Tell your story of living with chronic pain, by leaving a reply at the bottom of the page. Do not mention specific medications or dosages. Stories do not appear right away.
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Tell your story of living with chronic pain, by leaving a reply at the bottom of the page. Do not mention specific medications or dosages. Stories do not appear right away.
Don’t they realize that they are killing people right and left not just all of the chronic pain people like me but the people in the VA hospitals that need their medication but cannot tell a nurse or a doctor because of the condition they are in but you can see it in her eyes and cannot do anything about it they are allowing the veterans that have served our country and now live in the VA elderly homes die from pain they are just taking their medication away from them without giving them anything for withdrawals from the medication they have been on for years for the pain that they have endured serving our country making them suffer where is the fairness and that why does their medication have to be took away from them These are our elderly vets please help them
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 1985! I have seen anyone and everyone that seems to have a legitimate treatment. Will not be redundant with my experience and loss! However; I was place on Disability by my corporation in 2003 due to my Doctor’s advise.
I have been on pain medication that includes opioids for 17 years. I have gradually restored some quality of life by increasing activity and controlling the pain with my prescribed medications. Increasing strength is the only consistent way to reduce my pain.
Now I am told by my current doctor of 7 years that he will never give me the same dosage of pain medications in the future. Please believe me when I say I have never increased the strength of my dosage of pain medications! And, I have never taken more than originally prescribed except for surgeries or other injuries with Doctors Prescription.
Now the pain is increasing and I am loosing strength.
I NEED HELP AND I WANT TO HELP.
In closing I have found Acupuncture to be very helpful. No, it will not replace the pain medication and it can get expensive if you have a qualified Acupuncturist with an Eastern Medicine background.
Other than Rallies how can I help??
I have a rare tomorrow wrapped around my spine, 10 years now I’ve been on pain medication. Since then and I have been cut off by two doctors for no good reason. They don’t want to deal with the government BS. At first I was ashamed that I had to take pain meds because it was taboo and I did not want to be labeled as a drug addict . I finally got a doctor that understood my situation knowing that I could not function without pain medication. I take my medication as prescribed. No one would ever even know I was on pain medication or even in pain because I hide it so well. It should not have to be this way. What can we do about it? First of all stop this war against opiates in general. Let us specialize this to be illegal drugs that are flooding into the United States and can’t be controlled. But the government has figured out they can control us. They think they have made a dent in this problem but in fact they have caused more problems.People have turned to finding drugs on the street or they just give up and kill them selves. I know because I have been there. In the 10 years I have cut my medication in half , No one really wants to be on pain medication ,I know I don’t. I don’t do it to get a high. I do it so I can get out of bed and try to function like a normal person would. It would be impossible to do without pain medication. I try to help the elderly and does more unfortunate than myself. That’s where I see all of the people that really need help. Fighting a make-believe war against opiates does not help anyone! It’s a gross miss use of our tax money. Let’s fight a war against drug dealers! Stop taking advantage of people that really need help with their pain , I would really like to go to this rally but I’m afraid my body cannot handle it. Also I know it won’t do any good. I government has abandoned us, let us down, and actually labeled us as criminals. It is such a sad situation . I’m sure everyone that has anything to do with this so-called war against opiates has never been in chronic pain. I wish they could be in my shoes for just one hour, then I’m sure things would change. Of course this is impossible. What are we to do? Go out on the steps Of the state capital and suffer more? Like I said this will not do any good. Again what are we to do?
I would tell you it’s not just chronic pain that is an issue. Two years ago, I had to have a hip replaced as the long-term result of a degenerative childhood bone disease from 60 years ago. The surgery was more complex and invasive than a typical hip replacement operation and resulted in, not surprisingly, my pain lingering longer than it typically would. The surgeons were being pressured to limit the time on opioid pain medications. In addition, because of a blood clot I could not take some other alternative pain medications. I knew if I could take the stronger pain meds I would be in severe pain and not be able to rest because even as it approached time for my next pain pill, my pain was difficult to deal with. The surgeons were being adamant that they were not going to refill my prescription. I was very upset and scared at what I was about to face.
Luckily, my primary care physician took over my pain management and continued my narcotics for another 3 weeks. My pain subsided and I weaned off the narcotic medication with NO problems.
If I was ever in need to have the other hip replaced or need other major surgery, I would be VERY concerned about pain management and might postpone needed surgery if I could not be assured of needed pain medication.
Pain management can NOT be done by regulations or a cookbook approach. Doctors must be able to meet the patient’s legitimate needs for strong pain medications.
