morphine Sulphate and others somewhat loosely so the availability could be considered a factor in many of the deaths where pain killer was present.

I believe some of those cases were intentional suicides not reported as such.

I believe some of these cases were ruled "accidental" when a person not perscribed took the pills and died. I don't believe that when someone ..even if a teenager takes a handfull of pills stolen from a medicine cabinet or their mom's purse that it is an accident. It is NOT an accident. It is foolish behavior. Foolish behavior can be lethal.

I believe many of the deaths reported as overdose and unneccesary over-prescription was just fools and thieves dying from foolish behavior.

2. Recently the companies producing pain medication and the DEA have been systematically reducing the availability of pain medication to anyone by threatening doctors with their liscence to practice and in the case of the biggest manufacture of pain medication in the U S A getting on some weird conscience kick and attempting to find ways to reduce deaths by holding back manufacture of the pain medicine.

The DEA has a new and recently superfunded division just for the purpose of taking pain killer out of the hands of the public with NO regard for what many Americans go through from chronic pain.

3. Some of our largest universities specializing in medicine have bought into the myth that it is better the public wrack in chronic pain than a single person die from a drug overdose.

4. It is apparent from knowing several people directly and indirectly with life threatening disease such as cancer or AIDS that that group has no problem getting pain relief even if the "end" may be not in the near future. People who are going to die certainly within X months or years are treated with at least some modicom of compassion. If you are not going to die in a predictable fashion you are on your own with no pity or medication to make your pain bearable.

No one seems to be fighting back at the DEA and the preasure they put on the medical community to make it possible for people with genuine chronic pain to seek some relief with medicine.

I am going to start with this much and ask for comment.

Why cure something if you can make a patient dependent on symptom-relief the rest of their lives?

"A patient cured, is a customer lost."

 

[HUGGY]

Something that has drawn My attention over the last several years... maybe a decade or more is a personal observation that more and more people are living with crippling pain and less and less is being done about it by the mecical community.

1. It is true that about twenty years ago more or less there were many cases of pain killer overdoses reported. At the time doctors were prescribing pills such as Oxycondon, Percocets and Morphine Sulphate and others somewhat loosely so the availability could be considered a factor in many of the deaths where pain killer was present.

I believe some of those cases were intentional suicides not reported as such.

I believe some of these cases were ruled "accidental" when a person not perscribed took the pills and died. I don't believe that when someone ..even if a teenager takes a handfull of pills stolen from a medicine cabinet or their mom's purse that it is an accident. It is NOT an accident. It is foolish behavior. Foolish behavior can be lethal.

I believe many of the deaths reported as overdose and unneccesary over-prescription was just fools and thieves dying from foolish behavior.

2. Recently the companies producing pain medication and the DEA have been systematically reducing the availability of pain medication to anyone by threatening doctors with their liscence to practice and in the case of the biggest manufacture of pain medication in the U S A getting on some weird conscience kick and attempting to find ways to reduce deaths by holding back manufacture of the pain medicine.

The DEA has a new and recently superfunded division just for the purpose of taking pain killer out of the hands of the public with NO regard for what many Americans go through from chronic pain.

3. Some of our largest universities specializing in medicine have bought into the myth that it is better the public wrack in chronic pain than a single person die from a drug overdose.

4. It is apparent from knowing several people directly and indirectly with life threatening disease such as cancer or AIDS that that group has no problem getting pain relief even if the "end" may be not in the near future. People who are going to die certainly within X months or years are treated with at least some modicom of compassion. If you are not going to die in a predictable fashion you are on your own with no pity or medication to make your pain bearable.

No one seems to be fighting back at the DEA and the preasure they put on the medical community to make it possible for people with genuine chronic pain to seek some relief with medicine.

I am going to start with this much and ask for comment.

Why cure something if you can make a patient dependent on symptom-relief the rest of their lives?

"A patient cured, is a customer lost."

There are many forms of surgeries that have a low probability of success with the kind of spinal disc injury and degenerative arthritis that cause my discomfort.

I can assure you I am on no high horse(pardon the pun) in regards to the difference between a life of crippling pain and having a much more productive and desirable existence when the pain is abated with chemical intervention.

I am not interested in pleasing the indifferent sensibilities of someone that doesn't walk gingerly in my shoes or a doctor who is not vested in the responsibility to take me on as a potential black mark on his or her medical safety record.

 

[HUGGY]

I am sorry to hear that, Huggy. I'd be pretty clear to your PCP that his advice got you here. I hope he steps up at least until you find another pain mgmt doc to take you. ♥

Hopefully my most recent primary care provider will be the single stop for pain medication he was lobbying for which put me in this position. I will know for sure tomorrow If following his advice was a wise move.

