Should I Go to a Pain Clinic?

[Daughter of Dionysus]

TTA- I know someone who got written a pretty fat script for saying almost exactly that
"I don't want to keep buying them off the street"

I wonder what would happen
To a doc
If he decided to write
Opiates off label
For depression??

I say go for it too
You going to a pain clinic
Is more harm reduction
Then you continuing the way you are

[corlene]

Didn't know u were in florida, fuck yea do it. There's tons of dirty dope doctors around.
They just don't advertise in alternative magazines anymore. Lol

[thetalkingasshole (OP)]

So I got the info on this guy
its going to cost me half my IR meds from the first script but I can live with that

I wont say any more than hr is highly rated online
where the word compassionate comes up a lot haha

I  am supposed to just go in like I am a legit CPP, which I do have medical proof for
and say that my aunt has been giving me part of her script
but wants me to go to the doctor now

My next question is
if I use my prescription benefits at the pharmacy
will it show up on an invoice or anything like that?
I am still under my parents plan, so that could be an issue

Appointments are cash too but affordable after the initial visit
I hope my current MRI will be ok for now, couldn't afford another

Also, does anyone know if you can partial fill in FL, and if so how many times

I will probably check it all out this weekend but if anyone csn help id really appreciate it

[corlene]

No partial fills on s 2 meds unless ur really cool w ur pharmacist, it's illegsl to split s 2 meds.  all others it's ok over the course of six months if I remember correctly.

And depending on the insurance yes, u can see what medications are dispensed for whoever is on your policy.

As for the mri most doctors want within two years(the pill mill type) unless there has been a change after that, but this seems like the doctor that will bend some rules here

I don't know how doctors are still getting away with patients telling them they out right divert meds. There's task forces lookin for doctors just like this all over florida.

I'm not hating on ya by any means, I hustled every doctor I could before the PMP, and damn was it easy. Your jumping thru hoops with this quack far more then what was required pre end of 2010.

Pm me if you've got questions. These pill mill docs are a bunch of nuts anyhow.

[thetalkingasshole (OP)]

No partial fills on s 2 meds unless ur really cool w ur pharmacist, it's illegsl to split s 2 meds.  all others it's ok over the course of six months if I remember correctly.

And depending on the insurance yes, u can see what medications are dispensed for whoever is on your policy.

As for the mri most doctors want within two years(the pill mill type) unless there has been a change after that, but this seems like the doctor that will bend some rules here

I don't know how doctors are still getting away with patients telling them they out right divert meds. There's task forces lookin for doctors just like this all over florida.

I'm not hating on ya by any means, I hustled every doctor I could before the PMP, and damn was it easy. Your jumping thru hoops with this quack far more then what was required pre end of 2010.

Pm me if you've got questions. These pill mill docs are a bunch of nuts anyhow.

This seems like its going to be to difficult to afford
I got some quotes from the GoodRx app for my area
morphine ER 60s are around $2/pill, but hydromorphone IR 4mg is only $.16/pill

That means with the cost of the visit and meds it would be a little over $400
If I need an mri that might push it out of reach

I am thinking about taking out a payday loan to afford it all
im sure I could find a way to pay it off when its all said and done
not to mention I wont have to spend money on dope for at least a month

[Wildcat]

TTA-

if you claim you have no pharm or inadequate pharm coverage-most pharmaceutical co's have pt program-when I was going through getting my ssdi, had NO ins, and had to pay cash for everything, I got on Purdue's pt program and rec'd FREE oxycontin 60mg tid for 2 years-so, you ck around, and you could get band name morphine from pharmaceutical co pt program.

good luck.

[corlene]

@wildcat,

Purdue was setup with express scripts(from some please in Mississippi) when I was hustling them, they'd only give you 90 of each strength tho, so I had 80s and 40s at the time. Even when they went to the new OP formulation they sent out the original formulation for 4 months.

Shit all you had to do was check off a box that you didn't have insurance or file taxes, they only verified the first script too.

