Hospitalized For 50 Days On Painkillers And Need Advice

I was hospitalized when I couldn't walk and found it was a MRSA infection that spread to my heart, lungs and both hips. I am still here leaving in five days. I must use a walker because it's too painful to walk. I was on IV Dilaudid up to 2mg per hour, weaned down to 2 mg every 3-4 hours; then three weeks ago they switched to 37.5 mcg Fentanyl every 72 hrs and 20mg Oxycodone a day. I'm going home in five days and no longer have a family doctor... Is the hospital going to send me home on something or am I going to suffer till I get a doctor at home? Will there be withdrawals? It's been 50 days of painkillers supervised.

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Hi, I hope you get to feeling better soon, that being said, you better start asking every doctor you come in contact with and ask them these questions, and don't forget the nurses. Explain your situation and be persistent, as yes, you will probably experience some withdrawal from just stopping the pain meds even though you're not on a super high dosage. Good luck to you.

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You're very lucky to be alive! Once MRSA gets that deep into ya not many survive! Focus on the positive! They should give you some referrals with your release papers for follow up care. Just relax for now and count your blessings!

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something very similar happened to me a little over a year ago. I was infected with staph in an emergency room and over the course of a few months it had spread to my spine and messed it up pretty bad. My experience with the medication is that they will go ahead and fill a month's prescription for you or at the very least enough to hold you over till you can see your doctor. Based on the dosages that you've listed, if for some reason you're in a position where you had to quit cold turkey I don't think the withdrawal symptoms would be bad at all if you had any. I'm currently on 30 mg of oxycodone a day and I'm sure I can stop cold turkey and not experience any withdrawals. I hope that helps.

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So here is the down low on the questions you are having, every person's response to pain medications is personal, so no one can give you a definitive answer to the withdrawal question, what is a low dose for one person, may be a high dose for someone else, what are your genetics? If you are Asian those would be considered high dosages, if you are a redhead not so much. Most hospitals upon discharge will give you prescriptions but the next question to ask is what pharmacy is going to fill them? Cause some pharmacies like CVS have adopted new criteria for how they as a company will fill pain medication prescriptions, i.e. only 7 days worth of pain killers, no matter how many the doctor ordered. Seems wrong to me but that is their policy now. So it would behoove you to find a doctor with the help of the Case Manager (CM) prior to discharge. Ask your nurses or CM to contact your doctors and get a referral to a pain specialist, as some family practice doctors are no longer prescribing pain medications. So you might end up waiting even longer for an appointment to see someone who can and will prescribe what you need. Good Luck and you are in my prayers.

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Yes they will send you home with something, until you see a doctor. And when they do. If it is the same thing as you are already taking I would take it but spread out the hours as long as you can till u are able to not take it or take half.

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You have to be your own advocate. Some doctors or nurses who are treating you must be able to recommend a competent doctor for your case when you are discharged. Try to get several names, and learn what you can about them. Good luck.

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I would ask your physician at the hospital you're in to have his nurse to already have you set up with a family physician or a pain management physician to care for you as soon as you're released, you will be able to have you in their system. If you don't get this worked out before you leave you may have to suffer with pain & withdrawals. Right before your going to be released, ask the hospital physician for your prescriptions. I hope this helps, God bless. I hope you feel better soon.

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I've been in your place 5 times but I was addicted to painkillers for my back. I’m on subutex. It was 27 days I was on the same pain pump and a 2mg dose intravenously every 4 hrs. I could hit the button every 8 minutes. I was so scared to go home in fear of having to switch back to subutex and re-adjust. Surprisingly they will send you home with a prescription but I felt no bad withdrawals and if I had not have been stupid I could have stayed off the subutex, but in fear, I decided to go back to my subutex, but you won’t be sent home with nothing! You will get a 10 day supply, most likely Percocet 10/325. Good luck!! But you were in pain so you weren’t in the mindset of being high so I think that played a big role. I think there’s a difference between needing it an doing it for recreation with no pain!

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Stay ahead of the pain. Whoever was writing/responsible for your meds in the hospital should be taking care of your post op.
You need someone to be in place to maintain your meds, not just narcotics, before you get out! Good luck. Wishing you the best towards your recovery.

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Any dr. that would send a patient home without medication after what you have been on should be disbarred. Those are powerful and highly addictive. You have to be weaned off carefully. Don't leave until a RX has been given to you. Sometimes you have to wean yourself off as you feel what your body is telling you. Only you know the pain you are in. Trust me doctors have no clue when it is not going on in their bodies! Also high doses can be fatal. I have been given RXs for chronic pain that might as well be children's aspirin. Half the population are on opioids! That is how people are living longer. It's not better health practices. Good Luck!

