Believe me, you're not the only one suffering under these new restrictions on pain meds. I hear it almost every day from friends. The pendulum in the US seems to only swing to the extremes.

Yes. My reaction to various pain med doesn't seem to be the same for me as it is for many people. Vicoden works... Also I was prescribed Xanax and it was like popping a Tic Tac, to me. Valium worked. Like you, taking something for pain/panic is a last resort.

Now, I have trouble getting that which will give me relief. I request it and get the same "we can only give you _____" along with the much-dreaded accusing glare that makes me feel about as important as something that got stuck on the doctors shoe. When in pain, I have to go in and get a shot of something (embarrassingly,, I never asked what, exactly, it is), that barely does anything.

I am in the same place as you. I'm a responsible adult who only takes what's absolutely necessary. People don't seem to understand that I hate taking pills...

The fact that I am without these two medications now, is enough to put me in panic mode. It's an additional strain on a body and mind that needs (NOT WANTS) a break now and again.

I have edibles that I use when necessary but marijuana is illegal here (plus for pain it's meh). I have tried cbd oil and it wasn't effective for me.

Quality of life kinda matters...

Isn't the whole point of having doctors letting them decide what medicine to prescribe? Weed out the bad actors, for goodness sake, and let people who suffer get what they need. This is going to drive up illicit drug sales.

Having suffered from chronic pain almost all of my adult life, I can say from having over a dozen different doctors due to moving and trying to find a good one, that doctors who can help you manage pain effectively are few and far between. Many doctors are just virtual employees of the pharmaceutical companies and just prescribe pills for whatever ails you, and mostly treat the symptoms. I had to figure out on my own how to manage my pain, through doing a lot of research and reading. And many of the wide variety of pain management modes are not readily available everywhere or even commonly. I think this is what led to the opioid epidemic, doctor's just prescribing and prescribing pills to whomever came in the door without worrying about long term consequences. Plus, no money to be made if you truly get better.

My mother has chronic pain. She used to be on chronic, low-dose methadone. It worked and she was able to function and live life for many years. She also took a very occasional Xanax. The amounts she could receive were regulated but she was able to get what she needed. In the last year, things changed. Her physician wrote the last prescription for methadone which was not for a very long time and informed her she would have to see the pain specialist. The pain specialist had at least a 6 month waiting list. She had scary withdrawal symptoms, too (the physician was limited by the clinic he worked with and did not handle the last rx properly). While medical cannabis is legal in my state, it did not provide the relief needed. Not to mention, the cost associated with cannabis is prohibitive. Now she is having a very bad flare of her rheumatoid arthritis and nothing is making the pain tolerable. There are not enough rheumatologists in the state so she just has to suffer. One thing that helps with the RA is prednisone (although that is not working well this flare) but long-term steroids are not healthy either.

I do not doubt that there is an opioid crisis, but the current laws are creating another crisis for people like my mother who is faced with a progressive, chronic, painful condition who is having increasing difficulty participating in this thing called life because of pain. She will just turn 60 in about 6 weeks and is facing the scary question of how can she face the painful years ahead.

Heres a short q&a on the law from Tulsaworld.com.

Q: The Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill that changes the laws surrounding opioid prescriptions. What does it do?

A: Senate Bill 1446 places limits on the number of opioid pills that physicians can prescribe and puts in place safeguards to help curb the potential for opioid abuse. Starting on Nov. 1, physicians will only be able to initially prescribe a week’s worth of opioid drugs to manage acute pain and must limit the dosage to the lowest effective dose. Before renewing the prescription for up to seven more days, the law requires a consultation with the patient to determine that the patient needs the prescription and that the prescription does not present a risk for abuse, addiction, or diversion. If after the initial 14 days the physician determines that the patient still needs opioids to manage pain, the physician must follow the procedures to treat chronic pain that are outlined below. Additionally, the law places greater responsibility on physicians by requiring one hour of continuing education in pain management or in opioid abuse and addiction each year before the physician renews his or her license to practice and by providing for disciplinary action if a practitioner fails to check the Oklahoma Prescription Monitoring Program database. The law also aims to generally increase communication between prescribers and patients by requiring documented discussions on the risks associated with opioids.

