Pain Management Help

Hi,
A few months ago I got out of bed and had severe pain down my right leg. The doctor diagnosed it as sciatica prescribed me two 5/500 vicodin ever 6hours and 8 Weeks of physical therapy. The meds had no effect at all. When I went back I told the doc they were not helping so he upped it to 10/325 norco 6x a day. At first they only helped a little bit, he told me to take it 4x a day and my pain got "under control." I went back and saw a different doc at the same practice because my normal one was booked solid. The new doc took one look at my chart and told me that my Rx was too high, so she switched me to 10Mg oxycodone every 6 hours. For a few Weeks it helped as much as the norco but the pain got worse (I have a narrow spinal column, arthritis, and 4 herniated discs). I had a steroid injection a week ago, but that hasnt helped the pain at all. They only prescribe me 70 pills at a time, and I have to go pick up an Rx every week. The last two Weeks I have started taking an extra dose at night (2 pills every 4-6 hours) and my prescription is running out quickly. I want to tell my doctor that the oxycodone just isnt doing anything at the current dose, but I am worried about being seen as a drug seeker. Its stressful being on these meds as EVERYONE around me is worried I will get addicted, but I dont even see why I would as I am taking these pills for severe pain, not to get high. My mom (I am 23 and my mom has been helping me deal with the doctors and stuff) is becoming completely overbearing about my Rx, to the point where she regulates every dose, and she says she "will not allow me" to be on anything stronger. I know shes doing this to protect me, but I have never had a problem with addiction, and I dont feel I do right now, she just sees the news stories about how awful opiates are and freaks out. Anyway, I am seeing the surgeon and my normal doctor today and I was going to talk to both of them about my meds and see if theres something else I can try as these arent working. I forgot to mention that at one point my mom came to my appointment (yes I am a push over because I love her) and told the doctor that the oxycodone was making me "mean" (the pain makes me mean, lol) so they tried me on 100Mg Tramadol every 4 hours, but I may as well have taken a baby aspirin for the relief I got, so I called and the doc put me back on the oxycodone. Now the pharmacy and other doctor at the office, as well as my family, is treating me like an addict or scum and its KILLING me. I have done PT 3x a week plus massage, I have tried a TENS unit, Advil, aleve, Tylenol, meditation, kratom, st. Johns wart, and nothing touches the pain like the opiates have. But being on the opiates is incredibly stressful because of the outside pressures. I hate waking up and having to deal with being questioned every time I call the doctor for a refill, or go to the pharmacy, or ask my mom for a dose. I am having stomach aches and head aches from dealing with this BS. I have a diagnoses, I have always been upfront, and I have tried everything. Now I am going to possibly end up on OxyContin 20Mg 2x a day, and am going to go through MORE stress with that. Does anyone have any advice for me? I hate this stigma.

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The stigma is really something that you, your mother and others are creating and perpetuating here.

If you legitimately need pain medications and are only taking them as prescribed, there is nothing wrong with that and there should be no stigma associated with it.

As to the way the doctor is acting, that may be due to your mother's influence, her creating the concern about you getting addicted to the medications, kind of gives the impression that you have abused them and are drug seeking.

You are 23, so you do need to take control of this situation yourself, which means talking to your doctor and making your own decisions.

I have a friend that's much older and he never did this and, to this day, at a much more advanced age, he still has to deal with crazy stuff from his mother, all the time and he is completely miserable.


Learn more Oxycodone information here.

Thus, the best thing I can advise is that you take control of your own life, which also means talking to your doctor yourself.

Does anyone else have any advice to add?

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I am not perpetuating the perception as I only take the medication as required. My mom is worried because both sides of my family have had addiction problems. My father with crack cocaine, heroin and alcohol, my mother with amphetamines and morphine sulfate.

I have no problem taking control or talking to my doctor 1 on 1, it is difficult sometimes because as I work only 29 hours a week while in school I do not qualify for medical benefits. Thus my parents are covering the majority of my medical expenses and feel as if they have a right to be aware of everything that is going on.

The problem is the pharmacy and my mother more than the doctor or myself. Whenever I go into get a refill on my medications the pharmacist always has something to say, such as "You went through 70 pills in 2 Weeks?" Or, "So when do you plan on stopping?" Whenever she says something like this I automatically feel ashamed, although I am only taking 30Mg a day (as prescribed). My mother also contributes by telling me I don't seem to be in pain, or when I go to take my afternoon or evening dose "You're taking more?!"

If the pain weren't so bad I wouldn't take anything, but it is and I am. If I had the resources to cover my medical bills on my own I would feel a lot more inclined to say "Bug off, it is none of your business."

As I write this I am on my way to my second steroid injection (first one did nothing) and if this fails I will be going in for surgery. After I wrote that post I went to see my surgeon and GP. I ended up with a prescription for Lyrica and Methylprednisone. At the end of the appointment I stayed back and told my mom I wanted to talk to the doctor about my testosterone therapy. I told him my problem, he completely understood. Instead of writing me another prescription for Oxycodone he put me back on Norco 6-8 pills a day with 1 refill. I also was fortunate as when I went to drop off my prescriptions there was a freak power outage and I had to take it to another pharmacy a few miles away. Maybe it was because it was more than just opiods or maybe the pharmacist was more understanding because when I left I didn't feel like a drug seeker.

