[JustJohnny]

Hello, I have run into a situation and could use some help. I have been diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder. I have dealt with it for many years and was prescribed Lamictal and Klonopin by a psychiatrist. My psychiatrist retired so I sought treatment from a local GP in a hospital setting. I moved to an area of the U.S. where there isn't an abundance of medical care, much less psychiatric help so I had to take what I could get.

Long story short, the GP and the hospital asked me to sign a basic contract detailing what would happen if I were abusing my Klonopin or using any other illegal drugs while it was being prescribed to me. And, I had to agree to drug tests every few months. I happily signed the contract and agreed to the urinalysis as I have nothing to hide; I don't abuse my medication and I don't even drink alcohol, much less use recreational drugs.

I had a very rude awakening last Friday as the latest results from my urinalysis came in and it didn't show any benzoes in my system. I was floored and told my doctor that I take my medication as prescribed and on a daily basis. The doctor gave me a stern, threatening lecture about this UA pointing to me selling my medication, reporting me to the police, having my teaching license revoked, putting me on a rapid tapering protocol, etc..etc..

At this point, I was absolutely shell-shocked and asked him if there were issues with UAs showing false-negatives with respect to this medication. He stated that there was and I demanded that he give me another UA immediately and use a more thorough method of testing to show that I have been taking my medications. He sent me directly over to the labs but, when I got there, he hadn't ordered a more thorough test. I was getting angry at this point and asked the lab to call him and ask for something more thorough than the standard UA. His nurse came over and gave me a lecture, stating that if I were taking my medication it would show in the UA. I told her this obviously wasn't true as I had taken my Klonopin two hours prior to my last UA and nothing came up. This was getting me nowhere, I was furious, so I just gave my urine sample and went home.

Once I hit the door, I research UAs producing false negatives with respect to Klonopin. I was hit with plethora of clinical studies showing that standard UAs are ineffective in detecting the metabolite of Klonopin. Several studies even stated that standard UAs should never be used in testing for Klonopin. I immediately got on the phone with the doctor, pointed this out to him and asked, again, that he do another test like gas chromatography. At this point, he did a complete one-eighty, stated that he believed that I was taking my medications, that he wouldn't be changing my medication protocol and that he would make sure that it was handled. He told me to make another appointment for this week.

Fast forward to "this week". I called and scheduled an appointment with him (through his nurse) for this afternoon as I am running out of Klonopin. I will be leaving for the holidays on Thursday and need to get my medication filled. He called me this afternoon and left a message stating that it would be a waste of time to see him as my "confirmatory" test hadn't come back.

So, I am spinning right now. I have been accused of being a drug peddler, had legal action threatened against me, and now am looking at potentially being put through hellacious benzo withdrawals. All because the hospital used a UA that is ineffective in detecting the medication in the first place. I have no criminal record, of any kind, and I have never "doctor shopped" or abused my medication.

In his threatening rant, he stated that he would taper me off of the Klonopin at a rate that prevented seizures but that didn't prevent the psychiatric withdrawal affects. I have gone up and down on the Klonopin for eight years now and am terrified of benzo withdrawal. Even tapering at a slow, manageable pace is bad experience.

So, I don't know what to do.. I don't know if he is still planning on using the same UA as I couldn't get a clear answer from him on that and I have no idea what his plan is if he does use that UA and it, again, comes back with a false negative.

I am contemplating consulting a personal injury lawyer if I don't have a script for my normal dose of Klonopin by Wednesday. I obviously can't consult another doctor for my script at that would look incredibly shady and incriminating..

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Thoughts? Advice?

[Skeezyks]

Hello Johnny: Well... I've had my "run-ins" with mental health professionals in the past. But this situation is well beyond any experiences I have had. Perhaps other members, here on PC, will have some similar experiences they can share.

I see this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral! I hope you find the time you spend here to be of benefit. May I suggest you introduce yourself over on PC's New Member Introductions forum? Here's a link:

https://forums.psychcentral.com/new-...introductions/

There's a lot of support that can be available here on PC. The more you post, & reply to other members' posts, the more a part of the community you will become. Plus there are the chat rooms where you'll be able to interact with other PC members in real time (once your first 5 posts have been reviewed & approved.) So please keep posting!

I'm in canada, but I've never experienced this. I currently have klonopin. My doctor will only give me 30 at a time but that's it. I would definitely get a lawyer. Good luck!

[*Laurie*]

That is APPALLING.

I hope you give us an update on what's happening.

[JustJohnny]

Hello folks, thank you for the responses.

