Chronic Pain Support Group

Has anybody else been put on the slippery slope of being on pain meds (narcotic type pain meds) by your GP only to have them want to take them away?
I recently had this experience with my doctor. I had just come to terms with needing pain meds after 6 months of being on them and trying to come off and then realising I needed them again etc, etc. Now my doctor, who won't even be my doctor 2 weeks from now as I will be released from the military and will have to find a civilian GP, is stating that she may want to hospitalize me for "detox".
I have been having a horrible month for headache and that has flared up my other chronic issues, and I have ended up in the military version of the ER many, many times this month. I end up there when I my dosage of "at home" meds are no longer working and I need treatment. Well of course my tolerance has gone up for the ER treatment and of course they are getting sick of me being there. The other day my doctor told me that I can't keep coming for treatment. She also told me last week that she wanted hospitalize me for the migraine that wouldn't cease so that I could get treatment in a regular hospital that they could not give me at the military hospital. I never did that hospitalization for the migraine or get any other form of treatment for my migraine other than the usual I.V. narcotics. I had brought in other suggestions such as magnesium, and a letter from my neuro with his thoughts on my issues. So it wasn't like I was just going there for the I.V. treatment....I just wanted my migraine to go away. Yet the doctor says she wants to put me in a hospital for drug detox. She did also contradict herself by saying that I should "stay away" from the base hospital treatment and try taking REALLY high doses of my at home meds to equal what they give me in the military hospital. These dosages are not reasonable for me to take at home....there is not a chance I will take that high a dosage at home........NO WAY! How can she say she wants to put me in hospital for detox in one breath and then in the next tell me I should take really high doses of narcotics at home and to stay away from places that could treat me? What is going on? I never wanted to have to resort to these types of pain meds and I did take myself off of narcotics a couple of months ago but then quickly realized that I still needed them to control my pain to have ANY quality of life. AT that time, doctor said that she was never worried about me abusing drugs and that if they provide some relief I should not feel bad about needing them. I finally came to terms with all of that last month. Then this month hit and my migraines and other pain has been totally out of control and I did NOT want to just start popping high doses of pills. I wanted to get my migraine under control and get back to my "normal pain" that I know how to deal with...if that makes any sense.
Now, it looks like the doctor is getting ready to totally take me off all pain meds....even though she wants me to take such high doses at this moment to keep me from going to the base clinic for treatment.
My doctor put me on this slippery slope and now it appears she is going to abruptly take me off all meds and she still has not dealt with my other issues. My headache, has finally started to ease on its' own (after a MONTH) but I am still left with the after math of that on top of my chronic pain. If she takes me off all meds, what will there be left for me. I will now have to find a civilian GP and that GP will see that this other doctor has taken me off the other pain meds and I will have to start the whole cycle again from scratch.
Has anybody else had to deal with a doctor doing this to them. Meaning putting them on meds and then taking them away? I know I will deal with it if I have to, but I finally was okay with myself for having to take these pain meds. Now, I don't want to say that I "want" to still be on them because that may look bad on my part but I also don't want to be pushed aside and minimized like this. I'm sorry this is so long, and I am sorry to those that read most of this in my journal already, but I just don't know what to do. I also want to add that I NEVER ran out of pain meds early and I NEVER asked for additional pain meds, or "lost" prescriptions....nothing like that. I have been very careful to only take them when I need them....but unfortunately because of my migraine this month my tolerance to I.V. stuff is through the roof...and I know my visits for that treatment are beginning to look bad...but I really needed help. (and even though my tolerance for the I.V. treatment went up, I still have not increased my "at home usage" that much....any increase was first discussed and O.K.'d with my doctor)
Is there any advice out there on how I should proceed? Anything? Anybody?
Posted on 11/02/07, 12:11 am