What a pain!!! Sounds like a lot of work for everyone

I have to get a refill request sent in next week for another three weeks worth or Norco. It's going to be real fun to see what my doc is going to do about Norco now being a schedule 2 Narcotic. I don't mind jumping through a few hoops to get this med, because without pain control, my life is nothing. I figure the guy will just have me come in once a month to pick up the script from the front desk. If not, he can actually write a script for 180 Norco a month for three months, on three different scripts with the dates post-dated for the whatever day of each month. Then I can take them to the pharmacy and let the pharmacist hold onto the scripts. My insurance company will only pay for 30 Norco at a time. I have to go into the pharmacy every five days now. It's a pain in the butt, and it makes me feel like a little kid getting my candy meted out every five days, but it is better than living my life in intractable pain. I'm just glad I'm not in a wheel chair or anything like that. It must be real hard for people who have serious mobility issues. I hope you all are still able to get your meds as needed.

I hope when you move SOON? That the VA where you move treats you better!

good point Annette she is moving and will need new doctors I guess if the move is further than need to see same doctors.....hugs bill

I know exactly what your rant about the VA meant Yad. While the re-scheduling of hydrocodone affects everyone on it, the VA always adds an additional layer of difficulty to everything. I can sympathize.

Make sure to contact your patient advocate if your doctor makes things more difficult than they need to be. PA's at the VA can be very effective if you get a good one. Same goes if they continue to give you a hard time about your service dog. They are very common with veteran patients and ADA laws cover you and your service dog.

The VA is certainly not at all like "regular" private sector medical institutions and navigating them for ANYTHING chronic, especially chronic pain is terribly more difficult than private sector medicine. It is very much a socialized health care model. I am patients of both systems and VA definitely has it's benefits but it's not at all the same so I very much understand your frustration. Unless people have attempted to navigate it, it's hard to understand.

(((HUGS))). I hope everything works out and you are able to get your shoulder properly diagnosed and treated.

~Michelle

Sounds familiar, Looks like someone let the cat out of the bag...again.

yadim ,you'll just have to call in for renewals every 30 days.

Familiar indeed...

~Michelle

Not nitpicking but they discontinued any acetaminophen higher than 325mg last Dec. Norco only has 325mg not 500. So it 58,500mg monthly. Which I agree is still high. But I take 39000 & have for years and my liver & kidney labs are always fine. I do think should get labs every 3mo at least to check that everything is ok.

The idea is to create more oversight of prescribing these narcotics. If you have to see your doctor every month or in some cases can only get a week supply at a time it makes it harder for the pill mills to operate. It also makes your doctor more accountable for what he is prescribing.

One problem I don't think they have considered is that there just aren't enough doctors. It was hard enough to find a decent doctor two years ago but now with the ACA more people have insurance but many doctors have left patient practice. So the ratio of appointments to patients has decreased. It's just harder to get an appointment and now you need three times as many.

I think we need to face the fact that the government has decided that these meds are not to be used for long term treatment. Be honest and face the fact that they are making it impossible for docs to prescribe these meds. So doctors will be more reluctant and they will be impossible to get. We all need to figure out how this will affect us and work on what the alternatives will be.

This is a good article that explains the doctors side of the story!
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/11/why-your-doctor-feels-like-a-beaten-dog.html

My Dr has been visited by the Powers That Be 3x in 6mo. (Although theyve been gone for the last 6mo guess they got what they needed) They review patient records including urine test results. It's beyond invasive for the patient and the drs. Pain mgmt is only a portion of his practice. He's very small & is taking on more speaking engagements and less practicing of medicine.

He does pain mgmt because his father suffered horribly & wasn't treated adequately. He's a great guy but being bombarded constantly I'm sure makes him wonder why he should bother doing it at all for the few PM patients he has. It makes me nervous that he'll just quit & I'll get a phone call cancelling my next appt.

We shouldn't have to be subjected to this treatment. Especially by a law enforcement agency & not a medical agency. This country suffers with chronic pain in huge numbers and as many as 80% don't have our pain adequately controlled. Those are scary numbers. It's only humane to treat suffering and allow someone to have some quality of life without feeling like a criminal. (And I understand the reason for regulations but research the actual stats & its overkill IMHO.)

The whole situation make me sad & angry. And there doesn't seem to be a way to change it. Hopefully Big Pharma will step up. They will lose a boatload of $$ if the meds go away especially the long acting meds. My rx is $1400/mo. Multiply that x all the other CP patients and that's some big money. Big money seems to be the only thing that works anymore.

Okay off my soapbox & rant over.

Emerald

I can understand why it is necessary to make the hydrocodone more scrutinized... but then again, the VA also made it so that mailing me a month's dose no longer requires a signature. This means that once a month the mailman leaves an envelope with a bottle of 180 tabs sitting in a mailbox across the street that is frequently smashed by teens with baseball bats. Oh so secure!!!!

All acetaminophen has been reduced in VA dispensed meds... down to 325mg. Did not know that was a all around thing.

My ONLY problem with this whole situation is that I have to go see my general practitioner doctor. I don't like him and I don't like the nurses in the office. It just means that I have to go see him and also set in motion to get a different GP.

I am trying to get off the opiates at this point anyway. On good days I can get away with one or two tabs... but I tend to overdo immediately and need my full dose of six the next day. But I did get through last month with a dozen pills left over.

I sort of wish I could get the pain management doctors to take over ALL of my pain management, but they won't touch opiates. Sigh, maybe they can get me something else for break through pain and I can get away from the opiates all together. Tomorrow hubby will make calls to get me appointments. We just ignored it on Friday!

hope and low pain to all!
yadlim

I could have sworn I said this already...

I'd get a P.O. box if my meds were being mailed.

Effective Jan 2014, all prescription meds had to have less than 325 mg tylenol. The FDA had taken steps to withdraw their approval for all prescriptions meds that contain more than 325 mg tylenol.

This is going a bit left field than the original post... but though my kidneys really appreciate the reduced Tylenol in the pain killers, it also reduces how well they work, making me take more of them. Or take a over the counter Tylenol along with my meds - which is what my doctor said to do.

When my old GP was talking to hubby and I about going from hydrocodone to Oxy, he asked us if we wanted it with or without Tylenol. We asked what the difference was and he told us that without was for getting high and with was for pain relief. In stereo hubby and I said WITH. Just an observation.