consequences of doctor shopping

Hey all
I am new and have been hooked on vicodin for a year. I want to get off!! I am scared to go cold turkey so I tried to get more today. The doctor called me out on doctor shopping and now I am scared to know what is going to happen can I get arrested I want off these things but this is consuming my mind now.
Thanks
peaches

[want20s]

Not sure about the doctor shopping, but have you tried talking to your doctor about help getting off them. They can help, it is their job to help. Also, are you getting the Vics legally or are you getting them elsewhere. Not judging, it is your business where you get them. But if the doctor is prescribing them to you, then it can only help for him or her to know that you have a problem. I know it is scary but sometimes we have to face what is consuming us and deal with it. If you really want to get off and your doctor know's about the doctor shopping then come clean and ask for help. I don't know your situation and what health plan you have, but getting off the Vic's is a great idea and I really hope you keep the courage up. There are a lot of really good posts on this site about getting off these drugs and how to make it easier. Some have recepies that help others have great encouragement. Look for the Thomas Recipe and see if that helps. But really talk to your doctor, if they can help make it more tolerable than that is a positive, also if they know there is a problem and that you have issues with Vic's than it may help in the future to avoid going back on them. Wish you the best of luck, hope you have a support system (family, loved ones) that can help you through this, but remember it will get better, and getting clean and being able to face the world without these drugs is all of our goal. If you need some support send a message and I will try to encourage you as much as possible.

[worried878]

if ur doctor "caught" you shopping then he figures you have a problem anyway...why not fess up and ask him for help?  chances are he will not turn u in especially if u express a desire to get off the pills...good advice above and time for some changes...if nothing changes then nothing changes..keep posting

[peaches]

Thanks so much for the advice. I always wonder how other people feel and how they got hooked in the first place. Wow, I never thought I would but here I am. I have been to A LOT of docs and most will just write the prescription. If anyone has gone through withdrawl (withdrawal), what is it like?

[worried878]

dose and length of use has alot to do with feeling out the intensity and length of wds..and even then we are all different....for me it was 3-4 days..for others it a week or more of feeling physically flu-like..and i have had flu's worse... was on 80-100 mgs a day for 3 years...for me it wasnt major but then others suffer more..the thomas recipe and exercise daily even on day 1 helped me...a positive attitude is so important with plans for recovery support..and changes in ur lifestyle such as cutting off ties...good luck./..telling ur doctor helps alot as well

[avisg]

Peaches ,
Have you been getting narcotics from more the one doctor at the same time that is what doctor shopping is .I think most likely all they will do is not give you anymore they may contact you pramacy(s).As worried said seen as the doctor knows I would ask for help .
There are things that they can give you to lessen the wd symptoms .I am not going to lie wd is not fun but within 5 days you will feel much better .Hot baths tylenol or advil for the aches and pains .I found an electric blanket help with the aches and pains and rls.You will get threw this ....We will help.

[worried878]

honesty is the best policy!  we get kinda used to fibbing and manipulating...it doesnt work anymore...it never worked...be honest with all involved and get the help u need..u would be surprised at how many people have this problem/doctors included..it is not a dirty secret like we think it is...be honest and be safe

[mr.lucky66]

Doctor shopping and Pharmacy scams are much harder to do with the computer and phone systems of today. I hope you get off vivodin before you get too hooked or go to stronger drugs. It's not all that hard to kick as someone else stated.

[ProdigalGirl]

Addiction DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE!! Their are doctors (know one), lawyers, police officers etc that are addicts and have doctor shopped or bought illegally. Tell your PRIMARY and I mean the first doc that prescribed these to you that you are addicted and you are powerless over the drug and you want to stop. Otherwise, the train leads to nowhere but jail or death. It;s been said before but true. I know a medical professional that is a cynical (bit**) that thinks addicts are dirty ppl. I have cut ties with him/her b/c he/she was friends with one...... ME!!!!! LOL

He/she still passes comments about dirty drug addicts and I ignore him/her. People that aren't addicted do not understand this. Be truthful with your doc and apologize telling him/her your sickness and you want to get better. If they are a decent human being they will help you. You ALWAYS have MEDHELP though. Keep posting and good luck. Read all the posts on how ppl got through this. I am craving real bad as I tapered quickly from subs but I am dam* fighting it. No other way. God bless and please, please keep posting. We have all been there.

