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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 4, 2017 13:14:05 GMT -5
Right now, I am seeing red. Due to this opioid crisis, some doctors have STOPPED prescribing pain meds for home after surgery.
One woman on my hip group had surgery Thursday, was released Friday. While in the hospital, they had her on dilaudid. She was told to take ibuprofen at home!
Other than the fact that you don't want to take an NSAID while bone is healing (the same molecules that the NSAID blocks are those necessary for bone growth and remodeling), it is imperative that you get up regularly to walk, to help prevent DVTs from forming. If your hip hurts too freaking bad.....YOU DONT WANT TO MOVE!
This scares the crap out of me....and it should you too.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Nov 4, 2017 13:22:37 GMT -5
It's hardly worth going to the doctor anymore. I've taken in my kids when they were sick, & some doctors refuse to give antibiotics, unless your kids are practically ready to be hospitalized. (Then they wonder why it takes kids 2 weeks to recover, AND they're making their classmates sick, because what school is going to put up with long absences?) So now, they won't give you painkillers either, because you MIGHT become addicted? Idiots!
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Nov 4, 2017 13:56:37 GMT -5
I was given 5 days for my broken wrist and ketorlac for inflammation. I don't recall the pain med. I alternated them so I had something every 2 hours.
When my brother was terminal from cancer do you think they would alternate his meds. NO. Give them early. NO.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Nov 4, 2017 15:36:22 GMT -5
I was given 5 days for my broken wrist and ketorlac for inflammation. I don't recall the pain med. I alternated them so I had something every 2 hours. When my brother was terminal from cancer do you think they would alternate his meds. NO. Give them early. NO.I am sorry for your loss. Not giving pain medication to someone who is terminal due to cancer (or any other pain-inducing disease) because they might become addicted to it and possibly overdoes just doesn't make sense.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 4, 2017 15:57:51 GMT -5
This isn't the first time I've seen this, but this really gets my goat. The woman's surgeon supposedly called her in a prescription, but since you cannot call in any med that would alleviate pain sufficiently, I think she's likely going to be still be in pain.
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on Nov 4, 2017 16:08:16 GMT -5
Oh crap that is damn horrible, and no I won't say what I get here in Canada, but Bernie Sanders was right in saying Canadians have to be louder about how good our health care system is.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Nov 4, 2017 16:51:56 GMT -5
And this is why we're seeing a rise in heroin addiction.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2017 18:39:26 GMT -5
The opioid crisis is real. I am sorry for people in real pain, but doctors created a lot of addicts. My husband was careful not to become one in the months and months that he was on pain pills for his back. But it took a lot of effort on his part. No one tried to address the problem. It was easier to hand him a prescription. That doesn't mean he wasn't monitored. Every month he had to pee on a stick to make sure he wasn't selling them.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Nov 4, 2017 19:21:07 GMT -5
After my gallbladder surgery I was given of prescription for 30 pills of vicodin. I did not want to end up addicted and was able to get by with tylenol. I was told when I was well to crush up any leftover pills and toss them out with my cat litter.
I actually had them stop the pain meds on the morning I was going to be released from the hospital. My home health care nurse was surprised I was not taking the pain meds. I did not want to go there. Had enough physical problems at the time.
I think I have a high level of pain tolerance because in my gallbladder support group, it sounds like most people need the pain meds. Some think they need a refill and are not getting them.
The last doctor I went to in Colorado before I moved had his license revoked for overprescribing pain meds. Don't know what a patient had to say to get them but he never prescribed any for me.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Nov 4, 2017 20:02:49 GMT -5
ODS had laproscopic knee surgery a couple of years ago and got a prescription for oxy. I didn't tell him he had it. I gave him one oxy during his first night home, and then Tylenol. He seemed to manage fine. I turned the remaining Oxy into the police station as soon as he was on the road to recovery.
DH has had 2 neurosurgeries for a ruptured disk and a long bout with Puriformis Syndrome. He had the same experience as Susana's DH: everyone wrote him prescriptions for the pain. But he developed an allergy to the Oxy, so he ended up on high doses of Gabapentin and steroid shots. In the end, after far too much advocacy, he found a physical therapist who helped ease him out of the Puriformis.
It shouldn't be that difficult, or frightening, to get pain relief.
