anyone know new pain prescribing rules (changed to Pam's Personal Pain Med Story)

[Guest guest]

Butch,

Bless yer heart. I also take Oxy (and more- Cymbalta, Mobic, muscle

relaxers, Hydro for break-thru pain, and I have LidoDerm patches). And I've

tried others along the way.

My Dr. in TN, US, often mentions new and changing pain mgt laws, but he is

evasive about specifics. He did tell me in January, that because of new

laws, he was considering a career change, exploring other areas to

specialize in.

I dread a day might come when I can no longer get the meds I need to have

the mobility to independently transfer from my hospital bed to my

wheelchair, or to walk from chair-to-chair inside my house.

I fear regressing like the patients in the movie Awakenings. In my case, it

would be back to living in bed, which I did for two long, lonely years

because I refused to take pain meds.

I finally started taking pain meds after my family worked with my doctor

without my knowledge and showed up at my front door and did an

intervention. My options were willingly get help, or they would initiate

the process to have me committed and I could deal with the consequences.

Initially, I was enraged and resisted.

But when my teenage daughter asked to be alone with me, cried, and said,

" Mom, I can't take watching you die anymore. Please get help, " I caved.

I started with home health care and re-learned how to sit, stand, and

eventually take baby steps.

Then I went to my first inpatient rehab where it hurt so bad I thought it

would be easier to give birth than have another session of PT or OT.

I'm 55 years old. When I was 15, I was the first kid busted in my high

school for drugs and was court-ordered to treatment.

I finally got clean and sober when I was 24, went to college, and worked as a

drug and alcohol counselor for 16 years before I flew backwards off a

treadmill and injured my spine. I'm sure you can imagine the horror stories

from opiate addicts I seen and heard during that time.

Even though it had been over 20 years since I'd used illicit drugs (it's

been over 30 now), and I know and understand the difference between

addiction and dependence, I was terrified (more like phobic) when I first

started started taking pain meds (Tramadol and Mobic).

It took 5 years before I reached the point where I'd even try Hydro, and

eventually Oxy.

WOW! What a positive difference it has made in my life! I can actually

stand in the shower now, put a full load of clothes in the washer or dryer

at the same time, and sit in a chair and vacuum and mop my floors.

A couple a months ago, some friends transported my power wheelchair and

took me to the mall for the first time in eight years! (And still I Thank

God for that!) I felt so.....normal! Even in a wheelchair, I felt like a

normal woman in an enchanted world of enticing eye-candy! lol All I could

afford was an ice cream cone and a blank journal from the clearance rack at

the book store but it didn't matter. I was in my glory!

It took me years to have the willingness to take pain medication. And now,

ironically, I have an underlying fear they will be taken away.

I do my best to live one day at a time and have an attitude of gratitude.

Today, I have everything I need, including pain medication.

Thanks for reading.

Peace,

Pam H.

Georgia, US

disabledbohemian@...