Oh, sorry I missed commenting on your question.
The original Greek Hippocratic "Oath" that I have heard many Physician's quote as saying, " I promised to Do no harm." Physicians interpret that in all kinds of ways. Many won't prescribe opiates long term as they feel they are doing "harm."
The actual sentence from the Original "Oath," translated to English says, "I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgement, and I will do no harm or injustice to them."
The new modern "Oath" doesn't contain that senstance... instead it says, "Above all, I must not play at God." I am not sure they all heard that part of it. :o)
~Tuck
Amen Ladies!!!
One must feel for the unfortunate and legitimate Physicians that are paying for the greed and ignorance of their pill pushing colleagues. They are frightened with the loss of their license (and more) into ignoring their patients in extreme and Chronic Pain. The DEA is watching them all!! Worst of all, WE are paying for it.
I haven't forgotten the abusers and pushers that are also to blame for the current mess this country is on from illegal used/prescribed Prescription Pain Medications!! The words I have for them can't be printed!
I hope I'll live to see the day when this is all straightened out..... and we Chronic Pain patients are treated with dignity and respect.... instead of being viewed as thee problem and drug seekers.
Like Mary I have no great words of wisdom for you! I do get it and you have my empathy. Thanks for allowing me to vent a bit too!!
Hang in mascoma... There are great, astute, brave and compassionate Providers out there.... They are just getting harder to find!
Good Luck,
~Tuck
I wish I had some words of advice, but I don't. Hopefully someone else will have some suggestions. But I can certainly empathize with you. I have a lot of pain in my hand, including nerve pain, and driving was very difficult for me. Forget parallel parking!
I think it's getting more prevalent to see doctors getting out of the pain clinic business. Many other doctors are refusing to prescribe narcotics or particular narcotics. One of the orthopedic doctors in our town no longer prescribes narcotics. The DEA is cracking down on doctors and a lot of doctors feel like it's just too much trouble to be prescribing pain pills on a regular basis.
My own primary care physician is now only prescribing them for acute situations. Just last Friday, I took my dad to see her (we have the same primary care doc.) He fractured a thoracic vertebrae on 2/14 and was in the hospital for over a week and then in rehab for over 2 weeks. He was put on tons of medications in both the hospital and rehab. In the hospital he was on IV morphine plus 2 percocets every 2 hours. In the rehab they switched him to Oxycontin three times a day and the two percocets every two hours. And we were told he really needed these meds.
They weaned him down and initially at home he was doing okay but as the days went by, his pain was increasing. He was on a small dose of oxycodone twice a day and when I took him to the primary care, she said she would not increase the narcotic as at his age (84) the meds don't clear as easily and seeing he had a fall and was on Coumadin and it was too risky.
I feel bad for him. I don't think his pain is controlled and we will be seeing the neurosurgeon Friday to see what his opinion is.
The point is, a lot of doctors are scared of prescribing narcotics now, and unfortunately, it's leaving a lot of patients in terrible pain. I don't know what the answer is. But it makes me nervous about my own pain management. I've cut back on a lot of meds. One reason is I didn't like the side effects and wanted to be on a lower dose. But the other reason is I don't want to be in a position where I'm left in withdrawal because my doctors suddenly decide that it's too risky to be prescribing.
I did get lucky as I had been put on Nucynta in January. I previously had been on nearly every narcotic there is and at high doses and just didn't get good pain relief. I had a terrible physical reaction to the Nucynta and somehow through all that, I got a significant reduction in the RSD pain. I still have pain and am still on a low dose of oxycodone, but it's been more manageable.
I hope you find a solution soon and I hope you'll keep us posted on how your pain is. Chronic pain is so debilitating and not many people, or even doctors for that matter, truly understand it.