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Value Buy
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Post by Value Buy on Nov 4, 2017 21:42:33 GMT -5
I understand many people may need these opioids, but the fact of the matter, there is no reason this country purchases something like 80% of the world's consumption of this drug. The doctors have been negligent in the dispensing of these addiction pills.
I am surprised doctors have just stopped writing scripts. They could always write smaller quantities for each script if they felt it was necessary. Evidently some doctors must have been pretty free in the script writing, so now they are worried they will be called in by a grand jury in the near future.
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Value Buy
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Post by Value Buy on Nov 4, 2017 21:45:19 GMT -5
I was given 5 days for my broken wrist and ketorlac for inflammation. I don't recall the pain med. I alternated them so I had something every 2 hours. When my brother was terminal from cancer do you think they would alternate his meds. NO. Give them early. NO. Truly sorry for your brother, and your loss. Could you tell us when this occurred? Many people I know who were dying, received pain medication in their latter days to ease pain but I admit beyond five years ago, I cannot say this was done in a widespread manner.
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quince
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Post by quince on Nov 4, 2017 22:23:56 GMT -5
My MIL just had a hip replacement surgery and I am glad to say she has all kinds of drugs. Loopy on them, even. I'm sure this differs by region/health system/ and individual practices.
I barely feel any effect when I take opioids. It made the immediate period after my second c-section not very entertaining, but at least I could get up and walk because it wasn't directly my walking bits that hurt like hell. For people it works for, not getting something that will help with pain and can help lead to faster recovery blows. I'm glad I had the kid a year and a half ago and not today.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Nov 5, 2017 5:16:19 GMT -5
I was given 5 days for my broken wrist and ketorlac for inflammation. I don't recall the pain med. I alternated them so I had something every 2 hours. When my brother was terminal from cancer do you think they would alternate his meds. NO. Give them early. NO. Truly sorry for your brother, and your loss. Could you tell us when this occurred? Many people I know who were dying, received pain medication in their latter days to ease pain but I admit beyond five years ago, I cannot say this was done in a widespread manner. I'm sorry for your losses. I wonder if it matters where you are when treated? When I've had family members who were terminal, the docs didn't hesitate to give morphine while in the hospital. I can understand being more careful with meds that are going home with patients.
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Cheesy FL-Vol
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Post by Cheesy FL-Vol on Nov 5, 2017 5:24:32 GMT -5
After my gallbladder surgery I was given of prescription for 30 pills of vicodin. I did not want to end up addicted and was able to get by with tylenol. I was told when I was well to crush up any leftover pills and toss them out with my cat litter. I actually had them stop the pain meds on the morning I was going to be released from the hospital. My home health care nurse was surprised I was not taking the pain meds. I did not want to go there. Had enough physical problems at the time. I think I have a high level of pain tolerance because in my gallbladder support group, it sounds like most people need the pain meds. Some think they need a refill and are not getting them. The last doctor I went to in Colorado before I moved had his license revoked for overprescribing pain meds. Don't know what a patient had to say to get them but he never prescribed any for me. This was me also. Two hernia repairs, a dual cochlear implant surgery, and three wisdom teeth removed ( not all at the same time mind you) and while I did get scripts filled, I was perfectly fine using extra strenth tylenol.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Nov 5, 2017 9:21:48 GMT -5
When my mom was in hospice, all the morphine she needed was readily available to her. She passed away in 2014 so I don't know if that has changed.
