Dee74

I doubt you'll find many here who are, Jeff.
I sneered at rules for years....

I gotta tell ya tho, the older I get the more I like order and calm, and the more I like not screwing myself up.

Some rules - like don't play on the freeway - are good rules...y'know?

D

SarahB60

I'm going to throw a wrench in this thread. Sorry

TRUST ME when I say you can die by not abiding by your Drs orders. It takes literally can take one more pill to put you at deaths door. My son died by dosages that were fairly low for a 6'3" 250# man. I've done research ad nauseum on Vicodin and Oxycontin, and there are many, many cases of accidental overdoses from Vicodin and Oxycontin.

I'm glad they're clamping down on dispensing pain medicne and scrutinizing prescriptions. It's out of control and people are dying. One more pill and literally your breathing could stop and then your heart will stop beating.

Whatever happen to the old days when all we got was codeine for back pain?!

Dee74

I'm sorry for your loss Sarah.

D

thomas11

Wow Sarah, I'm very sad to hear that, I can't imagine. I agree with your viewpoint. I was frustrated that day and posted about it.

Now that I have gotten over my initial frustration, I know the reasoning behind it, (although it doesn't change my opinion about the constant restrictions being put on individual liberties). I read an article today in our Minneapolis paper that prescription drug overdoses exceed all illegal drug overdoses combined. Although it didn't totally surprise me, it was pretty eye opening to read it in a mainstream publication. I also have read far too many stories about entertainers and athletes that have virtually unlimited supplies of prescription drugs, mainly pain medication and anti depressants and have died as a result. My personal belief is that alcohol along with these medications is killing people. I am currently sober and have been for a little while and I have to write down when I took my last dose. I can easily imagine being drunk, forgetting when you last took medication, and how much, falling asleep, and not waking up. Horrible. Basically an innocent person with no nefarious intentions ends up dead. Again, very sorry to hear about your son. May I ask how old he was?

Saskia

When I find myself getting really riled up about stupid stuff, I look at it as a warning flag that there is something else going on with me.

I can understand not liking rules but it sounds to me that you are taking all of this stuff far too personally. If pharmacies didn't do their due diligence with narcotic meds, they would likely get sued and be out of business.

SarahB60

Ok, I'm going to get on my soapbox again:

Mixing alcohol and painkillers is like throwing a lighted match to gasoline. If you're drinking with painkillers, you are playing with death. As I said previously, one more pill can stop your breathing, Breathing stops, then the heart stops beating, then the lungs fill up with fluid. You drown in your fluids while unconscious. Sorry for the graphic description, but darn it if this description helps ONE person out there to understand what their dealing with, then I've done my universal part on this planet.

BTW - There are plenty of accidental overdoses have been from painkillers themselves, not just cases where people mixed with alcohol. Oxycontin, for one, is extremely powerful. I don't understand why it's been so widely distributed. Don't get me started on the extended release version.

My son was 32 years old.

thomas11

Saskia, not sure if you read the entire thread, but I'm not taking the pharmacy's responsibility to follow the law personally. I mentioned previously that my viewpoint on this kind of stuff is a different discussion for a different forum. Its the ever tightening control grid. We are bombarded with rules, policies, laws etc...every day, and its all for our own good. It ranges from how long the grass on our lawn can be, how fast we drive, where smokers can smoke, where protesters can stand to protest, what clothing a kid can wear to school etc...that was kind of the theme of my frustration. It has passed and all is good.

Saskia

Yes I did read the whole thread. That was one example of what seemed to me to perhaps be an overreaction. I raised the issue because I know only too well how the kind of frustration you expressed can easily lead to drinking - either now or in the long run. I was simply concerned for the potential consequences of your feeling so frustrated over things that are outside of your control.

Saskia

Ultimately, I had to learn to accept the things I cannot change before I could take alcohol completely off the table. That may or not be the case for you but I felt that there was enough similarity to my experiences that I thought I'd at least raise the issue. Only you can decide if that fits for you or not.

