It's not just LLMD's that are under attack. Doctors who treat pain are facing a direct attack by the feds for prescribing pain medications.
This is why so many Lyme patients don't get adequate pain treatment. Doctors are scared to prescribe the necessary medications and patients are scared to take the meds.
Below is an article about a doctor who just won his case but, unfortunately for him and his patients, can no longer practice medicine.
Aniek, thanks for making us aware of pain MDs too.
Posted by Holly23591 (Member # 9288) on :
The link worked for me. My pain doc said that a person who suffers pain does not become an addict. An addict is someone who takes drugs to give them that mental high. A pain sufferer takes the pills to ease the pain without really giving you that high.
Doctors have been facing this dilemma for a long time and now the government is just making it harder for the honest pain sufferers to get the meds they need to live another day.
I can no longer get pain meds from my Gen Prac doc and had to get a pain doc who also wants to do a lot of diagnostic testing that will only reinforce the previous diagnoses.
Posted by Catsmeow (Member # 9485) on :
I don't take pain meds for a high. I suffer and need them but I am addicted to them.
If I try to stop them, I go through withdrawals something terrible.
I've gone off of them for a week and felt so much pain , I wish I'd been dead. I tried and tried to exist without the medication but could not...too much pain.
But I AM dependent. I take them because I'm in pain but sadly, there's no stop using them.
Posted by BugBit (Member # 7829) on :
Catsmeow, there is a big difference between addiction and dependance.
You say you are addicted because you need the medication.
If you are taking the pain medication because you need it because of pain, that is dependance.
Addiction is when you take the medication for something other than it was intended for - ie: to get high.
Most who take pain meds, do not get high.
Most Dr's who Rx pain meds know the difference and would not prescribe to you if you were addicted.
A diabetic is dependant on insulin. Without it, he suffers. No one would drream of calling the diabetic addicted to insulin.
Same for you. Do not add to your suffering by imposing these kinds of negative thoughts about your medications onto yourself. You have enough to deal with.