A ‘civil war’ over painkillers rips apart the medical community — and leaves patients in fear

• I hope this is the place to comment of Red Lawhern’s article regarding lighting a match under Congress to help patients with chronic pain to return proper pain management to the Md/ patient relationship and tell the DEA to stand down against over reach against our legitimate MDs who care for us and treat our pain appropriately. As a retired RN who graduated in 1982, if you would have asked me if the hospitals, MDs and ERs would not be helping patients with real pain, I would not have believed you. Well, the impossible and inconceivable has happened to our great country. I’m a chronic pain patient with “proof” of my incurable chronic diseases which cause me daily pain. I’ve suffered with undertreatment of pain since last June when my MD force tapered my useful opioid dose to the 90mme dose suggested by the CDC. ( see multiple articles about the over reach by the CDC and now the DEA is completely out of control. Since my reduction of proper pain management my mobility has decreased to the point where I have to make choices about routine ADLs. Will I make a supper tonight or do I have too much pain. Making a soup/ stew can be an all day event of cutting the onions, lay down, cut carrots, lay down, etc… I had an L4L5 fusion in 2006 but it was called a failed back syndrome, while also suffering from degenerative arthritis, spinal stenosis, degenerative joint disease. I just recently chose to have a right total hip replacement June 17, 2019 at Lee Memorial hospital in Fort Myers Florida. I thought my surgeon and I were on the same page as far as post surgical pain control but I was wrong. I even chose this surgeon because he was my pain MD’s surgeon. My first night after surgery was extremely uncomfortable and I suffered through unnecessary surgical pain the entire night. While I did receive my usual dose of pain medication for my back pain, the surgeon ordered PO Dilaudid instead of IV dilaudid in a pain pump. I also received IV Tylenol and IV Tramadol which seems to now be the ” go to” medication post op! I believe as a retired RN I could have suggested that if I had a post surgical pain pump of Dilaudid, I would have gotten a reasonable nights sleep and not needed to keep bothering the nurses to keep repositioning me. This is one example of unnecessary hoops that chronic pain patients have had to jump through. I have never abused my pain medication, I have used my pain medication to increase my mobility, help my family by maintaining a proper home with proper food after I needed to retire. The Congress needs to step forward and have a Congressional committee to force the DEA to stand down and stop threatening and interfering with our md/ patient relationship. The sudden deaths that are sadly heard about and have increased since 2016 is from the ILLEGAL Chinese fentanyl that is pouring into our country! This is the DEA’s job and they have failed at it miserably. But because the DEA cannot do their job, and get the ILLEGAL Chinese fentanyl off our streets which is killing mostly young people, the DEA is choosing to waste resources by attacking MDs who treat veteran ins pain, old people in pain, retired RNs in chronic pain, and the list of suffering goes on! Congress needs to act now. Do you want to feel pain? Does anyone want to feel pain?? Their is no opioid crisis. The crisis is ignorance and over reach and the voting public is suffering. Debra Aellig. 262-364-6041

• I’m in the same position that pain management is tapering down on my pain meds also. Where I been going for the last six years. And six spine surgery what is going to be happening, just suffering?

• I have had 5 neck surgeries and now i am trying to cope with Dish also known as forestiers disease There is no cure This is where the tendons and muscles turn to bone and fuse together in my spine It is a very painful disease that is only helped by pain medicines It has been extremely hard to get any presciptions from family doctor or pain management I have no quality of life any more I try to do chores and have to lay down at least 5 times a day just to get some kind of relief from the pain I dont like my grandkids seeing me like this nor my family There are many chronic pain patients in need of there medicines Please help them and dont make them suffer any more

• I have been in pain for almost 15 years now, from a condition in my kidney. I have through the years gone through every option to try to fix or alleviate this condition from being so painful. The ONLY thing that many doctors (specialists) have found to work in anyway, was pain medicine. I have absoprtion issues so I can’t use long acting meds like Oxycontin, however I have a Kaiser doctor, who is tapering in a way that is innapproptiate tapering (10 pills a week!!!) and doing so based on Kaiser Permenentes new policy.
  I have no idea of what to do. In all honesty, I would rather die, than to continue in so much pain, and every week a serious withdrawal on top of another serious withdrawal…… I don’t want a legislature in the exam room with me, nor do I want my doctor, doctoring individuals under a recommended or mandatory policies that do nothing but harm. I feel these doctors are violating the Hippocratic oath.

• If your a chronic pain patient whose having pain medicine taken and putting you in horrible pain like me go to Trumps twitter page and tell him

• I have psoriatic arthritis and muscular dystrophy I’m dying of pain: let’s break some congressman’s bones and the senate and Supreme Court bones and let them know how it feels! I bet they would get pain relief quickly! I was going to school I’ve been after degree for 50 years now I’m in bed all the time! Bastards!!!!!

• I,M AN PATIENT WHO NOW HAS MY WHOLE NECK FUSED BECAUSE OF THIS I’M DISABLED,LIVE IN VERY GREAT PAIN 24/7,HAD MY RX PAIN MEDICINE REDUCED AND THEY BARELY WORK THANKS,I NOW ONLY SLEEP 2 HOURS A NIGHT LIVE IN PAIN HELL,DON’T DO STREET DRUG OR DRANK,DOCTOR PUT ON HEMP OIL CBD DOES NOTHING HERE IN KY ITS LEGAL BEEN TAKEN IT 15 DAYS DONE NOTHING FOR PAIN,AND NOW I HEAR MEDICARE GOING TO STOP THE ONLY MEDICINES THAT WORKS,REAL PAIN PATIENTS ARE GOING TO SUFFER GREATLY TILL THEY GET TO THE POINT TO STOP THE PAIN ANY WAY THEY CAN,THIS IS PATIENTS THAT REALLY NEED THEIR MEDICINES AND AN COMPANY THAT DOESN’T CARE THAT THEIR IN GREAT PAIN TAKES IT AWAY,I SAY LET SEND,CALL,IF YOU CAN GO DOWN TO INSURANCE COMPANY PROTEST HAVE FAMILY GO DOWN THEIR AND TELL THESE LOWLIFE SCUMBAGS WERE PATIENTS THAT THEIR TORTURING TO DEATH BY TAKING AWAY THE ONLY MEDICINES THAT GAVE US ANY KIND OF LIFE.

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