Thank you. My son has had to take opioid for several years just to be able to work. It has become increasingly expensive and harder to get just the minimum of meds that help him get thru the day. I want him to be able to continue to obtain them legally and safely.
Know the feeling. I haven’t had a pain free breathe in 30 yrs. Osteoarthritis drugs was supposed to work on OA pain, what it did was destroy my GI tract. The Reflux meds, Steroids, Nerve Blocks gave me Osteoporosis. I now deal with a Degenerative spine with Stenosis and a Calcified Lumbar. Fibromyalgia a autoimmune. Neuropathy, Gastropresis, Barrett’s Esophagus which is a pre-cancer. All level 10 pain, no cure, no treatment. The 1 drug for Gastropresis is Reglan, Black Boxed for Neurological side effects is a 2 week drug, that just broke me out in Hives with 1 pill thankfully. I’ve spent the last 18 months rehabbing my dominate R hand, thumb surgery left me with no fine motor skills. Now the L thumb has blown, with double trigger lock and a torn ligament. Scared t0 death of a second surgery. Those OA drugs didn’t stop with destroying the GI tract they damaged my heart too.
My BIL, his 10 yr old grandson and the BIL’s younger brother all 3 have Duchene’s MD, his daughter has had 2 botched knee surgeries, she wants the leg amputated because the pain never stops and she has Lupus on top of it.
One of the freelance writers I know who picks these lies apart has EDS with Small Cell Neuropathy. Look up Roger Chriss and Richard Red Lawhern, Red is on FB, but not Roger.
Disease is no respecter of persons. Lady Gaga has Fibromyalgia, Venus Williams has Sjorgen’s all autoimmunes. Only difference is they can afford to pay top dollar for treatment and we usually can’t.
As a cancer patient, I’m in awful chrinic pain. I’ve written to my gov about how this war on medication is hurting those who need it. This extreme view is hurting those who legitimately need help.
Illegal Fentanyl is the problem !!
Have Y’All had the “Pain Clinic” Rodeo yet ?
You know, the one were You GP or Primary Doc can’t write Rx’s for more than 7 days of Opioid Pain Meds.
Then the GP has to do a Referral to get You IN to the waiting list to SEE the “Pain Clinic” - After a 2 to 16 week wait for an appointment to be “evaluated” and then told it will be another 1 to 4 weeks before you can return for an appointment to find out if they will help you or not.
Then if they do say they’re going to help they start trying to give you Rx’s for “Non-Opioid” alleged “Pain Meds” that 98% of the time don’t work for MOST people that have had to go to The level of Pain Meds they have.
Then if they do write an Rx for Opioids you will only get enough for the days until the next appointment and no more. They also have a limit of 90mg/24 hours total no matter what it ACTUALLY takes to control the Pain FOR REAL.
None of the “Medical Professionals” running these “Pain Clinics” have ever actually used these Meds themselves. Instead they rely on “Clinical Trials” that for the most part are useless.
Then you have to do a Piss Test before they will refill your Rx. If you don’t have any Insurance coverage then you out of pocket costs will be close if not more than:
1st Visit: $400.00
1st Piss Test: $75.00
1st Visit TTL: $475.00
2nd and Follow up Visits:
Consultation Visit: $175.00
Follow Up Piss Test: $75.00
2nd or more Visits TTL $ 250.00
If you have Insurance it will vary. My Copay is $50.00 @ Visit.
Then if you are paying out of pocket at the Rx, depending on what Med Rx is prescribed cost can vary from $35 - $5642.04 for one month.
BTW- the High Dollar Med is nothing new or fancy. It was created back in 1939 in Germany. On top of that (for Me anyway) is useless. I may has well have been taking Baby Asprin.
BTW2: The Piss Testing at My “Pain Clinic” is done with Test Strips and there is NO Chain of Custody. So it’s a semi-bogus test.
50 Million Intractable Pain Patients, they use the wrong work Chronic.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/902197