Our friend has chronic pain associated with an assault to the head with a tire tool, that resulted in a fractured skull, crushed sinus and a broken jaw. He has had one surgery but will require more. Because he is at the mercy of his home state’s budget, he may not get the surgery. Now the high-powered pain-killers he’s on are the only thing that get him through. He’s taken so many that there’s no way he could stop now, and the pain which is very real is still an issue. So…how do we get him the pain management he needs and get him off the Oxycodone? Is methadone maintenance a solution? Would he qualify for a state program? What kinds of non-narcotic pain management programs are out there that could he try? This is not a joke. We love this person and want what’s best for him. No insurance, no trust fund. Any ideas?
Yusuf… it’s oxycontin.
Juvinjbj…a little touchy, aren’t you? I am looking for alternative pain management..I said that. I want to treat the pain. What I don’t want is a $300.00 a week, run to Mexico habit to ruin his life. Back off.
Mandy VZ: You need help, girl.
Methadone WILL work for his oxycodone addiction as well as help him with his pain. Like the others have said it is an addictive med in itself, BUT…..when you enter into a Methadone Maintence program they take away your control over giving yourself meds. YES, he will have to go dose every morning, YES it will also become addictive to him but I think for people who become addicted to opiates…..be it heroin or pills it is a GOOD program. I dont think as some people have said that it is trading one thing for another because along with getting meds he will also be required to go to group, see a counselor, see a nurse and everything is very controlled. I am on Methadone for some pretty bad back pain, recently started it, and it has been great. I have been onther opiates for quite some time and have a physical dependancy and tolerance. If I had days I ran out of meds it was hell….I would go through some nasty withdrawl along with nasty back pain. The Methadone has helped my pain LOTS, but does not make me feel out of it…..I feel normal and free of pain for the most part. I do have to take other meds at times for breakthrough pain, but for the most part the Methadone is working great.
All that being said, since it is SO addictive….if he decides, or is able, at some point to come off it he will have major withdrawls. At that point going on Suboxone would be the route I would reccomend. It does not treat pain as well, but will get him off the Methadone if he so chooses. There are people who take Methadone for the rest of their lives. Most people look down on them, only see that they are trading one addiction for another….but being in that kind of treatment gets them off the streets, they are able to lead produtive lives for the most part. But its an enviornment that is controlled and is a very good program for a lot of people.
You would have to look into what your state offers. Most Methadone treatment centers are not all that expensive if you have to pay for it yourself, but a lot of states have programs or medical coverage that would take care of the bill depending on his income.
Move to NJ and get some medical treatment.. wow.. or call the Mayo clinic or University hospital and see if you can get treatment they are pretty understanding when it comes to medical treatment that is necessary for survival.. Did you sue the person who did this to him? Keep writing to hospitals and hospital administrators.. someone will care.. write your govenor or write the President..keep writing.. There are other pain killers that might be better than the ones you mentioned.. go to a pain management dr.. good luck and say a prayer I will.
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Hey look now, I’ve suffered several head injuries and and more than three serious skull fractures. Your friend isn’t going to get any better on any drugs. They might tempporarily ease his pain but in a few years he’ll be so crazy and psychotic you won’t want to be around him. Watch out about Methadone. It’s addictive. Drugs alter the chemistry of the brain. You want to treat his pain and not his injury. Don’t let him think for one minute that it’s OK to take some drugs to ease his pain.
Pain has to be overcome, not medicated. He’s going to have to learn to control his environment….. Medication is always only a temporary solution. Get him off of any medication he is on minus anti-psychotics, and look out. Send him away from everyone who wants to tell him that it’s OK to take pills for pain. Those pills don’t really help. They just kind of make you numb. Pain management is not about what pill you can take to make the PAIN go away. Pain management is about learning to cope with everyday aggravations. If he sustained a head injury from a tire tool, he needs therapy…
I KNOW
I had a cast iron skillet broken across my right temple. He’s going to have some serious rage inside him and he’s going to want to hurt someone. I would not say these things if I did not know them for myself firsthand. You can’t medicate his pain. Please don’t try……………..
