Spiky Bugger
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 6,227
This will have to do for the moment.
Background:
I developed GERD/Reflux with the band. It did not go away when the band was removed. So I am a DSer who cannot take NSAIDS without suffering. (And I take Prevacid Solutabs as my PPI.)
That said, I have a couple of chronic things that involve the need for pain relief. One is Interstitial Cystitis (IC), an incurable bladder condition that presents as a UTI, sometime as the worst UTI you've ever had. I take Urispas (say it aloud, it sounds like name-calling) for the bladder spasms, but sometimes I need more than that.
And then, knees. My knees are old and put up with too many years of abuse--MO really does damage in that area. I get SynVisc injections and have for years. But, they used to work for 18 months and now the relief isn't as complete or as long-lasting. So I need more than that. (And with my CDiff hx, I really don't want to have to take a bunch of antiobiotics that go with getting new knees. And anyway, with the SynVisc and the Vicodin, it isn't that bad...yet.)
I take hydrocodone. Sometimes it's Vicodin, sometimes it's Norco...same shit. And I have developed a tolerance (it takes 7.5mg to do what 2.5mg used to do), but not yet an addiction. I know that because, while I do take some almost every day, I always run out of month before I run out of Vicodin.
But I don't like pain, so I try to remember to stockpile that shit. Like any good addict would do. I REALLY don't want to need a bunch of it and not have access.
More recently:
My doctor who quit doctoring used to write an Rx for 10mg, take 3x daily prn pain, 90 tablets, five refills. So, theoretically, it was a six month thing. That more than met my needs.
The next PCP, decided I could manage on 7.5 mg, all the rest the same. He wrote THAT script, but then we moved. So the RX got transferred to another branch of the same pharmacy. And then THAT pharmacy closed and you cannot transfer narcotic prescriptions more than once. So I have "lost" about three refills.) But I can live with that because my Uro decided I needed some for IC-related pain. So he wrote an Rx for 7.5mg, 1 tab q8 hrs, for pain, But only 30 tablets. With one refill.
Then two things happened.
1--The feds decided that we Vicodin addicts will now need non-refillable prescriptions. So a new Rx is needed monthly.
2--I went to the pharmacy and asked my next-door neighbor, who works there, how to time the filling of the prescriptions to avoid getting caught in the new rules sometime the first week of October.
She looked at the Rx from the Uro and started laughing. "They write stupid scripts, we just have to work around them. You can refill this in eight days."
I cleverly said, "Uh...huh?"
She replied, "This prescription essentially says that you can take up to three tablets a day...one every eight hours. That means that IF you are in a IC flare-up for an extended period, you can take three tables a day for ten days, run out, and then refill the prescription, because nowhere on this does it say that it cannot be refilled before 30 days are up. And we can refill a prescription two days early, so eight days...and you will beat the new restrictions."
So...if any of you other junkies are concerned about the new rules, this info might help.
Background:
I developed GERD/Reflux with the band. It did not go away when the band was removed. So I am a DSer who cannot take NSAIDS without suffering. (And I take Prevacid Solutabs as my PPI.)
That said, I have a couple of chronic things that involve the need for pain relief. One is Interstitial Cystitis (IC), an incurable bladder condition that presents as a UTI, sometime as the worst UTI you've ever had. I take Urispas (say it aloud, it sounds like name-calling) for the bladder spasms, but sometimes I need more than that.
And then, knees. My knees are old and put up with too many years of abuse--MO really does damage in that area. I get SynVisc injections and have for years. But, they used to work for 18 months and now the relief isn't as complete or as long-lasting. So I need more than that. (And with my CDiff hx, I really don't want to have to take a bunch of antiobiotics that go with getting new knees. And anyway, with the SynVisc and the Vicodin, it isn't that bad...yet.)
I take hydrocodone. Sometimes it's Vicodin, sometimes it's Norco...same shit. And I have developed a tolerance (it takes 7.5mg to do what 2.5mg used to do), but not yet an addiction. I know that because, while I do take some almost every day, I always run out of month before I run out of Vicodin.
But I don't like pain, so I try to remember to stockpile that shit. Like any good addict would do. I REALLY don't want to need a bunch of it and not have access.
More recently:
My doctor who quit doctoring used to write an Rx for 10mg, take 3x daily prn pain, 90 tablets, five refills. So, theoretically, it was a six month thing. That more than met my needs.
The next PCP, decided I could manage on 7.5 mg, all the rest the same. He wrote THAT script, but then we moved. So the RX got transferred to another branch of the same pharmacy. And then THAT pharmacy closed and you cannot transfer narcotic prescriptions more than once. So I have "lost" about three refills.) But I can live with that because my Uro decided I needed some for IC-related pain. So he wrote an Rx for 7.5mg, 1 tab q8 hrs, for pain, But only 30 tablets. With one refill.
Then two things happened.
1--The feds decided that we Vicodin addicts will now need non-refillable prescriptions. So a new Rx is needed monthly.
2--I went to the pharmacy and asked my next-door neighbor, who works there, how to time the filling of the prescriptions to avoid getting caught in the new rules sometime the first week of October.
She looked at the Rx from the Uro and started laughing. "They write stupid scripts, we just have to work around them. You can refill this in eight days."
I cleverly said, "Uh...huh?"
She replied, "This prescription essentially says that you can take up to three tablets a day...one every eight hours. That means that IF you are in a IC flare-up for an extended period, you can take three tables a day for ten days, run out, and then refill the prescription, because nowhere on this does it say that it cannot be refilled before 30 days are up. And we can refill a prescription two days early, so eight days...and you will beat the new restrictions."
So...if any of you other junkies are concerned about the new rules, this info might help.
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