Do Doctors have to take care of my addiction

[Bruincam]

I was wondering if the Doctor that prescribes percocets to me, Have to take care of my addiction. I have been going to him with a phantom pain for going on 15 years. He has done xrays here and there. Once in a while he would throw in an MRI. And his diagnosis is nerve damage in my upper arm. I do not have damage in my upper arm. I never have. Back 15 years ago, I was addicted to perc`s and still am. I went to him and it took 1 visit to get the perc`s. After about 1 month, I was able to up it to 60 tabs instead of the 30 he was giving me. Naturally, That still isn`t enough. I am buying them off the streets. And when those are not around. I have a person that has oxycontin. And trust me when I say, I would rather have the oxy`s. I am so broke. I have my family. (Son and wife) I am on long term disability for something else. (Something real) I have to stop or I`m going to lose everything. If I don`t lose it anyway.
So back to my main question. Does my doctor who prescribes the perc`s have take care of helping me rehab?
Thank You for your ear

[christin1225]

As one addict to another...
If you're not telling your doctor that you lied because you are afraid that he will not help you to taper, I understand. Tell him that your pain is MUCH improved; however, you have become dependent on the medication and need to get off. In this instance, YES he should help you get off them. BUT (and it's a huge B-U-T) addicts don't taper well. If you read my post above, you'll understand why we don't. So, you'll need to get someone on board with you. Someone needs to know so that they can dispense your meds to you according to the tapering schdule. I want to say to you that if you try it on your own that your chances of success are slim, but my experience has been that the chances don't even exist.

I wish you all the best.

[Bruincam]

I want to thank you all. I just want to fix something. I am not and never would put the blame on my doctor. I probably worded it wrong. I am the one that lied to him. And still am. I wanted to show how easy it was to get a prescription. I CANNOT go to rehab. I am on disability. so that means I have to be here to take care of my handicapped son while my wife goes to work. I make very little on disability. (The disability is not a lie) But it not anything I need pain killers for. At least not yet. I am going to my Doctor to tell him. I will be honest with you. I will not tell him that I lied to him. For I dont want him to think I am lieing about everything. Which I am not.
Anyway, Thank You All again !!!

[christin1225]

Debbie,
You posted:
"If anyone wants off of there meds Doctors DO help if you ASK! my doctor told me I had only been the 3rd person in 10 years or so to ask for help in getting off of them, he said they all come up with reasons whey they need more."

It is very obvious that you are not an addict, Debbie. I say that with a smile of gratitude on your behalf for your innocense. I'm an addict and as one who suffers from the disease of addiction (not merely dependence), I would find it impossible to taper my DOC. That is why so few ask for their doctor's help in weaning off an opioid.

Those who are addicts suffer from a disease of obsession and compulsion. Once we start the bottle, even though we know that if we don't take it as prescribed we will run out, we will still take more than prescribed. The compulsive aspect of our disease demands that we do this because as we take the pills, we simply know that if we just take one more the compulsion to keep using will stop, but it doesn't. One more never makes us stop. We don't stop until we reach some threshhold that is unknown and is undetermined by us but which is forever increasing. That's why for an addict one is too many and a thousand is never enough. And that is why an addict cannot do what seems to make so much sense to you. If we could, we wouldn't be addicts.

[worried878]

agree....very few Drs would not help..being ho0nest is the key..and it goes deeper than just this circumstance as it is hard for an addict to be honest specially when it comes to their life line (or believed life line as it is a death line)  addicts in a way live their entire lives avoiding honesty...big step..and i do hope u can do it..it feels so good not to hide and manipulate any longer

[worried878]

He really doesnt have to do anything..but most would if u ask..  this is sumpin u have to do for urself..............being honest means no more pills..or less pills..but u gotta cut ur street suypply off as well...it would be rare for a DR to cut u off...most addicts find it very hard to fess up with their Dr tho....it is good u wanna get clean and good luck to u

[Debbie1054]

My Doctor put me on oxy going on five years ago.  He never uped the dose but of coarse I ran out sooner every month, I got sick and tired of counting pills and watching the calendar to see when I could get my rx filled, so I went to a regular appt. and I told him I wanted off of the oxy, he said why??  I was in shock I asked him if he would help me slowly tapper down and he had no choice but to say yes.  He could not say well no I think you need to keep getting these even if you don't want them.  Anyway I have been tappering for 7 months from 140 mlgs a day to 20 mlg a day as of now.  Next month I think he will take some of that away I think anyway,  If anyone wants off of there meds Doctors DO help if you ASK! my doctor told me I had only been the 3rd person in 10 years or so to ask for help in getting off of them, he said they all come up with reasons whey they need more........So anyone out there please talk to your doctor they will help if you only ask.......

[dominosarah]

You think the doctor should be responsible for you lying to him/her for this many years about pain you didnt have??  Time to get real honest with yourself here and that includes telling the doctor you have been lying to him.  Hopefully he will help you with a taper plan.........sara

[NoMoMeth4me]

Well said mate..... And I couldn't agree with you more, Hope you are doing well?

[avisg]

I agree with all above posters it is not the doctors fault you continued to use fully aware you were not in pain .He was going by what you told him his mistake was believing you when you said you were in pain.There are a few ways you can get clean CT tapering or some type of rehab .I would choose what you think will work the best for you.

[shannonhoon]

I live in Canada and I would suggest going to a detox facility.  It's anonymous and they will help you through the worst part.  They are in close contact with the hospital.  There's a nurse also on site.  Though not many know this, I didn't until I had already started detoxing at home, they will provide klonopin, clonidine and when you're suffering the really bad tremors and you haven't slept in days they will give you a shot of morphine which stops the tremors and you sleep for awhile.  They also wrap you up in warm blankets and help you bathe in a warm bath with epsom salt in it.  I wish I'd known that before I quit.  You still have to go through it but it's safer with people trained to deal with addicts and withdrawals......hope you can find the help......good luck

[kim715]

Gotta agree with the above two posters.You need to take responsibility for your own actions.You were not honest with your doctor,about the pain,the past history of abuse,the fact that you were taking more then he had prescribed and then when you ran out buying them off the street.Had you have been honest with him/her about any of these things do you think they would have continued to prescribe them or even prescribed them in the first place?I would suggest taking r2r's advice try being honest with your doctor and you may get lucky and they will help you taper.Good luck....Kim

[nick30]

you do realise that you could cost your dr his job, his reputation and even get him put in jail don't you? do you still think he should help you after you lied to him for 15 years?
he trusted you, tried to help and what does he get?

[road2recovery]

Welcome to the forum...Sometimes i do feel a doctor should help a patient wean off of narcotics, but only when They have lets say had surgery, or more then one, Real Pain, and only dependent on the pills and not addicted....
In no way do i think in your situation that your doctor should take care of your addiction...But if i were you, I would be honest with him, and you may be lucky if he helps you wean...
We have to be accountable for our actions, and take responsiblity on getting clean...we can help you out with that.
r2r