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On the other hand, you have to wonder if perhaps some other countries under treat pain.
Possible. The same procedures that Bluedevilz has to give his patients opiates for, surgeons in Europe give prescription strength Tylenol, and overall, it appears those patients manage just fine. The idea that you can completely eliminate pain and discomfort, while laudable, is completely unrealistic. JCAHO got this whole ball rolling with the whole pain as a "vital sign" requirement, to the point where hospitals and doctors get punished literally and figuratively for not prescribed narcotics. Big Pharma saw there was money to be made and fueled the fire. In some cases, unethical doctors commit fraud and abuse as well. I mean the ones that run pain clinics and round people up on busses and line them up to distribute scripts like candy. Those practitioners need to be ferreted out and punished, while not overreaching to the point where the other 90% of doctors are afraid to give any narcotics at all, lest they be severely punished.
Plenty of stakeholders, including patients, have gotten us to this point.
On the other hand, you have to wonder if perhaps some other countries under treat pain.
Fair point....but 95% of all painkillers produced in the world used by 5% of the world's population??
I don't think the rest of the world is under treating pain to that extent....and its not as if narcotics are the only modality available for pain treatment.
Fair point....but 95% of all painkillers produced in the world used by 5% of the world's population??
I don't think the rest of the world is under treating pain to that extent....and its not as if narcotics are the only modality available for pain treatment.
I was just playing devil's advocate. I do think there is a bit of hyperbole in comparing the US to the rest of the world. There are some areas where pain medications may just not be available to anyone, no matter what the indication.
On an anecdotal level, I have always had a hard time understanding drug addiction. The only times I have used narcotics were after childbirth and after surgical procedures. I do not like the way they make me feel, since I do not seem to get any euphoria from them. With the last procedure I had, for a small bowel obstruction, my surgeon used one of the systems that drips a local anesthetic into the wound and prescribed a regular dose of Toradol for the few days I was in the hospital. That kept me very comfortable. Whatever prescription pain med he sent me home on I do not remember even using. By then it was more soreness that was no worse than what you get from unaccustomed muscle exertion, for which ibuprofen helped. That means I got a prescription filled which I never used, eventually discarding it. How many others also just throw pain meds away?
From my personal experience, for what it's worth, it would seem that if a patient has surgery and asks for a refill on pain medication after going home, the surgeon should see the patient and find out why there is a level of pain that the patient perceives requires continued use of the medication.
Chronic pain is a conundrum. It does it exist, but it is not easy for doctors to separate the drug seekers from those with a legitimate pain problem.
There is also the issue of personal responsibility. Who in the US does not understand that narcotics can be addictive and overdoses fatal?
It blows my mind that people think the world is coming to an end because they have to go to a doctor's office once a month. Once a month! Com'on people, get real! Just how spoiled can we get? They seem to think that an entire system for trying to protect people from death by overdose needs to be revamped for their own convenience. I honestly have trouble believing what I'm reading here.
If you imagine people with pain all just sitting at home eager to take a trip to the doctor then I guess I see your point. But the poster bringing this up doesn't have to just drive across town - it's 140 miles round trip over what sounds like bad roads in the winter.
And many of these folks are working and have families. Taking off work can be difficult, especially if it ends up being half a day a month or something. Yeah, I actually get ticked when I have to go to the drugstore monthly rather get a 90 mail order refill on something, so a monthly doctor's visit - yes, that's significant, when you're already not feeling great and it's all because you're a suspected abuser. I know, they should just be grateful to get something stronger than aspirin, right?
If you imagine people with pain all just sitting at home eager to take a trip to the doctor then I guess I see your point. But the poster bringing this up doesn't have to just drive across town - it's 140 miles round trip over what sounds like bad roads in the winter.
And many of these folks are working and have families. Taking off work can be difficult, especially if it ends up being half a day a month or something. Yeah, I actually get ticked when I have to go to the drugstore monthly rather get a 90 mail order refill on something, so a monthly doctor's visit - yes, that's significant, when you're already not feeling great and it's all because you're a suspected abuser. I know, they should just be grateful to get something stronger than aspirin, right?
