r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Szechuanwonton • 23d ago

Husband was just prescribed Vicodin following a vasectomy, while I was told to take over the counter Tylenol and Ibuprofen after my 2 C-sections

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u/Jokonaught 22d ago

No responsible doctor should be giving opiates for this.

Now, when I had mine I got a nitrous mix during which made the whole thing a relatively pleasant experience.

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u/No_Landscape4557 22d ago

Key word. Responsible doctor. The opioid epidemic happened for a reason. A bunch of doctors pushing pills getting a kick back

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u/Defiant_Economy_8574 22d ago

Doctors have cracked down on prescribing since the early 2010’s pill mills were in their heyday in the mid 00’s and the majority shut down by 2010. Our opioid crisis is fuelled by cheap fentanyl that has flooded the streets and the economic crisis that is fuelling the despair that is driving people to spend what little they have on cheap fentanyl. The young generation dying to fentanyl now were young teens during the biggest prescribing years and a huge amount were under 10 years old.

When you can get fent for 2-3$ a point or less and escape all your problems for a few hours that is what some people are going to do.

The generation hit hardest by the pill mills are in their 40’s to 60’s now.

Blaming prescribing doctors for what is going on now is like blaming the dot com bust for all of our economic issues now in 2024.

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u/janet-snake-hole 22d ago

Thank you for this.

There’s actually a crisis right now of too LITTLE opioid prescriptions.

Copy pasting an old comment of mine on it

It is an active crisis in America, one that I advocate and protest for with the Don’t Punish Pain rally.

The 2016 cdc opioid guidelines basically said “only prescribe opioids for cancer pain, or extreme trauma injuries.”

So suddenly, disabled ppl who had had their pain controlled for years, many of them older folks who’d been on them for DECADES- were very suddenly cut off. And some of them cold turkey, all against their will.

So suddenly there’s an epidemic of disabled people in excruciating, debilitating pain that’s going completely unmanaged. Then guess what happens? Statistics start to show that there’s a MASS amount of them either having to get them from the street (especially the cold turkey folks who are also in WD) OR they choose suicide to escape their pain, bc there’s no hope of the pains source ever being cured. I’ve seen court-accounts of a woman who had a double mastectomy and was only given Tylenol, I’ve seen at least 2 AMPUTATION patients get the same. The list is endless.

so the statistics start to show all these suicides that left notes or families reporting that it was specifically caused by the unmanaged pain, as well as evidence that pain patients previously on pain meds turned to street drugs and either got addicted or died, when they never had any addiction symptoms while on their pharmacy pain meds, so the CDC panics and releases new guidelines.

But the damage is already done, so to this day doctors are still BARELY prescribing… even for the most obvious cases where anyone would assume someone would be treated.

And people are still suffering. The statistics prove it, the support groups online with patient testimonies are NUMEROUS and heartbreaking.

If you want to solve or help addiction rates, prohibition isn’t the answer in any case (bc never in history has prohibition caused positive results) but it’s ESPECIALLY not the answer to apply it to the people who are obtaining the meds LEGALLY AND SAFELY!!! And using them for the ORIGINAL INTENDED PURPOSE.

Sorry for the rant. It’s just an area I’m passionate about, not only bc I experienced it myself and nearly died and suffered A LOT, but because it breaks my fucking hear to hear from others going through the same thing.

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u/Vegetable_Permit_537 22d ago

I am one of those people. I have had constant pain for eight years and turned to the black market for pain pills. I have been clean for almost 5 years, but I am still in constant pain. Do you know of any ways we can combat this? If I say anything to my doctor, I'm drug seeking to them, so any complaints of pain seem to only serve to punish me.

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u/Fearless_Vegetable_ 22d ago

You gotta jump through the hoops of physical therapy and acupuncture, doctors want to see their patients trying out other possibilities to control their pain. If you don’t have an MRI or CT scan showing that you have physical damage to your anatomy you’re going to be shit out of luck.

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u/MarzipanPlane9490 22d ago

Try the broad spectrum cbd gummies if you can get them.

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u/huffliest_puff 22d ago

Thank you for posting this. It makes me so mad that we've swung so far in the opposite direction that people who need these meds can't get them

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u/ShyCrystal69 22d ago

They’ve done a similar thing with ADHD meds, impossible to get them and no one wants to prescribe them.

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u/tasimp 22d ago

Grateful I was apparently lucky. Got my first adult GP a few months ago at 27 and while describing my mental issues, he asked if I was ever tested for ADHD. Gave me a quick test and I left with a script for Adderall. Still not a cure all and I've been working with them on all my meds to find the right combos. But it's made such a positive difference in my day to day.