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Yea they should give you a months script n I would ask them to point you in the direction of the hospital pharmacy and fill there!! Then get set up with a PM doc just in case you need it bettrr to have one than not!! Fentynel is strong but its Extended released over 3 days so you might need breakthrough like an oxycodone 20 or 30mg to herlp get thru. Make sure you get all the proper paperwork you need so you dont have to go back n forth including your MRI'S GOID LUCK let us know how it turned out!!

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Jim (# 7) --

Direct, to the point, well said. Thank you!

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Jim (# 7) --

Since doctors are not licensed by the bar, disbarring them would serve no purpose whatsoever.

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RAWDOG (# 8) --

Yes u are. I'm an opioid patient in recovery. Your gonna go thru cold and hot flashes but u were on such a low dose u mite not even get the cold sweats and restless legs or panic attacks. I've been used to major doses like 30 mg every three days. Maybe ur one of the lucky few who doesn't enjoy the feeling and will stay away from it once it's done.

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I hope you are doing ok. I agree with most everything being said here. I would encourage you to find out if one of the Dr.s you are seeing at the hospital will take you as a patient. Do this before you leave. The one that writes the prescription will hopefully be a Dr that takes patients outside of the hospital one that has their own practice. You will find it much easier to fill the prescription if the hospital does not have a pharmacy if you already a patient and the pharmacy fills that Dr.s prescriptions already. I have found pharmacies especially CVS will not work with Dr.s they don’t do business with already. Personally I have found Walgreens’s treats me a little more like I’m a human being. It has been my experience that CVS has no empathy whatsoever. An example — my Dr. wrote a prescription for Pain meds but only for 7 days because he was increasing the dosage and it was going to take a week for New meds to come in. The pharmacist knew it was going to take 10 days for my new meds to come in because this particular CVS only orders meds every 10 days. Instead of telling me upfront it was going to take longer he said nothing. When I called a few days later to check on arrival of my new meds the pharmacist said it was going to take 10 days. He had no suggestions to help did not want to call my Dr. to tell him what was happening. Then he told me was busy and had no time to discuss this. I am really getting tired of being treated like scum because I have pain from a condition that will never go away. I don’t understand why it’s ok to treat people in this way. I know people are dying from pain meds but they are not getting them from a pharmacy with a legal prescription 99% of the time. So why treat customers this way?

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I'm so sorry for you, Tsear. MRSA is a scary thing and to have to worry about getting medication for pain is just adding insult to injury. What is the matter with our doctors? Why do they let the government control the way they doctor? If you ask me, the government isn't doing a very good job controlling anything. They can't even get along with each other and if the truth was known someone probably has a vendetta against someone in the DEA and it's a battle about who is going to win. I wish they could live with chronic pain for awhile and be prescribed what they recommend. I bet things would change. Everything has a price and I guess everyone does too. There are a lot of doctors and I don't know why they can't stand up and fight for chronic pain sufferers. When a patient would rather die than live because he or she can't take the pain, that says a lot. I hope you find the help you need and God bless you.

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You've gotten a lot of advice here, but let me give you my take. I've been where you are. I had a MRSA infection in my spine, and spent about two months in the hospital back in 2014. It was incredibly painful and I had 106° fever when I got there. They couldn't get my pain under control, or my fever to drop. When it was all said and done I ended up on the highest possible dose of Dilaudid they could have possibly prescribed (3mg per hour), & that barely touched the pain

Like you, they switched me to something I could take at home for pain. Like you (I'm sure) I had a veritable "team of doctors". The one who saw me after I was discharged and prescribed my Percocet for a couple of months until I was pain free was my "Infectious Diseases Doctor". She was super cool.

If you have any other questions, ask away.

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You need to talk to your physician honestly about your concerns. Make sure they understand that you do not want to develop, or worsen, dependence, but at the same time you do not want to have to worry about dealing with unnecessary pain. Don't leave the hospital without having a clear pain management plan in place that has been reviewed and approved by every physician involved in your care, and by your insurance company and/or your pharmacy. The government, mainly the CDC, FDA, and DEA are cracking down & implementing policies that have been shown to fail, at the expense of tens of thousands of chronic pain patients everywhere. States, pharmacies, and insurance companies have started implementing their own restrictions, and the whole situation has physicians retiring in never before seen numbers, with the remaining physicians refusing to write any new opioid prescriptions. The sooner you can get a plan in place the better as new policies are being implemented by the day. IF YOU CAN'T BE ASSURED PROPER PAIN MANAGEMENT, REFUSE TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL. IF YOU HAVE ISSUES AFTER LEAVING, SIMPLY RETURN TO THE ED AS NECESSARY. Remember this is not what doctors want and not their fault.

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Re: Jesse (# 14)

I'm confused with your response you say you were on "heavy meds" 30 migs every 3 days 30 migs of anything every 3 days is nothing. Of course everybody's different and every situation is unique.He was on 2 mig's of Dilaudid every hour! he's not going to withdraw! He was on it for 50 days, weened down to a conservative regiment I completely disagree with you I think you're giving bad advice saying that he's going to go through withdrawals. I've been using opioids (30-50 mgs.oxycodone daily) for years. Recently I went 7 days without any and I had no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever!! Everybody is different. No disrespect to you.