It's just not that big of a deal. Not everything in life can be made easy and convenient. We all have to fit things in and make various arrangements all the time. It's part of normal living. Your first sentence is an absurdity. I never suggested that people are "eager" to see their doctors.
And yes, if we are in pain, we would normally be grateful to get relief for that pain.
Before the infection was found in my knee, the PT's and MD had me taking oxycodone before every PT session...keep pushing thru the pain are words I can still hear from them. The side effects were absolutely awful. It came to the point where ibuprofen was doing just as good as oxy and I started refusing the oxy.
I can understand both sides of the issue. Chronic pain can be one of the more difficult and frustrating conditions to treat for both the patient and the healthcare practitioner. One of my good friends has diabetic neuropathy in her feet and experiences a great deal of pain from it. Her physician prescribes an opioid (hydrocodone) to help manage the pain but she needs to see him every 30 days and give a urine sample to test for the drug.
She lives in Kentucky, near a rural county where there is a major problem with opioid abuse. Doctors there are very reluctant to prescribe opioids of any type and when they do, they always urine test to make sure that the person is taking them and not selling them to someone else.
I am in the Erie, PA area and in some of the hospitals the practitioners have been instructed to give seekers oxycodone/fentanyl/whatever else they ask for to avoid the trouble of going through arguments or them withdrawling. In other hospitals the staff are told to refer them to the rehab unit and give them suboxone. It's a pretty common issue.
About 8 months after I moved up here, I had a kidney stone that would not pass and had me doubled over in pain. They really do hurt worse than childbirth, ha ha. I ended up going to the ER and oh geez, they treated me at first like I was a seeker or something! They finally figured it out when they gave me an MRI (still in agony) and saw the stone. I got a shot of some wonder drug that got rid of the pain but left me unable to drive back so husband had to. I got 15 oxys but only used 3 of them before the stone finally passed. I'm saving the rest in case I get another one as I am prone to stones.
It is bad that people who abuse the drugs have made it difficult for those who genuinely need them. My friend now travels to a pain management clinic where she can get a 60-day supply as she has often has to rely on others for a ride.
The addiction to opioids is another disease and it is also causing a lot of misery in terms of people losing everything, ending up in jail, or overdosing on them.
Generally if you have a physician who is not responsive to your pain then I would advise looking for a pain clinic or trying to find a different physician.
This is the inevitable result of the pendulum swinging so far back. For years, pain was undertreated. So the medical profession (doctors, nurses, etc.) decided that treating pain was a priority. In fact, the organization that inspects hospitals (now known as the Joint commission, formerly JACO) made treating pain a priority. Pain was designated "the 5th vital sign". Etc,. etc. Now we have a lot of people dying from drug overdoses, both prescription drugs and drugs like heroin. So the pendulum is now swinging back, and the idea is that we are OVERtreating pain and giving out too many pain meds. Caught in the middle are people like you, who need the medications to function, have done well on them for years, aren't addicts, etc. I feel for you. In my state, a new law doesn't let doctors prescribe more than 5 days of opioids for an initial episode of acute pain. If you need more, they have to re-evaluate your situation and document everything like crazy. This puts people who are discharged home after major surgery, trauma, etc. at a disadvantage. How are they supposed to even get back to the doctor to pick up the second prescription, even if the doc will write it without doing another physical exam? (Schedule II opioids require a new written prescription every time.)
Sorry for the vent. I feel bad for people who have chronic pain who are getting caught up in the new, stricter laws that are being passed.
OMG that would suck! After ankle reconstruction I was given 2 weeks of meds. There is no way I could have made it back before that.
where I live in New Jersey there is a 5 day limit on pain med's, also a database on med's
to make sure your not DR shopping. Yes druggies ruined it for legit people in need.
As I read these posts makes me think about my open heart triple by pass operation,I took pain med for a day or two and never took any in rehab,the nurses could not understand how I had no pain.
I had a hernia operation and was prescribed oxy,took it once and never again,horrible feeling.
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