New Methadone Restriction Question

[Pains26]

As of the 1st of january pain doctors will not be able to perscribe methadone 40mg wafers anymore.

http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pu...e_advisory.htm

Hi, I am currently perscribed to 4 - 40mg methadone wafers a day which is 160mg's a day. I get this medication for treatment of severe chronic pain. This has been a miracle medication for me and has given me my life back.

I have a question and did some reasearch and couldnt find an answer to. I know 40's are being taken off the market. The 10's will still be available. Will I be able to get 12 - 10mg methadone's a day, which would be a perscription for 360 a month or is there a law or somethingsaying you can only get so many a month?

Ive been trying to find presctiption limitations as far as how many of a medication a doctor can perscribe a month or is it unlimited and the doctor can write it for whatever as long as its justified?

Please Help, Shawn

[help3]

funny you ask, my dads a pharmacist and i was in the pharmacy and one of his chronic pain patients came in with a months prescription for 800 pills!!! just dont forget how bad your liver and kidneys are dying from these high amounts of drugs. like you said ,  if its justified do it but dont abuse it

[Pains26]

So pretty much there are no limitations on the amount of pills you can get a month? So i shouldnt have a problem getting 360 methadone 10mg pills a month? Thats actually will be 40mg less a day then what im taking right now.

[mr.lucky66]

Man, that's a lot of methadone for a pain patient. I'm glad it's working. Narcotics work diferently on addicts  than they do in people in pain, somewhat. Many addicts these day take that much methadone daily or more. I myself was an addict and was taking 110 a day and the worst were the sweating, constipation and itching. I know that severe pain negates these side effects and I'm glad it's helping.

[help3]

you should be more than fine with 360 a month.. if you dont mind me asking why do you have chronic pain?  

[Pains26]

I have chronic back pain, its been 4 years since my accident the dose im at now is a result of tolerance and managing my pain. I have 2 large herniated disks, one pusing into my spinal cord and the other pushing on my nerves. I also have a shattered disk. I dont have insurance and cant afford the surgery that I need.

I think you guys are missing my question. Im not worried about being on 360 methadone 10s a month, I will be ok... I know that. I am just wondering if a doctor can ever perscribe that many a month?

[mr.lucky66]

Yes, help just stated in the 2nd reply that she know of a patient that gets 800 methadone pills per month. It has to work that way because the 40 mg. discetts are no longer available for pain pt you say.. They have been used mostly at methadone clinics and from what I remeber where hard to find in drugstores. You will be fine with the 10 or 20 mg. tabs, you'll just have to take more pills. Be glad you don't have to take the nasty liquid which is harder to measure.

[help3]

seriously you can    at my dads pharmacy i physically saw a one month 800 pill prescription....it can be done!!!!!!! stop worrying

[Pains26]

lol, im just paranoid I guess. My uncle goes to the same doctor and he saw one of the doctors that works for my doctor and that doctor wasnt even sure if he can write a perscription out for 8 methadone 10mg tablets a day. He thought that was to much so I am just getting as much info as I can before I go to the doctor on the 6th.

Thank You Everyone,
Shawn

Happy Holidays

[help3]

youre good to go man   theyll do it for you! thats the least they can do for you considering what you went through and the pain youre in now.... out of curiosity how much is your monthly methadone bill without prescription?

[Pains26]

Like $45 bucks... Its real cheap! That the best thing about it, It works great for chronic pain and its cheap for those of us who dont have insurance. Although I do have a free perscription card, which I get discounts on medications. Its like 10-20%, off I get so without the card It be around $60 dollars for 160 - 40mg wafers a month. The free perscription card I am talking about is the HealthTrans Access card. If you would like info on the card and who to call to get the card let me know. Its free to have and great for perscriptions.