Now I hide my pills, removed the label and don't even let my mom know. So, problems solved. Except for the 60 year old back in a 23 year old body, nothing I can do about that though.

Thank you for your advice just as well.

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nervepain - good for you!! i read a lot of these posts, sometimes for information and sometimes out of curiosity...i am a normal 41 year old white female, graduated high school, didn't stick with college, and have a really good job at a pharmaceutical company. i am also a recovering addict of both drugs & alcohol. the drugs were a mish mosh of cocaine & opiate pain killers. it still bugs me and i feel like a loser freak but i am handling it with help i was glad to get. being a very independent woman for such a long time, to have become totally dependent on pills was a huge shock & horror for me, but nonetheless it was true. was given some by a doctor back in 2001 (i was 31 when i had my first narcotic pain killer, never touched one before then, maybe tylenol with codeine as a kid, but who knows, don't remember)...anyway, right out of the gate i was in love with how they made me feel, ok fast forward thru the drivelly details and i stopped november 2005 on my own, horrible detox, just nasty bad & ugly, had no insurance, so i was pretty screwed, i was unemployed at the time, too...so i went 4 years without a pill and dental nightmares brought me back...now of course i could have handled this differently, but i wasn't in the best place spiritually and overall bored with life and my routine and was vulnerable,so i chose to get back on the ride again for 7 months. however, this time around i asked a friend for help and was introduced to suboxone, which i have been on since october 2010 and off the regular opiates since.

not sure what my point is here, but i read what you are going through and yes u are 23 and an adult, but u are a young adult, and as u said, u are reliant on ur parents for financial assistance so u are subjected to a certain amount of crap which does suck for you. u do not even remotely seem to be an addict and it was just soooo freakin cool to read your threads because it's just so obvious u are having crazy nerve pain issues and doing some trouble shooting with your docs and like i have been for other meds, u are on the trial & error circuit with meds, and it's a huge pain and can be very emotionally & mentally draining and u feel a bit like a lab rat...that's great u were able to have some privacy & discretion and get the norco again, this was your preference, not sure why u had to get off of those...now to crack u up i hope after all that, i just happened to see u had methylprednisone, and i need to ask u if it caused you to have constipation at all? I did a 6 day course in March and another in late april, and my whole bathroom thing has been messed the hell up like i could never have imagined...i am finally seeing a gastro enterologist monday, been waiting for a month...i am not used to having this problem, and it's been no walk in the park and taking it's toll on me, because u are not yourself when u have issues in THAT department! now u know u will know if u think u might have a problem with your meds, meaning addiction/abuse, and u seem honest with yourself, so i am just saying IF that day ever comes, and for lots of people it does, u have lots of options as to how u can get help....not that u will, i just had to throw that out there for my own peace of mind. once u are working a full time job that provides u with health insurance, your mom will never have to know of another pill u take ever again, and yes it sucks that 8 out of 10 people taking this meds are addicts, though not all 8 are problematic, they are just people who are really banged up and have been given these meds for so long they will be dependent for life...but it's made it harder for people like u, but just keep asserting yourself the way u are, and hold your head high when u pick up your scripts, and being 23 of course is a factor, but still, so what? youre a freakin adult...the 80 year old granny picking up the oxys might be a big time junkie and crushing them up when she gets home, ya never know, can't judge! anyway, if someone says another dumb remark to u, or asks u a question that is none of their business, u know u can always tell them to f*** off, but seriously, nobody in the pharmacy should be anything but professional to u, if they are not, i would report them...good luck and let me know about the methyl!

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Hey Doolala :)

Thank you. It is really nice to have someone who understands that I am doing my best to handle this on my own while also being dependent and respectful of my parents.

About the methy. YES. I have had stomach problems before (like when my old GP put me on an insane amount of Adderall because he misdiagnosed my low testosterone as ADHD) ehh literally Weeks without pooping at which point I drank two bottles of magnesium citrate and spent a night on the toilet, lol.

Anyway, back to the point. I got my steroid injection yesterday (after the numbing agent wore off the pain went right back up) I started taking the prednisone the day before. All I have managed so far is the smallest possible turd I could hope for haha. And that was after eating a huge bowl of Splenda sweetened ice cream. I have had at least 80 oz. of water today and I am hoping tomorrow I can get something out. I HATE being constipated.

Also, the doctor that put me on oxycodone previously was one I saw because my normal doc wasnt available for a few Weeks. She said it was because of the Tylenol. (she prescribed me the uncompounded oxycodone). When I saw my regular doctor the other day he even said that the Tylenol wasnt a huge concern since I will hopefully be pain free in a month or two. So I put up with my moms BS for no reason. (She had no problem when I was on narco before, she started freaking out at the word "oxy").

Anywho, thank you for the support. Ill let you know what happens with the steroids.

Take care!

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