Fly N Buy

Most alcoholics HATE rules, or to clarify - rules are for others, certainly not me. I did not like to adhere to rules because I thought I was better than others = ego and my deal is my deal = self centered.

Can't say it any more eloquently or simple than this.

In recovery, if I'm fortunate I will get these opportunities to grow. Rules I don't like is a pretty good one. I either decide to change or not.

Abiding by things I did not in the past was part of acceptance for me and opened new doors.

BadSneakers

I'm both a drug addict and a person who has worked in the clerical side of the medical field for decades and I'm going to side with the pharmacist/prescribing doctor in these cases all day, every day.

Why? Because I see the same thing over and over and over. Trust me when I say doctors and pharmacists have heard it all. They've heard everything. Why is it the blood pressure, bladder control, or toenail fungus meds never end up "accidentally" falling in the toilet or "somehow" running out early? It's always the opiates or benzos. Always.

This is a huge problem. The government has cracked down on both doctors and pharmacists when it comes to doctor shoppers and questionable scripts/refills. No one should have to risk the years of hard work and studies they put into a MD/PharmD/etc diploma to have their license suspended for filling someone's norco script early.

dwtbd

As far as norco scripts go, I will side with the professioals whose careers are at state to set and follow protocols. But anecdotally, the strict adherence to prescription filling has spilled into the insurance/copay arena for much more benign substances. Our daughter takes an oral antibiotic suspension daily , a 5 ml dose, more than once we have been charged 'full' price for things like being on vacation and running out , or camp needing a future supply in advance. There are work arounds and reimbursements, but not sure if the hassle for the consumer is necessary. I can imagine there are plenty of chemicals, meds that are at risk of being lost, flushed , spilled and having , god forbid, 60 days worth on hand would pose no threat or possibility of 'abuse'.
sorry , my rant , heh daughter going to camp , just had to go through this , again

zerothehero

"If they do something great, if they don't, I could care less." Perfect. This means you don't need the pills and you can stop torturing yourself trying to get them, right?

I've had a lot of pain over the years, and two surgeries this year. I admit that more often than not when I took pain pills I did not need to. It was more about my head than my body. If you can sleep and function without them, then please do so.

thomas11

Hi Flynbuy, I try very hard to not take an attitude that rules don't apply to me. Because I don't like people like that, and I went through a phase when I was younger in which I was that guy. My rules issue comes from childhood. I had an overbearing mother in which no detail of our life was too small to implement a damn rule. She's pushing 70 and if anything its gotten worse, she still tells me without hesitation how and what I should be doing in my life. It was/is miserable. Unfortunately for me, that sour taste in my mouth stuck, and so it is a bit of an issue for me. And you know what, I married someone who is quite similar (go figure).

Zerothehero, I admit, I think 50% of it for me is mental. I do have times and days where its pretty severe, but often I could gut it out. But when I read my instructions before I left the hospital I etched the instructions into my brain and it stuck there. I know that I'm probably about 45 days away from being off of them, and I need to prepare for that.

New twist in my progress, my braces are now advanced to 80 degrees and for the first time my knees will not bend that far on my own. Hmmm, not sure what to do and my physical therapist is on vacation. I don't know if I should force them to 80 degrees or just go as far as I can bear.

digdug

Thomas - please consider talking to your doctor about a taper plan for your pain meds. It only takes about 3 weeks of regular opiate usage to develop a dependence. You're way past that at this point.

From personal experience, I had both my hips replaced when I was around 7 months sober. Did I need the pain meds in the beginning? Absolutely. But they also made the addict/alcoholic gears in my head start spinning. That feeling of putting something in my body and then feeling that sense of "relief" after 20-30 minutes was all to familiar.

I worked closely with my doctor to taper down to minimize the withdrawals. The sooner you can do it, the easier it will be.

As far as your physical rehab, it's a marathon, not a sprint. No point in pushing yourself without professional guidance available. It's not worth the potential setback. I'd wait until your PT is back in town or talk to another person in the practice before you do anything too strenuous without supervision.