give with one hand and take with the other

[no_sleep]

pain meds were increased from fentanyl 50mg x 3 days and zydol 400mg per day. to 75mg fent patch x3 days and oxynorm 20mg every four hours.

i had to get bloood tests done today and called doc's seceratary yesterday to make app and order script ( they need 24hrs notice on all scripts).

after having bloods done i went to counter to collect script and sec said the doc wont give you more and you will have to wait till monday to see another doc. i said how can i wait till monday without pain meds.

the sec then said well 50 of them is alot to take in 6 days, now she said this infront of a packed surgery, i was embarrasd. so i said thay are not gone i still have 12 of them left and only orderd them because of the 24hr notice you have on all scripts.

with this the doc who wrote the script for me poped round corner to callanother patient, i saw her and explained that i had only followed her directions and infact still had some left.

in the end she wrote another script for me but said i would have to see the main doc on monday to ttalk to him.

im gettin pissed off at this doc practice im treated like a junkie when i go in here. i was sent home with motilium and in fact i was in latter stage kidney failure only in may. maby she is right and i should hold off on the break trough meds until i realy need them but how do i mesure that pain. yesterday was a nightmare for pain and i would have taken more of the pain med if it was ok on the box. i have pain now but wont take them with fear of them taking them from me then what will i do.

in life of cronic pain should we feel pain a little bit all the time with the help of our meds or if possabil should our meds be adjusted closly to a point of no pain im confused as to whats right.

warren

[debhun]

So sorry you are having a hard time with pain and the Dr's. For myself my Dr give out a months worth and that is all if you go though that ruff luck cause I wouldn't get any more and could be kicked out. It pisses me off We pay them for a service and they think they are the ones who is in control. And they are very much. But they really have to weed out to good with the bad. We all know that.
Now I just started a new PM cause mine closed. GGGGGRRRRRR I really love my Dr. She was really good. So they switched my med. I was glad of that But I am still in so much pain. But they start out slow and then go up as they need too.But as being pain free Not going to happen here with me. as long as they can get it down to 3-4 I am happy. I don't think any one on this board is pain free.Just a guess. If you can deal with 3-5 that is really good. My pain is been around 7-9 for 20 days now. But I put up with it. I try and put my mine on other things. I stayed up in the hospital for 9 day with my aunt. Was I in pain **** yeah. Put I tried like **** not to deal with it. But when I got home My body just broke. that was on last Friday. Today is the first day I have been out of bed. I am so glad. I can't call my PM cause I have to go in and I don't have $60.00 copay. Our ins went up as July 1 2009. So on the 21st they will count my med and pee test. They will do this every time I go in till they know I am doing right with my meds. I have to see a head Dr too. So that is $120.00 at one time. Not to say my meds is over $100.00 with copay. each one is over $250.00 a piece.
Sorry I got long winded. But to be Pain free Not with me. I really hope that they can help you get straight on your meds so you will not be in so much pain.

((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))
Deb

[no_sleep]

i guess its gonna take time to get it right.
thank you
warren

[Smithc]

I take PKs too, and read alot about them. From what I have read, the pks are not to make us pain free but to reduce the level of pain to a manageable level. I am not sure why that is the current philosophy w/docs but I think it is.

It is tricky too coz everyone says if you wait till the pain is too bad, the meds don't work as well.

Meds as much as we need them are a huge pain. Pun intended. My doc sometimes gives me enough for 2 months. 1 script w/refill. I almost always run out at the end of the 2 month but this time, I am taking a trip to see my family out of state and do not want that vacation to be ruined by not enough meds. So here it is 2 - 3 weeks b4 my trip and I am taking less than I need every day. I am supplementing w/lots of advil.

Anyway, feeling like a junkie thing stinks I know. But you know that you are not. You are not a addict; you are dependant on your medicine. Big difference. But you probably already know that; sometimes, I just think it needs to be said.

What gets me is this docs put us on these meds for a reason and I can't tell you how often I hear of folks being left high and dry even when they have followed dosing and drs orders to a tee. Now that is criminal.

Anyway, keep working it. You will get it right. Good luck w/your new doctor. Take your lead from what he/she says. The last thing you want is a red flag in your file.

Sincerely,

Smith

[Mark N]

Warren, I have always approached my pain meds with the idea they will make controlling my pain possible. I have never thought that I would be pain free because my pain is at the level I would be knocked out 24 hours a day if I took enough to have no pain. You should be able to get your pain, at least most of the time, low enough that it isn't on the front of your mind every minute and you can function to do many of your normal activities.

