General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsdid you know that Many prescriptions have changed the way you get them starting today?
Lortabs and those types of pain relievers will no longer be allowed to just be called in. You have to actually go to your doctor, get a hand written scrip and then take it to the pharmacy. No refills will be allowed. Must see doctor every time.
http://fox4kc.com/2014/10/01/changes-coming-monday-for-people-who-take-prescriptions-pain-meds/
BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. — Beginning next Monday, October 6, some commonly-prescribed pain medicines will be harder to get. The Drug Enforcement Administration is reclassifying drugs such as Vicodin.
Michele Hovermale takes Vicodin to control the pain of two chronic diseases. She has had her doctor send an electronic prescription to the pharmacy. It includes refills to cover three months.
“They’re just always in the pharmacy. I don’t have to worry about it,” said Hovermale.
But that changes next Monday. The DEA is reclassifying all hydrocodone combination drugs from Schedule III to Schedule II to try to cut down on abuse.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
riversedge
(80,810 posts)soooooooooo many levels.
Expensive--must see doc. think of the appointments that are necessary--!! think of the transportation needs of so many elderly, disabled ect ect. The cost of the appointments. the list goes on and on
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Abused the drugs. My suspicition is that it is really a money maker. Doctors found that ACA saved money but not Doctors who MAY (not positive) lost money. Seems suspect to me though.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)what a firkin mess
I certainly don't abuse them
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)and need less stress NOT MORE in their lives.
TheFrenchRazor
(2,116 posts)and will actually hurt people who need pain relief.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Even if we set aside the massive death toll from pot 
enough Americans abuse scrip painkillers that they're killing more people than coke, dope, and meth put together.
Furthermore, we're using something like 85% of the world's supply.
TheFrenchRazor
(2,116 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)I'm ambivalent about this whole idea to begin with, but I'd like to at least have solid numbers here.
catbyte
(39,153 posts)That means you don't experience the soul crushing brutality of severe chronic pain 24/7. I get so infuriated by shitheads like Limbaugh abusing pain meds which causes a backlash and overreaction by the DEA. You can't imagine the hoops I've had to go through in the last 5 years just to keep the same prescriptions I've been on for 15 years. It's ridiculous. I really wish a joint would take care of the soul sucking nerve pain I live with, but it doesn't. Actual studies show that less than 4% of legitimate pain patients develop a psychological addiction to meds and begin to abuse them. I'm sure that figure is even lower if you weed out those who have addictive personalities to begin with. All this is doing is making life that much harder for people whose life is hard to begin with.
UglyGreed
(7,661 posts)posts the same thing over and over in many threads involving pain medication without any facts or links to prove his/her point. Don't bother trying enlighten people like Recursion with the studies, they just ignore them and move on to another thread to regurgitate their propaganda against people in pain. I wish you the best in your battle against pain.
UglyGreed
(7,661 posts)number goes down to 2% if you exclude people with addictive personalites.
With whom
(22 posts)Those who do not have levels of pain as described to their doctors get a buzz off of the meds. Sometimes when first being prescribed the meds one can take too many and also get a buzz. For me, and obviously for you too, I have no idea of how many pills it would take to get high; I've thought about it and I have taken more than prescribed just to see to no avail. I sometimes jokingly tell people that I could take half a bottle and not get high, but its probably true. I wouldn't do it, I need those meds every day and carefully take what I'm directed to take, controlling and managing meds is essential. Running out is horrible.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)is that the DEA is trying to inflate the seriousness of it in order to justify their continued existence now that it looks like they may be "right-sized" or go the way of the dodo bird with the encroaching end of the criminalization of marijuana; new approaches, such as drug-courts and diversion, to minor criminal issues involving drugs; and increasing recognition of the failure of the war on drugs.
Nothing to see here except a wasteful government agency that should be ended and see its authority returned to other federal agencies, local law enforcement, and the states; an agency in search of a justification for their continued existence.
Just as an addition, it's time for President Obama to fire Michele Leonhart and not name a replacement DEA Administrator.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)Euphoria is the enemy of us all.
To be a DEA agent one must be certain somewhere somebody is having too much fun and this person must be sent to prison.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)scrip take to pharmacy get it filled.
Call reg doc get written scrip walk next door to pharmacy get scrip. For me in only adds about 30 minutes wait time IF everything goes right.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)
dionysus
(26,467 posts)refills... nowadays you have to go see the Dr every month for a refill.. that is, if you can even get a script; Drs have become so paranoid they want to make you sign a contract for random drug testing to get prescribed pain meds, anxiety meds, ambien, it's nuts..
frazzled
(18,402 posts)If you're still in pain after 7-10 days, you don't need more painkillers: you need a new dentist.
