Print this page
Email a friend
Was this information helpful?
(0 votes)What do you think? Click "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to vote!
If you have more to say, post a comment below!
People in pain are often treated like criminals. Narcotics may be the best treatment for severe pain, but they can also be drugs of abuse.
Readers have shared horror stories in which loved ones have suffered because doctors were unwilling to prescribe adequate pain relief. Sometimes pharmacists refused to dispense a legitimate prescription for a narcotic.
That’s because both physicians and pharmacists often worry about getting into trouble with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). The war on drugs has led this federal agency to restrict access to medications like Vicodin and OxyContin that could be abused.
One controversial policy prohibited physicians prescribing more than 30 days’ worth of narcotic at a time. This meant that many people suffering from debilitating pain had to trek back to their doctors each month. Not only was this expensive; traveling can be challenging for patients with severe back problems or cancer. Any doctor who gave a patient more than a single month’s prescription could have been prosecuted.
After receiving over 600 comments from physicians, nurses, pharmacists and people in pain, the DEA has just revised its two-year-old rule. Doctors will now be permitted to give a patient three 30-day prescriptions in one visit, to cover 90 days of pain relief.
This step is certainly welcome, but it does not address all the problems arising from fear of addiction. More than a decade ago, the American Pain Society admonished doctors: "Undertreatment of acute pain and chronic cancer pain persists despite decades of efforts to provide clinicians with information about analgesics" (Journal of the American Medical Association, Dec 20, 1995). Pain specialists insist that adequate pain relief—including narcotics, if necessary—should be provided for all patients who need it, not only those who have cancer.
Unfortunately, that guideline is not always followed. We recently received the following account: “I endure constant suffering from chronic pancreatitis. I do everything in my power: eschew alcohol, avoid fatty foods and take supplements that may help.
“But getting relief for my pain is beyond my power. I take OTC pain relievers, but they don’t touch it. Yet I have been to five different physicians and all refuse to provide pain medication. Two stated that they do not write prescriptions for narcotics, since these drugs lead to substance abuse.
“Before I moved to this new city, I was treated with methadone or Percocet and never abused them. In fact, they helped improve my quality of life immensely.
“I am at my wit's end and beginning to wonder if my sole recourse will be to lurk on dark street corners at night in search of a 'street pharmacist.' Imagine that, the medical community forcing me to become a criminal.�
We discussed the treatment of severe chronic pain, including pharmaceutical and non-drug approaches, with two physicians who specialize in pain management. Anyone who would like a CD of this one-hour radio interview can order it for $16 from the People’s Pharmacy (CD-576), P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027 or from www.peoplespharmacy.com.
Many studies show that, despite popular belief, people in pain rarely become addicted. They deserve to be treated with compassion.
Well here it is I had an accident in 2000, rotated my leg around about three times from the knee down. I did not break any bones, but I did trash my ligaments and my nerves. I have been on oxycotin, perkicet, and soma; recently they were switched to generics. I have found myself doubling up during the day, to get through the day. I was told that I might never walk again; with the pain meds I was walking short distances and doing things. At night I didn't get much sleep due to pain but I push through it. My doctor after six years decided to pee test me, I figured that I would have no problem; after all I have been doubling up during the day. WRONG, I fail the test, and then my doctor gave me a reduction to get me off these drugs. Now I am off the pain meds and I am in a lot of pain.
I don't know how I could have not pasted that test, but now I am wondering about legal actions. All I want to do is get back to my life, I am back to using a wheelchair because it hurts too much to put my brace on. My doctor states that there is no way that the test is wrong and needs proof that someone made a mistake. Someone help me please. Email me and I will give a ph.# so we may talk. I don't know what else to do.
Ray
I am really busy on this site tonight. So much here touches me personally. I have fibromyalgia, and pain treatment is something that is very hard to come by, and yet the primary symptom of fibro is wide-spread severe pain. I finally found a doctor in this state who would sign a pain contract with me and treat the pain. It only took me three years to find him. Back home in Washington I had been successfully treated for my pain for many years, I did not anticipate the problems I would run into here. In AZ, even with a pain contract, the meds must be re-prescribed each month, and cannot be phoned into the pharmacy, so that means a trip to the Dr.'s office each month. In WA, the doctor simply phoned in my prescription each time.
At least I am getting some sort of relief, so I don't whine overly much at the restrictions. I have sent my congresswoman my 'signature' endorsing the pain relief act coming up before congress soon. I hope something is done, all of the pain and suffering going on in this country, when there are so many alternatives, is horrible. I have never become 'addicted' to my pain meds. When I ran out of them after moving here, and was unable to get a new prescription, the return of the pain was the only 'withdrawal' symptom I had. I hated the fact that so many doctors I saw after moving here treated me like a criminal when I asked for an opiate pain reliever. Such treatment is unwarranted, but oh, so common. I have been humiliated so often in my search for relief, and I would do anything to help others from being treated this way.
I thank God that I finally found my wonderful doctor, but don't know what I will do when he retires, as he is thinking of doing as he has some disabilities of his own related to a car accident several years ago. By the way, before I found him, my psychiatrist had written to my previous doctor stating that I needed the opiates to help with my depression which she felt was directly caused by untreated pain, and that doctor still refused to give me anything stronger than Motrin. I see that this article is over a year old, and the problems still remain the same.
