Having a time

bevhembree · Post by **bevhembree** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:21 am

I guess I'm having one of those growth spurts. I see my doc today but am not hopeful that there's anything more he can do. I see my therapist tomorrow but am having trouble with her acceptance and commitment approach. It's painful, but I do hope confronting it head on will allow the pain to pass.
I haven't had more than 4 hours sleep in over a week. I'm so run down. Not thinking straight.
My neck and shoulder pain are awful. I have every cream in the world for it. My hubby got upset last night at how much I've spent at the chiropractor's to have only temporry relief. I can't blame him, but am at a loss.
My migraines are back with a vengeance. My MAOI contradicts with pain killers, muscle relaxers and triptans. It's hard to function day after day with them. I haven't even been able to eat in three days from the nausea that comes with it.
Though I have been trying to distract myself by visiting family and staying involved in church, I feel that hopeless, overwhleming sad feeling. It's like being dead inside. I'm crying and worrying over everything.
And to top it off, I think I'm in perimenopause.
Anyway, I'm going to tackle each issue one at a time this week and ask for your thoughts and prayers through this. Thanks a million!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:44 am

I am so sorry for all the stuff on your plate. Don't know what your therapist is guiding you toward right now, but it sounds like a necessary journey for you. The relaxation CD has wonderful imagery exercise, and I really enjoy walking through the forest and seeing that waterfall on the other side. Hard to make images when you physically hurt, but some of the most successful solutions for pain management in the past ten years have come from mindfulness based work in hospitals and medical universities. It is very, very similar to our relaxation CD, so I wondered if that helps. I have no advice about the menopause route because I am just counting down until I am finished with menopause. Some of my friends tell me it's great when it's over.

Kind regards, Pecos

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:08 pm

And it just kept coming. My doc had to postpone my appt for two weeks. I asked his nurse to see about something to help me sleep. She said she'd try to catch up with him sometime this week. Well, ok, I'll just keep staying awake al night a little while longer.
My back doc cancelled our appt Tuesday for having open heart surgery. He has no replacement doc yet so they suggested I get my 1 7.5 mg a day Lortab filled with another doc. Chaos broke out when the nurse from my nuerologist called in 4 tablets a day. I have 12 left in my current prescription, and figured they'd put the script on hold until the other ran out. BUT, they told the nurse I was getting narcotic pain kllers from 3 different docs, and my doc, the neurologist refuses to help me now. The pharmacist says she told the nurse I was on controlled substances from 3 doctors, which I am- Ambien CR and Xanax plus Lortab. The pharmacist also "suggested" I'd be getting a call from the DEA. I didn't ask for 4 tabs a day. I don't need that many. My neuro now thinks I am a pain killer seeker and abuser. I must be one of the stupid ones for using the same pharmacy. It's sad b/c I had a good relationship with him and he had helped quite a bit with the migraines.
It's humiliating to be labeled that way and nobody seems to care because they "know" how some of us druggies can be.
Thanks for letting me vent. At least I've stopped crying. I guess there are worst things in the world that can happen, right?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:56 pm

Sorry, Bev, that you aren't feeling well. AS for the meds, it doesn't sound bad to me and I worked for a pharmacy as a tech for 10 years. I know plenty of folks who were on an anti-anxiety med like Xanax or Valium and had to have tylenol #3, vicodin, or lortab for pain due to a dental procedure. Ambien is not addictive if taken as prescribed. I don't see the big deal with this. I assume there's no prior history of abuse? Big whup.

If you haven't explained your circumstances to the nuerologist then I'd try to do so, the same with the pharmacist. There was a time when I was 18 and I was on 40mg of Valium a day, plus phenobarbital as needed for panic. I guess they'd call me a drug addict today, even though I carried a full college load, drove a car 60 miles a day to school, and was in R.O.T.C. lol

Doctors today are frightened of getting people hooked on controlled substances rather than trying to treat and help the patient, if it comes down to one or the other. If I came down with the same panic/anxiety today that I had in 1968 I probably would never fully recover due to the doc's fear of getting me addicted to Valium. My guess is nobody would prescribe 40mg a day today, not even close to that amount. For me, it's what I needed to function.

Of course we all know that drug abusers use the same pharmacy for all their meds so they can get caught. lol. What a piece of work this whole fairy tale is. Anybody knows that if you're addicted that you'll use different docs AND pharmacies in order to hide the truth. The fact that you used the same pharmacy for all your meds may be your best evidence that you are honest and telling the truth---because if you were trying to get all the meds you could you would not use the same pharmacy.

So, ask the pharmacist how many folks are on Xanax, Valium, or Ativan or their generic PLUS Lortab, Vicodin, or another pain killer. My guess is plenty of folks. Adding Ambien is not a big deal, it is not a strong controlled substance. Plus, you did use the same pharmacy which implies you have nothing to hide. I don't see a very strong case for the DEA if it honestly gets that far.

Take one day at a time, be respectful, but rebut and counter the lies with the truth. Maybe someone will believe you eventually.