Johnson and johnson (janseen) will give you whatever the amount the doctor writes for Duragesic patches(but they give you a card with insurance info to present to your pharmacy). Endo will only give you 90 of whatever strength opana.

As a plus tho, as long as they don't fill the script at a florida based pharm, it isn't reported to the pmp. Florida doesn't link their database to any other state.

Ive only had luck with brand name meds with the patient assistance programs. Thankfully, I don't have to do that crap anymore.

And as for discount drug cards I never had luck with them at mom and pop pharmacies, they usually said they don't accept em.

[Dhedmo]

Managing pain is what PMs do, obviously.
But, because it's their specialty and because pharma has so strongly embraced opoid medication in the past decade (how about those opioid constipation ads? I thought I was hallucinating the first time I saw one of those!) Doctors and nurse practitioners at a pain clinic understand tolerance. Unlike a typical GP, they don't need to be sold that the old dose just doesn't work.

There were "good days" when my pain wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't had such high tol. To relieve similar pain, an opioid naive patient could have gotten over with a couple freakin norcos or even a lidocaine patch, where it took x0mg of methadone just to take the edge off my pain.

So if you have pain, be honest about it.
I'd had back surgery, but I know people who were in the same boat (pain-wise, tolerance-wise) with an uncorrected bulging disc or pinched nerve.
You may get an mri, which may or may not be conclusive.

Another issue is insurance. Without it, my GP visits were $40, and Pain Clinic would be $200+. With insurance, the clinic co-pay was $25 and I never paid more than $10 for my methadone. Or oxy. Or MS. Or fentanyl...

Not all pain clinics are the same, either. Some PMs are very much focused on epidural injections, physical therapy, and other torture.
(Actually, I do get some relief from the exercises I learned at PT, but the therapy itself often left me worse off than I started.)

To vet the pain clinics, I got three referrals from my Primary Care physician (who was eager to quit rxing all that oxy), and learned which methods each preferred. Then I called the two who weren't so obsessed with non-narcotic treatment, read about them online, and selected the one that seemed best overall.

A more difficult question might be how forthcoming to be about your current tolerance.
If the doctor doesn't know where you're coming from, you may have to "titrate" up to your dosage, and that will take a few months.

OTOH, you have legitimate pain and legitimate need and don't want to appear to be a "drug-seeker."
The DEA is (slowly--but surely) implementing tracking infrastructure between providers and pharmacies, which doesn't affect you if you're not doctor-shopping (see the pill mill post), but it does make many doctors cautious. This is another reason to go to a pain clinic, which typically handles more opioid prescriptions than the average GP.

Which RX drug works best for you is another question. Everyone's different. I found I had absolutely no limit to tolerance with oxy...it seemed to always take more just to stay well and pain free. When I got to PM they started trying to switch me back to fentanyl, and I just had to hit the brakes and try something else.

In my case, MS was ineffective orally (my only ROA outside a hospital). But for me, methadone was the perfect answer.

In fact, I was able to maintain at a consistent level long enough that I was eventually able to taper and kick...but that's another story.


Again, everyone's different.

I've always maintained a truthful relationship with my doctors, which I realize is not always easy, or even feasible, if you've already got a habit, especially  if your DOC is not rx and your ROA is IV.

But, in the long run, being really straight up about what I was taking and what was or wasn't working gave me the relief I needed.

It also helped me get free. For the last 8 months or so, anyway. That's another post for another thread.

But I enthusiastically recommend being referred to a pain clinic.
Oh, and a last word on pharmacies: my local family pharmacy was ALWAYS cheaper than any chain, to a ridiculous extent, especially when I didn't have insurance. Also, developing trust with your pharmacist can be extremely important, too. I can't recommend the local pharmacy enough (if not in your town, maybe the next town over...check em out: don't assume Walgreens or CVS is cheaper or come with less hassles--the opposite is true in my case.)

$0.02 payable to TTA from Dhedmo's account.

[Serilia]

For most of us it is part of who we are . I think your right to do it and fuck anyone who has issue with it. As long as its stable and reliable you'll be fine .