Is pain management only for addicts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP I thought it was for only people who abused narcotics, so they helped them find a safe way to manage their pain.

Good news: you were wrong! Make the appointment!

[Anonymous]

In addition to what others said, it’s possible for pain medication to be non-narcotic. I recently had issues with back pain (different area than you, mine is in the lower back/lumbar region), and I got gabapentin (sp?) which is non-narcotic, it’s apparently what is typically prescribed to those who have shingles.

[Anonymous]

The most powerful pain reducing meds , I would think, can have an ethical place in the management of pain if prescribed responsibly no? I am not a doctor or a pain mgmt specialist. My deceased father in law had severe rheumatoid arthritis. By the end, he was probably technically addicted, yes...but if he was not taking those prescribed meds, he would have been in immense pain.

[Anonymous]

Actually, people with any history of drug abuse are liable to get kicked out of pain management programs. My BIL, who ended up on disability due to his back, was in a pain management program that included methadone for pain relief. He had to be drug tested weekly while he was on it. After a year he ended up smoking some pot and was immediately kicked off the program.

That was before there was attention to opiate epidemic, the result of which has been more attention paid to non-opioid methods of pain management and more scrutiny of prescribers of opioids. There have been pain management doctors who have actually been basically drug providers for addicts (knowingly) but they end up in trouble.

[Anonymous]

No, OP. You’re confused. Drug/rx dealer doctors opened pill mills under the guise of “pain clinics” thinking it would help them fly under the radar. Not the same thing. If you see druggie types lined up outside in the morning before they open, be worried. Otherwise, take the appointment. I hope you get some relief. There are some new approaches to pain meds that will hopefully keep you from becoming addicted/abusive of them, and the old notion that if you were in pain, you couldn’t get addicted, has been completely discredited, so good doctors are mindful of the risks.

[Anonymous]

It’s amazing what a pain management doctor can do for you. There are so many treatments now. Go!! (And just tell them you don’t want narcotics.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Isn't pain management to help you take painkillers in a safe manner?

Many painkillers have deleterious side effects. Aleve/ibuprofen, for example, easily cause ulcers if taken too much or taken by a patient who immediately lies down. My husband - a doctor! - ended up with an ulcer because he took too many ibuprofens to manage a chronic condition.

Wait, what??

[Anonymous]

NP. I am not a drug addict. But, I am unlucky enough to have advanced cancer, stage IV, primarily attacking organs in my abdomen (mostly bile duct and liver).

The pain I am experiencing is beyond the scope of what I can live with. Furthermore because of liver and kidney involvement, I can not take Tylenol or Ibubrophon (or or most other NSAIDS). My options are limited to opioids and possibly derivatives of Marajuana (though my job prevents the latter). So, I am on moderate dose opioids.

It is accepted that I am now physically dependent on the opioids. But, I am not, by definition, addicted to them. I am not taking them to get high. I am taking them to keep from killing myself to stop the pain. Without the opioids, I can not sleep. I can not fight the cancer.

Oh, and with cancer, they do not require drug tests. Though, I have been questioned by a pharmacists once. I used the C word, and there was no issue.