STUPID conversation!

[Ashelen]

So I'll sum up my story really quick so everyone can remember what's going on with me. I was a pain management patient who took about 15mg of norco (hydrocodone) a day...I never abused the meds, took more than prescribed, etc, or had any sort of a problem...but I was tired of the cycle so I cold turkey quit them....my PM doctor didn't want to help me taper because he didn't think I should be stopping.

Fast forward about a month..I was celebrating right around a month clean when my wisdom teeth starting acting up big time, so my oral surgeon prescribed Vicodin. again, had no problem taking as directed, took even less than directed usually, etc. But it took me 3 1/2 WEEKS to finally get the surgery. Ok, so I'm taking about 35-40mg hydrocodone a day this time around...and here I am, a week after the surgery so I've been on the meds almost 4 weeks...and I had my post-up today. I talked to my oral surgeon about tapering me off since the dose was higher this time and he was like "I've never heard of anyone getting sick from withdrawals so I see no point in tapering you...you can call your primary though and see what she says"...so, I call my primary. Primary and oral surgeon start talking...I get a call from my primary's nurse saying "You need to call your PMP (pain management physician) and have HIM taper you off the meds"....I was so floored it took me a minute "um...what?" "he put you on the meds so he needs to taper you off" "I don't think you're understanding me...I stopped taking the meds he prescribed. there was more than a month between when I stopped taking the meds he gave me and when I had to go on pain meds for my wisdom tooth. why on earth would he taper me off of medicine another doctor put me on?" and my primary's nurse goes "why would WE taper you off something another doctor put you on?" and I was lke "well that's fine then but my oral surgeon had told me to call and ask you so I did...but if your answer is that I should quit cold turkey that's fine" "well yourPCP hasn't seen you while you've been taking these meds so she can't say if you can safely cold turkey quit them" "what?? so why doesn't she want to taper me? besides which, she saw me a week and a half ago!" "all I know is that she wants you to call your PMP and ask for a taper program".


At this point I was livid. I was like seriously? All I did was ask for a simple response to a simple question: should I taper since I've been on a higher dose for nearly a month? And I get this whole run-around and rigamarole?

I felt so insulted...and here I am, detoxing at home again..by myself...with just me and my 2 young kids...and this time my attitude about it ain't so great.

I know I did nothing wrong. I even told him today when my oral surgeon goes "do you think you'll need more pain meds/" i said "no there's no pain I'm ready to stop taking them"....so where does honesty get me? sick at home with stomach cramps and the shakes. so upset I've been wanting to cry all afternoon but I"m too angry to cry!!

does any of this sound right? Why on EARTH would I call my PMP who I haven't seen in months to taper me off of medicine my oral surgeon put me on??

ugh and here we go again...day 1. I didn't "slip up" or "relapse" so my "clean time" is 2 months now...but I'm having to detox again, if that makes sense? that's ok i know what i'm talking about to myself lol

[tgtiffany]

That's good!  Hopefully you won't have any symptoms at all then!!  

[Ashelen]

Thanks Tiff :-)

Well I passed 24 hours and I'm heading into 36 and I don't really feel anything so I think I'm pretty much in the clear...I mean I feel a LITTLE shaky and nauseous, but I took some valerian root before bed (OMG THAT STUFF IS AWESOME!!) and slept all night....that is, until my daughter tried to wake me up at 7 lol. I managed to get her to go lay in her bed for another 45 minutes but it totally ruined my sleep groove...I hate when she wakes up early.

Doing ok..woke up and took a multi-vitamin, some magnesium, and some ibuprofen cause I had a bit of a headache...gonna take some B-complex sublingual liquid around lunch time, then some more magnesium this afternoon..then try valerian root before bed again.

hope everyone is doing well!

[tgtiffany]

I feel for you, that really suc k!!!  It seems like the oral surgeon doesn't know what he's doing and doesn't know much about withdraws or anything!  That's probably why he's pushing you off to the other, but it's not the other job, totally get you on that.  I hope that the CT works for you and you're doing alright!

[Ashelen]

yes thank you that's exactly what I thought...I figured he'd look at me like I had 4 heads, label me a drug seeker, and send me on my way..I TOLD my PCP's nurse that it would be a waste of time.

