Chronic Pain, the CDC, Doctors and the "view" that seems to be blurred by being much too "one-sided"....

 I still will always believe that the CDC and others are presenting this "abuse" and Overdose situation FAR MORE ridiculous as it really is. Those that are going to ABUSE these medications, are going to get them, whether through doctors or any other way they can... it is just the nature of the abuse situation, whether it be legal meds, or illegal drugs... I also know that I totally understand being "cautious" and doctors needing to educate patients, and keep a close eye on them, when they are on strong pain medications. Those patients and their families need to know and understand what to look for as far as an overdose, or what to look for when that patient is NOT getting ENOUGH medication... because not getting "enough" out of pain, is just as bad as overdosing... you remain NOT able to function if your pain level is too high. 

And "NO" NO type of pain treatment will ever remove ALL of the pain in chronic pain illnesses, BUT it will do what it is designed for if you use it properly and that is get the pain to a "tolerable" level, where you can function most of the time pretty well. When my pain level is so bad, that I am literally sitting in my floor crying and screaming and just wanting the pain to end, then for some reason something is wrong. Either my meds are not working correctly, I need a dose adjustment, or possibly I have a new illness or something such as a new ruptured disc in my neck or back, or new nerve pain etc... and if I go to the proper physician which I always do, they can either send me for treatment or surgery, and/or adjust my medications to once again get me to a place I can tolerate that pain. 

There is always SO MUCH BAD PUBLICITY when it comes to OVERDOSES, kids getting hold of medications, "quack doctors" who prescribe whatever just to make money, and so on... BUT HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU SEE THE NEWS STORIES ABOUT HOW GREAT A LIFE IS ONCE SOMEONE IS ON PROPER TREATMENTS FROM CHRONIC PAIN AND HOW MUCH BETTER THEY ARE ABLE TO COPE AND HAVE A SOMEWHAT NORMAL LIFE???? RARELY! Our society as a whole has become so ENGROSSED IN THE BAD STUFF IN THE NEWS, THAT the GOOD things are never printed, talked about, or put up for public awareness... thus the public has no idea HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE TRULY AND GENUINELY HELPED BY THEIR PAIN MEDS... That is the issue, WE WATCH ABOUT WAR, AND TERRORISM, AND MASS MURDERS, AND ALL OF TRUMPS CRAP, AND THRIVE ON BULL, DISGRACE, AND the MORBID THINGS in this world, 

YET NOT LOOK OR EVEN HEAR OF THE THINGS THAT ARE MAKING A TRUE DIFFERENCE... the truly dedicated professionals who DO GOOD, and are GREAT PAIN DOCTORS, AND they DO treat their patients in all ways to help them... and if that means opioid pain medications then they do those, but they also monitor that patient... I take urine tests, go into the office usually at least every 3 months, depending on when the pain pump needs to be refilled, and I "abide" by the guidelines that my doctors ALL give me... I also let ALL OF MY DOCTORS, know exactly what medications I take, who prescribes them and why, and make sure every physician is on the "same page".... and I know many patients that also follow those rules, yet of course there are those that do not... but those patients are not as "prominent" as the patients like myself that "do the correct thing" and make sure they lock their medications up, they keep their doses where the doctors tell them, they do NOT run out of medications early, they keep up the time and dosage of their meds, they research themselves how each medication can effect another... for instance I did not know why I was not really supposed to drink "Grapefruit juice" and I love it... and I still eat a half a grapefruit here and there, but that is different than drinking the juice... because that juice can either cause some medications to be "stronger" or "weaker" in the body, due to the chemical makeup of the medications along with the acid and other things you get in the juice....

I FEEL ALSO ALL PATIENTS NEED TO EDUCATE THEMSELVES about ALL MEDS, INCLUDING pain meds.... OUR DOCTORS ARE OVERWHELMED AND STRESSED ALSO, so even though they SHOULD MAKE SURE WE KNOW CERTAIN THINGS, at times something may slip through the crack, and they forget or don't know to tell you... and even with our pharmacists, they usually point out certain things, but even they are overworked and overloaded with getting scripts ready for thousands of patients.... and with the internet at almost everyone's tip of their fingers, WE, should take responsibility to look up information, do research and also ALWAYS TAKE A LIST OF QUESTIONS TO YOUR DOCTORS VISITS! I NEVER go TO THE DOCTOR WITHOUT A LIST, some either new symptoms, questions, and so forth... because without that "yellow" padded piece of paper, as soon as my physician walks in that door, I would forget half of what I intended to ask him... so we have to also TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for our own bodies, listen to them, and believe me, I WILL ARGUE WITH A DOCTOR, if I FEEL something is "not right"... and more often than not I AM RIGHT! So, even if they get upset with you STAY WITH YOUR GUT FEELINGS until you are satisfied with the answers your physicians give you... a prime example is my pain pump.....

I HAVE KNOWN IT IS NOT SET CORRECTLY... I have had too much pain that should not be there since the new pump was put in, and I knew I would have to be bumped up a couple of times, but when I went in this last time, whatever happened something is very wrong. I am NOT getting nearly the proper amount of medication as I was with the first pump, and I know by how I feel, and what my PTM tells me, and even what my doctor told me in the office, my medications are not at the proper level. So, I am having issues with pain, and other things due to that pump not set correctly. I go in on Tuesday, and I intend on getting it upped properly, AND FROM NOW ON A PRINTOUT, of ALL OF THE SETTINGS! They used to give me a printout, so I could know exactly how it was set, when, what doses, etc... but they got a bit lax in giving them to me, and I got lax in asking for them... well I will walk out with a printout this time, and from now on... because that printout had helped on at least 3 occasions to "get my pump correctly set".... so it is imperative I come home with that information from now on.... 

I am sorry for the LONG post, but this is such an important issue for me and so many others, we must stand arm in arm, side by side, and make sure we the PATIENTS get the PROPER treatments we need in order to have a better quality of life...A great example is that due to my pump not being set right, and I have not had the cervical neck surgery yet, I cannot set and type very long... and rec ently my Mom began to have all types of pain with her lumbar spine, and she has several problems there that at 82 years old, and her other health issues, they really do not want to even discuss surgery... it make only makes things worse... so she is now on pain medications... at first we had her on NSAIDS but her kidney functions went haywire so she can no longer take ANY type of NSAIDS... so my pain doctor put her on a small dose of a pain medication and she had injections a few months back... well the pain is so bad now, she won't even get out of bed until noon many days... and she now understands what I go through... yet she is not able to "push" through the pain yet, because her medication needs to be either adjusted or changed to something a bit stronger... so her quality of life is nothing right now and quite frankly I fear if we don't get it more under control, she will just give up and throw in the towel.... so something has to be done to make her feel better and have less pain.....