[christos24]

for your situation if they want to get you in trouble they needed toa ct right there and only then when  the evidence is real and usable, they will think of that as your wake up call as too tell you that you have a problem get help now before you destroy everything you had and could have hadi was heavily hooked on oxycontin and heroin for 2.5 years and when i couldnt get any or ran out of money temporarily, i neeeded something at all times to ease the withdrawal so i weould doc shop, I went to voer 35 clinics including urgent cares, immediate cares, and hospitals complaining of crazy stories to where I fell or had a soccer goal hit my back and I couldnt bare the pain, I would always end up with most usually a script for vicodin 5mg, and like skelaxin or methocarbamol(nothing in a big pill), or soemtimes if they were "pen happy" id get percocets usually 30 pain pills and then a little more of the msucle relaxants, a few times I would hit the jack pot and get percocets and then valium for the muscle pain and sleep, or soma sometimess too both potentiate the opiates and cause a very intense euphoria, but like i said I was severely addicted, it ruined everything i had and i am only 22. the one experience where i thought I was gettinga rrested for sure was after I found a doc taht ws at my universities free clinic and got her to believe a story of unknown severe chest, neck, and back pain..we tried a few test and everrything was norma..but i told her the pain was unbearable and icouldnt sleep. so after two months and the opioid getting stronger and stronger starting at tylenol 3-vicodin-vicoprofen-percocet then finally to straight oxycodone ina capsule that was easily pulled in half and the 5mg of oxycodone already cut up and in pure powder form...it worked for over 3 months and i would often call for more way too soon and sounding in such agony, she would always cave and call in or write more since the straight oxycodone was schedule 2 couldnt be called in or faxed,...well after a while i got comfrotable adn i was consistently geting oxycontin 80s so i was snorting alot of thsoe and gettinga  ehavy ahvy habit tha was way too expensive...i was spending thousands and thousands of dollars every month, helleach week...and i found that the free oncampus clinic wrote on old prescription pads and they were easily changed or tampered with..so in my junky mind set I was able to add a simple "1" riight before the 5mg on the prescription...oh it was ingenious..it actually worked over 3 times, ehre i was taking 6 of them to get 30 mgs of oxycodonea t once, and now I was getting 15 mgs each pill so I had to snort only two of them...oh it was heaven, and then after telling a ridiculous story of me missing my pain specialsit appt.(she really wanted me to go to a real doctor, she even told me the last time we spoke and then demaneded it this tiem that she was no longer albe to write me all the scripts without medical proof, she very worried she was already under watch) and i convinced her to call in 30 more and of course i said this is the last time ill get in to my doc specialist appt..blah blah blah, well i went to the clinic and picked up the script and after staring for about 20 minutes decided to write the 1, well it was sloppy, i smeared the ink and realized it totally looked messed with, tampered..but i was starting to go into wd's i hadnt had OC or H in a day and it was gettting worse and worse and this was our only chance for at least 3 days at getting anything,e very other clinic or hospital knew my name by heart and i was banned from most, so i decided to go to a different walgreens in a different section of town, well the pharmacist was a old white haireed man, bad bad mistake...you got to go for the nice "new aged" looking pharmacists otehrwise youllget interrograted, he called my doctor and they both realized the forgery that was happening not only once but four other times...they were outraged, the pharmacist told me i would get a felony for this, i would never be able to get a job, my doctor told him to put me on the phone..i tense up and for those infinitely long 30 seconds in slow motion thinking through my head at a 1000 miles an hour, getting arrested, telling my parents, staying in jasil, going through wd's, and then reality hit once i heard my once "way too nice" over the top with the goody-two shoes attitude turned instantaneously into a deep sounded mean spirited person filled with rage..she told me she could call the cops, the store would be liable forholding me and it would be a charge for forging a doctors prescription for a schedule II drug, I was in deep shiate, and she lectured me, i tried pleeding with her that teh pain was real that it was too bad and i dont know what i was thinking but i thought while in a haze due to the agonizing pain that it would be kind of okay to change the 5mgs to 15 mgs, she yelled a bit, then told me to put the pharmacist on..this was where isat waiting to hear what my faith was..what was going to happen, most likely something life changing, i was listening and i heard an uproar my doctor was yelling from the phone she ahd just realized i had done this 4 times before she thought itw as this one mistake, she yelled soemmore and the pharmacist was talking about pressing charges and the felony..oh good i was sweating my dead *** off, then a mintue later he called me forth and told me too leave and not come back, i ran soo fast not even a cheetah could have caught me there, i drove straight back to my gf's house and that was the last convo i had with my doctor from the free clinic, there were other call outs throughout that next whole year as my downward spiral into self destruction was diggin deeper and deeper, clinics some hwo related to toehr facilities called me out on doctor shopping at least 5 times, i was told straight to my face that iw as an addict making all this up, most of the time wehnt eh doctor didnt exactly beleive me adn knew all i wanted or needed was some pain killers he would presriibe tramadol just to tease me or tylenol 3s and like 15 of them as to do nothing but tease me and waste money, or worse they would give me a huge *** shot in my butt full of toradol a stronger drug similar to ibuprofent aht does absolutely nothing other than make your body soar..it sucked. but did taht stoip me, did that stop the insatiable need for more opiates up my nsoe, no, addiction is more powerful than every one of us, we need help and support to get clean and with taht you can get your life back and truly live life
even though i went to well voer 50 clinics in the lower wisconsin and northern illinois area and have over 4,000 dollars in medical bills i dont ahve a felony, im not in jail, i am in methadone treatment and i am over one year clean..woop woop..good luck to you-christos