I have severe spinal, shoulder and knee issues, complicated with fibromyalgia and multiple surgeries. My pain Dr retired in 2011. Since then, the only care I receive is injections and cortisone shots which have become costly due to insurance changes. I do understand there is a problem but feel it has affected those who are in true need. Practices, as a whole, have strangled Drs from true treatment of those in need. Even after surgeries, they are afraid to prescribe. Something needs to be done to help those in true need!
I had an accident on my job 1999 and my insurance that i paid in to was not really helping and when they sent me to there doctor it turned in to prexisting injury and lost that job so here i go to medicaid and ssi thru the years my knee injury were scoped 3 times took all of my cartilage so im bone on bone and im miserable . And a few years after i fell while was on crutches landed me in the Hospital with pinched nerves in my back and a torn tenddon or ligament at the left shoulder so you know why i need my pain meds , and i was fine with what i was getting and then it seemed like i was being tortured all over when was told it was the State doing the torture . It is really to bad the Doctors dont fight for there patients as they take more and more away from me and have to go through the with drawls and the pain increasingly gets worse , But why ?
It’s bad enough that this pain has ruined my life but what’s even worse is trying to get a cure for the pain
Doctors are too scared to prescribe pain medicine, pharmacists treat you like a criminal and make up every excuse possible not to fill your prescription
In Los Angeles I had four doctors but put out of business over a 15-year. I’m sick of being treated like a criminal just because I have pain and I take opiate or narcotic medicine to cure it. These medicines are the only thing that works as well as it does and I will do it no matter what I have to do.
This is my problem and I don’t need politicians interfering. obviously there are notoriously wires they know nothing about pain nothing about medicine.
There is not an opiate crisis in this country, there is an addiction crisis but that’s not the fault of the medication or the people who do not that use it properly.
Punish the abusers not the patients!!!!!!!
The local CVS won’t fill a prescription for pain medicine until the 30th day then if they’re out or can’t fill a full prescription they won’t do a partial which means that once you do go there on the 30th they think I may not have the medication it’s a horrible system with way too many people involved.
I would like to become involved in some type of local patients rights group in the Los Angeles Orange County area
I was in car acc 1988 was in hospital for 8 months then to old folks home 6 mon . istarted taking meds 03 and before i was given any i had mri xrays cand drug tests every month for15 yrs. Now i am told my meds that help me stay working is going to end doctor doesent want too loose license and said it was the law ! .bull shit law made by people who have no idea what pain is. And that every body has the same tolerances to pain . i followed the rules and they keep treat me like criminal . no wonder people are dying from heroin. I could go on for along time telling my story . i just need help. Please dont take my meds.Raymond
I had a work injury in 2000 , my employer told me it was just a “pulled muscle ” , but after a few months of dealing with it they started giving me lidocaine injections. turns out I had a torn rotor cuff , since that surgery i’ve had 6 more and was put on pain meds. now i’m in a different city after having to retire from my job , the pain mgmt docs don’t care about what , where or when your pain is as long as they’re getting paid EVERY month. I don’t need my meds every day with crps only when i’m in pain but they want to see you monthly , that costs a lot of money that we don’t have . The docs at the pain mgnt clinic couldn’t pick me out of a line up of 2 , but y family doc knew every thing about me , so which one is better ?
I have been praying for someone to get the media to let people know what’s been done to us-but I was sick in bed in withdrawal for an entire month wishing to die!…Where are the families & friends who should be standing up for us in outrage at the barbaric treatment by Medicare? I was in a CONSTANT state of cold chills, accompanied by nausea, diarrhea, headaches, watering eyes (& I have medically diagnosed dry eyes!), etc. Now I am trying to function with grossly inadequately treated pain from a failed double bone fusion in my neck (no surgery possible), severe arthritis in entire spine, left shoulder is bone-on-bone w/ neuropathy (tingling into arm), right bone-on-bone knee; and I already had a hip replacement (+ revision) & right shoulder replacement. I am angry & frightened at having to become a recluse because I’m in too much pain to function. Medicare made no differentiation between addicts & chronic pain patients-WE are left in severe physical pain, when we have done nothing wrong! I have NEVER been “high” on my pain meds, have always passed the monthly urine tests, have never taken than allowed-why are they torturing us!? Has Medicare now decided that tolerance is an old-fashioned concept & no longer exists?? I thought about medical marijuana, but my pain dr. said it would not be strong enough for my level of pain. I am now becoming an activist-tell me who to talk to, who to write to, what TV & news to contact-I’m IN! I will be at the rally with my home health side & my walker-God bless us all…Anne