[Rose76]

I have arthritis in my neck and back. C5 thru C7 are the biggest problem. The two discs in there are deteriorated. Lots of normal activity causes me to have neck pain. Vicodin ordered for me in July helped enormously. I made 30 tablets (10/325) last almost 3 months. I learned to avoid things that set off pain. Being at my computer (a desk top) seems to be about the worst thing I can do. So I cut down on that. I try to watch my posture.

Housekeeping chores can cause me to wake up the next day with quite a bit of pain in the neck and back. That's when a tablet of Hydrocodone can help enormously and the relief seems to last me a long time.

I know my pain must be small potatoes compared with what so many endure and have to take a lot more pain med to deal with. For me, pain is very anxiety arousing. I saw two persons very close to me end up with some degree of paralysis that started out as "arthritis." For each of them, spinal stenosis led to myelopathy and loss of function. One lost the ability to walk without great difficulty. One lost the use of one arm. I get terrified with worry about what will happen down the road.

I see people at the grocery store who are stooped over and still able to go out and shop. So I know that there is no predicting what will happen to me.

Doing things helps my lower back, but aggravates my neck. I've gotten very depressed. I've done nothing for two days now. I get into a state of apathy and despair.

Monday, I say my primary care doctor, who told me that he could not order any more Vicodin for me unless I stopped taking my sleep medication and go into a special med-monitoring program that is for people taking pain med on a chronic basis. It means I have to go to the office every month for a prescription and submit to occasional urine testing for drug screening. I have no history of substance abuse and I feel that this testing is degrading to me.

Tuesday, I saw my psychiatrist who feels the same as I do about me stopping my sleep med abruptly. I take Restoril (Temazepam 30mg) every evening. I have been on that for a couple of years and I can not stop it quickly. Times when I ran out of it and was too depressed to go get a refill, I would end up in very bad shape. It was my pdoc who explained to me that I was very dependent on this benzodiazepine and that suddenly being without it was probably the cause of great difficulty for me. Tuesday, he advised me that it might take months for me to be tapered off it.

I had to choose between these two drugs. What is so upsetting to me is that I was allowed take both from July through October. Now, suddenly, I have to give up one. I am not yet habituated to Hydrocodone, so I chose to give up that. For two days I've done next to nothing for fear of setting off pain and having nothing to calm it down. (Actually, I have two tablets of Hydrocodone that I am keeping for emergency use. I sometimes have disabling pain, if I overdo activity.)

I am so angry that my doctors don't collaborate at all. They are on the same campus working for the same university hospital system. I wish now that I had never been given that first presciption for Vicodin. It showed me that the pain and discomfort could be relieved. It showed me that I did not have to be afraid of vacuuming my house for fear of how I would wake up the next day.

My PCP doctor said that I should treat the pain. My pdoc said that I should not go off the temazepam as quickly as my other doc thought was doable. Two doctors telling me opposite things. Neither one of them was all that nice about it either, though my pdoc seemed more understanding and he suggested I ask for some other pain med that would not require the trade off. I think the other pain med he suggested was either Talwin or Tramadol. I might be wrong on that.

I have bad anxiety and I am becoming extremely depressed. I feel they don't really care about me. I never asked for that sleeping pill, in the first place. It was pushed on me by a resident pdoc. I hate the whole system. I think they create a problem and then blame me for it. I feel awful. Mainly, I am afraid of getting involved with Vicodin, as I've been reading about how addictive it is. But I have no courage in the face of pain. I really am a coward about pain, and I see myself staying in bed, reading for the rest of my life . . . and hoping that my life doesn't go on very long. I felt very put down by my PCP. Then when I went next day to see my pdoc and discuss my dilemma, he said that I had come in there "with an agenda." That hurt me. Of course, I have an "agenda." Does anyone go to a doctor without one?

[Ike McCaslin]

If you have access to a pool, try swimming laps. Especially the back stroke. My Dr recommeded after RF ablation. So far. so good. Wish you the best.

[Rose76]

Thank you. I have a membership at the Y and have tried swimming. It was going pretty good, until my neck pain got worse. Last time I was there swimming laps, I found that turning my head to breathe was hard on my neck. So I ended up alternating onto my back, frequently, to breathe. I noticed an elderly gent using a snorkel. I've come to understand why he might find it useful, and I plan to get one.

