Need help with my PM Doctor, please help! <3

[sophiachanel92]

Hi all! I recently came to you all with a similar question about my pain doctor. I am a pain management patient who suffers from degenerative discs in her neck. I also commute to school 4h/trip. This causes a tremendous amount of pain for me & for that reason when I get home from my long daily drive, I take Norco 10/325. I only take 1, (maybe 1.5 or 1.25 if the pain is really bad) and sometimes take one more before bed if the pain still exists, if not, I just go to bed. Generally, I go to the Pain Doctor 1x/4 weeks. My original appointment was April 1, but I had to move my appointment back to this Thursday, the 27 due to a scheduling conflict. Also, generally, I bring my PM back about 11-15 of the original 30 pills to show her that I am doing well on my regimen & not a patient which they need to worry about abusing their medication. This month has been a month of much higher pain due to more trips to school & poor weather, which also makes my neck flare up quite a bit. I was planning on taking two more pills, one more tomorrow, one more today which will leave me with only 8 pills left this time around. Will that look bad? The last appointment I went to, I had 11 of the pills from last round. That appt was 21 days before the new appt of March 27. If I go back with only 8 pills, I fear that will look bad. The directions on the bottle say take 1/day but since I don't take it daily, sometimes I'll take 2 over the course of the day. I don't want to get fired. Should I take the two pills? I suppose I worry because I did have to move the appt back. Please help. This is a stress every month for me. Ugh. Blessings, Sophia <3

[ok2bejaded]

In my 12 years at pm, I find that honesty is best.  If you sometimes take more or less than prescribed.... be honest.  Let your doctor know that you had an especially hard week/two weeks or month.  If you have a good relationship with your doctor, the will listen and work with you to adjust your medication to allow you to function at an acceptable level.

It's awful that the abusers out there are making it so difficult for genuine pain sufferers to feel like addicts or be absolutely terrified of being cut-off or discharged.  It's not fair.
I do understand the doctors p.o.v. and that they need to protect themselves and that they are protecting their medical license and 14 years of education, but they shouldn't be doing it at the expense of legitimate pain sufferers.

[sophiachanel92]

Hi Phil!

Yes, I agree.

Thank you so much!
Elle

[philnoir]

In my experience, honesty with PM is always the best policy.

[sophiachanel92]

Hi Jaded!

Thank you so much & yes it is a fairly low dose. Drs are so worried about turning us into addicts, but I think I would rather be an addict than deal with the pain I'm in! It's not like I'm taking 4-5 pills a day or that I ran out of pills! I would never run out of pills. I just won't show her how many pills I have unless she asks. She does not do a pill count. I voluntarily show her how many are in my bottle.

Thank you so much!
Sophia

[JadedSweetheart]

You're on such a low dose I'd be surprised if the doctor actually notices your pill count.  Some doctors do a pill count, though.  I think you should just be honest with the doctor and she will understand.  It is the nature of pain that it is more intense sometimes than others.  However, if you need more medication to achieve the same results, then you are becoming dependent on the medication.  It happens to everyone who takes narcotic pain medication for a long time.  
Just tell your doctor what's going on.  I don't think you're taking a lot so she will probably understand.