I've been caught doctor shopping...what next?

[meljay414]

So does it have to be different doc in the same field or do the scripts have to overlap. I've never doctor shopped but I have got perc. perscriptions from my pcp for my knees and not too far after a script from my urologist for kidney stones. I don't think that they overlapped meaning the days the first script was supposed to last was when I got the next script. I am curious though say I used what I had from the first script and threw the rest out and then I needed the other script right after would that be looked at as Dr. shopping and would the pharmacy have a problem filling the second one.

[uzybear]

I'd like to say something, because I keep hearing the same thing over and over around here. and that is that assumption that people that seek out opiates outside of established guidelines are always addicts. I think this is very naive. However, i do get that that is the general vibe of this website. On other sites i see the exact opposite, where folks would make the opposite mistake of assuming that everyone is not addicted to their meds. anyway, what i want to say is this: A LOT of people have chronic pain, I for one have horrific chronic pain, caused by late stage neurological lyme disease. This illness is poorly understood and basically I am treated like I can't possibly be in the pain I am in because I don't have something that the doctors/pharmacists can relate to, like cancer. My pain is so severe that I've been very close to suicide several times. And believe it or not, it had nothing to do with my psyche. That is another serious mistake to assume that all suicidal people have psychological problems. It's a naive, easy way to look at it. If you were electrocuted constantly 24hrs a day, your brain feeling like it's bathed in acid, nothing but horribly suffering filling your days, it's not psychologically demented to want to end that suffering. I'm thankful that I've made progress lately, but I have no guarantees, things do not always get better, keeping the faith does not always reward in victory. Anyway, I may never post on this site again, but i had to speak up for those of us in severe pain, who need opiates to have anything of a meaningful life; those of you who abuse drugs for your own pleasure, you do SO MUCH to cause people like me horrible pain. I was lucky to find a reasonable pain doctor, but it still took years, and intervention by my parents, speaking on my behalf about the severity of my suffering, for me to recieve the pain meds i needed. opiates are not evil. for god's sake, i'm tired to this moral superiority going around here. next time you get in a car accident why don't you just forgo the morphine and see how that goes. opioids are an extremely essential part of modern medicine. HOWEVER, yes, they can and are abused quite a bit. but i'd like you to ask yourself: are these laws and rules etc. set up in order to help you? or to help the insurance companies from paying too much, or doctors from being sued? it's a sad state of affairs we're in with medicine in this country. with how easy it is to sue a doctor, and to win. lastly, i will say, please don't take my words as an invitation to take opiates. god no. addiction is a very serious and painful thing. but let me tell you something: there is something FAR more painful: and that is living with horriffic severe chronic pain WITHOUT proper pain medicine. please, think of that before you do like the guy in california who lost his kids to a DUI driver, and set up the cures system. trust me, i've suffered worse than any addiction. just please keep in mind that there are those of us who have severe chronic pain and need opiates to live a life worth living. please, just think of us, that's all i ask. and if possible, it's always best to avoid addictive drugs, always.

[ienieke]

and yes, i have been taking them all, narcotics, muscle relaxers...the whole list...
but i always knew 1 thing...you can get addicted on them, and you are not going to let those pills taking control your life!!!
But it is hard...very hard, its so easy, because its a choice, 1 pill is a pain free day....and pain free is a normal healthy life, going to work, doing the things in your household, enjoying your life!!!
Things so normal, that people who are not in pain...are not thinking of these stupid things...
For me....it has changed my life....
I lost my health, i will never be the same woman again...the doctors do not want to give me the surgery i need in my neck...to costly for the insurance...
so i fight with my body...every day...headaches, migraines, muscle spasms, backpaines....i just can go on...it hurts from head till my toes...
Pretty soon my right neck muscle will be so tight that my right ear hit my right shoulder!!!
But that is not just all i lost...
I also lost my Husband...he is leaving me....does not want to grow old with me, since i can not take care of the house and can not work and not be a wife anynore...he wants to divorce and is already acive looking for another woman and cheating on me...i just have to stay with him right now, because i can not take care for my self!

Game over....

Maybe, if i would have become addicted....i would have managed better....who knows!

[lola1022]

Uzibear, I feel ya, and anyone else who suffers daily with chronic pain. And I hate the fact that our government is getting so involved. What we do to our own bodies aren't anyone's business but our own and our Dr.'s. And doctors are being watched. I've heard of people dying with horrible cancer and the doctor not allowed to give enough med's for relief because the DEA is watching - just like Big Brother. One lady told me her dr. didn't want her to get addicted, yet she was dying from her cancer - so what if she's addicted. Shouldn't her last days be as peaceful as possible?