[peaches]

Just for the record I am a girl, my profile is confusing. That is one hell of a story!! I started out by getting a root canal so my doc gave me twelve vicodin after that I REALLY did have pain in my back so I went to a clinic and the doc gave me 15 vicodin and from then on I Went from clinic to clinic each one giving me more vicodin (always usually 30 or 40 at a time) they use to last me like two weeks now 40 last me a week and a half.

It don't drink or anything else but this is my kryptonite. I went to an urgent care once and the doc gave me 50 norco and a REFILL!!! It was the greatest day for me. I was actually more excited that I didn't have to go to a clinic for a long time. I hate going but i don't want to get them any place else. It was a horrible feeling when the doctor told me he was only going to give me motrin 600, he was so smug too and was trying to get me to admit that I had a problem, I knew I did but you know how embarassing it is? He was such a jack *** naming all the docs Ive been to.

I really want to stop but I can't tell all of you (which I am sure we all know) how great they are at the moment and how good you feel. Some people get sleepy or dizzy when they take them but I get more active and productive. Thanks Christos for your story.

[10356]

Thats how you feel in the beginning of Addiction then they turn on you they always do.. I wish you well on your journey.. lesa

[mr.lucky66]

I hope you can stop and not end up on methadone. Sometimes it's nessesary but many times not especially for vicodin.

[lovemypillhead]

Can someone please tell me exactly what constitutes doctor shopping?  

How many doctors in what amount of time is considered dr shopping?

[scaredmom330]

I agree with Christos, dr shopping is when you go to several doctors, clinics at the same time and get scripts. I know where I live in TN, which apparently is drug haven, didnt know when I moved here, anyway they post the law in the doctor's office. I guess it is a big problem here and they do prosecute for it. I would just be honest with the doctor, youve taken the first step already..just remember to take it one day at a time, be strong and post and keep reading postings. Everyone here at MH are here to help you.


Karen

[Tuck24]

Christos.............Doctor shopping is a person being treated by several medical providers in a short period of time. The patient is failing to disclose his or her previous prescriptions for controlled substances to the medical providers.

If you have legitimate pain and being underdiagnosed you can see who you want until you have relief. Its a very fine line........Vance

[Sithtiger]

Peaches.....I'm only 9 days off the Vicodin and I'm severely depressed.  It's a fine line for me because it can get so much worse!  I'm trying to keep from going down that road!  I remember how good I felt with the Vicodin at one time.  Back in 2002 was the best year I can remember.  I remember playing a game called Medal of Honor with a friend online and it was just awesome.....or so I thought.

Right now there's a part that wants Vicodin sooooo much right now.  My mind doesn't want to remember that the Vicodin doesn't work for me anymore and it actually started hurting my stomach.  I went from 2 a day when I first started to up to 60+ a few months ago.  When I stopped a few days ago, I was at around 20 to 30.

Peaches, you can get off, but it will not be fun, but in the end it will be well worth it!  The bad w/d's really aren't that long.  The worst part will last around a week and then will get dramatically better after a week and then will gradually get better until after a month, which you'll feel much much better.  Time will seem to slow down during this time and the best anti-withdrawal drug I've taken is Clonidine.  It cut my w/d's by at least 50% if not more.  If you can sleep, sleep as much as you can.....that will help.  The most important weapon you have it determination though.  If you really want to, you can stop.  Your mind is more powerful than the addiction.