[help3]

that sounds very interesting actually. but does it work if i have insurance through my wife? im the secondary on hers. its through greatwest healthcare. i have so much ridiculous medical bills right now that im ALWAYS looking for ways to spend just a little less! know what i mean....thanks for the help

[stubby27]

the last thing i would worry about is getting your meds i have not heard about doing away with biscuits but that is what happens when law enforcement sticks it nose in healthcare.Go to a pain clinic if your md is on your side he wiil fight for you.I know end stange cancer people who have been on 1000MG most pain docs like metadone .I don't know what state you live in they are all different i live in good ole liberal mass. and it is one of the worst states for uderstandng pain(altough)itis getting better hang in there.  IAM NOT AN MD

[Pains26]

Well I went in to the doctor and almost cried! I have been on methadone 40mg  4x daily for 2+ years now. That is equilivlant to 160mg a day. This was a perfect dose for me! It really helped my pain an allowed me to manage my pain with my life. I was able to finally start working again thanx to this medication.

Well the 40mg methadone wafers were taken off the market on the 1st but the 5 and 10mg tablets were still avaiable for pain management. So I figured that I would get 12-16 methadone 10mg tablets a day which would be the same dose I was taking with the methadone 40mg wafers.

WRONG! At first the doctor was only going to give me 4 methadone 10mg a day! I flipped out, he would be cutting 120mg a day in one MONTH! Methadone is a drug that needs to be tapered slowly. I eventually got him to give me 8 methadone 10mg tablets a day which is still HALF of what I have been getting for 2+ years.

I am in so so so much pain that I can't even work. I lost my job and am now bed/coach ridden again. WHAT DO I DO? I am thinking about maybe looking for a new doctor. Any advice would be helpful at this moment. I would have posted what happened earlier but I've been in so much pain I dont even want to go on the internet.

Shawn

[mr.lucky66]

I don't know if you can find another doc who will give you that much and am sorry and surprized it didn't work out. Are you staring to adjust to it or are you in pain still? all the best

[sandee1818]

Go to a better more potent drug they come in higher mg and youll take less pills,

[Pains26]

Like what? Keep in mind I do not have insurance and methadone is a cheap medication. Medications like oxycontin I know are SUPER expensive. The price of methadone is one of the reason why the doctor started giving me methadone because its cheap and I have no insuarance.

[Jaybay]

What a horror story.  I'm so sorry your doctor doesn't understand what he's doing to you.  I know you feel awful right now, but maybe this will turn out to be a good thing.  Tolerance issues are always a huge problem with opiate therapy, and one way to deal with that is by changing meds every few months.   Taking a "drug holiday" for a few weeks is another strategy to reset the pain receptors in your brain, allowing the patient to start back on opiates but at a lower effective dose.  It's one of those unfortunate "no pain, no gain" vicious cycles.

Give your pharmacy a call, explain your situation, and ask for general pricing guidelines for various opiate pain meds.  The older the med, the cheaper it will be.  Morphine has certainly been around forever - longer than methadone - and should be very cheap in both instant release and extended release forms.

[94helpneeded94]

Now may be a time to start lowering your dose altoghter.  But please do it slowly, even check into a detox center where you could be under surveillance

[Tuckamore]

Sorry but you have found a thread that is over a year old. Many of the posters are no longer active. If you would like to contact the original poster I suggest you go to their profile page.

Peace, Tuck

[allenjames]

Dude I feel for you, DRs are pathetic now adays.  They have the FDA breathing down there neck, its such f'ing bull **** what people with real pain go through.  I had to go to 8 different pain clinics before geting 1 that trusted me, its such bull ****.  And even she pulls **** on me, any time I try a new med, she starts me off at the lowest dose, then I come in every 2 weeks to slowly crawl my way back up.  The entire time im ready to blow my ******* brains out.

Try different drugs asside from the Meth, I personally didnt like Methedone.  I like 2 60mg MSCONTINs, and liquid morphine for break through pain.  

I had to even go higher then that though, I am about to have a morphine pump put in.

ITs such bull **** what Drs, insurances, and our goverment make people with pain go through, its absolutelly pathetic.  I watch crime shows a lot, and ive heard a few cops say this.  "Id rather let 100 guilty people go free, then punish 1 inocent."  I wish Drs, insurance agents, and the goverment would follow the same saying.

[Mollyrae]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OLD POST~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you have further questions, please start a new thread.

Thank's
Molly