My story, and I'll try not to ramble, I broke both bones in my ankle in Jan 2005, tib - fib fracture. The tibula was coming through my leg. The dr. said as bad as it was it would heal, but he needed to put in some screws & pins. Shortly after that I was hospitalized with pneaumonia. After I got out and went to my ortho-asshole (I disliked him strongly). They took blood and discovered I had MRSA in the bone. The dr. tried to convience me I had given it to myself (what?). His own PA's said no you get it from the hospital. It got so bad that I was hospitalized for 5 months straight - with an external fixator (have you seen those people with the metal halo around their head and the screws going into their head to hold it in place?) I had that on my leg, on the other side where the bone had come through, I had a wound vac (it looked like my wide ope wound was covered with seran wrap and there was a vacuum cleaner type hose attached that would suck out the bad stuff while encouraging new growth of good skin. Physical therepy came daily and that was so painful that they called when they were on their way and the nurse would run in and inject 4mgs of diluadid into my pic line. I got to where i looked forward to physical therepy cause I loved the drug so much. I had surgery every other week for 5 months, where I was knocked out and they went in and literally tried to scrub the bone clean. My dr. would say, "oh, c'mon, let me just cut it off" meaning my leg. We ended up having to have a mediator in when we spoke to each other. Anyway, most of the tibula ended up having to be removed. My ankle was fused, and I went to another dr. He did 2 surgeries including a bone graft, but the bone wouldn't heal so it's screwed to a titanium rod. So, I have a special fiberglass cast that fits into a special made atheltic shoe, and I walk on a broken bone. I can't walk much or far, but I still have my leg. I was on the IV antibiotic for 1 1/2 years, but the mrsa is gone. There's more - but I'll write it later, I can go on & on - so out of respect to those who are stuck reading all this, I'll break it down. It's easier that way,

[lola1022]

Can I ask - what happened? Was it a car accident? You're very lucky - addicts don't have a choice. Take one pill and have a normal day? One pill only starts my craving and my tolerence level is so high after 12 surgeries & heavy duty drugs. I will say this - I got myself off the dilaudiid, oxy, percocet. It was the Lortab 10 that bit me in the ass. A friend of mine is prescribed 4 a day, for years - and that's all she takes. Sometimes if it's not too bad, she'll only take 2 - i don't get it. She doesn't have the thing that makes you an addict - and that is loss of control. Once I take it.....I'm off to the races! But now I'm on sub, and that's changed everything for me. Despite what some people on this board say (and I'm not disputing it, it just isn't true for me) sub doesn't make me high at all. Once I take it I'm not compelled to take more and more. And I had to go off it twice for my last 2 operations, I thought I'd really enjoy my lortab 10's - having dr. permission even. I couldn't wait to stop taking them and go back on the sub! I got a buzz from them, but it was like......this was what all the fuss was about? I let this rule my world for years? I don't get it anymore, Thank God! It just isn't worth it. Has anyone else experienced that?
I'm sorry the Doctors won't do the surgery you need on your neck. You're not planning on having it fused are you?

[ienieke]

I was in a car accident in 2001, it was not my fault, but as Belgian woman living that time in Belgium...after the accident it was a 5 years fight of the 2 insurances and since the other car was gone....not to find any more...yes that is possible in Belgium, court decided after 5 years that nobody was in fault and nobody would have to pay the other party...meaning that even it was for the law clearly that i was 100% in my rights and the other party in fault, i did not get 1 single penny!!!
5 Years ago, i met my American husband, moved to the USA and got married...the American insurances are even worse when it comes to treat people with * pre existing conditions *
5 years ago, i did not needed surgery yet....today i do need it!!!
I will never take to many medications, as i am aware of the dangers....but i absolutely do not like it how you have to beg and ask sometimes your own doctor to subscribe you the so needed pain medikations....back in Belgium, i had a very nice trusted relationship to my family doctor who knew me very well, when i needed something, i just asked him and we went over it together, he knew me, knew he also could trust me and i can tell you, it was a very nice feeling!!!
When i go here to my new family doctor, there is always a space between us...at least i feel that, she does not trust me i think...
I do know that there are lots of people out here, using prescription drugs for different things as they are meant to, but it is just wrong to think that every patient who is asking them will do so!
As family doctor, you are there to help, not to control!
My last pain medications i got from my pain Doctor were meant as a supply for 1 month....
i got oxicodone, tramadol, valium 10, baclofen....that was Feb 2010...i just run out of them...my 1 month supply ended up to 1 year suply....still, my family doctor just gave me something else for tramadol, an NSAID thing, i can not take it because of my stomach....