Thank you your recommendation. I'm glad it's working for you.

[Leed]

Good grief. They put you on a medication that the "street people" love to sell -- and then they make you feel guilty for being on it. What the heck???

Why on earth didn't he put you on an extended release medication so it would work longer than Vicodin, and that wouldn't eat up your liver? What kind of a doctor is this anyway? Sheeesh.

My doc has me on Opana ER -- an extended release medication. It works at LEAST for 8 hours or more. In fact, it HAS been working for close to 12. Plus he has combined it with Lyrica for the nerve pain, and I have been almost PAIN FREE for the last 3 months. And have 26 years of agonizing pain because no doctor was williing to figure out what would work for me, I feel wonderful! I am so grateful for this doctor because he cares!!

Ask your doctor about an extended release medication. Tell him you dont WANT any more Vicodin cause it isn't GOOD for your liver -- it really isn't! And if you've been on it longer than 6 months, you should have a liver panel done (blood work) to make sure your liver is functioning properly!!! That is just standard procedure when people are on Vicodin. He should know that!!!

And if you also have nerve pain, you should also be on something like Topamax or Lyrica. That will help immensely with that kind of pain!!!

I wish you the very best! Please keep us posted, will you? God bless and please take care. Hugs, Lee

[Rose76]

I am so glad, Lee, that after suffering for 26 years, you have been helped to feel as well as you do now. God Bless that doctor who cared enough to tackle your problem and found a good med regimen for you.

An extended release medication addresses an issue that is not really applicable to me. I sometimes can go a week with no need for a pain med. (Yes, I may have some aches. But an ice pack to my back or neck can do wonders.) My need for pain medication is not consistent day-to-day. That's why those 30 tabs of Vicodin lasted me for almost 3 months. I don't want to take any pain med routinely. I want something available for when I need it.

I understand that there are issues with Vicodin, but I believe it was actually a good pain med for me. Vicodin, as you may know, is hydrocodone combined with Tylenol. Opiates, including hydrocodone, don't cause much problem for the liver. It is the Tylenol (acetaminophen) that is dangerous. In my whole life, I've never been one to need or want Tylenol for much of anything. I'm not prone to headaches. I've always tended to treat pain, successfully, with heating packs or cold packs. They don't quite cut it anymore. Taking an occasional Vicodin really does not put enough acetaminophen (Tylenol) into one's system to be much of a worry. It would be ideal, if they would take the acetaminophen out of the Vicodin. It's in there only for the purpose of discouraging abuse - because addicts know about the toxicity of acetaminophen. Also, I/V drug users are less likely to shoot up hydrocodone, if they know they will be shooting up acetaminophen with it. All of this may not be news to you.

I think hydrocodone would be a good medication for me. (even with the Tylenol stuck in there) He prescribed the generic Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen 10mg/325mg. I was seldom taking more than one tab a day.

My house is messy. I am afraid of setting off a muscle spasm in my neck. I am laying around doing nothing because I have become very depressed. My PCP is gone for 2 weeks. So I am afraid to fill the Vicodin prescription he gave me. My psychiatrist told me - very emphatically - to inform my PCP doctor about me need to taper off Restoril slowly. I can't. He's gone. I don't want to violate any rules.

I'm very depressed. I can't trust these two doctors, whose opinions differ. I'm in the middle and I don't think they care too much. I'm going down a hole and it will be awful hard to climb out. It's like I had a rug pulled out from under me. I felt so secure with that Vicodin in the drawer. I am doing nothing, now, afraid of pain setting in - and nothing to fix it.

[Leed]

Rose, if yoiu have a LEGAL prescription for Vicodin, go ahead and FILL IT. Why not? If it lasts as long as a month, you're certainly not abusiing it. And why shouldn't you fill it? The prescription is more than legal. He didn't tell you not to. And neither did your Psychiatrist, right/ FILL IT. At least you'll have something for pain. And don't feel bad or guilty about it because your DOCTOR ordered it.