Christos......that is some (not so fun) adventure you were on!  I would go to the ER or Urgent Care a few times when I ran out and the refill date wasn't for a few weeks.  The depression is pretty nasty right now and I admit I'm pretty scared.  I know how bad the depression can get and that was why I was taking the Vicodin.  If I'm honest though, the Vicodin hasn't been working like it used to for a year.  It wouldn't matter how much I'd take, it didn't matter......it didn't help.  I cannot wait for my body to completely push all the opiates out of my body so I can heal both physically and emotionally!

[SophieShine]

I don't really understand, can you explain something to me peaches, you want to stop but you praise almost worship your pills and what they do to you.

[mr.lucky66]

Yes, she really seems to love those pills, it could get worse when she tries stronger pills. It's not cute , it could be the beginning of a horrible life long addiction. Sorry, I have to call it like I see it .

[Sithtiger]

Of course she loves the pills.....we all do.  What we have to do first is do something that we don't believe and that's tell ourselves that the pills are hurting us.  That's difficult to do especially when it feels just the opposite!  

I'm on my 9th day of detox and it's been very hard today.  Had I not burned my bridges, I would be taking Vicodin right now!  When I was on Vicodin, it was easy to say....OK, I'm going to stop now because it's bad for me.  It's quite another thing to say that when you're off of your drug of choice for a few days.  I'm in such a deep depression right now and I'm scared!  It doesn't feel like it's ever going to end.  You just have to believe that it will and look at the past.  The past will show you that it does end despite how you feel now and that's the hardest thing to do!

You simply cannot quit using until you've decided to quit!  If you try before you're ready, you'll just start using again.  I'm certainly not discouraging anyone not to quit if they don't feel ready, but the truth is that WE have to make the decisions ourselves.

[worried878]

i called it "the doomers" and it ruled over my psyche for a few weeks..then it was off and on but more on than off...then more off than on...then just here and there...the doomers will get u if u sink into them...i was melting into my couch..it was awful as i am one of the more active types..hurt my back teaching aerobics and i never ever slow down..til the doomers came...rocket shots to get out the dor to work and  m not a coffe drinker even,,,,it slowed me way down..til at 2 months after i decided not to let it do me in...hang tight...get up and move,..aminos help and exercise..it saved me or i woulda relapsed just to get up after work..my social life was nil....but the doses of the aminos have to be the recommended doses..which is alot...tyrosine heled me the most..and 5htp at night

[peaches]

Well Yes, I did like the pills, like the other person said, we all did or we wouldn't be right? I am ready to stop. Do I think it is cute? OF COURSE NOT!! Do I think its cute to go drive 40 minutes to a new clinic that I have never been to get more or have to bail out on friends or family cause I have to get more or go through mood swings when i am out with people thinking I am crazy or not wanting to be sexually active because I don't feel the need?

I knew all this was a problem but ir really it home for me when I was called out by a doctor who was reading off a list of the many doctors I have been to and thinking to myself "I am a pathetic addict!" I realize that if i keep going I am going have to take something stronger until I am taking them just to maintain. I sound like I worship them but that is because I can still get a high, when that is gone, what is left? Even now, all of the money and time spent on doctors is RIDICULOUS! You all have mae me realize I need to stop NOW or I will lose everything and that isn't cute to me Mr. Lucky66.

By the way, just wondering, people seem surprised by the doctor shopping, do mosr people get them from dealers? It seems like i am the only one that does that.

[worried878]

did...the dealer thing..and not proud of it...called them friends but in real life it was dealer....legally both can getcha...cheaper to doctor shop but being a nurse that was not in my scenario///i woulda been tempted to do the same as u as i am frugal as he11....being a capricorn frugal is the norm   lol....and in reality that is what made me quit..plus i knew i was gonna have to move to a stronger drug as hydros were not doing it for me/only making me feel bad and depressed

none of this is "cute"  very bad taste in words...it is about the most "uncute" thing i have ever done in my life

[peaches]

I think capricorns are really good people. I am a scorpio, we are passionate, I just got passionate about the wrong thing.....haha.