I wasn't too bad when I quit the 15mg a day...I mean, I was shaky and had cold sweats and NO energy, but I slept fine at night and other than that I was just anxious. so I'm hoping that even though this is a higher dose i"ve been on it for such a short time..eh, we'll see. i'm just gonna take it one moment at a time.

thank you so much for all the support it's fantastic..this board helped me keep a great attitude through my last detox.

haha - as for 3 kids I"m pretty sure three WILL send me over the edge!I have a 2 1/2 year old, a 10 1/2-month old, and the next one will be about the same gap if we conceive right away...20-22 months from #2. but that's OK who needs sanity anyway, right? ;-)

[Devonlee]

yep cold turkey sounds best in your case....like you said you dont have a problem with wanting them and 8 a day isnt a super high dose. And you definitly have a good reason to with TTC #3! Exciting! And Brave! Ha I have two of my own and think a 3rd would send me over the edge mentally! hahahaha. Anyway, do you get really sick when you stop? Hopefullly not....that will make things easier! And yeah I agree it would have been weird to go to your PMP and say "hey can u taper me from some pain meds that you didnt give me and dont worry about the fact you havent even seen me for a month or more"  Some drs are idiots!

[Ashelen]

Thanks Devonlee :-). Staying strong really isn't an issue...I never have trouble NOT taking the pills when I'm not supposed to, you know? I just wanted to know the best way to stop after such a high dose (for me it's a high dose) and instead of a straight answer they shoved me around.

But oh well, come heck or high water detoxing from this. I know I could go get more pain meds, that's never been the problem with me - my PMP would prescribe it in a split second...but I don't want to KEEP taking them. I mean I guess I could get one more script and taper but I'm ready to be done..my teeth don't hurt anymore so there's no reason to keep taking them.

besides the faster I get this over with the faster my husband and I can TTC baby #3, which I'm excited about...hope to be getting a positive test sometime this summer, and if I taper it'll just be that much longer before we can start trying.

[Devonlee]

I can imagine its frustrating when your drs kind of juggle you around when all you want is some advice. Its crazy! Well hope you stay strong and good luck.

[Ashelen]

I wish because that would probably have been smart, but the script he gave me was for 2 days post-op pain and they lasted me almost a week..so I'm out at this point.

Oh well, hopefully the time was short enough that it won't matter lol. and if it doesn't I'll just plow through it like I did before.

[vicki595]

I think you'll be fine Sweetie...I do understand your frustration though!!  I could write a book on being disrespected!!  LOL

No,I never had a problem...opiates were never my DOC and I had a 4 month stint after I broke my leg in 3 places!!   One day I just took Motrin instead...and nothing happened!!  Lucky me!

I'll bet that one this AM will hold you from any w/d's. Maybe do that for a few days and stop?  You know best (and probably more than the doctors at this point!).

[thisisreallygettingold]

I knew you could do it, great job.

[Ashelen]

oh gosh I should've said...I cut back to about 20-30mg a day for the last 3 days. i took only one 7.5 early this morning.

[Ashelen]

Thanks Vicki yeah and I'm already halfway through day 1 and doing fine but i just feel like I got a lot of disrespect for a simple question, you know? I don't MIND going cold turkey, quite frankly it's like ripping the band-aid off and I'm much happier doing that. I just asked because my doctor said it was a good idea and then I get all this crap...it was just unnecessary stress.

You didn't have trouble cutting off from 8 a day? i'm hoping since it was a little less than a month than I was on this dose I should be ok...and really it was more like 20mg for the first week and a half, then for the last 2-3weeks it was 30-40mg a day...so hopefully that works in my favor.

just so frustrated with the whole system!

[vicki595]

Hey...It's the old "one hand doesn't know what the other is doing"...It happens all the time.  You're the expert here and you know what to do!  

If you're going CT, you'll probably be fine. Just see how it goes...You were taking 8 per day?  You might feel that...I never did but we're all different.   Maybe you should cut back a little and THEN CT.  How do you feel now?

xoxo

[thisisreallygettingold]

Don't do it out of anger, if you do you could be back on the pills. Do for you and your kids. To be a better mom, and not live under the power of a pill. It seems like the drs. Don't want to be responsible for you, just a guess. Anyway, I know you can do it. God bless

[Ashelen]

Thanks yeah maybe that's it, but there's no way/reason for him to do it when I haven't seen him in several months. That and he knows that I took nothing in between when I got my last refill from him and when my oral surgeon started prescribing, which is what I don't understand...it's not really his PROBLEM. THat and he really wants me on the pain meds so if I call him again he's going to tell me the same thing he told me the first time i tried to taper which is that he wants me to stay on them.

I'm just gonna cold turkey again and be done with it. so irritated that they ran me around like this.  

[Devonlee]

Looks like you have two choices....cold turkey and some misery for a few days or call your pmp for a taper. I think they may have reccommend the PMP to do the taper because they believe he might be more familiar with tapering  from pain meds. I would just look at it that way and give him a call if you dont want to do the cold turkey. Good luck.