Your help is needed asap

1. 84

   TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years ago

   I just learned that the DEA has changed the classification of Hydrocodone that is, for various reasons, making it almost impossible to get.  Although the intent for doing this was to save lives, the result is that bona fide patients who need this drug to alleviate serious pain caused by ongoing health problems cannot get it.  If you live in the US I urge you to do some research on this subject and then write to your legislators to see if there is not some way they can lessen the devastating impact of the new laws.  What they have done is to make an attempt to stop the bad guys from abusing this medication at the expense of keeping the good guys who really need it from obtaining it.  I know, because I was given a script for it and cannot find one pharmacy in my local area that has it in stock!   I do not need this med all the time, but like to keep some on hand for break through pain.  However, I have friends who do need it every single day for problems such as cancer, post surgical pain, fibromyalgia, advanced stage arthritis and other serious illnesses.  Please...do this.  If your congressmen and senators get enough phone calls, emails and letters the pressure will force them to reconsider the harm they are causing to many innocent people.  You may not be one of them today, but you are only one accident or illness away from becoming one.  Search the issue by typing "DEA Hydrocodone" into Google's search engine and find the DEA's rulings and how they refused to listen to doctors, patients and others and passed this law anyhow.  Thanks.

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2. 54

   Samantha Sinclairposted 9 years ago

   I have dealt with a few pain meds being no longer available due to people abusing them. It sucks. At this rate, by the time I'm 60, all pain meds will be prohibited.

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3. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   There is some hope that this shortage is at least partly because product was pulled for re-labeling, but it will get back in the supply chain.

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   1. 84

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If you do the research you will see that companies are purposely limiting supplies for various reasons.  Right now I have a scrip and not one pharmacy in my local area has one.  Furthermore, to get one, I have to keep going back again and again to see if they do, and then I might only be able to get a partial amount.  When this happens, the scrip is dead and you have to see a doctor to get another one...and most doctors will not write another one  because amounts are limited to 30 caps per scrip and you can only get 5 scrips per year.  Some pharmacies have set ratios and tell you that if you do not purchase 120 pills of some other med, they will not fill the Hydrocodone even if they do have it!  And try to get a pharmacy you have never dealt with to fill it...like if you are out of town and get sick, etc!
      
      The government has set up a horrible quagmire and the only way to get things to change is for people to contact their federal legislators. If enough people complain, they will make changes.  If not, they will not.  The DEA has set such tight rules that people who really need these medications will not always be able to get them.
      
      If you have ever suffered severe pain, you understand.  If not, you will find explanations and wish for changes...but if it is YOU or your parents, grandparents, siblings and other loved ones, you will change your mind in a hurry.  With this post I am trying to get the word out with the hopes that people will respond asap.
      
      The irony is that the abusers are now bypassing Hydrocodone and switching their addictions to Heroine, which is cheaper and easier for them to get on the black market...so if the Feds think this law is going to cut down on the abuses, they are sorely mistaken.
      
      It is a very scary situation and people are suffering and dying as a result.  Please help me get the word out and please follow through with those contacts.

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4. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Part of the problem is caused by physicians.  I worked for one who handed prescriptions for amounts that would kill a horse, like candy. He was 85 years-old. He had a little side business going.  Patients got scripts, sold pills, he got a cut.  They made their drug deals using his office phone.  Drug stores stopped carrying them because people stopped robbing the stores for the money, they were robbing them for the drugs.

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   1. 84

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I am well aware of the types of things that caused this law to go into effect, but the government should not throw the baby out with the bath water!  They are punishing those suffering in the name of catching people like the one you wrote about.  Surely there is a better way to deal with this situation!

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5. 82

   mary615posted 9 years ago

   We had so many "pill mills" in Florida for a while.  People would travel here to get pills, then resell them in their towns.  After several people died from overdosing, a few doctors were prosecuted for giving the pills out, and a couple are now jailed.
   I understand the problem you mention.  I have a daughter who has fibromyalgia  (sp), and relies on medication for pain relief.
   
   Florida just voted down a new law that would allow medical marijuana to be sold.  I was surprised at that.

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   1. 84

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      mary615:  the reason that law was voted down is that it was poorly written and had too many loopholes that would have promoted criminal use of Marijuana.  Hopefully they will make appropriate changes and get it passed.  I also live in Florida and because so many elderly live here, they will be the ones who suffer the most if something is not done about this.

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6. 96

   littlethingposted 9 years ago

   This is a shame. Some people do need these drugs, esp. for post surgical pain If you want, you can make this into a petition on Change.org. I don't know if it costs anything (I don't think it does, but I'm not sure.) but a lot of people have been successful using that site. That way, you can get a lot more coverage, and a lot more people signing and writing!

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks...I'll check that out.  However, I feel the only way to get a change is to really hit the politicians hard with complaints on a one to one basis...petitions are too easy and internet petitions can be fraudulent.  Many politicians are not happy about this, either, so it should not be too hard to get some of them to take further action.

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7. 95

   My Bellposted 9 years ago

   As someone that use to be in horrific chronic pain (Trigeminal Neuralgia - known as the worst pain known to "man" and the "suicide disease"), I strongly disagree with the DEAs classification. Very heavy doses of anti-convulsants controlled most of my pain most of the time but I had horrible breakthrough pain and I had to sometimes take Hydrocodone just to get through the day. It didn't eliminate the pain but it helped. I used it sparingly because, honestly, the drug scared me but I don't know what I would have done with out it. I had brain surgery a year ago that did fix the problem so I'm no longer in pain or on any medicine but I have the deepest empathy for anyone in pain as I've walked in their shoes. It affects every aspect of your life and you need an arsenal of "band aids" or solutions, including Hydrocodone, to get you through the hour, day, week, month or even minutes.

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