Q: How will this law affect patients who suffer from chronic pain?

A: Patients who are prescribed opioids or other Schedule II controlled dangerous substances for chronic pain can expect to see increased safeguards in receiving their prescriptions. For instance, the physician will enter into a pain management agreement with the patient that explains the risk of dependence on opioids and documents the mutual understanding of the plan between the practitioner and patient. Additionally, a patient can expect a practitioner to review the treatment plan progress at a minimum of every three months and to assess the patient before each refill to determine if the patient is experiencing dependence problems. Patients who are prescribed a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance or any opioid drug for cancer treatment, hospice, or palliative care or who are residents in a long-term care facility are exempted from these requirements.

I'm reading this topic with much interest. My guess is people are afraid to even admit they take a pain pill for fear of The Look from others who assume we're all addicted. My right hand has been out of whack all morning and I have tons of things to do around the house that can't be put off. I say "Ouch!" out loud about every two minutes. Even the hand brace isn't helping.

Jn, thanks for the article. Tulsa is my birthplace. Now I'm going to sing Going Back to Tulsa all day. :)

The article doesn't say anything about prescribing more than one schedule II drug unless I missed it. I need to see if I can find more about it, but I wonder if the doctor was fibbing to me. He did say at my next 3 month checkup I'd need to fill out a form for the xanax which was mentioned in the article.

Do you know if this new law is only for Oklahoma or other states as well?

If what the doctor said is true, that means if someone walks up to me and beats me up and I end up with PTS and lots of pain but don't need hospitalization, I'll have to choose which med I want? :)

Now I'm LIVID. I looked up what schedule drug xanax is in Oklahoma and it's a IV. So why the he!! can he not give me 12 blanking pills now before November 1st?

I'm going to message him right now. Small town, they reply, thank goodness.

A lot of wealthy pain doctors out there, prescribing for those who have no pain, then when the inevitable addiction causes social and medical problems, many times the gov. foots the bill.

How would you handle the problem if you were the gov, and wanted to fight addiction but at the same time prevent collateral damage of those in genuine need, not getting their medication?

if I was a government I'd put best minds together to think about how to address healthcare system in this country. I find it highly problematic

More recent example: I was diagnozed with highly contagious bacterial disease which requires strong antibiotics to be taken-2 weeks of antibiotics. The disease usually happens in hospitals; recently though it seems there are more and more community outbreaks

one is pretty desabilitated during the duration of the disease

I must add that we have really good insuranse, PPO etc

Now, when picking up the prescription-suddenly it appears that this antibiotic is not approved by insurance.

The price of said antibiotic is 1500$ in Ralphs (yes, one thousand and five hundred dollars a bottle), 1800$ in Walmart..you get the picture

within several days of doctor's office constantly communicating with insurance, we're able to get said antibiotic for 10 bucks. It's generic and made in India

(during these several days I'm given something else because one should be given antibiotics with this condition-so they say" take this meanwhile even though it probably won't help". It didn't)

okay. so you have an outbreak of highly contagious disease..you know it's in the community. you know people that got it are pretty soon a) ill as in "can't function" ill and b) spread it allover unless treated

I think obvious decision would be make a required antibiotic available as in "yes let folks get it for 10 bucks asap"

not make patient and doctors and their offices jump through hoops and loose valuable time

and this is just one- lack- of- any- common- sense example

oh I've got soooo many..I don't want to waste your precious time

ETA:ETA: we paid 10 bucks for antibiotic..when we got the bill we saw that the insurance was charged 3 thousand something..for absolutely neccessary course of antibiotics ..generic and made in India..

I hated them btw, these pills..they gave me mood swings. But they killed the bug.

Mind boggling. Criminal negligence, if you ask me. I am so sorry, april.

Thank you, Rita..I really try to understand "whys", and it's very often I just can't.

That sounds like insurance fraud, April, ...I would get in touch with your insurance company to make sure they are only paying for what you received.

What about a universal prescription database, Lucille?

Lucille, the first thing I'd do is not put the public into one group. Addicts. That's essentially what's happening. Then take into consideration the large population of older patients, baby boomers.

