Doctors and nurses of DU, I have a pain level question, sort of.

[Eliot Rosewater]

With the growing concern with opiate abuse, are you seeing yourself and other medical professionals leaning toward less prescribing of opiates for legitimate pain?

[skylucy]

1. It's already happening. Although I see my dentist every year for checkups, something went

wrong with a tooth he filled when it really needed a root canal. Without going into the horrible details, I needed some pain pills to keep me from rolling on the floor screaming until they could send me to a specialist. Without them, there is no way I could have eaten or slept. My dentist knows me and could see how bad the pain was, so he wrote a rx for 20 hydrocodone/acetaminophen tablets. They made me feel like a criminal when I went to the pharmacy to fill the rx. The ridiculous thing is, I have stomach issues and hated taking the pain meds because they upset my stomach. Not like I was having a damn party with them. Sorry to rant, but I was so annoyed.It really wasn't the doctor/dentist with the strange attitude, it was the pharmacy person.

[BigmanPigman]

4. You're lucky.

When I had a root canal 5 years ago I got 3 of those and that was all! My 84 year old father did something to his back and they wouldn't give him anything. I had to go into the hopital for 4 days due to severe abdominal pain and they gave me nothing for months leading up to it and nothing in the hospital. I got 4 from a neighbor and the pain was so bad that it was as if I had taken vitamins. This is ridiculous...they go from one extreme to another! It makes me almost wish I had the guts to go to Bitcoin and order some fentanyl from China.

[blueinredohio]

6. As far as I'm concerned tooth pain is horrible. I've had things happen in my life

and can handle pain fairly well but any pain to do with my teeth lessee!! Hope it all goes well

[skylucy]

2. Oops. Just realized you were asking medical professionals, not patients. Sorry

about that.

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. That is OK, i feel your frustration

[Docreed2003]

5. Its happening here

Some of that is due to self protection, as you suggest, some of it is due to state regulations. As a surgeon, you can imagine that writing prescriptions for pain medications is a routine part of my practice. As it stands now, I do not prescribe opiates preoperatively, namely because patients become desensitized to the effects of opiates and I want to be able to control their pain postoperatively. After surgery, my patients get one prescription, that’s it. If they need more, I contact their PCP and we come up with a plan for pain control that will be individualized and managed by that provider.

I wouldn’t say that we are ignoring real pain, but I do see a concerted effort, at least in my practice, to comply with state regulations and to attempt to find better ways of controlling pain. If only our state weren’t the buckle of the Bible Belt, we might have medical marijuana as an alternative to opiates.

[CCExile]

7. I am not a Dr or a nurse

Will not take opioids. Kratom is cheap and effective.

[HeiressofBickworth]

8. Bypass surgery two years ago

The worst pain I have ever suffered -- drugless childbirth was easier. In hospital and in cardiac rehab, pain meds were regularly given. I had a prescription for more at home. The only problem I had was that a four-hour drug wore off in three and I needed it more often but other help was offered (lidocain patches). At home, I took it less and less often as I continued to recover.

Maybe it was the nature of the surgery, maybe they figured a 70-year old grandmother was an unlikely drug addict or it could be true that my county drs reputedly prescribe more liberally, but I didn't have a problem getting what I needed.