[chasbro]

Tramadol is ok but darvocettes WERE better...I have been caught " filling duplicates" about 3 times in the past 20 years. Usually my MD( 17 years) would just scold me. He was very compassionate.God rest his soul. 3 years ago I thought I found a good MD. I had NO problem getting legit meds for pain. Long story short....after a long illness I walked into the office and the head MD yelled and carried on about MY PROBLEM! Im too old to be humiliated and wound up calming HIM down. This was in front of staff and an office filled with partients. He got called on by the insurance people. In other words he (they) over prescribed. I did not fill duplcates of meds THEN. OK.....next Doctor....fine for 3 months....Xmas of 2009 my Mrs was refused darvs. Why? Because I would call them in.....duh. My wife lambasted him on the phone.
I was on a watch list etc...NO I was'nt....point. We worked it all out. Now I have walked the straight and narrow with this practice. Did everything required. Every 3 months a check up.
I was called on the carpet again. This guy was a class act. I will not say anything incriminating but he did have a point.I need to see my records because something just ain't right. He said look I will not report this but you have to go. I apologized for the confusion and expressed my appreciation for not "telling". Im not sure how this will play out but I have talked with my insurance people.....no misdeeds. DUH. Like who puts everything thru insurance...be that as it may here I am in the wasteland again. Im totally opiate free. Took Percs,Darvs, Vicodin for years...ALL legit. I appreciate this website because of the pure humanity of it. Med dependant people are not evil. We are human and sometimes if we overstep the rules. I read the fear re Caught Doctor Shopping(see original thread) 2008 or so. Here it is 2011 I hope those folks are OK. I will close with this.....My sweet old Dr used to tell me.....NEVER ADMIT TO ANYTHING.
He knew all about prosecutors who cared nothing for justice. He could tell the WATHDOGS to bug off. He was semi-retired and set. He told me when they would try the GOTCHA re scripts he simply said," these people are suffering and I am their MD." He did'nt push pills. Always kept watch over me and once and awhile.....what are you doing? Thats all I needed. Thanks for this site.....if the DEA is watching why don't you go find Bin Laden. The CIA sure as hell can't. Maybe they should harass and hunt Grandma Perkins for filling "duplicate" sleeping pills while you guys do some real work. Prescription drug abuse isn;t right but to criminalize the issue is yet another excercise in "smoke and mirrors." Guys they don't give a rip about your safety. Tobacco and Booze kill far more people. Ever wonder why this is overlooked? Most of them drink and smoke! Im too old to be intimidated and bullied by pharmacists( not all) who like to make you squirm. The character of a person is revealed by the way they treat the helpless. To be stigmatized as morally weak because of drug dependance makes about as much sense as the post-modern proposition,'THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTES" Really? O yes.....ABSOLUTELY. Sorry to write so much.....Im new. Just wanted to stand up for you guys.
Last point....It is against the law to give a controlled pill to someone. Seriously!
All you self appointed guardians and critics of med users better build more jails. Make room for yourself.
Later,Chasbro
PS I love america but not what it is becoming.

[Roxyhell]

My head is spinning after reading chasbro's opinion on docotor's roll in addiction and treatment. Look dude, I can't help but disagree in your thread.By blaming the dr's for our addiction issues, we are only shifting the blame to someone else. I think that it is very important for us to realize that we are all adults, and accept the treatment program reccomended by our physicians. And at time there are meds that may be habbit forming. I think it is a sellout move to say that the docs are completely responsibile for our issues with dependence. The first thing we must do as addicts, is recognize that we have a problem, talk to the one's we love about how it is affecing them,and make a plan to get help. I hardly think that pointing the finger at someone else will be productive.
I have struggled with opiate dependence for over five years,and it all started with a surgery I had back in '04. I didn't realize that my injury would cause me so much pain! Nor did I know how to tell my family. So I doctor shopped for as long as I could until I got cut off by all three docs. I didn't know it was illegal at the time, but I knew exactly what I was doing. I was manipulating the system, and as addicts, we are master manipulators. I was doing a great job until I messed up with the pharmacy, and that left me with no choice but to find my own dope. I was bitter.I was frustrated. I was confused. Why did they do this to me? It is a very touchy subject for many, but I stand by my opinion. Get educated on your meds and know what your taking before you take it. We can't avoid our physical problems,(rather big or small.) But we can control what meds we take and how we take them.. Communicate with your doctor, and ask lots of questions. If you have a history of addiction let your doc know. Write down any issues you may have ahead of time.
So bottom line is ,own your treatmeant, resentment will get you nowhere.

