Norcomichigan

hi everyone. This is my second time this summer that I am detoxing off Norco. I was getting 5x per day for my awful headaches and with the rebound effect (have been on hydrocodone for well over a year) I was needing more like 7-8 per day. They have me on Clonidine but I am just waiting for the awful detox to sink in.

I might be fooling myself, but I don't think I was "abusing them" per se as my body built up a tolerance and I needed more and I ran out a week early.

I was diagnosed with a malignant brain cyst eaelier this week which I quess could cause my headaches, but I am not doctor and my doctor "fired me" as his patient on Friday probably as a combo of the bad MRI and also of the "substance abuse".....

I guess I must be abusing it if I am thinking about it so much. My last pills were Friday at 12 pm and it is Sunday at 4:30 pm. Could the Clonidine be working that well to keep me frommajor withdrawals? Anyway, thanks for your help and if this belongs in a different forum please move it.

Norcomichigan

P.s. i don't know why pills are so hard for me. i am quit smoking (20 yr habit), stopped alcohol (I was a total binger), and I even lost a bunch of weight and stopped being asdicted to food.

I have legitimate pain....I don't know what to do to feel better, but Norco was not it.

ACT10Npack

Sorry about your pill addiction but I thought smoking was the hardest thing to quit from. Just stick with it and you can get over it.

SlimSlim

So sorry to hear about your malignant brain tumor...surprised that your doctor "fired you" during such a critical time and that he is putting you through an unsupervised Norco detox. Was he your PCP or a neurologist?

Must have been scary to get the MRI results and then have to wait for the biopsy results. Do you know how big the cyst is? Were you in the hospital long? Have you seen an oncologist yet?

Hope you get good medical treatment; sounds like you're better off without the old doc.

Norcomichigan

Thanks for your support you two.

It ia a cyst, not a tumor. I don't get to see the neurologist til October. I don't know much about it because for some reason my pcp wants to wash his hands with expensive old me.

I was never in the hospital for this, but it is 1 cm and causes wicked headaches and double vision.

artsoul

Welcome Norcomichigan -

I'm sorry you're going through this. If your doctor felt unable to help you, he should have at least referred you.

We have a substance abuse forum that might be helpful to you: Substance Abuse - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

There can be a fine line between abuse and addiction and you're really smart to at least be aware of the dangers of going down that path. I hope you find a doctor that can help you work out the best solution. Glad to have you with us!

SlimSlim

How do they know its malignant?

Norcomichigan

I don't know how they know it is malignant or benign....i wonder that myself. But the dr refuses to talk to me about it because he is probably mad that I have been being treated for headaches for years and having an HMO he decided not to send me for expensive testing. It was easier to dope me up on Fioricet and then Hydrocodone.

I have been reading these forums all day and it is just nice to know I am not alone.

Norcomichigan

(his physicians assistant ordered the test when he was out a couple of weeks ago)

He is also probably mad at me because I ran out of my monthly meds too soon even though my head is in excrutiating pain.

laurie6781

Please contact your HMO, (administrative) file a complaint, laying out all you have said here about the Doctor. Telling them of the terrible pain, and how it has been treated, and how it was not until the Nurse Practitioner ordered the MRI did you or the Doctor know that you have a Cyst in your brain.

Tell them he fired you. Tell them you need a Doctor NOW and can they PLEASE HELP YOU GET ONE? Tell them your appointment with the Neurologist is not until October and ask them is there anyway they can help you by getting it moved MUCH SOONER?

File the complaint. Be honest, tell them you ran out of your prescription a week early, and what the prescription was for both dosage and times a day, because the pain was so great. Use those words.

Ask them politely but FIRMLY what Doctors they have that can HELP YOU NOW?

I would also report him to the State of Michigan Licensing Board for Doctors. That is just so far off of 'profession behavior' that I M H O it is an abuse of his license.

I don't know if you are addicted to pain pills, and I don't believe you do either at this point. I do know that you need MEDICAL HELP right now, to find out exactly what this 'thing' in your head is, and what the medical profession can do to either remove it, decrease the size, or at least give you some relief from the pain.

Please keep posting and let us know how you are doing as we do care very much. As a retired RN your posting about your doctor? really made me irate. That is NOT the way a Doctor is to treat a patient, it is just unconscionable in my book!!! And yes, I have reported doctors? of his caliber to the state licensing board before, both here where I live and in the State of Florida where my folks lived, and yes I have seen results.

Love and hugs,

Norcomichigan

I promise to keep posting. I am going to call my insurance company and find out about the grievance process tomorrow. I hate that they sprung this on me on a lqte Friday afternoon, that they are dropping me when my neurology and opthalneurology (and this friday I have my interviews with the pain center's headache clinic) referrals are hanging in the balance. If he is no longer my PCP does that negate the referral?

What I am #1 worried about is that no doctor will take me with my preexisting brain/headache issues. I have had this headache for SIX years. Every day. Every day I have a headache. He wouldn't five me an MRI because I wasn't having like walking problems or trembling hands. The cyst is on my clivus? Which from Dr Google I have gleaned can cauce double vision (check!) bad headaches (check!) and obstructive sleep apnea. I thought the sleep apnea went away after I have weight loss surgery 18 months ago. (i did it to regulate my hormones and sugars anx now weigha normal bmi for my height.)

He obviously must have known I had a serious pain issue to give me 5 10 mg norcos every day (150/ month) for a year. And nod I think he is feeling like an ******* because well damn, this stupid girl was right!

My double vision has gotten more than twice as bad in the last year. No reason. But hey, a 1 cm cyst on my clavis or whatever that is called would cause it.

Norcomichigan

And I Am sure he knows about rebound headaches because he was worried about those when I was on Fioricet. i don't think7-8 per day is much different than 5 in this miserable weather.

SlimSlim

Make sure you get a copy of the radiology report and the disc of your MRI. You can get them at the facility where the MRI was done. Begin getting copies of all records (doctors transcripts, lab tests, reports, etc) moving forward. When a doctor orders a test, ask them to list you as a person getting a copy of results. You'll need those so that you know what is going on and if you move from one doctor to another, you'll have everything that they need.

Its really important for you to get the transcripts from your PCP before you file a complaint. Also, with the radiology report from your MRI, it might clarify things for you in terms of where the cyst is located.

Who told you the results of the MRI? I'm confused because it would be highly unusual for a radiologist to state that a brain cyst is malignant; normally a biopsy would need to be done to determine whether a tumor or lesion is benign or malignant.

Dee74

I have no experience to share with this situation at all - but I wanted to welcome you Norcomichigan

D

Norcomichigan

A nurse in the primary dr's office read verbatim what the mri and mra report said and said "I have no idea what this all means though"....

Norcomichigan

Oh don't get me wrong, smoking was awful to quit. This is a lot like that in which i feel a need to fill all of those receptors with something good. I wish there was a chantix for this! I loved chantix.