Right now, I have an appointment with him tomorrow afternoon (I pushed back my travel arrangements to get this handled..) and I found out that he did send my urine sample to a lab for gas chromatography which will prove that I have been taking my medications. I haven't heard anything from him and he, nor his nurse, have returned a phone call pertaining to the situation. So.. I s'pose no news is good news at this point..

We will see what tomorrow brings.. I am hoping that the results are in and everything is kosher. But, if it's not, I will remind him that he stated that he wasn't going to change my medication dosage and ask him to provide me with two weeks worth of medication as I won't be back in town until the 3rd of January.

If he refuses to prescribe the medication than I will be consulting a lawyer and we will go down that route.

[*Laurie*]

Well, I hope tomorrow goes smoothly. Keep us posted, JJ.

[Misterpain]

I'll give you one I was taken to hospital unconscious with encephalopathy & stroke , I had a fentanyl patch on my chest they removed and of course did a quick test to see what was in my system I also take oxcycodone and temazepam none of it showed up in my drug screen when I got well and discharged and saw this i was scratching my head so i called my pain management doc and asked her ( now mind you a week earlier i had GCMS and all was well , but she told me fentanyl they have to specificly look for , depending on what time you took your oxycodone it may not show up and she was baffled on how they missed temazepam that was mind blowing because based on admission time it was a little more than 2 1/2 hours since taking 60 mg.
Now based on how you were treated and it's hospital affiliated you want to file a complaint with the hospitals patient advocate regarding the doctors baseless accusations demeaning you as a patient and a human being and inform them you will also be msking a complaint with your insurance provider , the state medical board because the doctors inattention and bungling can fail in a murky area of patient abandonment , and make a complaint with The Joint Commision on Hospital Accreditation Organization, you will make them very uncomfortable at least at best you will jeopardize there ability to operate, either way this should not have happened to you and will likely never experience this again , they overeacted and accused you of things without a shred of credible evidence and without due process , you need to make an example of them to protect yourself and other patients! One thing they really either respect or hate is informed empowered patients , i have gone through the "cream of the crap" localy to find doctors without huge egos , god complexes who appreciate an informed patient , that doesnt need to be spoon fed like an idiot, they can have a normal adult conversation , you seem like the same , by the fact you left and researched what went wrong ? You are your own best advocate .

[JustJohnny]

Originally Posted by Misterpain

I'll give you one I was taken to hospital unconscious with encephalopathy & stroke , I had a fentanyl patch on my chest they removed and of course did a quick test to see what was in my system I also take oxcycodone and temazepam none of it showed up in my drug screen when I got well and discharged and saw this i was scratching my head so i called my pain management doc and asked her ( now mind you a week earlier i had GCMS and all was well , but she told me fentanyl they have to specificly look for , depending on what time you took your oxycodone it may not show up and she was baffled on how they missed temazepam that was mind blowing because based on admission time it was a little more than 2 1/2 hours since taking 60 mg.
Now based on how you were treated and it's hospital affiliated you want to file a complaint with the hospitals patient advocate regarding the doctors baseless accusations demeaning you as a patient and a human being and inform them you will also be msking a complaint with your insurance provider , the state medical board because the doctors inattention and bungling can fail in a murky area of patient abandonment , and make a complaint with The Joint Commision on Hospital Accreditation Organization, you will make them very uncomfortable at least at best you will jeopardize there ability to operate, either way this should not have happened to you and will likely never experience this again , they overeacted and accused you of things without a shred of credible evidence and without due process , you need to make an example of them to protect yourself and other patients! One thing they really either respect or hate is informed empowered patients , i have gone through the "cream of the crap" localy to find doctors without huge egos , god complexes who appreciate an informed patient , that doesnt need to be spoon fed like an idiot, they can have a normal adult conversation , you seem like the same , by the fact you left and researched what went wrong ? You are your own best advocate .

Well, I saw him yesterday and the he cut me a script for two weeks worth of my normal dose of Klonopin, even though my gas chromatography results haven't come back in. He asked me if I was running out of meds and offered to give me enough to get me through the holiday break.

So, I'm not going to make any complaints at this point. However, I am more than a little irked right now as my confirmatory tests haven't come back and it's been a week. Apparently, my urine had to be shipped to another lab in order to get it handled. So, I'm a bit spooky about that test getting screwed up as well. And, I will not pay for these expensive tests every month because their testing protocols are sub-par.

I'm going to ride it out, wait for the results of these tests to come back in and then look for another doctor. I may have to travel but I'm not going to put my career, health and livelihood placed in the hands of these people.

[JustJohnny]

An update:

My gas chromatography test came back two weeks after the sample was taken and showed (obviously..) that I had been taking my medication as prescribed. So, everything is good on that front. My doctor told me that my treatment will continue as we'd discussed..