[chasbro]

Thanks for the rebuke but I don't think I BLAMED anybody for drug addiction/aka dependence.
I agree with you re accountability,communication etc: The key is finding a caring DOC who will help with chronic pain. Addiction differs from dependence. I mention this later.
5 whole years? OK dude see me 10 years from now. Find a Doc you can "communicate" with?
Rotsa Ruck....seriously....I cannot defend the system because the system don't give a rip. YES I KNOW there are exceptions to the rule and I pray you find a caring Doc....I really do. I had one for 17 years. Today I am opiate free and have learned to cope with pain better. You'll get there. I always worked within the system and never purchased street stuff. TRUE we learn to manipulate the system for awhile. BUT the very nature of addiction/dependance is a self defeating adventure. Consider HOW and WHEN this all started. Read the posts of pain sufferers and how many of them are treated. Get off the 12 Step( I do agree with them) soapbox and join the real world. Educate yourself by googleing DRUG DEPENDENCE vs ADDICTION. Breaking the law? Think about it. If you give uncle willy, who threw out his back out on vacation a PILL, should you be arrested? My rants are about the hypocrisy of drug laws and the very industry that perpetuates the problem. How many of us know full well...it all started with surgery! Where you that surprized by post surgical pain? I never intimated THEY DID THIS TO ME. I stand by my post re the health care system. IT SUCKS! Look dude,I am 61 years old. NEVER arrested,NEVER missed work due to DRUGS,NEVER purchased illegal drugs ( After 20 years old) I have however maniplulated the system from time to time because I was in intense pain. Im not proud of it but I understand the WHYS. I had a Godsend of a Doc for 17 years. He died 4 years ago. Since then I have be exposed to considerable ineptness and outrught mal-practice. My God dear friend a part of recovery is accepting REALITY about the real world. Shame based self depreciation will eventually blow up in your face. Of course we have been wrong....EVERYBODY....manipulates. Even NON-druggies have their demons.
Lets stop living in a la,la land of denial. All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.
Thanks again my friend....I am with you. We can disagree agreeably. I've been around the block a few times. You are in my prayers.

[dentalcutie35]

Hi everyone I am new to this site, but I am very frustrated and I feel helpless. I have been to rehab for addiction to opiods in 2000, and I have been clean of them for over 3 years now. My situation is I have been on Benzodiazapen's ( I think that's how u spell it) since I was 20 years old and I have seen multiple doctors for the prescription of Klonipin, but most of this is due to referrals: For example my family doctor wrote me a presciption for bad panic attacks and at the beginning I had no problem with them but as time has passed I know that I have a dependency on this medicine, and I am a full time college student and I cannot function without them because the withdrawls are unbearable. In the past 3 or 4 years I have had a lot of tragic events happen back to back and I started to run out of my medicine before it was time for my refill. My boyfriend of 15yrs was Physically, Emotionally, and Mentally abusive and 3 years ago he just left one day and never returned truthfully it was a blessing in disguise, but a few months after that I found my very best friend dead from overdosing on cocaine, and after that I had to have a total hysterectomy due to my ex cheating and giving me Clymidia which I thought was a bad kidney infection until I got so sick I had to call 911 and that's when I was told about the STD and that it damaged my fallopian tubes so bad and caused so much scar tissue which cause endodemetriosis. After this I lost my job so I would feel panic and immediately take a Kloniopin. My family doctor referred me to a Psychiatrist for continuing treatment which he increased my dosage of my meds, and he was very expensive without me having insurance or a job so I told my family doctor this and went back to him. Well he had something wrong and kept rescheduling all of his pts appointments so I began seeing another Family doctor and he closed his practice to go work with the new govenor in Montgomery so I had to find another doctor after my refills ran out and I could not find one right away so I would just go to any doctor that had an opening when I would run out of my Klonoipin. So I finally found a new family physician i liked and she said she would work with me I did tell her all that I'm telling you and she was very understanding. So I needed a refill yesterday and her nurse said she was out of the country and would not be back until Tuesday after the 4th. Well I immediately paniced and went to an urgent care and thats when as I was signing in the receptionist asked everyone signing in there ssn and after she put it in thats when the nurse of the urgent care come out in the waithing room in front of everyone and told me that all the doctors refused to see me ever? I really need some advise. Thanks and sorry this is soo long.: