Unfortunately you are going through what many people are going to be going through. I just lost my doctor and have to find a new MD. According to the hospital that hires all of these doctor's have told them to stop prescribing pain medication to their patients and to send them to the pain clinic. My doctor gave me a 3 month supply until I can get in to the pain clinic, however, they are so booked right now. A friend of mine only had Med-I-Cal and it took him almost 5 months for an appointment. My doctor had faxed them my information on 1/18 and they said they never got it so I'm praying the doctor can re fax the information before he leaves on the 15th. I know exactly the fear you are having right now. We have all the drug dealers to thank for putting us all in this mess!!! Hugs

I'm SO sorry for everyone else that is going through what I am. I know I'm not alone. One bad thing in my case is that I don't have most of my medical records. When I lost my good dr of 12 years, my records were sent to another office. I had no say in the mater. I saw a Dr. at the new office one time. NEVER AGAIN!He was horrible to me and I really could not understand his accent. I wanted my 3" thick chart (that included all MRI/x-ray/lab/test results, and all info on previous specialists I'd seen, procedures done, etc...). They wanted me to pay for every page of MY 3" thick chart...at $1.20 a page. There was no way. I didn't have that kind of money. They would not transfer my chart either unless I paid. Therefore I got stuck with the NP who basically started over. Anyway, I am surprised that the NP I was seeing prescribed the piano med and benzoyl together. She never once did a urine test for drug abuse, etc... Also, she stopped doing labwork b/c of my Medicare only status. My thyroid has been well below normal levels for a long time and my chol and trigs are high. I have no idea where I stand now. I have questioned "why?" to these (neglectful) acts, but got nowhere. Thus the change in drs. I've been going 12 hours between my pain med... (one 5mg Hydrocodone every 12 hours)...no real WD symptoms. My pain is bad though :(

PAIN med, not PIANO... and BENZO, not BENZOYL....UGH, spell check!!! Lol...

That is very sad what you are going through. I went through the same thing as my doctor quit my meds cold turkey without a further phone call, email or otherwise...Screw him. I now take Over the Counter Motrin to help with pain...big Idiot...that's all he is. I hope you can get yourself some relief.

Drs CHARGE for patient records????

Have these people no shame...

I'm so sorry Respectful. Too many of us are in the same shape. :(

Seriously Tikka! Willow, I can't believe that! ( I mean, I DO.. but can't believe it. Good flippin grief ).

Hugs~

By Federal Law a drs office can charge for the cost of copies. The problem is that many states haven't changed their State Laws to reflect Federal Laws. State Laws set the cost of medical records. Not having medical proof will definately be a problem. The specialist that you said would not see you, was that after you couldn't get a copy of your medical records ? Drs want to see copies of diagnostic test results and drs notes. Why didn't the drs office that you went to next request a copy of your medical records ? Drs offices will usually send them free of charge when another drs office requests them.

Medicare Only Is Good Insurance. This NP just didn't want you as a patient.

Federal law regarding medical records copies is below. You need to file an complaint against the drs office that would not give you the medical records for the cost of copies alone. State law also govern what happens to medical records when a dr retires, dies or moves.

"A provider cannot deny you a copy of your records because you have not paid for the services you have received.

However, a provider may charge for the reasonable costs for copying and mailing the records. The provider cannot charge you a fee for searching for or retrieving your records."

http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/medical-records/index.html

I am confused... Are you saying she should not have given you narcs and benzos together ?
Why is this a bad thing ?

Aronia, due to the high number of deaths, few drs will prescribe benzo's and narcotics together any longer. If a patient sees a psychiatrist and is prescribed the benzos that is usually view differently than if the same dr prescribes both. Also when somone has depression, anxiety or other mental health issues along with chronic severe pain, the drs feel that they need to have their mental health issues addressed by a mental health professional.

Willow, I have been following the posts on the Chronic Pain forum for some time, now. Yours has really hit home with me.

I last went to my PCP on Jan. 4 of this year. He informed me that he would no longer be prescribing any more pain meds for me. He is the Dr. I have been seeing for the last 6 years, after my original PCP of 29 years retired in 2009 and the current one was the 'hand picked' replacement by the Dr. who retired. (So I have been with the same 'group' for 35 years, but many things have changed over the years.) He actually had a resident med student in there when he told me and did it in such a way as to make me feel as though I was being accused of being a criminal drug abuser! That is after already feeling like a criminal, after the FDA rescheduled Hydrocodone from schedule III to schedule II, and the way I have been looked at and treated at the pharmacy when getting refills. He could not have been more cold about it. My comments and questions fell on deaf ears. He acted like I was a first time patient that he had no more regard for than the neighbor's dog who craps on his lawn. All he would do is hand me a referral to some pain Dr. in the city that he is in. (I guess I should mention that I lived in that city, in another state, for seventeen years before moving back 'home' some 300 miles away from his office, which I have commuted to and from every six months and then every three months after the DEA action on Hydrocodone.) He did give me the last three months of prescriptions for the pain meds at that visit, which will be end when I fill them for the last time in April. (I had a one month overlap for just in case. IE: the meds I filled in Jan. of this year were from the last three scripts and the new ones didn't start being filled, until Feb.)