As for the Restoril, he wants your doctor to WEAN YOU OFF the drug -- not to stop it abruptly. He can''t do that or you'l go into a terrible withdrawal that the doctor will be responsible for. You could end up in the hospital if he doesn't wean you.

So stay on the Vicodin as long as the doctor prescribes it for your pain. You're not doing anything wrong. Ok??

God bless -- and keep me posted. Hugs, Lee

[Rose76]

Thank you so much Leed. I am so depressed. I feel like they have made me ashamed of taking the meds that I've taken.

I am afraid of getting in trouble for filling that prescription. But it is legal and I can fill it.

Maybe I am making the problem seem bigger than it is. But I do NOT want to have to go stand "hat-in-hand" every month to be given my script for my pain med . . . and, also, be told to go pee in a cup to see if I'm doing anything criminal.

Maybe I have too much pride. Maybe I have to get over that. Thank you for encouraging me to know what I do have a right to.

[Leed]

Rose, many of us have to do that. The "pee iin a cup" is not just YOU. It is almost everyone that is a chronic pain patient; The doctors have to make sure ALL their patients aren't taking more than prescribed cause the DEA is hassling so many doctors. There have been SOME doctors that have actually been arrested for prescribing addictive medication, but their patients were abusing them, so the doctors got arrested! My doctor got arrested -- but he was TOTALLY CLEARED and the judge laughed at the cops!!!

So these doctors are getting scared of the DEA and they have to prove everything that they do. You can't really blame them.

[Rose76]

Thank you, Lee, for that explanation. I am focusing a lot of my indignation on my doctor. He did tell me that if I didn't like the new way of doing things that I should "write my state senator." I know it's just extra work for him, too.

Thank you for the insight into what they (the doctors) are facing. I need to better appreciate that.

[Rose76]

At midnight, I finally gave in and took one of the two pain med tablets I had been saving. It helped my neck so much I couldn't believe it. I started cleaning up the kitchen. I feel so much less depressed now that the neck is calmed down. Maybe I will wake up tomorrow and find myself no longer in that awful hole.

AND I might go get that prescription filled. It is a legal script. I have a right to get it filled. If I'm somehow out of compliance with the program, then I will deal with getting into compliance. The replies above have really helped me. I have aright to get treated for pain, without being forced into withdrawal from another med.

I feel hopeful again with the pain calmed down. I was in despair. Thanks for the support. This has been so hard, since Monday. I became a wreck. Now I feel so much less distressed.

it must be hard on you... i am sorry you have such bad pain

[Rose76]

Well, I broke down last night and took one of my 2 remaining Vicodin tablets. Oh, what a relief. 2 hours later, I was like a new person. I woke up with my neck feeling almost normal. I am relieved of most of that depression.

I just have to get over my stiff-necked pride and be willing to "pee in the cup" or jump through whatever hoops needed to get pain meds. When my neck goes into spasm, I feel like I don't want to live. When that is relieved, I feel like a new person. Suddenly, life seems interesting to me again.

[Ike McCaslin]

Rose, I sympathize with the pain med situation. I have not had any Percocet for my back pain since May. The RF ablation is working so I have almost no back pain. I did sign a pain contract with the pain clinic. I saw my PCP last month and told him I was pretty sure I was passing a kidney stone(my fourth). I asked for ten percocet. I advised him of my contract with the pain clinic and asked him to call. He said it wouldn't be a problem and I should just advise them. I called the pain clinic b4 I got the scrip filled, they said they would make a note and not to worry about it. If I had a legitimate need(darn tootin), it was not a problem. The next time I saw my PCP, his nurse(also his So) read me the riot act: accusing me of jeopardizing their relationship with the pain clinic. I explained that I advised the doc b4 he prescribed the med and I advised the pain clinic b4 I even filled the scrip, but she would not be appeased. She is not my favorite person, if I didn't like her husband so much, I would seek another PCP. All the best. Ike

[Rose76]

Thank you so much, Ike, for sharing that. It is an excellent example of how - sometimes - no matter how diligently you are complying with all there is to comply with, you still can get accused of being non-compliant.

I feel validated by your post. I have had a strong skepticism that this whole new system works smoothly. (Well, what in life ever does?)