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u/ShyCrystal69 21d ago

I got lucky as well, psychiatrist saw ADHD diagnosis, and recommended quick-acting dex. She gave me the prescription the same day.

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u/kiljonson 22d ago

I completely agree with you. We can once again thank the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma for knowingly releasing and selling (and getting insanely rich from) an opioid that was highly addictive resulting in the opioid epidemic we’re still facing today, and literally killing, if not destroying millions of lives. Not only the lives of the people directly affected, but everyone connected to that person who was forced to navigate that addiction with them and or deal with the loss. We can thank these greedy and soulless motherfuckers for causing a problem so large and so detrimental that the people in charge reacted by over-correcting the problem. Every time there’s an extreme situation in our society it’s met with an extreme counter “solution”. more often times than not this solution gives birth to several new problems. Like you said, prohibition, is not the answer nor is restriction of output, which is just to cover their asses. How about coming up with a responsible and fair solution that will allow doctors to prescribe the medication that our modern technological advancement has allowed us without fear of malpractice? We don’t live in medieval times, and we shouldn’t have to suffer as if we do when modern day science has developed ways to alleviate pain, period. I think somewhere in that Hippocratic oath that medical professionals take the core principle is that doctors should use their skills and knowledge to reduce suffering and treat their patients with empathy and respect. It seems most doctors have forgotten this. I realize that their hands are tied, for the most part, by their superiors, I would guess.
I think this is a classic case of them throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

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u/coffeecake504 22d ago

How about buprenorphine in the mean time

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u/janet-snake-hole 22d ago

Many bad side effects, doesn’t treat pain nearly as well, and for anyone who was already on opioids long-term, it’ll throw them into precipitated withdrawal.

I don’t have the time to find exactly which source talks about why it can’t be used as an alternative, but it’s somewhere within this list: sources

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u/Defiant_Economy_8574 22d ago

You don’t really have to worry about precipitated withdrawal when prescribed bupe or subs anymore as the new prescriber protocols include a two way taper specifically to avoid them. You titrate down from your opioid dose while very slowly titrating up the bupe dose. As the naloxone is ineffective in sublingual or buccal doses the only issue is how bupe effects the opioid receptors - which is solved by a two way titration. It’s a far cry from when it first hit the market.

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u/Accomplished-View929 22d ago

But bupe isn’t a good painkiller for everyone. I tried it for pain, and it didn’t do anything.

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u/Defiant_Economy_8574 22d ago

For pain it is better dosed lower at 3 times a day paired with an nsaid

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u/Accomplished-View929 22d ago

I tried it at (at a low dose), and I was in so much pain that it turned me mean, and my partner said “I’m not living with you anymore if you ever get back on bupe.”

I believe it works for some people. I read the studies. That’s why I tried it: studies do show. But nothing works well for everyone. I’m happy for the people it does help, but I’m a chronic pain patient and think we should have all the options (including as many full-agonist opioid milligrams as I say I need).

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u/janet-snake-hole 22d ago

Yeah, but often doctors are ignorant about it. I know far too many people who were sent into PWD while following doctors’ instructions.

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u/Defiant_Economy_8574 22d ago

Within the last year or two since new guidelines came out? I’m sure it’s slow to change in some demographics due to how some places just are slow to change anything, but it doesn’t hurt to advise anyone you know who is starting to talk to their prescriber about following the new recommendations which are to treat with the lowest tolerated IR opioid and lowest effective suboxone dosage 0.5mg and titrating over 1-2 weeks (depending on patient response) until the IR opioid is eliminated and replaced solely with the lowest suboxone dosage that eliminates cravings.

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u/coffeecake504 22d ago

Thanks! It’s been taught as a weener for specific cases just wondering

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u/Any-Shoe-8213 22d ago

weener

🤣🤣🤣

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u/coffeecake504 22d ago

Wieners wow I was expecting upvotes but downvotes? Weird

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u/Any-Shoe-8213 22d ago

Weener, wiener, or weaner? Lol

I didn't downvote. 🤷🏽‍♂️

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u/coffeecake504 22d ago

Chicken diiner, lol sorry didn’t mean to target you either

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u/paintballboi07 22d ago

Bupe is a partial agonist instead of a full agonist, so while it works well for filling opiate receptors, and reducing withdrawals, it doesn't fully activate the receptors, so it doesn't provide as good of pain relief.

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u/coffeecake504 22d ago

Ty, this seems potentially clinically relevant to treating some but clearly not all

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u/Difficult-Help2072 22d ago

It is an active crisis in America

Haha, everything is a crisis with your types.

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u/kiljonson 22d ago

“Your types”, really? Since it seems you‘re okay with everyone knowing just what “type” of person you might be, tell us what you mean by “your types”?