My husband broke his shoulder in two places as well as four ribs, and punctured a lung (in addition to top to bottom bruising and a hematoma). He got off a regular schedule of the painkillers within a week, reducing it to Tylenol during the day and only one painkiller before bed so he could sleep. Potential addiction is way worse than the pain.
I think this is a good move.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)hole was about 2 inches deep, took months to heal. it was not good times. 7 shots of general anesthetic didn't even touch the pain from that evil, evil chisel. the fucking guys tray of tools looked like a wood carving set! I did overstate the amount of refills I think. I think it was 3. I think each one may have been for a weeks supply.
The only thing I ever experienced that was more painful was rupturing a disc in my lower back and having the contents of said disc completely envelop my sciatic nerve on the right side. By then the laws had changed and I was still hunched over at a 45 degree angle, in agony and using a cane, when the doc stopped giving me meds. It sucked. I remember many times clutching my knee to my chest, tears rolling down my face from the pain... 
so sorry to hear about this suffering you endured. {{hugs}}
I do hope you are better now.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)
TheFrenchRazor
(2,116 posts)decision for yourself, and no one else. and i'm guessing you've never had serious, chronic pain. i assure you that the pain is much worse than potential addiction.
catbyte
(39,153 posts)tune in a heartbeat. If it weren't for pain medication, I am pretty sure I would have committed suicide years ago. You have no idea how destructive chronic, 24/7 pain is. It destroys your life without proper treatment. With meds, I am able to work 45+ hours/week; without them I would either be prostrate on the couch, sobbing, or, as I stated earlier, dead. Pain is WAY WORSE than addiction. Besides, less than 4% of legitimate pain patients become addicted. I never even got high from the meds. The pain seems to suck up all the alleged "euphoric" effects. It just helps ease the nerve pain.
cali
(114,904 posts)Try living with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_regional_pain_syndrome
Yes, I take opiates. As little as I can, but I take them. Some days I can get by without any. Other days, not so much. I've tried a wide array of different therapies, but it's the most effective thing when the pain spirals.
spooky3
(38,634 posts)The more often that you have to physically go to the doctor's office to get the prescription, the more your life is disrupted by clerical problems. Once a year is not too bad, but every few weeks is a pain...
gopiscrap
(24,733 posts)another way for doctors to get richer?
LeftInTX
(34,295 posts)Docs will no longer be able to call in many cough medicines.....
cali
(114,904 posts)I'm prescribed oxycodone for CRPS so I'm on it long term. Until my PCP retired recently, she was 45 minutes away so she just sent the 'scrip to my local pharmacy. Now I have a PCP in town so I pick up the 'scrip.
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)My ADHD meds are schedule II. I get three scripts at a time, one current, two postdated. If I think ahead, the doctor will mail them to me when I run out. I only actually SEE my doc once or twice a year to do a regular checkup. I do have to drop the paper off and either wait or come back later, which is a PITA.
I take two different meds at very low dosages to get good coverage without sleep disruption. Costco has decided that is not allowed and wanted to call my doctor to check up on me, be certain I'm not tweaking. This is not a mandatory policy. So some pharmacies will go even farther than required by law to be certain that you are properly shamed.
Are people trying to score the meds illegally more likely to fake a call than a paper script? I guess I am not sure how this policy decreases illegal use.
kickysnana
(3,908 posts) With whom
(22 posts)Been on Vicodin and other pain meds for ten years now through the VA. My doctor would write 6 month scripts that I could refill online through myhealtevet. In these last ten years I have been able to count on the fingers of one hand how many alcohol drinks I've had each year, usually with fingers left over.
When calling in for a new script I was told to make an appointment. I did. One month without meds until the 20th gets here. The first week was hell. I could not move. I could not function. Then it hit me. Use vodka instead. Now its 8 ozs of vodka each day. Bad days its 11 ozs.
Here's the madness part. On the pain meds I function normally. There is no impairment, while if I do not take the meds one might think I was on them. I'm not sure how many I would have to take to feel a high, the 10 mg vicodin are much weaker than what I was once prescribed. Using alcohol, which is 100% legal to purchase, creates a greater risk. It is illegal to have in my system while driving, even though the BAC is under the limit. My dosing of alcohol is 2 ozs @ 8 am, with another oz every two hours. When the pain level requires more the two hour dose becomes one and one half oz, still within legal driving limits.