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Re: ABA (# 19)

Hello, I was wondering what kind of pain you have had for so long and how you manage to still get a RX for so many years since they are cracking down like crazy and drs. are getting so reluctant an scared to write them. How do you convince a dr. that you will not abuse and truly could get by on 1 before bedtime to just be able to sleep. Nothing works for me and I have been prescribed every alternative. Lyrica was a joke. I do not feel like I would abuse and am not trying to get a recreational high. Just be able to sleep pain free every night. I can stand it during the day, though it gets uncomfortable but being up hours at night is almost suicidal. Thanks

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Re: Jon (# 3)

I think you’re incorrect about being able to stop and not have withdrawals at your dose. That was the old Purdue sales pitch that people on less than 60 mg a day will not have withdrawals, and that’s absolutely not true. When I quit taking pain medication after couple years of daily use I went to myself down to 5 mg a day, weaning over a month period, and I still had withdrawals when I stopped taking the 5mg. They weren’t a big deal, I just needed something for sleep and some anti-diarrhea medication, the third night is the worst and then after that it gets much better, they were fully gone after a week. But I would bet you money but if you suddenly stopped taking your medication right now you would have a lot of trouble sleeping and you would probably get really sweaty

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Re: ABA (# 19)

Ridiculous! You most definitely are going to have horrific withdrawals and want to die. Get to a pain specialist or to a substitute clinic for dependency of opiates due to your situation.

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Re: Mason (# 34)

Herb did attempt to scare the poor guy to death! I have taken opioids and been able to come off them pretty easy. Didn't feel high or abuse. I took them to get through pain and then eased off. You do miss them if you have chronic pain but not nearly as much as alcohol.

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Re: Herb (# 33)

Why would he go to N.A. (narcotics anonymous)? He's been administered these drugs under medical supervision, not abusing them. While he may be physically and psychologically "dependent" upon these drugs he is by no means "addicted" to them or an "addict".

You're way off base here. As a matter of fact, you're in the upper deck way out in left field!

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I don’t think they’ll just let you walk outta’ there with no pain Meds. after what you’ve been through, but you need to find a Dr that is willing to cut you back gradually on whatever you’re taking...Even if you do experience some withdrawls, It’s not like they’ll be horrible...I’d say if a Dr will help you cut back, you should be fine...Addiction is no joke...Get to the point where you would like to do a little of whatever, but you must be stronger than the Drug & talk yourself out of it...There’s no shame in going to N.A. (Narcotics Anonymous) Addicts are people of all kinds...Drs., Lawyers, Judges, & guy’s that live under a bridge...Goin’ to NA will definitely help you. Rather than take a pill, call an NA member or go to a meeting...They have meetings 24/7 & they help ‘cause you’re with a bunch of people that are goin’ through the same thing you are, If not worse...Hang in there, you can beat this stuff...If not it’s either Hell or Death.!.!.! GOOD LICK MY FRIEND.!.!.!

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They will give u one more script to go home on and yes the withdrawals can be absolutely hellacious. I've had all that medicine before.

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I wish I saw this post earlier. You need a pain management doctor. The best thing is to slowly wean down the dosages to absolute minimum to help control pain-that doesn't mean be pain free. As you heal, the meds can be reduced more and hopefully you can get off of them. After 50 days you will have withdrawal. I don't think a facility would release you without follow-up care so they may recommend a pain management doctor. Go slowly; not cold turkey. Good luck.

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Re: Katbird101 (# 7)

And going off Fentanyl patch is dangerous. Definitely have to wean yourself. You should start looking for another dr and not count on case managers always. Insist that you a want a referral to dr prior to discharge. It would be very irresponsible of them not to help with your continuity of care....take care.

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Re: K Dubya (# 28)

Clarification. The foot surgery got me trying oxycodone. My pain is from neuropathy.
My legs ache and sharp pain runs down my nerves to my feet. Sometimes my feet and hands go numb while trying to sleep. The Xanax is to handle my stress. It makes me drowsy the later I take it so I have a chance of getting some rest without the pain interrupting. I am not a diabetic either.

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Re: K Dubya (# 26)

Hell! If you're already taking Xanax & still not sleeping idk... Ambien may not help. What does the surgeon say? Is it normal to still have pain this far removed from the surgery? Have you had a new MRI to see if everything went as it was supposed to?

You threw me when you said "minor foot surgery" as I hate to see anyone go on long term opioids that can "tough it out" in other ways. It truly is a slippery slope. Even if you don't have an addictive personality. Your body will start to require it after a while, even if your brain is strong enough to quit when it wants to.

It's up to you obviously if you decide to seek a pain management doctor, but just know that it's a big decision.

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