I've heard that physician's offices do worry about getting into trouble (as in "fined".) I suspect the doctor knows better than his nurse about what's okay to do. As his S/O, I'll bet she is all invested in that office's financial bottom line. Evidently, she doesn't even trust him to know how to avoid getting fined. Good luck to him in that relationship.

You provide a good cautionary tale about how different people IN the system have different ideas about how the process is supposed to work. I'll probably be wanting people to write out and sign their name to everything they tell me. I probably wouldn't withstand a tongue-lashing as staunchly as I'll wager you did.

I hope that is the last of the renal stones. From what I've heard, it's rough to go through.

[Ike McCaslin]

Thanks Rose, I feel negligent for not getting a name from the pain clinic for the person that told me it was OK. If she did not make a note in the file, it is my word against hers.

[Rose76]

Hey, Ike, that's a good point. I will keep that in mind, myself. Good to keep a little notebook and log in phone calls, with names of who says what.

[Rose76]

I just took the second of those 2 tablets that I had on hand. I hope this works out like it did Saturday night.

I still have that prescription and have not yet filled it. I was even in the store today where I get most of my meds. Part of my worry is that I might get addicted.

Hydrocodone doesn't just relieve physical pain for me. It also makes me feel much better mentally. I used to believe that only foolish people became addicted to prescription pain killers. A few years ago, I lost that attitude. I had lower back pain and took Vicodin for that briefly. Besides eliminating the pain, I felt so relieved of depression, as well. Now, I suddenly could totally understand how people get addicted. Now I say: "There, but for the Grace of God, go I." I figured out ways to avoid triggering back pain, and I stayed away from getting another prescription for a few years.

This neck problem is a whole other story. It is with me every single darn day. It is a feeling of - like - someone hung a huge heavy chain (like for pulling up a ship's anchor) around my neck . . . like my head is too heavy to carry . . . like someone has their hand on the back of my neck pressing down. During the summer, I would sometimes have a few good hours in the morning before it set in. Now I wake up with it. Most of all, it is extremely demoralizing. It's not going to go away, ever - unless I medicate it.

I think that because this neck thing crept up on me very gradually over many years, I learned to accept the discomfort as normal. Pretty soon, using Vicodin, I will be less and less willing to accept what I was accepting. That's how I can see myself becoming addicted. Add to that my serious problems with depression, and I can just see me falling head-over-heels in love with hydrocodone. So I am kind of afraid.

That Vicodin tablet I took a while ago, is kicking in. It is helping me to feel less demoralized. The soreness is improving, and the depression is lifting. I'm afraid that, in despair, I will just enjoy it, as all I have left to allow me to feel good. I'm afraid I will end up wanting nothing but to float on that opiate cloud.

[jax01]

I wouldn't worry so much about taking your meds, opiates or no. If you are taking them as they come, and not crushing them in to powder, you don't have much to be so worried over.
these meds are safe if taken as directed, in the form they come in from the pharmacy.
I've been on them for a decade. I don't take them unless I need them. or in greater number then they are perscibed for, and i am not a junkie, or floating about in a great happy cloud.
far far from it. i get no more enjoyment out of my pain meds than I do out of a multi vitamin. But they take the edge off the pain, and I can function, and breathe normally, and good stuff like that.
Don't take all the panic inducing sensationalized junk on the TV news at face value. they want to scare you so you'll watch their show.
in reality, this stuff isn't that addictive. you can become dependant on some, but it's not the same thing as addiction.
and becomeing dependant on a few vicodin? or percocet? unlikely.
relax and just use them as directed when you need to. you'll be fine. worring over a single vicodin is just not worth the stress.

[Rose76]

Thanks, jax01. I'm sorry you have a condition needing pain treatment. But I'm glad you've been able to deal with it by using meds appropriately. Maybe I have been getting a bit hysterical without sufficient reason. I have no history of drug abuse.

I actually got the script for hydrocodone/acetaminophen 10/325 filled today at a decent price. I been dithering about taking one, since I got home. The doctor even told me, "I recommend treating the pain." So that's what I'll do.

I appreciate the help I've gotten from replies on this thread.

