A nightmare that doctors overwhelmingly choose to avoid when they die themselves

[kurtzapril4]

225. If you need narcotic pain meds,

it is very tough to get them, legitimately, because doctors here would rather have you suffer than become a drug addict. They are SO paranoid about people becoming drug addicts. If someone is in pain, and pain meds help, and the person is taking them as prescribed...so what if they become addicted? You can be functionally addicted to drugs.

But you can drive to FL and see a "pill mill" doctor, or go to Mexico and buy a lot of the stuff over the counter, or have the doctor who works in the pharmacy prescribe them to you right there. They're also a lot cheaper in Mexico. I expect that is the reason why so many are OD-ing on pain meds...just drive to FL, do some doctor hopping, and come back with lots of pills. That's how Limbaugh did it.

I have relapsing-remitting MS. My doctor prescribed narcotic pain meds to me after I jumped through a few hoops. One of them being that I go to a pain management clinic($150/visit) first, and try what they suggested. The first thing the pain doc did was prescribe me narcotic pain meds, and neurontin, as I also have nerve pain. The pain meds did their job, and the neurontin brought the nerve pain under control, at least to a tolerable level. I went back after the meds ran out, and he then wanted to stick needles in my spine(trigger points), under light anaesthesia, at which point I said no thank you. He then said, well, if you want narcotics, you will have to go back to your GP or neurologist. I went back to my GP and explained the situation, and now I have a monthly prescription of the pain meds I need to be functional. Trigger point spine injectons are A)Very expensive...my share would have been $1,000 per treatment(money I don't have), and B)you have to be re-treated frequently. My prescriptions of pain meds and neurontin cost me $15/mo. To top it off, when I saw my neurologist and told him that the pain management Dr. wanted to stick needles in my spine, he said "Yeah, that's usually their answer for everything."

Now I understand that the FDA will be tightening regulations on narcotic pain killers....making people have a Dr. appt. every single time they get their prescription re-filled, and other onerous BS, just because people are OD-ing on pain meds. This should not be the problem of people who are suffering with chronic pain. What about people who can't afford a trip to the doctor every month? Or don't have transportation? I'm sorry that people are abusing pain meds. Regulate THEM. Not the rest of us.