I would only go back to a doctor that specialized in strictly chronic pain management if my primary care provider's plan fails to live up to his promise to do the same job as the specialist and have the sole authority to fill in the gaps with breakthrough pain and other pain issues. I have a substantial list of pain related issues including horrible tooth pain, I've lost more than half of them, to frequent Kidney stones, bruises and abrasions as a mechanic that used to heal almost immediately when in my youth that seem to hurt a lot more and take a lot longer to heal. That and my old bones get knocked around inadvertently by my huge pit bulls. It SUCKS getting old and refusing to just sit in a chair waiting to croak!

 

[Tresha91203]

Checking on you, Huggy ...

Have you got a workable management plan, yet?

My mom's new issue is apparently a manufacturing hiccup with her Avinza. Thankfully, just an inconvenience and not more serious. She has to drive 20 minutes further to fill that Rx. Expected to be resolved next month.

 

[HUGGY]

Checking on you, Huggy ...

Have you got a workable management plan, yet?

My mom's new issue is apparently a manufacturing hiccup with her Avinza. Thankfully, just an inconvenience and not more serious. She has to drive 20 minutes further to fill that Rx. Expected to be resolved next month.

In a word, yes.

My general provider, whom I had already established a high value of trust and a great relationship with, has taken over responsibility for all of the pain management issues I have been dealing with. He has been absolutely good for his words and has made me work less than the specialist to prove I am capable of much of the responsibility to not abuse the prescribed medications. At this time I am getting three scripts at a time that last three months. My daily med intake for chronic pain is 90 mg of morphine spread out evenly over 24 hours. I also have an emergency back up script of Oxycodone 5mg which I can take as needed when I have unusual discomfort that breaks past the morphine.

I am living better in the last 6 months than I have for several years. For some unexplained reason the tolerance to the morphine hasn't really been a problem. It is still just about as effective as it was when I started it back in January. Maybe when you take into account that I am much more active than before when I couldn't move very well it is just possible that the over all pain is less. For whatever reason I am grateful of the benefits of the meds and my life is much improved.

To any lucky enough to get into a quality pain specialty clinic or have a provider that gives a damn and wants to take responsibility to prescribe pain medications I do have this one piece of advice. From my experience with methadone as the starter drug in the specialty clinic I would suggest that you attempt to get morphine instead. It is much easier and safer to regulate dosage. Comparing the methadone in it's drop off effects or my body's tolerance to it the methadone was about maybe 25% as effective after 6 months. I can't say for sure but There HAS to be SOME loss of effect of the morphine but I'll guess it couldn't be more than 25%.

So thanks for checking in on me. I hope your mom has Drs that care as much as mine do.

Sean

 

[Tresha91203]

Checking on you, Huggy ...

Have you got a workable management plan, yet?

My mom's new issue is apparently a manufacturing hiccup with her Avinza. Thankfully, just an inconvenience and not more serious. She has to drive 20 minutes further to fill that Rx. Expected to be resolved next month.

In a word, yes.

My general provider, whom I had already established a high value of trust and a great relationship with, has taken over responsibility for all of the pain management issues I have been dealing with. He has been absolutely good for his words and has made me work less than the specialist to prove I am capable of much of the responsibility to not abuse the prescribed medications. At this time I am getting three scripts at a time that last three months. My daily med intake for chronic pain is 90 mg of morphine spread out evenly over 24 hours. I also have an emergency back up script of Oxycodone 5mg which I can take as needed when I have unusual discomfort that breaks past the morphine.

I am living better in the last 6 months than I have for several years. For some unexplained reason the tolerance to the morphine hasn't really been a problem. It is still just about as effective as it was when I started it back in January. Maybe when you take into account that I am much more active than before when I couldn't move very well it is just possible that the over all pain is less. For whatever reason I am grateful of the benefits of the meds and my life is much improved.

To any lucky enough to get into a quality pain specialty clinic or have a provider that gives a damn and wants to take responsibility to prescribe pain medications I do have this one piece of advice. From my experience with methadone as the starter drug in the specialty clinic I would suggest that you attempt to get morphine instead. It is much easier and safer to regulate dosage. Comparing the methadone in it's drop off effects or my body's tolerance to it the methadone was about maybe 25% as effective after 6 months. I can't say for sure but There HAS to be SOME loss of effect of the morphine but I'll guess it couldn't be more than 25%.

So thanks for checking in on me. I hope your mom has Drs that care as much as mine do.

Sean

Hmm. I don't think you are going to have that problem with the morphine. My mom has been at the same dose of her primary pain med for 2 years. I'm 99% sure it is morphine based (avinza). Her breakthrough meds (roxicodone) go down for a bit, then up for a bit. The more mobile she is, the less breakthrough she needs.

I am glad to hear things have turned around for you and that you are able to actually live with much more comfort.