You’ll only turn him into a chemically dependant psychotic who will have fits of rage. If you really want to help him, get him to a hospice that speciallizes in treating blunt trauma to the skull…
Good luck
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mabey look into actique suckers. they are helping my friend out a great deal but they are not cheepv i hope this helps
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Methadone WILL work for his oxycodone addiction as well as help him with his pain. Like the others have said it is an addictive med in itself, BUT…..when you enter into a Methadone Maintence program they take away your control over giving yourself meds. YES, he will have to go dose every morning, YES it will also become addictive to him but I think for people who become addicted to opiates…..be it heroin or pills it is a GOOD program. I dont think as some people have said that it is trading one thing for another because along with getting meds he will also be required to go to group, see a counselor, see a nurse and everything is very controlled. I am on Methadone for some pretty bad back pain, recently started it, and it has been great. I have been onther opiates for quite some time and have a physical dependancy and tolerance. If I had days I ran out of meds it was hell….I would go through some nasty withdrawl along with nasty back pain. The Methadone has helped my pain LOTS, but does not make me feel out of it…..I feel normal and free of pain for the most part. I do have to take other meds at times for breakthrough pain, but for the most part the Methadone is working great.
All that being said, since it is SO addictive….if he decides, or is able, at some point to come off it he will have major withdrawls. At that point going on Suboxone would be the route I would reccomend. It does not treat pain as well, but will get him off the Methadone if he so chooses. There are people who take Methadone for the rest of their lives. Most people look down on them, only see that they are trading one addiction for another….but being in that kind of treatment gets them off the streets, they are able to lead produtive lives for the most part. But its an enviornment that is controlled and is a very good program for a lot of people.
You would have to look into what your state offers. Most Methadone treatment centers are not all that expensive if you have to pay for it yourself, but a lot of states have programs or medical coverage that would take care of the bill depending on his income.
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he can get private insurance like in my state its 35.00 a month for insurance. 2. go to google and type in methadone treatment with no insurance3. contact aetv.com for intervention. but he has to want to stop to be effective. yes there is medicaid they go by what he makes.. there is away good luck oxycodone mening oxycontin or percocet??
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Unless you have been in chronic pain you have no idea how he is feeling, taking narcotics is not always as bad as it may seem, if he really needs it to maintain a little less pain who are you to tell him to get off of it. That is a decision he should be able to make on his own. If the pain is affecting his quality of life then by all means he should be able to take meds and feel comfortable, once his pain is better then you can start talking about getting help trying to get off the oxycodone until then no one deserves to live in pain like this.
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chronic pain patient
Why are you trying to get him off the medications IF HE NEEDS THEM? Pain patients can not do everyday tasks without their meds, and you’re trying to get him off his meds? Why do you want him to suffer? Just because narcotics are what helps? Are you a doctor? If not, MYOB, the doctors know better than you about his pain and need for meds. He may have to be on them indefinitely. Stop trying to make your friend suffer unneccessarily because YOU are afraid of narcotics. They saved my life! I take Oxycontin. My pain is very real and I cannot get out of bed without my pain meds. No one who cares about me has ever tried to make me stop taking them because I take them as prescribed and need them for the pain I have. YOU’RE the one with the problem with the drugs: you’re scared of them. BUTT OUT and let your friend live the pain-free life he is entitled to without your judgemental, so-called "freindship" affecting his health. People who try and run other’s lives because they have a fear of narcotics and call it caring make me sick. Get a new hobby. What’s best for him is to stay on the medication that the doctor prescribed and is working, not for his so-called friends to rush to judgement and try and find something different for his pain. News flash, Methadone and Oxycodone are both opiates, both addicting, and about the only difference between the 2 is their chemical makeup. You’re not a doctor. BUTT OUT!!!!! If you genuinely love him and want what’s best for him, let his doctor’s make the decisions about his meds, they are educated about such things. You are clearly not, or you would know that a pain patient’s system has a different reaction to narcotics, AND that pain patients are SUPER CLOSESLY monitored for signs opf abuse, which is veri different than dependency. Do your homework before you jump to the conlcusion that all narcotics are bad and all pain patients become hard-core "junkies".
PS. He is not an Oxycontin addict. He is a chronic Pain Patient.
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Chronic Pain Patient On Oxycodone for over a year, no sign of addiction yet!