During her last couple of days, we were told to give her morphine whenever she appeared to be in pain as she was no longer communicating verbally.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Nov 5, 2017 9:49:43 GMT -5
I understand many people may need these opioids, but the fact of the matter, there is no reason this country purchases something like 80% of the world's consumption of this drug. The doctors have been negligent in the dispensing of these addiction pills. I am surprised doctors have just stopped writing scripts. They could always write smaller quantities for each script if they felt it was necessary. Evidently some doctors must have been pretty free in the script writing, so now they are worried they will be called in by a grand jury in the near future. It's a mix of over-prescribing (instead of searching for alternatives to address the pain and/or to folks developing or in the throes of addiction), prescribing when not really necessary (my ODS, for example), and some suspicious activity by drug distributors. There was a story on 60 Minutes a couple of weeks ago about a small town in West Virginia with a population of 400 people that records show has received 600,000 Oxy tablets in the past few years.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Nov 5, 2017 10:06:24 GMT -5
I understand many people may need these opioids, but the fact of the matter, there is no reason this country purchases something like 80% of the world's consumption of this drug. The doctors have been negligent in the dispensing of these addiction pills. I am surprised doctors have just stopped writing scripts. They could always write smaller quantities for each script if they felt it was necessary. Evidently some doctors must have been pretty free in the script writing, so now they are worried they will be called in by a grand jury in the near future. It's a mix of over-prescribing (instead of searching for alternatives to address the pain and/or to folks developing or in the throes of addiction), prescribing when not really necessary (my ODS, for example), and some suspicious activity by drug distributors. There was a story on 60 Minutes a couple of weeks ago about a small town in West Virginia with a population of 400 people that records show has received 600,000 Oxy tablets in the past few years. It was a very sad thing to watch and they had the followup on the news about the children being born addicted and taking them away from their family.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Nov 5, 2017 11:00:48 GMT -5
Right now, I am seeing red. Due to this opioid crisis, some doctors have STOPPED prescribing pain meds for home after surgery. One woman on my hip group had surgery Thursday, was released Friday. While in the hospital, they had her on dilaudid. She was told to take ibuprofen at home! Other than the fact that you don't want to take an NSAID while bone is healing (the same molecules that the NSAID blocks are those necessary for bone growth and remodeling), it is imperative that you get up regularly to walk, to help prevent DVTs from forming. If your hip hurts too freaking bad.....YOU DONT WANT TO MOVE! This scares the crap out of me....and it should you too. My girlfriend was prescribed oxy as part of some knee surgery diagnosis. Given the alcohol and other addition in her family she was very, very careful to follow the medication schedule. Like you say, she needed to move and PT 3x week for several months was part of the treatment. The first couple of weeks she wouldn't have been able to move without it.
She cut the drug treatment short and gave the extra to the police station. Given both her husband's and son's substance abuse problems there is no way she wanted those pills hanging around her house. And FWIW, these aren't poor and/or uneducated people. They live in a very affluent area and are smart people. Doesn't mean they are immune from addiction issues.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Nov 5, 2017 11:05:19 GMT -5
I understand many people may need these opioids, but the fact of the matter, there is no reason this country purchases something like 80% of the world's consumption of this drug. The doctors have been negligent in the dispensing of these addiction pills. I am surprised doctors have just stopped writing scripts. They could always write smaller quantities for each script if they felt it was necessary. Evidently some doctors must have been pretty free in the script writing, so now they are worried they will be called in by a grand jury in the near future. How much do you want to bet it's the doctors who weren't overprescribing who're subjecting their patients to austerity, and the ones who were overprescribing are writing scripts same as they ever were?
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Nov 5, 2017 11:06:42 GMT -5
When my mom was in hospice, all the morphine she needed was readily available to her. She passed away in 2014 so I don't know if that has changed. During her last couple of days, we were told to give her morphine whenever she appeared to be in pain as she was no longer communicating verbally. Related to the earlier post, I remember when my mom was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and her doctor prescribed morphine to her. My initial response to her doctor was "We need to be careful as my grandmother was a morphine addict and addiction runs in the family". Her doctor just gave me "The Look'. Apparently I had intellectually processed that my mother was dying but not emotionally.
I think TheOtherMe we've discussed this practice in another thread. Essentially I think Hospice lets terminal folks self over-medicate. I think it's a kindness and if it helps make passing more comfortable I'm all for it.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Nov 5, 2017 11:10:56 GMT -5
I understand many people may need these opioids, but the fact of the matter, there is no reason this country purchases something like 80% of the world's consumption of this drug. The doctors have been negligent in the dispensing of these addiction pills. I am surprised doctors have just stopped writing scripts. They could always write smaller quantities for each script if they felt it was necessary. Evidently some doctors must have been pretty free in the script writing, so now they are worried they will be called in by a grand jury in the near future. How much do you want to bet it's the doctors who weren't overprescribing who're subjecting their patients to austerity, and the ones who were overprescribing are writing scripts same as they ever were? I think responsible doctors are scared and over reacting to protect themselves. There's probably a case or two where maybe the patient didn't need as much as they got and the doctors are afraid they will be held responsible.
