The newest opioid crisis?

[MRG]

DW is on day 4 of a monster headache. Migraine meds were ineffective and her doctor finally called in some fiorset(acetaminophen, caffeine, codeine and butalbitral) it's a old medication that works well for headaches. It was the only medication that helps my cluster headaches.

Apparently her insurance doesn't cover opioids starting this year. I need to check that out. Walmart also will not accept any coupons for opioids this year. Another pharmacy in town still does but they didn't have the medicine in stock. So for a 3 day supply it's $238! Or DW could suffer a few more days and pay $20.

What a joke.

 

[Dash man]

That’s not good news! I have cervical disc degeneration disease with a lot of nerve damage that causes me pain since 2006. I need hydrocodone to control the pain at times or I’d be disabled. The pendulum has swung too far.

 

[pacergal]

Many insurance companies will now only cover 7 days worth of opiate meds or need a prior authorization before filling. Frustrating for those who need the pain relief quickly or for long term.
I hope your wife gets to feeling better soon.

 

[MRG]

What is the cause of her headache?

The reason I ask is that if I had a headache so severe that I was even thinking of taking opioids for it, I'd sure want to find out the cause. Then once I knew the cause, I'd have my doctor DO something about it, rather than reaching for narcotic drugs to damp down the pain.

She was diagnosed with a sinus infection.

 

[braumeister]

DW is on day 4 of a monster headache.

I'm surprised, since you said you got some antibiotics for sinus and apparently they didn't work.

DW gets those killer headaches from time to time and it's almost always a sinus headache. She takes antibiotics (after working hard to convince the doc that she knows what she's talking about) and they fix it quickly.

 

[ivinsfan]

DW is on day 4 of a monster headache. Migraine meds were ineffective and her doctor finally called in some fiorset(acetaminophen, caffeine, codeine and butalbitral) it's a old medication that works well for headaches. It was the only medication that helps my cluster headaches.

Apparently her insurance doesn't cover opioids starting this year. I need to check that out. Walmart also will not accept any coupons for opioids this year. Another pharmacy in town still does but they didn't have the medicine in stock. So for a 3 day supply it's $238! Or DW could suffer a few more days and pay $20.

What a joke.

Yes that what I saw that on GoodRx ….anywhere else in town or nearby you can try for the 20 dollar price.....I ran into this when my DH was discharged from the hospital on a fairly obscure heart medication I got hosed at the hospital pharmacy because my local pharm had it on a special order list.

 

[easysurfer]

That’s not good news! I have cervical disc degeneration disease with a lot of nerve damage that causes me pain since 2006. I need hydrocodone to control the pain at times or I’d be disabled. The pendulum has swung too far.

Got a bit of a headache today when I woke up. Not to the point of needed to reach for painkillers, but still no fun. I've had worse headaches.

About the pendulum has swung too far part, I guess similar to going through TSA security before flying. Everyone is a suspect unless proven otherwise .

 

[ivinsfan]

Got a bit of a headache today when I woke up. Not to the point of needed to reach for painkillers, but still no fun. I've had worse headaches.

About the pendulum has swung too far part, I guess similar to going through TSA security before flying. Everyone is a suspect unless proven otherwise .

Or it could be about Walmart wanting to make more money, that's my guess...

 

[W2R]

She was diagnosed with a sinus infection.

I'm surprised, since you said you got some antibiotics for sinus and apparently they didn't work.

DW gets those killer headaches from time to time and it's almost always a sinus headache. She takes antibiotics (after working hard to convince the doc that she knows what she's talking about) and they fix it quickly.

I think MRG's DW needs a better doctor more than she needs opioids. This guy should be pursuing the problem, not just prescribing narcotics to cover up the symptoms. Well maybe I'm wrong, but that is my first reaction to this.

 

[MRG]

I'm surprised, since you said you got some antibiotics for sinus and apparently they didn't work.

DW gets those killer headaches from time to time and it's almost always a sinus headache. She takes antibiotics (after working hard to convince the doc that she knows what she's talking about) and they fix it quickly.

It's only the second day of antibiotics.

 

[jim584672]

GoodRx is good for things like this. My insurance only wanted to cover 7 days. GoodRx and $72 became $9.

 

[REWahoo]

I think MRG's DW needs a better doctor more than she needs opioids. This guy should be pursuing the problem, not just prescribing narcotics to cover up the symptoms. Well maybe I'm wrong, but that is my first reaction to this.

Time to change your handle to DR2R?

 

[Big_Hitter]

She was diagnosed with a sinus infection.

just got over one - had it for about a week, maybe longer

the pain is terrible - I went to the doc on Saturday and she told me that the best thing to do for pain is to take mucinex to drain the sinuses.

i got the liquid mucinex and it worked great

she gave me doxycycline too and it worked!

 

[Big_Hitter]

It's only the second day of antibiotics.

she should start feeling better today

 

[MRG]

she should start feeling better today

Thanks I hope so. It's hard to watch someone else suffer.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Thanks I hope so. It's hard to watch someone else suffer.