In addition to the pain meds, I also am getting Alprazolam (Xanax), Cyclobenziprine (Flexeril) and some meds for HBP. He said that he would still 'treat' me for the non pain stuff. The problem there is that, like you, as soon as the pain meds are gone, then I won't be able to get across town, get groceries or do most of the basic crap that we all have to do to stay alive, let alone drive to the city he is in to see some pain clinic Dr., who wants me to fill out a PDF form from their online site and send it to them, before even talking to anyone or being told anything, including the initial cost of the first visit.

The PDF on their site has a section with a host of procedures with a box for me to check stating that I am giving them permission to do any and/or all of them, at their discretion, before ever even walking in their front door. I DON'T THINK SO!!!

So, in a nutshell, like you, I am scared to death and am going to have to try to find someone local to help me, which will include, most likely, finding a new PCP, since the Dr. was such a jerk off to me in Jan. that I wouldn't trust him to take my BP, now. I am decreasing my pain med dosage and am weaning myself off of them, but the more I decrease the meds, the worse the pain gets. I have been having to take the pain meds for the last 22+ years, after every specialist I went to from '94 thru '96 all said that I needed surgery to remove bone from around the nerve roots in my lumbar spine, (From a spine fusion done in 1978, after a serious car accident.), but none would agree to even consider it due to liability issues.

As for insurance, I am a former engineer and was forced to go on SSDI in 1994 and have long since exhausted the COBRA insurance I had. I was married, (18 years.), and have 8 kids, all of who are now out of my life, since people can take only so much of a person with a chronic issue, especially a chronic pain issue. People are used to seeing someone who has issues either get better or die, but the chronic stuff never ends. As a result, I have been paying child support all of this time, with the last kid turning 18 in July of this year. I do get some LTD from my former employer, until I turn 65, if I last that long, but I never see any of that. So, I have not had Medicare Part B for all of these years and have been forced to apply for it at 300% of the going premium rate. It won't take effect until July 1 of this year, which leaves a nice gap between when the pain meds will run out and when the Part D kicks in. Anything I do before that will have to be all out of pocket and nowadays, everyone wants all of their money upfront, before you ever see an exam room or a person, besides the person responsible for collecting the $$$. I am sure that you are all too familiar with that.

After necessary expenses- you know the ones that we have in order to just exist, then there isn't a whole lot left to agree to payments or to save up the outrageous amounts that are demanded, before you ever get seen.

So, I have a serious cash flow and insurance issue, along with being 100% and totally on my own, since I have no contact with my kids or family, (Long story.), and the friends I did once have are long gone and any new ones don't last for long before they get tired of my limitations, etc. As such, like you, I have no idea how I am even going to get to the store for food, etc., let alone across town for an appt. or anything else or drive to another state to see my current PCP for my other meds, if I was even inclined to see that SOB again.

So, Willow. like you, I am between a rock and a hard place, also and that rock fell from about 10,000 ft. above the hard place, before it hit me.

At this point, I am very seriously considering stocking up on the ONLY legal 'drug' that I have access to- Alcohol. (A guy a few places away walks to the liquor store up the street every day, without fail. He would get it for me.) At least I would have some pain relief and once the HBP meds run out, well, then it would just be a matter of time before nature takes its course and this 22 year long nightmare would be at an end.

I realize how harsh that sounds, but I am tired of having to feel like a criminal for getting and taking VERY NECESSARY pain meds, which I no longer have access to and will most likely get banned if the powers that be get their way now that affluent white kids and adults are abusing them and heroin, etc., and are overdosing on them in large numbers. (I am Caucasian.) Not to mention the severe pain I have every waking moment, which soon will be excruciating pain when the pain meds are gone. I am 57, so life is not about to get better and there hasn't been anything to look forward to or hope for, for some time, now.

I am sorry that this is so lengthy, but I wanted to make sure that I got the whole ball of wax in there and to let you know that you are not the only one in the situation that you are in. I know it sucks big time and the choices are very few.

I am not going to try to give you advice on a situation that I can't get out of myself, but I will be thinking of you while I am going through what lies ahead for me. I won't offer hopes and prayers to you that I would forget about as soon as I sign off of the site and go about my other business like most people do. (Sorry, but I have always been a realist and I don't do anything unless I really mean it and am willing and able to help and do.) But, for what it is worth, I will be thinking of you and I do hope that you can figure something out.

For the rest of you, I have spent since Jan. 4 researching every option, online, and talking to any and everyone in the local medical community about options and people on the State level who could help with the Part D cost, but won't. It all comes down to the same thing. Money talks and if you don't have it along with Congressional grade insurance, then you are at the mercy of the medical establishment and like all levels of Government and corporations- consumer, medical and pharmaceutical, (Especially the last two.), and unless they can rob you blind, if you even have anything for them to rob, then you ain't nothing to them, so please refrain from the well wishes and the advice on the things I have already tried to address.

@NoMore4Me...

'please refrain from the well wishes...'

this is a SUPPORT GROUP, well wishes are pretty much all we can offer each other!

"ChickenTikka"

I meant no offense. I realize what you have said which is why I was speaking for myself, ONLY. I have my reasons, but I am not going to go into them.

Sorry if you and anyone else is offended.

I take no offense, NoMore4Me...
but how can I or others support you here if you tell people not to bother. I do understand you have been hurt- most of us here have too. It's a lonely walk with chronic pain, that's why we come here.

NoMore4Me, you said that you had to go on SSDI in 1994, are you still on SSDI ? If you are, you have Medicare Part A, Part B and Part D.