The lazy, greedy (or possibly addicted themselves) doctors don't care other than maybe how the change in policy will affected their bottom line.
There are always jerks in every field.
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Value Buy
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Post by Value Buy on Nov 5, 2017 11:11:24 GMT -5
I understand many people may need these opioids, but the fact of the matter, there is no reason this country purchases something like 80% of the world's consumption of this drug. The doctors have been negligent in the dispensing of these addiction pills. I am surprised doctors have just stopped writing scripts. They could always write smaller quantities for each script if they felt it was necessary. Evidently some doctors must have been pretty free in the script writing, so now they are worried they will be called in by a grand jury in the near future. How much do you want to bet it's the doctors who weren't overprescribing who're subjecting their patients to austerity, and the ones who were overprescribing are writing scripts same as they ever were? Might be true. Then again, maybe they are part of the Never Trump group too, and just paying it forward. Seriously, there have been articles the day Trump came out and declared the epidemic, their were reports of doctor's cutting back their prescriptions on the national and local news stations. I cannot understand why any doctor would immediately shut the dispensing of the drugs down.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Nov 5, 2017 11:19:40 GMT -5
How much do you want to bet it's the doctors who weren't overprescribing who're subjecting their patients to austerity, and the ones who were overprescribing are writing scripts same as they ever were? Might be true. Then again, maybe they are part of the Never Trump group too, and just paying it forward. Seriously, there have been articles the day Trump came out and declared the epidemic, their were reports of doctor's cutting back their prescriptions on the national and local news stations. I cannot understand why any doctor would immediately shut the dispensing of the drugs down. Bonny summarizes it nicely. The responsible doctors are scared of being labeled pill-pushers (or worse) and would rather err on the side of not getting sued than on the side of pain-ridden patients.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 5, 2017 13:09:09 GMT -5
When my mom was in hospice, all the morphine she needed was readily available to her. She passed away in 2014 so I don't know if that has changed. During her last couple of days, we were told to give her morphine whenever she appeared to be in pain as she was no longer communicating verbally. The 3-4 cases I have heard about have been in the last 6 months. So this is relatively new. Hospice is another situation though.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Nov 5, 2017 13:10:57 GMT -5
Medical Marijuana people!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 5, 2017 13:20:02 GMT -5
Medical Marijuana people! Yeah.....unless you happen to be married to someone who gets drug tested regularly for their profession. Even though I live in a state where it is legal, even the hint of pot use (i.e. smell on his clothing) is an immediate firing.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 5, 2017 13:23:54 GMT -5
Might be true. Then again, maybe they are part of the Never Trump group too, and just paying it forward. Seriously, there have been articles the day Trump came out and declared the epidemic, their were reports of doctor's cutting back their prescriptions on the national and local news stations. I cannot understand why any doctor would immediately shut the dispensing of the drugs down. Bonny summarizes it nicely. The responsible doctors are scared of being labeled pill-pushers (or worse) and would rather err on the side of not getting sued than on the side of pain-ridden patients. Certain specialties are known to prescribe more than others. Orthopedics is one of the biggies, and if you figure that 100% of my surgeon's patient's are going to walk out with a narcotics prescription at one time or another, that is a LOT of prescriptions.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Nov 5, 2017 13:29:03 GMT -5
Anyone I know (including myself) who looks at physicians and prescribing does the comparison to the physician's peer group. We aren't comparing oncologists or surgeons to family practice doctors. And there are many other factors besides the number/quantity of the prescriptions that go into the analysis. I think physicians are simply scared and not prescribing.
I've never seen a case made against a doctor who wasn't flat out running a pill mill. If you prescribe appropriately and document files, there's no case to be made.
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Nov 5, 2017 16:17:08 GMT -5
I was given 5 days for my broken wrist and ketorlac for inflammation. I don't recall the pain med. I alternated them so I had something every 2 hours. When my brother was terminal from cancer do you think they would alternate his meds. NO. Give them early. NO. Truly sorry for your brother, and your loss. Could you tell us when this occurred? Many people I know who were dying, received pain medication in their latter days to ease pain but I admit beyond five years ago, I cannot say this was done in a widespread manner. 2012. In 1994 when my Dad died, they managed his pain better with patches. I have no information on how pain meds were handled for my Mom in 1986.
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