There's been a data base with the DEA for years now which keeps track of patients getting pain prescriptions and of the doctors giving them.

IMO, all that needs to be done is to hire a lot more DEA people to monitor every pain prescription patient and doctor through their database.

Each controlled substance prescription we get already goes into the DEA database for the purpose of flagging those who may be abusing the meds.

Of course people will still buy them off the street, but that's another story.

I messaged my doctor and told him how I woke up with severe pain which made me remember what his nurse told me last week, and it just doesn't make a lick of sense, especially with him knowing how few of the meds I take. I also told him I glanced over the Senate bill and there was nothing about not being able to prescribe two controlled substances, especially when they're not in the same class.

I did ask him if I need to "find one of those pain places to prescribe 12 pills to last for a few months." lol It's just so ridiculous.

My honest opinion? I think they lied through their teeth to me because doctors are so afraid of getting into trouble. 12 pills every 4-5 months to one patient isn't going to get him in trouble.

Oakley I agree. But Big Pharma makes things difficult every time the words 'control' and 'drug' are found in the same paragraph so I do not see a DEA superteam being created.

Oakley, you should not be in pain, you should have the meds you need to relieve symptoms well before they become excruciating. But the political problem is complex in so many ways. Big Pharma does not want to be controlled. The gov does not want to pay out billions in largely ineffectual treatment centers that team up with corrupt halfway houses that work together to milk the patient/insurance/gov and keep him coming back.

What about a universal prescription database, Lucille?

That is an excellent idea. Iron out privacy concerns and I think you have a winner; but that is no small task. There are all sorts of famous people who are addicted to prescription drugs, they don't want their name implicated. And there are those who are in this country illegally, I cannot find it in my heart to turn my back on those little kids in the camps, but how to get them in the database I don't know.

This is one area in health care where Canada is lagging as well. Pain management is greatly under rated, and very normal, non-– abusing citizens are paying the price. The pendulum has swung way too far to the other end. .

Knowing what I do about data bases, it seems inconceivable to me that the government cannot discern overuse of prescribing practices. They should be managing those doctors that are abusing the system instead of clamping down on many, many, legitimate chronic pain patients.

Even short term pain! I went through two extremely painful miscarriages, I was given no pain relief for the first and Tylenol three for the second until I started haemorrhaging, they only then realized I needed a few bumps of morphine while they were prepping me for surgery.

In the past we have been taught that we should have no pain. In addition physicians, hospitals and other providers have been reimbursed by patient ratings.

So......the MD's were in a hard place. If they did not give a patient what they wanted be it drugs, a labor induction, a work excuse, etc the patient could given them a bad review and it would effect their pay.

As a RN my pay is also based off of the dreaded Press Gainey results. It doesn't matter that we saved your babies life during labor, if we gave you reason to give us a bad review, it hurts us. So we kiss the patients patooty and let them do what they want it seems. Kind of like the inmates running the jail.

What we are being taught now is that no pain is an unrealistic expectation. A reduction in pain by 20% is the goal and narcotics are the last choice of interventions to do.

I am in another Midwestern state and we have the same rule about a weeks supply.

We drug test every patient that hits the door and it is the rare patient that comes back clean. That is why these laws have been made. Things are out of control.

Pain reduction of 20 percent? My gosh, that sounds awful. I don't have any pain and that makes me very afraid to ever have any. My mother could not have survived her cancer treatments had she had only a 20 percent reduction in pain. With top shelf opioids, she was barely making it. Punishing regular people is wrong, but it sure is easier to do than making meaningful changes to policy and the necessary infrastructure.

ETA I have had chronic knee pain in the past. I never took opioids for that pain because they just make me sick, so were I to have the kind of pain my mother had, IDK what I would do.

Canada, which has no concept of patient satisfaction, certainly has clamped down on opiate prescribing as well. I think the pendulum has swung well too far the other way, perhaps in a sort of “war on drugs” Puritan type of vibe. Here’s a heartbreaking editorial from a woman in my province:

https://nationalpost.com/feature/my-year-on-death-row

I think by going too far in forbidding opiate prescriptions, we are abdicating a serious responsibility in pain management. Not to mention that many of these chronic pain guidelines have adversely affected sufferers of acute pain as well . When I show up in the ER crying and screaming, a quick glance at my electronic chart should show easily that I have never been prescribed nor abused painkillers. Refusing to treat me is just causing suffering completely needlessly.

