(((((hugs)))))
I get drug tested every time I see my pain doctor. I was surprised at this last appointment bc they did NOT want me to take my pills in. I forgot and left them in the car and told them I was going out for them and they had changed the policy. The cops here begged them to stop having patients bring in medications to each appointment because they found people waiting in the lot and just across the street in the other dr's office lot for people to leave so they could rob them. It was becoming a huge problem. I am on major pain medications and they just are a pita because the rules are soo nitpicky. I had a week's worth stolen and thought I was going to have to go through a week of withdrawal which is HIDEOUS and I don't know how anyone ever gets off medications cold turke. But oddly enough they just wrote my next rx early, which was a total shock to me!
I was embarrassed at first by the drug test but it is nto a big thing now. More and more regular, non-specialist docs are doing random drug tests because they are ALL getting heavier and heavier scrutiny. There are facebook groups called "Stop Meth not medications" for many states because the laws are making it harder and harder for those of us who are law abiding to get the treatment we need. These methods are NOT stopping illegal drug use or production mostly. Putting sudafed behind the pharmacy counter is one of the very few things that DID make serious inroads into meth production, but most of the new laws just make it hard for those who have rx's to get our medications. Which is stupid and a waste of money that could go to things that would make a difference, in my opinion.
The DEA has been out of control for a very long tme. I won't even travel to FL for an reason anymore. A few years back the DEA forced a pain doctor to say that a patient "stole" rx's for pain medications. This patient is now in a federal prison for LIFE because he took medications that his doctor rx'd. he did NOT steal the rx's, or use any undue influence or duress to get the dr to rx the medications. The patient took these medications as prescribed, did ALL the dr asked him to. He is STILL in prison. VERY shortly after he went to PRISON, the prison hospital implanted a morphine pump into his body to put morphine straight into his spine. He has a severe spinal problem that cannot be fixed. The prison also gave him a motorized wheelchair that his health insurance fought against providing. So the prison dr gave this patient MORE than what the private pain mgmt doctor was allowed to, and saw NO signs that the private dr was over prescribing anything. But they won't let the man out of prison because he was convicted. The dr openly has stated that the DEA gave him the choice of saying the rx's were stolen (perjuring himself) or going to jail for life himself!!! But FL continues to empower the DEA to do these ridiculous things to fight their "war" on those who legally use pain medications.
THIS is one reason you got drug tested. The DEA is out of control and is doing some rather stupid things because anyone who objects to their methods is threatened with prison time for questioning them. There are a LOT of cases like this, and it is now affecting ALL docs, not just the pain specialists.
I NEED pain medications. with-o them I would have killed myself years ago. The pain is just htat bad, and it truly drives me out of my mind. I feel blessed to have the awesome doctor that I have, and I am glad that I don't get called to have my pills counted. My doctor doesn't want them in/around the office. THey do call patients who run out of medications often to do this, but they try not to. They DO drug test you at most visits, an my reg doctor does too sometimes. My reg doctor has stopped because I will do an extra test at my pain docs but won't do a test at the reg doctor because they don't use a specialized lab. Any lab that is NTO specialized has a HIGH rate of false positives, so if they get any readings you find odd, insist taht they redo them and push for having a specialized lab do them. I could tell you a horror story about false positives that happened to me, and is why my pain doctor will send my lab reports to my reg doctor rather than have me test at the reg doctor's office.
I am sorry it upset you.