Right now, I am still strongly considering finding another doctor but that could be problematic as the nearest medical professional is located an hour away from my home. So, I don't quite know what I am going to do. I will say this; I had been debating about taking a different job at the end of the school year and this has pretty much sealed the deal. I'm not going to live and work in a place with such sub-standard care.

I will need to talk to the doctor about how he will be proceeding with the drug testing from here on out. The gas chromatography is prohibitively expensive and I'm not going to shell out cash every other month to prove that I'm not a drug dealer. Plus, I have to see him every month to obtain a paper Rx in order to get my meds filled.

This has just been a serious shock to the system as my former shrink would cut me four months worth of meds at a time, sometimes over the phone. Apparently, not having any criminal record or history of abusing medication meant something to her but not to my current doc.

[kecanoe]

Glad it all worked out. I also live in an area with very limited options for psychiatric care. It sucks.

[Wonderfalls]

Wow. I can't believe they made all this fuss over Klonopin, of all things. The contract part was weird enough but that the doctor could seriously entertain the notion of your selling Klonopin out on the "street" is almost beyond belief. I don't think the income influx would be tremendous, even if you knew where the"street" is. How do you suppose they treat Suboxone patients?

It should be a great relief to get rid of this pig; I hope you don't have to wait until the end of the school year.

[Misterpain]

Originally Posted by Wonderfalls

Wow. I can't believe they made all this fuss over Klonopin, of all things. The contract part was weird enough but that the doctor could seriously entertain the notion of your selling Klonopin out on the "street" is almost beyond belief. I don't think the income influx would be tremendous, even if you knew where the"street" is. How do you suppose they treat Suboxone patients?

It should be a great relief to get rid of this pig; I hope you don't have to wait until the end of the school year.

Actually asb mind blowing as it sounds many physicians are starting to slow down on Seroquel because of you guessed it a street market, they give it out like candy in prisons and many addicts swear it gives them a smother longer high? At the rate society and pharmaceuticals are going I can see s day coming when you will have to be started at every appointment no matter what the drug, funneling more money to big pharma and exploding profits for labs doing the testing adding another complexity and cost , that patients dont need or want, because the population of bad patients is so minute and is being conflated with street drugs and the few addicted or non compliant patients .

[noneedtoknow]

Originally Posted by Wonderfalls

Wow. I can't believe they made all this fuss over Klonopin, of all things. The contract part was weird enough but that the doctor could seriously entertain the notion of your selling Klonopin out on the "street" is almost beyond belief. I don't think the income influx would be tremendous, even if you knew where the"street" is. How do you suppose they treat Suboxone patients?

It should be a great relief to get rid of this pig; I hope you don't have to wait until the end of the school year.

Klonopin is a benzodiazepine and addictive. Yes, you could sell it on the street easily.

[*Laurie*]

Originally Posted by noneedtoknow

Klonopin is a benzodiazepine and addictive. Yes, you could sell it on the street easily.

The entire issue about benzos and other controlled substance meds is just more of the same old War on Drugs that began in the 80's. And we all know how well the War on Drugs worked......

[Wonderfalls]

Originally Posted by noneedtoknow

Klonopin is a benzodiazepine and addictive. Yes, you could sell it on the street easily.

I didn't say you couldn't; I think it has a street cost of at most a few dollars--you're not going to get rich, and presumably you're the one who wants it, so you would be a buyer not a seller. Klonopin is potentially addictive but not known as particularly dangerous in that regard.(You would have a hard time finding statistics on how many people die of Klonopin overdose!) And again how would most people know where or how to make this sort of transaction and why risk it for so little? It just seems very far-fetched to me and I think the OP's doctors could more usefully spend all that time money effort and grief on something more likely and serious.

[HopeForChange]

IMHO, you need to find a new prescriber right away and then pursue action against your current physician. I'm a pharmacist, and it's well-established that low-dose benzodiazepines don't show up on a traditional urine tox screen. I'd be more worried if they did show up, as it would mean you were taking a very high dose. I completely understand prescribers not wanting to increase benzo doses or initiate new prescriptions, but any reasonably competent physician would know that a special test would be needed to detect low- or moderate-dose Klonopin. It's not just that, though--ignorance is one thing, but your doctor being outright mean and threatening toward you is unacceptable. That's a doctor taking his frustrations about other things out on you. I've broached addiction and diversion with patients (not that that's what's going on with you; I'm just providing an example), but always in a compassionate and empathic manner. Your doctor is unprofessional, and I would at the very least write a letter to his supervisor indicating so.