okittykat
04-21-2008, 02:25 AM
My sister has always been on meds for chronic pain and migraines. She had a neuro stimulator put in her body. She's had nerve blocks and nerves frozen. She even resorted to acupuncture for the pain. She has seen several pain management centers.
The problem started after she had the neuro stimulator installed. One day the thing had stopped working. She went to her Dr. and he told her the connecting line had malfunctioned and they needed to go in and replace it. The recovery process from when it was initially installed was very difficult for her, to do it a second time... Well, that's when the problems started.
The surgery went great. The doctor that worked on her first had put it in the wrong place so the current doctor corrected it. She was sore afterwards and went through her pain meds like candy. The doctor got to the point to where he would not prescribe her any more. So, she resorted to using one of these "online pharmacies". Somehow she was still getting hydrocodone from another Dr. but she was ordering Xanax online. It was pretty distressing seeing her take both of these at the same time. She would nod out with a cigarette in her hand. I had a long talk with about what she was doing to herself and she stopped the Xanax. Her husband forbid her to order anymore. This was about a year and half ago. Since then, her pain management Dr. quit seeing her because she tested positive twice for marijuana.
Now, she goes to a psychiatrist, a general practitioner, a new pain management Dr and no telling who else. She is getting different meds from different doctors. The new pain Dr. has given her a new diagnosis of Eppstein-Barr syndrome (I haven't researched this yet as to what it is). Anyway, she is back to the way she was when she was mixing the hydrocodone and the xanax. I hung out with her on Saturday and she scared the bejeezus out of me. She nods off when she drives. If I had known it, I would have driven.
Here is a list of what she is taking. I do not know if her doctors are aware of what the other doctors are prescribing and I don't think she is telling the doctors either.
Hydrocodone
Zanaflex
Clonazepam
Lyrica
Methodone
She also smokes weed on top of all of this. I do not know all of the dosages or milligrams of the stuff she is taking. She may also be taking other pills that I don't know about. The methodone is a new one and she has been taking it for almost 2 weeks. I think she takes 2.5mg 3 or 4 times a day. The zanaflex, she takes 3 or 4 at a time (this was prescribed to her like this, she has a 3 month supply and it is over 650 pills). She drinks tons of coffee to keep herself awake.
Does something seem wrong about this? Is there anything I can do? Should I get the numbers of all of her doctors and talk to them about this? Her husband is in total denial and is no help. Any suggestions?
The problem started after she had the neuro stimulator installed. One day the thing had stopped working. She went to her Dr. and he told her the connecting line had malfunctioned and they needed to go in and replace it. The recovery process from when it was initially installed was very difficult for her, to do it a second time... Well, that's when the problems started.
The surgery went great. The doctor that worked on her first had put it in the wrong place so the current doctor corrected it. She was sore afterwards and went through her pain meds like candy. The doctor got to the point to where he would not prescribe her any more. So, she resorted to using one of these "online pharmacies". Somehow she was still getting hydrocodone from another Dr. but she was ordering Xanax online. It was pretty distressing seeing her take both of these at the same time. She would nod out with a cigarette in her hand. I had a long talk with about what she was doing to herself and she stopped the Xanax. Her husband forbid her to order anymore. This was about a year and half ago. Since then, her pain management Dr. quit seeing her because she tested positive twice for marijuana.
Now, she goes to a psychiatrist, a general practitioner, a new pain management Dr and no telling who else. She is getting different meds from different doctors. The new pain Dr. has given her a new diagnosis of Eppstein-Barr syndrome (I haven't researched this yet as to what it is). Anyway, she is back to the way she was when she was mixing the hydrocodone and the xanax. I hung out with her on Saturday and she scared the bejeezus out of me. She nods off when she drives. If I had known it, I would have driven.
Here is a list of what she is taking. I do not know if her doctors are aware of what the other doctors are prescribing and I don't think she is telling the doctors either.
Hydrocodone
Zanaflex
Clonazepam
Lyrica
Methodone
She also smokes weed on top of all of this. I do not know all of the dosages or milligrams of the stuff she is taking. She may also be taking other pills that I don't know about. The methodone is a new one and she has been taking it for almost 2 weeks. I think she takes 2.5mg 3 or 4 times a day. The zanaflex, she takes 3 or 4 at a time (this was prescribed to her like this, she has a 3 month supply and it is over 650 pills). She drinks tons of coffee to keep herself awake.
Does something seem wrong about this? Is there anything I can do? Should I get the numbers of all of her doctors and talk to them about this? Her husband is in total denial and is no help. Any suggestions?