Anyway, I was just responding to that cute comment I don't know what that was about. I thought for sure doc shopping would be more expensive, especially since I tried not to go through insurance for the same worry about doc shopping. What do dealers charge? how many do they give you? I promise you I am only asking out of curiosity. Im a pretty much, other than this, a rule following inoccent girl from the suburbs. If you ever saw me you would never expect me to be, and I guess i can admit this after a year.........an ADDICT. I still cringe at the word but you gotta  call a spade a spade

[worried878]

here...6 bux a pill...10 mg hydro..so if u needed a weeks worth...and i took 80 mgs a day...add that up.....48 bux a day...expensive

scorps are strong determined folks...do not like weakness...intense and strong minded...u will be able to do this (:

[mr.lucky66]

cute may not have been acurate but the effect of the word made people think. We do sometimes glomorize this poisen (the tylenol's the real poisen), without meaning to. I doc shopped a lot when you could get away with it before HMO's and computers and now it not fun. I know it wasn't fun getting dressed down by that doc but I understand why he did it and hope it helps you by making you stop.

[worried878]

has been a wile since u posted til tonite....u always cause a bit of controversy but ur words are very true/a bit blunt/ but always true   (:

[SophieShine]

you just need to STOP NOW. don't be in such a denial.  of course you're an addict ain't we all. don't try to find excuses or escapes, when you go thru all that just to get your pills, it's really time to look at yourself in the mirror and make the CHOICE. We all work very hard to get rid of whatever we're hooked on. you're still sooooo young. get over it and start to be behind the wheel of your own car not on the passenger's seat.
for sithtiger, I hate my pills. and from the moment I strated hating them, I wanna to get rid of them ASAP.
as for mr lucky, cute was also a word that touched my mind when I reacted to peaches.

[Sithtiger]

You both love and hate the pills.  I guess we're all a little like Gollum from LotR's.  The pills are our 'Precious', yet given the chance, they will betray us.  You also need to change your nick!  You're not Total Lost...perhaps you once were, but not now!

[mr.lucky66]

I can't see any glorifying of this tylenol laced poisen. We should not think of it in poetic flowery terms

[Sithtiger]

No we shouldn't be that's exactly how see it or used to anyway.  The ring in LotR's seemed like it was the best thing anyone could have, but of course it was quite the opposite.  Pills (whatever our drug of choice is) are the same way.

Physically, I'm doing much better than I was last week, but mentally it's much much worse.  My mind doesn't want to remember that the Vicodin is harmful and even if wasn't it stopped working a while ago.  No matter how much I took, it didn't help me anymore.  It's just going to take time.

[worried878]

felt the feeling stiger....the drug i took quit working as well and only made me feel yuck...yet craved it anyway..u know u r lucky the drug turned on u as it would be harder had it not...i was chasing a feeling i "had"  never to have again..my body was "done"

[Sithtiger]

Yeah, unfortunately my mind only wants to remember the 'good times' and not the bad ones.  It's a strange feeling that even though you know it doesn't work anymore, your mind still wants it and tries to trick you.

If I were to take it now, it would probably work pretty good for about a week and then it would stop working again.  I hope I get through the psychological w/d's quickly!

[morganave]

I to am from WI, you can get clean.  It will take some time, but you can and will do it.
After all you are a Cheese Head.

[IBKleen]

Hi Mobile,

First, this is an old post and it may go back to the archives before anyone sees it. If you start your own post, you may get more responses. That being said, this is a community of members who suffer with he disease of addiction and are in all stages of getting and staying clean. There are no professionals here so I am not sure that you will receive the information you need. At this point it may be best to hire an attorney and tell him the story you told here. I hope it all works out for you both and I wish you the best.

[Katch21]

Well the databases I heard that my friend told me in most states that when you're tagged or even if you're not, if it is a controlled drug and it's done in more than one place and the prescription is the same, they start an investigation on you.  You get the letter in the mail from the doctor stating he's fired you, or/then after they build up a case of investigation toward you they come and get you.  The investigation comes from the DEAs database, when they see that the investigation starts with the DEA going to all your pharmacies with a warrant to get info on your drops offs, pick ups, and signature too.   They can get info from your doctor if there's a warrant for it.  DEAs get warrants my friend said, that is why she is so scared right now.  Because it could be at anytime they come to get her, it could be next week, next month or a couple of years!  Aren't you a little scared that maybe they may come after you too?  I pray it doesn't happen because you're doing better, my friend didn't even know it was a crime.  

[Sharon0255]

This info doesn't seem accurate at all to me. I know about the databases but the DEA and the databases now I'm confused and a little freaked out. You have to have multiple Drs writing scripts for the same condition. Or you have a contract with a pain clinic then go get a script from another Dr.I'm confused now.