[jax01]

Originally Posted by Rose76

Thanks, jax01. I'm sorry you have a condition needing pain treatment. But I'm glad you've been able to deal with it by using meds appropriately. Maybe I have been getting a bit hysterical without sufficient reason. I have no history of drug abuse.

I actually got the script for hydrocodone/acetaminophen 10/325 filled today at a decent price. I been dithering about taking one, since I got home. The doctor even told me, "I recommend treating the pain." So that's what I'll do.

I appreciate the help I've gotten from replies on this thread.

Good. Glad to hear you're feeling a little more OK about taking you're meds.
I don't like taking meds at all. Because they make me dependant on whoever supplies them, and the doctor, and even the guy who drives the truck that delivers the to the pharmacy. yea. i've got trust issues. but I'm not pro-drugs.
but pain takes a huge toll on your health. it stresses your whole body and all of it's systems.
you live a better life when you treat the pain. and thats the truth.

jax

[Rose76]

I have trust issues, too. I am afraid of needing something that can be taken away from me. I guess that's on a number of fronts.

I'm amazed at how this pain med seems to kick in even stronger with each hour from when I take it, up to over 3 hours.

[Ike McCaslin]

Rose, I took at least one percocet a day (5/325), most days two, for over two years. When my back stopped hurting, I had no trouble quitting, no withdrawal or anything. I will also say the euphoria I felt when taking for the first couple of times did not last long. But the pain relief lasted until I quit taking it.

[Rose76]

My doctor's assistant called me last Monday, over a week ago, and told me not to take anymore Vicodin, until I get completely off the Temazepam (my sleep med.) I've been complying for days with his instruction.

I became extremely depressed for the past 4 days. My pain is not anywhere near as bad, nor as disabling, as what many people cope with and make up there minds to live with . . . and don't keep whining about.

This morning I was thinking that I would rather be dead than feel this way for possibly years to come. It seemed that I could really get suicidal over this.

Now I'm telling myself that I just have to accept it. I have to do my household chores regardless. I can sit with some ice on my neck. I'm telling myself that this is just what happens in life, as you get older. I feel furious with the doctors, but that's kind of stupid. They're just trying to be in compliance.

Now . . . I could just go and take some Vicodin against the recent order. The doctor probably figures I will if I need it. It's just that he can't condone it.

Being on this computer seems to be very bad for my neck. Now I'm wondering if I caused this condition by the past 8 or 9 years of computer use. I think that, and then I blame myself and feel mad that I let this happen, and didn't realize until it was too late.

Worse things happen to people.

[Leed]

Dear Rose -- you are STILL supposed to have ADEQUATE pain relief!! What you have obviously is not adequate!! If what you feel right now on a scale of one to ten is above a 4 or 5, then it certainly is NOT adequate. We all know that we will not be pain-free. But we want SOME level of comfort. We don't want to be in PAIN. We don't want to have those "grimace" lines on our face all the time, and that seems to be the case with most of us.

While your pain may not be as bad as someone else's, it's still YOUR PAIN, and it's bad enough for you! It's still PAIN and it hurts! It needs to be taken care of and it MATTERS. Don't minimize it or compare it with anyone elses, because it's yours!!! And it hurts.

Be your own advocate, and stand up for yourself. I had to learn to do this because I have always been meek and intimidated. But doctors are NO better than we are. NO better. Even tho they may have trouble with the DEA, that's THEIR problem. OUR problem is getting pain-control. If you don't have proper pain control, you're going to have to demand it, and that's hard to do. Just TELL the doctor that what you're taking is NOT doing it, and you NEED either an increase in dosage OR something else. You CAN do this. That's all you need to say. But don't let him say NO -- plead with him if you have to -- cry if you have to. I did.

We hurt. Our pain matters. They need to know this. They need to understand. Your pain WILL get worse -- you need to get a handle on it NOW before it gets out of hand. And it will in time. God bless & take care. Hugs, Lee

[(JD)]

I'm still having issues with inadequate pain support management... began July 1st when Obamacare hit FL rules... and regular MDs quit writing pain med scripts. I finally have an appointment with a new pain MD Monday... I am out of hope though.

for you... one step at a time, the whole journey is too difficult to view at once