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I recently tore a muscle in my back pretty badly. It was evident on the X-ray the ER doctor ordered and I was in a lot of pain--more pain than I can remember experiencing in 20 years. After consulting with the Dr I asked for some prescription pain pills to hold me over for a week or so while I recovered. He refused to give me anything prescription and told me to take NSAIDS. I told him I couldn't take Non-steroids because of an ulcer I'd had a few years ago. Still he was adamant. No pain pills.
What is happening in America when a doctor cannot prescribe even a few pain pills to help with a retiree's pain. I know there's a drug epidemic out there involving young kids abusing prescription pain meds but old people with chronic conditions are being cut off without even being weaned. All they hear from their Dr is "Sorry. I won't write any more prescription painkillers for you. Yes, I know you're in a lot of pain but I have the FDA and my license to worry about."
I cannot fathom what is becoming of America, I cannot begin to imagine the horror if I got cancer. Many terminally ill patients are being refused their pain meds right at the pharmacy by pharmacists who say, "I know it's a legitimate prescription but I just cannot fill it for you. I'm sorry." Anybody else having this kind of problem?
I don't think this is an issue unique to retirees.
As I've posted in several threads, we recently relocated to a new area several hours from where we've lived for decades.
While searching for a new medical provider, we discovered that many here carry disclaimers that say they do not prescribe pain medications and that if patients need such, they will be referred to specialists who do so. When we selected a primary care physician, we had to sign a form acknowledging this. This was somewhat a surprise to us, it's not something we came across in our former community but it doesn't seem unreasonable.
It's not unique to providers who accept Medicare. Our new PCP doesn't limit his practice to Medicare patients.
I don't have a problem with it.
Quote:
I cannot fathom what is becoming of America, I cannot begin to imagine the horror if I got cancer.
Persons of any age who are terminally ill have access to hospice care, which provides pain medications.
Last edited by biscuitmom; 05-04-2017 at 11:59 PM..
I recently tore a muscle in my back pretty badly. It was evident on the X-ray the ER doctor ordered and I was in a lot of pain--more pain than I can remember experiencing in 20 years. After consulting with the Dr I asked for some prescription pain pills to hold me over for a week or so while I recovered. He refused to give me anything prescription and told me to take NSAIDS. I told him I couldn't take Non-steroids because of an ulcer I'd had a few years ago. Still he was adamant. No pain pills.
What is happening in America when a doctor cannot prescribe even a few pain pills to help with a retiree's pain. I know there's a drug epidemic out there involving young kids abusing prescription pain meds but old people with chronic conditions are being cut off without even being weaned. All they hear from their Dr is "Sorry. I won't write any more prescription painkillers for you. Yes, I know you're in a lot of pain but I have the FDA and my license to worry about."
I cannot fathom what is becoming of America, I cannot begin to imagine the horror if I got cancer. Many terminally ill patients are being refused their pain meds right at the pharmacy by pharmacists who say, "I know it's a legitimate prescription but I just cannot fill it for you. I'm sorry." Anybody else having this kind of problem?
The new reality......if you need pain meds it is time to look to the streets, find yourself a dealer, hope the pills you get are legit and you don't get caught.
This new draconian approach to pain killers is just going to up the demand for backstreet drugs.
Just to clarify, I'm not disputing that painkillers have their place and many need them short term. But I don't blame PCP and ER docs for shying away from writing prescriptions, as long as they're willing to make referrals.
The new reality is NOT that the only source of pain meds is the street. There are specialists, pain clinics, which do write prescriptions. This is less convenient, of course. You have to sign a contract, undergo a urine test to check for current drug use, and must return to that office in person if a refill if needed after 30 days, at which time a new Rx is written following another urine test.
I think a lot has changed in the last 10 years. It was about 10 years ago that I had hernia surgery, they sent me home with a bottle of 30 pills (narcotics). I used only 8, leaving 22 which I could have sold on the street if I hadn't had a sense of integrity and had known where to go. It took me several years to use up the other 22 pills - an occasional headache, or a sprain, or whatever - one at a time. I wondered why they gave me so many - I suppose for the sake of convenience so I wouldn't have to be running back to them. And I also wonder how many I would get if I had the same surgery today.
The thing is, and OP I understand your issue, is that the opioid problem isn't just "kids". It's cutting across all income levels and, especially,age groups.
While the percentage of retirees/older individuals is one of the smaller cohorts it's still there.
It's unusual for an x-ray to show a torn muscle, MRI's are usually needed to show soft tissue damage. Unless the x-ray report truly says torn muscle, as an ER doctor I would not give pain meds based on a patient telling me they were in excruciating pain.
OP, if the X-ray report mentions a tear, I apologize. Unfortunately when trying to fix a problem like the opiate drug epidemic, there will be innocent people like you affected.
Some states are stricter than others. When I lived in AZ, the doctors were able to use their own judgement to decide what pain relief was necessary for each patient.
When we moved to FL, which has a bad reputation for black-market opioid abuse, the doctors were overwhelmingly reluctant to prescribe pain meds, as they told me that the state law regulations are so burdensome. Not to say they won't ultimately prescribe pain meds, but it's not their first approach.
I have suffered a few times in FL due to these laws. I don't take pain meds a lot and never had a long-term prescription for any, but I do have a low pain threshold, especially post-surgery.
I've had 2 surgeries and some major dental work since we moved to FL. I could have used a few days of strong pain meds, but had to suffer.
I hear you. My husband had spinal fusion and still has back pain as well as residual shoulder pain from rotator cuffs
He got pain meds related to the surgery but just ONE 5mg oxycodone a day makes a HUGE difference for him, but that is not available now
Because he is on Plavix he can't take NSAIDS and is stuck with tylenol. I think one very low dose oxycodone is a lot healthier than maxing out on tylenol which barely touches the pain. I imagine a lot of folks are in that particular bind.
I recently tore a muscle in my back pretty badly. It was evident on the X-ray the ER doctor ordered and I was in a lot of pain--more pain than I can remember experiencing in 20 years. After consulting with the Dr I asked for some prescription pain pills to hold me over for a week or so while I recovered. He refused to give me anything prescription and told me to take NSAIDS. I told him I couldn't take Non-steroids because of an ulcer I'd had a few years ago. Still he was adamant. No pain pills.
I think your problem had more to do with the fact that you were trying to get narcotics from an ER doc, rather than your personal doc. Many people try to scam ER's out of pain medication by walking in a claiming that they are in a lot of pain, thus, although they may treat patients for pain on site, they are hesitant to send people home with prescriptions. I would think (or at least hope) that your personal physician wouldn't have an issue with prescribing pain medication for you.
I've taken narcotics every day for 10+ years, although I don't take them for pain. I have to constantly get prescriptions filled because as you may know, you can't get refills for narcotics. So every month or two, I need to get a new Rx and give it to the pharmacy ( because the doctor isn't allowed to call or fax it in) in order to get my pills. But even though I'm a "serial patient," I've never had a problem getting it filled.
On a related matter, since I've take these pills for 10+ years, I've built up a tolerance, so when I am in pain due to an injury or different condition, I need to take very strong pain medication. The last time I was in the ER for excruciating pain, they had to give me a couple of shots of Dilaudid before I was able to walk out of there.
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