That said, certainly I think overprescribers, pill mills, and the like should be strictly managed along with those doctors who need education on the serious risks of dependency and side effects of some drugs incl benzos and the like.

That was a wrenching read, Robo. The crazed war on drugs cuckoos have found a place they can reduce the number of users. They must be so proud of themselves.

I don't think it's at all like "inmates running the jail" to want to live a quality life...We just want to be able to function...And a day off from pain is like a freaking vacation to us...

I have had a strained groin muscle/tendon since the beginning of June. I get very sharp stabbing pain in that area randomly whenever I walk. I saw a Dr yesterday and got some muscle relaxers and 28 Tramadol. That is enough for 1 dose of 2 pills once a day for 14 days. I will get about 4-5 good hours a day to walk with little pain. I don't know what I will do after that.

I feel your pain Oakley. If they can keep up with Sudafed users then why can the not figure out a way to take care of this.

Also read Robo's linked article. Wow.

Penney, the inmates running the jail comment was pertaining to the patients wanting to call the shots and have the power. They understand if they complain because we did not feed their entire family, give them a crib and carseat, etc that we will be penalized. MDs would give a prescription to someone to get a good rating and not have a complaint filed.

Most of us on here are somewhat mature and yes have chronic pain. I have hip/knee issues from years of 12+ hour shifts on concrete floors and am a chronic kidney stone former. We are a different patient than the 20 something that presents with a group of friends, partying it up in the ER, stating their pain is a 10, demanding narcotics.

I just want to share my story from the other side.

We have been friends with a family for years. The 27 year old son was a division 1 athlete who went to college on scholarship. He was thoughtful, kind and hard working. He was a good friend and had a nice family.

He had a couple of sports injuries in college, was over prescribed pain meds and became addicted to opioids. He struggled but graduated, married, had a son. Tragically, he died a few months ago because of his addiction.

The rise in drug overdose deaths over the past few years is stunning. All drug overdose deaths have increased because people who become addicted to prescribed opioids seek out illegal drugs to get their fix.

It's not going to be an easy change and things are going to be messy. But something needs to be done. The status quo can't continue.

This is an issue that I struggle with on a daily basis. I have a disease that causes me great amounts of pain. In addition, I suffer with fibromyalgia and I need a knee replacement-my knee is bone on bone and has been that way for a few years. I also fractured my spine 5 years ago so I have bad, chronic pain from that. I cannot walk unassisted-I need a cane now, and will be transitioning to a walker in a year or so. I cannot climb stairs without assistance and I cannot bend my left knee. My disease exaserbates my knee problem because my ankles don't bend so my gait is off-throwing off my hips and back too.

About 8 years ago I was prescribed 60 325/5mg Norco-the lowest dose available, and it was to take one to two a day as needed for severe pain. For 5 years I seldom refilled except ever few months. Then I developed the fibro and my knee got worse. Coupled with my physically demanding job, I was having to take the two pills a day. Then the pain just kept getting worse-which is very typical with the disease I have. So since I only had a prescription for 2 pills a day, I'd only take them when I could not longer bear the pain-I'd be at about a level 5 all day and I'd take the pills when it got to a 7. As a long term chronic pain sufferer you learn to live with pain!

My doctor told me that I was in a very, very small group of his pain management patients who really did need the pain pills. I never called in for early refills, my urine tests always came back clean, etc. But then he retired and I got a new doctor.

My new doctor doesn't believe me that I now need a higher dose of the Norco. A nurse told me that the dose I've been prescribed (for 8 years) is virtually the equivalent of a Tylenol 3-used to help someone get over a sprained back and not for a long term-chronic pain sufferer.

My doc prescribed Tramadol-which helped somewhat with my fibro pain but didn't do anything at all for the other pain-the pain that would make me white out at times, feel like I was going to vomit from pain, and keep me up all night, in tears. I kept refilling it because it did help me get through the day at work when just wearing clothing hurt and my HAIR hurt-but I'd save the Norco till bed time so I could take two just so I might be able to sleep without crying.