Hi everyone. I just want to make it very clear that whoever says they are not addicted to their pain meds does not understand the full nature of opioids. I have been a sufferer of acute and chronic pain for years and have been on low grade opioid painkillers for years. I do not get 100% pain relief, but it makes it so I can function fairly normally. However, I understand that physical dependence is the unhappy byproduct of narcotic pain treatment. This is a natural phenomenon when anyone is on narcotic painkillers regularly even though the drug is taken exactly as prescribed. Just because a person is physically dependent does mean they are abusing the drug - and that is the important distinction. In order to treat the pain and live our lives we have to cope with the physical dependence too. Pain is horrible to live with so this is an acceptable trade off.
The problem is the stigma attached to it. We are not criminals or abusers due to something beyond our control. We try to rationalize and say we're 'not addicted' because we're terrified our link to a pain free life will be taken away if we talk about it. We feel bullied and intimidated by health care professionals and often are treated like liars. The truth is - it simply cannot be helped and it is not our fault. We have a right to live pain free and having to constantly explain and justify it to self-righteous people is exhausting and humiliating.
In addition, long term treatment can cause other side effects like stomach and digestive issues, migraines, drowsiness, nausea, etc. These also make it difficult for the medications to be fully effective at times. But, if you discuss these concerns you are treated with suspicion and forced to submit to urine testing, or you're lectured and even threatened as if you were a juvenile delinquent. In the State I live in you're not even allowed to get a prescribed re-fill until exactly 30 days from the previous fill, even if you're short a few pills, or if the previous month contained 31 days. The more government tries to crack down on the bad eggs, the more innocent folk suffer.
We must constantly jump through hoops if we want to relieve our pain and prevent withdrawal. All this garbage only makes life more difficult for the chronically ill and it also serves to create demand in the illegal market. Ironic? Yep. Unjust? You betcha. Something's got to give. In the words of fictitious Dr.House: "Yeah I take narcotics for chronic pain - and yeah I'm physically addicted to them as a result --- SO WHAT." If the pain remains, then so should the treatment.
I am a facilitator for a Fibromyalgia Support Group. We meet in the Upstate of South Carolina. It is been our experience that the Rheumatologists in this community are refusing to treat Fibromyalgia patients, instead sending them to Pain Clinics. Many of my patients are on drugs usually used for severe terminal illnesses...We all have a different response to pain, however, I believe that with Fibromyalgia, there is a myriad of modalities including pain medications that should be incorporated. However, if you can't find a doctor to treat you, what is the next step??
My Dad is 61 a Vietnam Vet and has had every bone in his body broke, he has a steel hip, he has had kidney cancer and a quarter of it removed. He stays in constant pain The Doctors here in Kentucky are the worst I've ever seen. You have to have something broke, cut off or a severe case of cancer "near death" before they will give you anything. Why is the prescription laws so different from state to state. This seems unfair and almost prejudiced. Does anyway agree with me?
I've been a chronic pain patient for many years, starting on Oxy back in 1996. Due to the pain I had to give up my business and go on social security disability. I was diagnosed with adult scoliosis and have multiple other back problems. The scoliosis has worsened over the years. It caused both hips to have problems (which were replaced), and caused my pelvis to pull up so one leg is shortened. I have degenerative disc disease with ruptured and compressed discs, spinal stenosis, spondylosis, degenerative arthritis and recently developed severe sciatica.
I've had six surgeries since '04 and no more are recommended to help me. My doctor who prescribed my meds for the past 5 years with 3 month scripts has decided he can no longer manage my pain meds. He's not a pain doctor and apparently got scared of writing them. Now, he's giving me a script for a month, cut my Oxy in half, cut my Vicodin in half and eliminated my Percocet which I used for breakthrough pain. These were my 3 pain meds so needless to say, I now have a whole lot more pain reducing my quality of life as well as my enjoyment of life.
I'm in such intense pain now that I can't do the every day things I used to do. I'm barely able to walk through the house. My doctor said he will prescribe my pain meds but only if managed by a pain doctor. He sent me to a pain clinic where a pain psychologist gave me a 2 visit assessment, then the pain doctor required me to see an addictionologist. The pain doctor said he wants to read all the doctor's reports before he will make a decision on my meds.
The pain doctor seems biased like he's made up his mind that I'm an addict and wants to reduce the meds no matter what they say. I don't see how I can get help for my pain if the pain doctor refuses to acknowledge how much pain I'm in. This is the same pain doctor who assessed me back in '05 and sent me for a blood serum test to prove whether I'm an addict and instead it came back within the normal range.
He grudgingly told me this and stated these tests can be "tricky". He didn't accept me as a patient and sent me back to my doctor. At this recent visit, he told me he doesn't think I could develop a tolerance to the my meds (even though the APA says I can) and he sees no reason for an increase in pain meds since according to him, I still have the same back problem and even though it has gotten a lot worse over the years, he doesn't think it makes any difference. He said its not like I have something that's spread through my body like cancer.
From all I've read, I believe I'm dependent on pain meds but am not an addict. The pain doctor didn't want to hear anything I had to say. He deflects everything said to him. Over a week later, I'm still waiting for the addictionologist appointment which the pain clinic has to make and my life is sitting on the couch living in a great deal of pain and anxiety wondering what the future holds for me.
On top of all this, my good friend who survived the war in Vietnam recently died of major complications from diabetes and I've been grieving his loss. This has added to my emotional suffering on top of my anxiety and stress from all the hoops I've had to go through recently just to try to get pain treatment.