I took me a number of years to get to that point so it may take you a while to find a doctor that will focus on reducing your pain more than focusing on what or how much medicine you are taking. Spinal problems and chronic pain aren't easy to deal with.

[Boxerlover]

Hey Warren, sorry to hear you are having difficulties. It definately takes time to get all this figured out, but you do have to be careful as you are just starting with this doc and you don't want to get kicked out for not following what they want you to do. Hopefully on Monday when you see the doc you can get all this straightened out.

Take Care
Melissa

[debhun]

Mark you said the truth. It does take a long time. I am just getting to there now. I will not let it win. I refuse too. I am young still and have to many thing I want to do and go. It took my fishing away for 2 years not this year. I will be out there on the water fishing soon.

Deb

[Kira]

I agree with everyone else that posted. While it would be amazing to have no pain... it isn't a realistic goal. The best most of us can hope for is to get enough control of our pain that we can get some quality of life back. Like Mark, if I wanted to get "no pain" then I would have to take such high doses that I would be knocked out. Since the goal of pain management is to improve functioning, you have to balance pain relief with side effects like sedation etc. If I was sleeping all of the time from pain meds, I certainly wouldn't be functioning. I guess what I am trying to say is that I function better with some pain/less side effects than I would with less pain/more side effects.

Also... I don't know how your doctor explained it at your appointment, but... it sounds like you might have been misinterpreting the instructions with your oxycodone.

From your other post, you said:

dosage was increased on the 8th to 75mg patch and also gave me oxynorm take two 10mg pills x 4hrs as required.


So... If they said "two 10 mg pills x 4 hrs AS REQUIRED," that usually means that on the worst days you can take it AT MOST every 4 hrs, but that you don't ALWAYS take it every 4 hrs. So, on a typical day, you might not need it at all or might just need to take 1 or 2 doses. On a bad day, when your pain is really flaring, then you might need to actually take doses every 6 hrs... but not all the time. If your pain is so severe that you are needing to take the breakthrough med that often, then they might want to adjust your long-acting med instead. The fentanyl patch is the around-the-clock med, and the short-acting oxycodone is the as-needed "rescue" med (breakthrough med).

[tortoisegirl]

I agree that either you have unrealistic expectations of pain control, misunderstood the instructions, or you are inadequately dosed for your patch. I hope your appointment on Monday goes well. Was that bottle of Oxynorm to last the month? I can understand why they would not want to give you more and am actually surprised you got more and they did not make you wait until Monday especially when you said you had 12 left. I for example limit my BT meds to a few days a week so I can take more when I have a bad flare up, and that it works better. Make sure you and your doctor discuss expectations, how much medication you should be taking max, if you need a higher dose of something, etc. Best wishes.

[no_sleep]

all of your info has been taken on board. yes i may have taken the instructions the wrong way. the last meds i was on were regular as in
kapake 2x 4 daily (30mg codine 500mg paractamol)
tramadol 100mg slow release 1 am 1 pm
tramadol 50mg to bring to limit of 400mg tramadol daily

the new script says take 1 four times daily when requird its a box of 56.
last night i went for a stroll (2k) with a pal of mine we used to run together and have taken part in charity fun runs and the like. i have started to put on waight since all of this happend. anyway the last while the pain accross my ribs has been unbearable. so on the stroll the pain hit real bad and when i got back i was paining all over but was worried about taking BT med but took it anyway.
as i said before im new to all this so im gonna have to talk to Dr and try to get a plan going on all this.
thank you all so much for your words of wisdome, without witch i would be lost in my search of a better exxistance.
all the best
warren

[Smithc]

Good catch Kira and Kate. You seemed to figure out exactly what this issue may be between Warren and the doctor. So often miscommunication and misunderstandings really screw up pain mgt.

Good luck Warren. Let us know how it goes. Is your appoint this upcoming Monday?

[tortoisegirl]

I tend to repeat instructions as I understand them to my doctor to confirm. What my doctor tells me also is typically only 5% of my medical stuff--lots of online research! I hate when they say I shouldn't have a problem with a med, or only tell me one potential side effect...I read all the technical stuff I can get my hands on to be informed before even deciding to take something.

[Mark N]

Kate, I am with you, don't tell me I shouldn't have a problem with a med as we all react differently. Thankfully the doctors that have prescribe my meds haven't taken that approach.

[tortoisegirl]

I think the doctors still don't realize with me the fact that I am so sensitive--I tend to get every side effect (no joke), high tolerances, etc. I'm sure I'm a "fun" patient for my doctor. I've given up trying to get anything taken care of over the phone as it's so complicated, and end up going in every 2-3 weeks sometimes just because of my meds.