FInally I went in to see him, literally in tears because I hurt so bad, to ask to get my prescription increased. He's had me take xrays which show severe arthritis and bone spurs in my left knee. Arthritis in my ankles, my right knee, my back and my neck. (I was told 15 years ago I had the neck of an 80 year old, it's so damaged from car accidents). So he has proof that I'm in agony but he told me that since I already take Tramadol, he won't increase the Norco, because it will just stop working and I'll need higher and higher doses. He blames the extra weight I've put on because I CANNOT WALK ANY MORE to the Norco stopping my metabolism. His solution to my crying in agony was for me to call the bariatric unit to get into the gastric bypass program so I will lose weight so they'll fix my knee. In a very best case scenario that would be at least 18 months out, and it won't help the lymphedema or the arthritis in the rest of my body.

My friend has fentanyl patches, takes Lyrica, and gets regular injections for her various pains. I do not want to move on to Oxycodone or fentanyl! I just want my Norco increased to 1-2 every 4 hours as needed-which is the TYPICAL low dose. I won't even take them if I don't need them! I can't take ibuprofen-it causes stomach bleeding in me. I try cannabis, I try massage, accupuncture, stretching, water exercises, heat/cold you name it. I have said to my doctor that I've considered having my legs amputated if it would mean that pain would stop-of course I wouldn't do that but when you have such bad pain that you'd sacrifice your legs to make it stop-THAT is real pain.

I really do live in fear of what will happen if the pain meds are further restricted.

What we are being taught now is that no pain is an unrealistic expectation. A reduction in pain by 20% is the goal and narcotics are the last choice of interventions to do.

When 'no pain' is available for those who need it, this is silly. No pain is not an unrealistic expectation, and the change to 20% appears to have been a politic choice.

Unfortunately, many doctors are not trained in how to address pain with a multimodal approach.

I'm sure that doctors don't see pain the same as we do--they have pills available when they need them. So that means that they can't relate, really. Stuff in books rarely equals individuals real-life experiences.

I'm incensed, really. And yes, I do get a bit "hoard-y" if I can get stronger pain meds. I don't care if they're expired and maybe less effective. I keep them.

My mom has tons of health problems including cancer. She's in her 80's and is still struggling to be prescribed anything for pain.

AND---those of us in pain know that it's not so easy to get ourselves to the emergency room when it gets bad... it's the last thing you're able to do...

Neetsiepie, I'm so sorry for your issues...But I do understand the kind of pain that makes you consider a radical approach, even though you wouldn't. When pain is all consuming you just want it gone, by any means possible---

Doctors have to answer to the government. They are not acting this way of their own accord. They must have certain goals and metrics to not exceed. Sadly, had doctors behaved properly in the first place and not drank the Sackler Kool-Aid & taken their bribes, we would not be here in the first place.

On a related side note - if you want to read an excellent book about the US opioid epidemic I highly recommend Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic. It might provide useful background in understanding why government would try the above described approach. Unfortunately there is usually someone who is adversely impacted by new government regulations that someone else had good intentions for putting in place.

I get that there are two sides to every story...but we just want what most take for granted. Not even---we don't NEED to be pain free, we just want a bit of a reduction, or a day off so we can continue the fight...

Like anyone in pain, the focus isn't the why's or how's...there isn't the energy to question or advocate.

I'll leave you to this thread with the hope that you (who are in pain) can get through the day. My best wishes to you.

Sorry it took so long to reply, I think I'm coming down with bronchitis and I hope I don't have to go to the doctor. He never replied back to me which is unusual. It wasn't long after I emailed him that I had such bad pain in my thumb I'd have to bend over and stay that way until it left.

And Lord help me if I get another kidney stone! Yes, they are worse than childbirth and I had to "natural" births. The pain was so bad the ER gave me a shot of demerol and then morphine.

I read more on the law and what the doctors aren't supposed to do is prescribe the trifecta of meds together, opioids, xanax, and muscle relaxers. And the doctors are allowed to prescribe whatever they want, but to also talk to the patient about addiction and monitor them.

The DEA database does work but not if they don't have the man power to monitor every state.