DW didn't seem to have too much of a problem with it

although it SUCKED being in bed over the holidays - that sinus infection was really debilitating

 

[Teacher Terry]

I once had a sinus infection really bad and the headache was horrible. The doctor tried to tell me I had a migraine and not a sinus infection. We argued and he finally said he would X-ray to prove it to me. He felt foolish when telling me I had a big infection.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I once had a sinus infection really bad and the headache was horrible. The doctor tried to tell me I had a migraine and not a sinus infection. We argued and he finally said he would X-ray to prove it to me. He felt foolish when telling me I had a big infection.

pretty much nothing worse than a bad sinus infection

i was in bed 12/22 to 1/1, went to the dr 12/30

i should have gone to the dr sooner but i kept telling myself I was getting better....

 

[Teacher Terry]

That was bad and now I go immediately if I have one.

 

[skipro33]

Ask your doctor if he has samples. I used to do this regularly and it would save me from purchasing the prescription altogether.

 

[MRG]

That’s not good news! I have cervical disc degeneration disease with a lot of nerve damage that causes me pain since 2006. I need hydrocodone to control the pain at times or I’d be disabled. The pendulum has swung too far.

I do too and yes it has.

In 2000 my then PCP didn't believe in opioids. He quickly cut down the dose the ER started me on, every 3 days. Of course nothing was done for the cause of the pain. Just live with it, seriously considered going for a walk with a Ruger and not coming back.....

I was still w*rking then, my helpful cow*rkers were gathering up their spare pills and shipping them to me. Mixing opioids, benzos, and muscle relaxers is a great way to wake up dead.

After almost 2 months of pure h*ll a cervical epidural was greatly appreciated. Would have been better 6 weeks prior. Unfortunately my PCP didn't understand medicine very well, and his nurse "forget" to tell him my left arm went numb(how the h*ll do you forget someone called because their arm is numb?)!!![emoji23]

 

[Dash man]

I do too and yes it has.

In 2000 my then PCP didn't believe in opioids. He quickly cut down the dose the ER started me on, every 3 days. Of course nothing was done for the cause of the pain. Just live with it, seriously considered going for a walk with a Ruger and not coming back.....

I was still w*rking then, my helpful cow*rkers were gathering up their spare pills and shipping them to me. Mixing opioids, benzos, and muscle relaxers is a great way to wake up dead.

After almost 2 months of pure h*ll a cervical epidural was greatly appreciated. Would have been better 6 weeks prior. Unfortunately my PCP didn't understand medicine very well, and his nurse "forget" to tell him my left arm went numb(how the h*ll do you forget someone called because their arm is numb?)!!![emoji23]

Yeah, it took me a few doctors to find on that treated my pain well. Cervical epidurals only lasted a couple of weeks. Physical Therapy helped a lot, but wasn’t enough. Cervical facet injections, two years s after the initial pain, helped a lot more until insurance decided not to pay for it four years later. Surgery is not an option for me according to neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons. Burning nerve in endings help some, but meds are needed in between, but not daily. But the new difficulty in getting hydrocodone has really hurt...literally.

 

[El Magnifico Loco]

I worked for a pharma company who used to manufacture opiate medications. I think the meds themselves are both a godsend as well as a scourge, depending upon the doctor prescribing and the patient taking.

Many docs do not know how to prescribe. A few are unscrupulous who would prescribe any amount. Some patients are seemingly predisposed toward addiction (a horrible disease), but the vast majority can safely take these meds, just want pain relief, and would gladly stop taking the meds once the pain subsides. It's frightening to hear stories of people committing suicide rather than living in intractable pain. All because they now cannot get pain relief.

Opiate addiction is a complex problem with no simple answers. Education for both physicians and patients on the products themselves could help a lot, IMO. "Blanket" product access restrictions are causing more and different problems. I hope the pendulum comes back quickly, for everyone's sake.

 

[Bamaman]

Many insurance companies will now only cover 7 days worth of opiate meds or need a prior authorization before filling. Frustrating for those who need the pain relief quickly or for long term.
I hope your wife gets to feeling better soon.

In many states, you can now only get 3 days prescription of controlled pain medicine. After that, you can get a 30 day supply, but the prescription has got to be in a specific format in paper. No called in prescriptions are available for controlled substances.

 

[Bamaman]

Yeah, it took me a few doctors to find on that treated my pain well. Cervical epidurals only lasted a couple of weeks. Physical Therapy helped a lot, but wasn’t enough. Cervical facet injections, two years s after the initial pain, helped a lot more until insurance decided not to pay for it four years later. Surgery is not an option for me according to neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons. Burning nerve in endings help some, but meds are needed in between, but not daily. But the new difficulty in getting hydrocodone has really hurt...literally.

There is definitely a protocol that must be gone through before a proper doctor will get to opioids. Physical therapy is the first step. The second step is back injections (cortisones) that should only be done under fluoroscopes in series of three a month apart. (Medicare won't pay for three in 90 days.) Often it's the third injection that does the patient so much pain relief. Nerve ablation is often the next step. Then it may be time for surgery. Last resort is doing bone grafts/fusions.

My wife has been under pain management clinics for 17 years, and she's been taking controlled medicines for all these years. She's one of the success stories--living a normal life and staying in society. So many people with bad backs, arthritis, etc. are either invalids or just stay at home people. Proper pain management keeps patients out of nursing homes and hospitals.

CBD oil has been a Godsend for my wife. She's off 1/3 of her pain mads, and she's also off Klonipan. She is much calmer, too. She needs two foot fusions, but lidocaine lotion and Volteran gel on top of CBD oil has really dulled her pain and allowed better walking.