It will be interesting to hear my primary care physicians' take on this on the 20th.
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)My daughter was prescribed a schedule II drug some years ago. I only had to stop by office and pick up the script. She didn't come with me, much less see the doctor.
Frankly I think random urine tests would be much more effective. They are idiots down at the FDA. With the profits to be had on the black market the people who cause most of the problems will not be deterred by this one bit. But of course those who truly suffer will find life evev more difficult.
Julie
With whom
(22 posts)Several years ago while being prescribed 30 mg sched II meds (oxycodone) urinalysis and completing a written questionair was mandatory each month. Now that hydrocodone is sched II also I am being told by my doctor that monthly visits and tests will be the norm. No more six month scripts with call in or online refills.
You do bring up a good point though. Just now thinking more deeply into what meds I get, and what you are saying, leads to this: Each month I call the pharmacy in order to ask for a new (not a renewal) script of methadone, also a sched II. No Dr. visit, no screening, and no urinalysis.
Downthread is found relevant information about the DEA shaking up the doctors and forcing people off of the meds. My appointment on the 20th may not be as easy for the doctor as he would like it to be, I am peaceful, quiet, and not confrontational by choice - but there is an on switch still there from my days of being in management positions. Watch out doctor!
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)Those who sell on the black market always save a few to pass the piss test. With the rest they pay their mortgage and buy nice cars by selling their scripts at ridiculous prices to desperate addicts who beg, borrow and steal to pay. I really think many here have no idea how widespread this problem is.
Julie
With whom
(22 posts)Several times I had been asked to sell or to visit a doctor somebody knows. Back then getting up to 120 a month from VA could have generated some serious money, the price a few years ago was $1 / mg. Selling 100 @ 30 mg each is $3,000 street value, still leaving 20 pills for pain management and testing. The doctors 'they' know would write scripts for 180 pills. Lets say keep 5 aside and use 175 x $30 to generate $5,250. One could live nicely with that Julie.
The oxycodones are terrible drugs, they are highly addictive and repeated use decreases the effectiveness of each pill, resulting in abusers needing several at a time. I have seen people go through 20 in one morning. These abusers cannot function without a fix - they become like zombies, unable to move or think, they have no energy or ambition, living asleep on their feet. Giving them a pill supercharges them, they run in high gear non stop until the effects wear off. Outlawing or severely restricting the oxycodones (known as roxycodone on the street, roxycodone is not the same, but that what they think it is) is essential. Heroin is the usual result of their addiction, barring of course the suicides, taking combinations of other drugs, and overdoses.
sorefeet
(1,241 posts)Nothing is going to change for me. See the doc 2 times a year. Blood test and a drug test. Call in my prescription once a month. It's all on computer, they know when I got my last refill and there is no way to cheat. This is solely for the DEA to propagate the drug war. This will no doubt increase HEROIN use. The DEA came into Billings scared all the doctors whom promptly eliminated many of their pain patients. Then there all of a sudden seemed to be lots of heroin and overdoses. This is nothing more than the DEA trying to justify a job that isn't needed. More American fear tactics.
Why doesn't the doctor drug test ADHD patients?????? The adults that I know have conned the stupid neighborhood doctor into a prescription. But it's just a tool to trade for meth or eat a half dozen when they don't have the meth. They kick you off the pain program for smoking pot but it doesn't matter if you are a meth head.
UglyGreed
(7,661 posts)nice to be treated like a person with a health problem and not a drug seeker.
Coventina
(29,731 posts) 
tblue37
(68,436 posts)had to have a new paper scrip ach month for my pain meds (for other conditions). When I call to schedule my appontment for my shot (so the nurse will have it ready and I will be able to pop in and out in just a couple of minutes), I also have them get my scrips ready so I can pick them up at the same time. That way I don't have to drive the 20-minutes in each direction twice each month.
I don't see a doctor for the shot or for the scrps. The nurse gives me the shot, and the nurse has the doctor prepare the scrips in advance. I do see the doctor for an annual well-woman eexam, and we discuss my scrips at that time, to see if I need an adjustment. If I see the doctor during the year for any other reason, we also discuss my pain meds then, as well. I have always requested decreased dosages, even against the doctor's advice, so my doctor doesn't consider me a risk for abusing them.
IOW, my doctor has been providing a month-by-month paper scrip all along, so this change won't change anything for me, unless it somehow forces my doctor to see me in person each time he writes my monthly scrips for pick-up when I come in for my shot each month. I don't think that is part of the new requirements, is it?