VvFreckles

WHy don't Doc's chart with computers, the same way we nurses have to do? From what I can see by their handwriting, computers would be far too complicated for these poor souls!! lol! Actually, I have asked a few docs, and the only answer I will accept, is, they do it to avoid prescription forgeries, by having a certain "known"(?), signature. Melinda

hi all~~ i apologise for not posting in a long time. i'm a nurse, who is currently not working due to chronic pain. i am due for surgery in three weeks on my back, or "train wreck", as my ortho so quaintly puts it, and am due for other surgeries after this.....ok, enough about my problems....however, my pain doc has started me on atiq for breakthrough med. i have sjogrens syndrome, and have/was taking elavil, (until recently, when my doc changed it to pamelor), so have some problems with moisture in my mouth. :angryfire although i have found it a bit easier to use now, as opposed to a couple years ago, as far a getting the old salivary glands going, i also have practially no gum ridge, due to resorbing bone, and surgery. i'm presently waiting for my new denture to fit over some implamts in my lower jaw, but don't have them yet. so, here's the question. since it is almost impossible to hold the "lolipop" between my (non existant) gum, and cheek, wouldn't the medicine be just as well absorbed under my tounge, as in nitro tabs? i cannot find any info on using it that way, and am afraid of wasting the precious few i have to see if they work. i really want them to work out, as the patches have, to my surprise! thanks to all, and wilo be back as soon as possible, melinda

all all reply Thank you kelly, for your reply. It seems I am in the right place, although it is different than other boards I have seen. Now I have to figure out how to make my font bigger. Do I need to write then "enter text you want to change"? Anyway, I can read it OK for now. I Did go to a meth clinic when I was forst put on methadone, years ago. Your right, they do not treat pain, and there are some good people there, but I had such a hard time getting there. I did go, since that was my only alternative, but they did also tell me that my dose was getting over 100mgs, and if that happend, I would NOT be elegible to take it home at all! I wonder sometimes at what the universe has in store for us, since around that time, I had a siezure as I was just starting off to go to the clinic, and ended up crashing into a car about three houses up from me. Then not too long after, I had another one at the meth clinic! They think it may be because I stopped my clonipin, but I had tapered down, as I was running out, and didn't want/need it at the time. Personally, I think it was the stress. At any rate, I was given my scripts for meth by my doc,(primary care) including putting me back on clonipin, at a lower dose, as well as a couple other siezure control drugs. I have since stopped the others, but remain on the clonipin, which is a great help for the sleep problems I have had. Problem is, she,(my pc at the time) left medicine, so I did find a pain doc. (the one that had me on too much). She left medicine, but referred me to my current pain doc. If I have to, I will go again to the meth clinic, but it is quite far and difficult to get to every day, especiually if they are Never gonna let me bring any home. The daily runs down there took most of my day. After sleeping on the message I wrote, I think I may have to find another pain doc. The trust is obviously broken, maybe beyond repair. There are several in my neck of the woods, but I wonder what I will say when I go? "My last doc didn't do what *I* wanted?" I don't think I would mind Kadian as much if it was a truley paralell dose, but it just doesn't seem to be. I also checked out the sites someone posted for a question about conversions, and saw that, according to the 2 I saw, I am NOT on a paralell,(sp) dose! I guess I should admit right here and now, that the 80 mgs/day, wasn't really enough, but I was willing to make it work, or, rather "live with it", and still am, since I doubt a pain doc would increase it further. I don't miss the oxycontin either, since, like you, I wasn't getting much relief, and I was feeling also, that I needed increasing doses. My pharmacist told me he had a bunch of people on more meth than I, but that doesn't really help, except to be grateful that I can get it without going to a clinic,. But, I need a dockor to not just order it for me, but work WITH me, in treating my ongoing pain! Of course this means new referrals, geting charts, etc, just to see if a doc woll work with me, instead of riding roughshod over me. Please excuse errors, as I am not a good typist, and for some reason my spellcheck wont work on these replys. I already spend far too much time re-reading posts and e maills to make sure they make sense, etc.! Thanks again, mel all text

freckles freckles freckles hi ~ i am not sure if this message will reach anyone, but will try. at another time i will explain all the disorders and diseases that have led to methadone pain mangement, but for now, i have a serious concern..... i am a nurse, who has been unable to work for at least 15 years, as a nurse, and have worked as a receptionist off and on since then, because of my health. i have been on methadone for about10 years, and beofre that varying meds, codiene, percocet, ( caus9ing liver problems, sending me to methadone), and oxycontin. i had a doc that apparently on too much meds, according to my current doc, as well as a couple others i consulted. ok, now, i have been maintained on 80 mgs of methadone, down from 210mgs about ayear and a half ago. back then, i was also taking oxycontin 80mgs, 2/tid, plus, roxycodone for b/t meds. as i said, i have ben at 80mgs, with morphine 15mgs, no more than 6/day, for a year and a half. my last visit to my pain doc resulted in his taking me off methadone, and putting me on kadian, 100mgs. although i had some meth left over, (from not taking it) i filled the kadian right away, in case of withdrawal, or other problems, allowing me to have something to take until i saw my doc again. that all sounds fine, but i have been in a withdrawal state since starting, 5 days ago. i have used my meth to help abate this, but the kicker is, my pain doc insists i am "oversensitized, and must be brought back at least 50% of what i was taking.(making it 40 mgs of meth a day). first, i think coming off all the stuff i was on was good, but enough. i was just making it without suicide thoughts with the 80 mgs and pulse radio frequency lesioning", and "prolo therapy" i told him that, but he insisted that i either cut back to 40 mgs, or go to the kadian 100mg, and be brought down that way. he insisted the dosage was a lateral move, telling me the dose actually equalled 100mgs of meth. i am in withdrawal, and i know he will not believe me. is there some place i can go online to see a conversion chart? i was hoping perhaps "dave" could answer that, for me, and tell me if he thought this withdrawal feeling is in my head? i have been in w/d many times, so i know the feeling. i wasn't planning on it. i am over 50 years old, and feel that if it's working, don't fix it, and now he has. i also feel powerless at this point. what can i say, or do? i xcaqnnot write prescriptions, and don't know, and don't want to know, how to get them on the street. i just want to have my pain be at a level where i can enjoy life to some degree. i had just gotten there with my last injection,(radio freq...), and told him it helped and with that and my meds, i thought i could live ok at this stage. but, he decided that it was now time to take me down, if not off all meds. i havew spent well over 22 years in pain, with many surgeries. i know that 8 pills a day may seem like a lot, but it's what was keeping me comfortalbe for almost 2 years without an increase. i am lost, now, as far as what to actually ask this forum. perhaps just support? another pain doc, since this one is now not trusting what i tell him what my pain level is? ok, what is the conversion of 80 mgs of meth, to long avting morphine, (kadian)? i also know that he will tell me i am not in w/d, coz i asked him if i would be, and he said no. sorry for the length, thanks for listening, freckles