Re: message sent on 12-28 -Kirk

[Guest guest]

Kirk, I appreciate the advise you have given me and wish you didn't have to be

in so much pain. I feel I need to give my RD plenty of opportunities to treat me

before I start Doctor hopping since RD's are not a dime a dozen around here.

Please stay in touch.

wishin we were fishin, Brett

Re: message sent on 12-28

Hi Brett....I think I am fortunate in the respect that I have an outstanding

relationship with my PCP(s) (they are partners, so I have two of them) and have

been given pain meds progressively without asking for anything specific without

question.

I hope the following makes some kind of sense....I am beat and still have a

headache, so my mind is wandering a bit.........

Unfortunately, I am up to 160 mg of Oxycontin 2x/day, but for the longest

time got by with Percocet for the body pain and Demerol & Valium for the

headaches.

I did tell them that if they ever thought I was going through them too

quickly or if I was developing a " problem " to tell me so, and cut me off if need

be. For the longest time 100 Percocets would last me up to 3 months, and Demerol

lasted a little longer between refills. I hate that those days are gone, but

after doing an " experiment " where I didn't take an Oxycontin one morning because

I felt good, I thought I was going to die when the residual effects of the prior

nights' dosage wore off. Holy SHIT.........and I keep telling myself I " know "

pain. I hope that makes sense. I can at times get by with 80 mg, but that hasn't

been the case too often lately :-( !!!

I never recall getting a " high " off of any of these pain meds. I know I

was feeling " high " when Stills first started and they gave me Dilaudid in the

hospital, but that effect only happened one or two times. I do get RELIEF or in

these days PREVENT a lot of pain, although I still think there is room for

improvement. I also have a morphine pump implant and have Fentanyl patches, yet

I still wake up screaming about every two to three hours due to pain at night.

During the day, I can tolerate most of it, some of the time. I also have

Roxycodone 15 mg for breakthrough pain.

Don't ever feel " weird " or anything..you know your body and if you are

truly in pain, deserve to have some relief. I had a hard time with this as I am

so ANTI-DRUG it isn't funny, and for some reason thought I would be a " druggie "

if I kept asking for pills. It doesn't take too many days in pain to realize one

needs pain meds for their intended purposes. I am anti-drug due to the fact that

many of the other guys on my High School wrestling team are either addicted,

reformed or dead due to drug abuse. I also have dealt with it closer to home, so

to say. I personally have never done drugs with the exception of having tied Pot

when I was in my early 20's. The big difference is between those that abuse them

vs. those that need. I am sure your Dr will agree you are the latter, and talk

to him/her about it. Tell them you are uncomfortable having to ask more than

once, and give them the power to monitor you if they so desire. That will ensure

a good, working relationship. If your Dr is " afraid " , find another one, although

starting a new Dr off to a request for pain meds may be difficult.

For more info...I also have a pain management Dr, but I only use him for

the morphine pump and keep him up to date on the other meds as I was already

under the vision of my PCP when I started to need pain relief.

Kirk