Chronic Pain, Oxycontin and Medical Marijuana; Opiate Abuse
September 10, 201010 CommentsDisease Treatment
addiction specialists,
Chronic Pain,
Dr Sean Breen,
hippocratic oath,
Medical Marijuana,
opiate addiction,
oxycontin,
pain management,
pain pills
Yesterday in Long Beach I evaluated a 52 year old man who wanted to use medical marijuana for chronic low back pain. He fractured the 4th and 5th Lumbar vertebra in his back 10 years ago on a construction site and has been under the care of a “pain specialist” ever since. WHEN HE SHOWED ME THE PRESCRIPTION THAT HIS PAIN DOCTOR GAVE HIM FOR THE MONTHS OF SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER I JUST ABOUT FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR.
540 80MG OXYCONTIN with instructions to take 9 PER DAY!!!! He has been taking 9 per day for the last year. READ ON….
I will obviously not mentions the doctors name but clearly this treatment approach is a dead end for this patient. Just looking at him you can tell he is addicted to these medications and needs help. He was sweating, pupils were pinpoint and he told me he is mentally exhausted from being hooked on these medications. WHY IN THE WORLD ISN’T THE PAIN MANAGEMENT DOCTOR GETTING THIS MAN HELP? Obviously it is a rhetorical question, he pays $500/month for his visits to the pain doctor.
Now he is my office looking for an alternative to oxycontin. In my experience patients can reduce or completely eliminate the use of opiates by medicating with cannabis. In most cases they can dramatically reduce the number they are using daily within a few weeks. Yes they have to medicate more than once throughout the day but most of these patients are NOT BEING PRODUCTIVE in their current state anyway. They are sitting at home popping pills and literally wasting their life away.
As physicians we take an oath that states “First do no harm” Since I have been discussing cannabis use with patients over the past 3 years I have realized that the preceding statement in the hippocratic oath has become for many doctors (if you read the fine print) ”First, do not harm… unless they have $500 cash”)
I realize that times are tough and the pain management business is lucrative but come on folks… lets re-focus and remember why we are doing this in the first place.
If you are reading this and:
1. Struggling with addiction to opiates.
or
2. Struggling with the ethical decision of not taking $500 cash for a script of oxycontin for 270 pills/month
I challenge you to contact me so we can help you get past your illness and better your life.
With that, be blessed,
Dr. Breen
I have been in chronic pain due to failed spine surgeries for many years.
I have had literally 6 spine operations starting at age 22 after graduating with a BS in engineering and I am now 45 years old and a shell of a man due to my pain.
I need your help. I stopped taking opiates a few years ago, due to tolerance issues.
I have kids in catholic schools and my wife works and I stay at home and I stay in ed 1/2 the day. I dont want to be active as this just aggravates my spine and then the pain is unberable at sleep time later that evening.
I have extensive medical records available form several neurosurgeons. I am at wits end.
I really dont know what to do.
I know (form what I have read) that there is diiferent types of cannibas depending on weather a person has chronic pain or anxiety, etc.
I used to live in Orange County, actually surgery 2 and 3 were in Long Beach in the 1990′s.
I do have 401-k funds available and I will set up residence in Huntinton Beach, CA if necessary.
I am no longer much of a husband or dad to my kids due to my pain. I had my 13 year old son use an ultrasound machine tonight on my spine after I got off the ice pack.
I had my 16 year old make dinner for us until the wife came home.
I can be a very active person if I can get control of the pain. I really dont want to smoke marijuana, but I will do what I need to have a few hours of relief.
I am hoping the dispensaries have different tpyes of marijuana where I could find one that works best for pain.
Using opiates is just not an option for me anymore.
Please email me at tom@daytoninc.com to discuss this.
If you email me, I will certainly reply with my telephne number for the doctor or nurse or clinc director.
Thank you,
Mr. Sorrell
I am going to have my office manager Angie contact you from her email (mcsocal@me.com) Hang in their Tom. We will help you. Dr. Breen
Hi, I too suffer from chronic back pain, but only for four years. I have taken everything from non-narcotic Ultram to Oxycontin for pain. Often times, these types of medications present side effects that are worse than the pain itself; nausea, vomiting, restlessness, tremors, dependency followed by withdrawal (very bad withdrawal from oxycontin), and many others side effects. I have experimented with marijuana illegally to alleviate my pain, and find that a high indica strain suits me best. I crushed my T6 vertebrate in a motorcycle accident back in 2007, and have aimlessly been searching for a legal substitute to marijuana for the last two years; unsuccessfully of course. I live across the nation in North Carolina, and medicinal use is far from a reality here I’m afraid. I could really use the assistance from a medical professional like yourself in aiding me with my cause. I have signed numerous petitions, written letters to the editor (unpublished of course), and sent pleading letters to members of our state congress, all of which have been in vain. I am also a stay at home father of two, but my children are much younger than Tom’s and their assistance is not an option for me. I can no longer pick my oldest (6 yrs, 50 lbs.)daughter up, or play with the two of them in the fashion I would like. I am 27 years young, and feel my life has already begun to deteriorate. I am in a bad mood most of the time, and can’t function as a husband or father anymore. PLEASE HELP… Should I leave and seek help in a legal state? Should I start using the opiates again? Should I seek alleviation illegally? I’m in dire need of some answers here!
Michael- I can’t give you medical advice without evaluating you but for someone in your situation…. talk to a doctor and find out if it works for you. Obviously don’t break the law but “find out if it works for you”. Then you can make an educated decision on how to proceed.
I injured my lower back 2 years ago and a specialist suspects Piriformis Syndrome and has referred me to a pain management specialist,I was prescribed Tramadol and Diclofenic.I have been off work for the duration and started using recreational cannabis to help control the pain and I might add that it has been very effective. My worry is – now that I have been referred to a pain specialist, I am concerned that he will not look at the cannabis usage favourably. Should I stop? Any advise that you can offer would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Go get evaluate by an osteopath that specializes in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine. There are some great techniques for treating piriformis syndrome
I’ve been stuck in an opiate dependent pain management program for about 4 years now – Earlier this year I had hopes early on in Maryland’s legislative session, that Maryland would FINALLY pass a Medical Marijuana bill when so many residents and delegates all wanted it passed… then the Health Sec and slick Governor put up a brick wall at the last moment to prevent “useful” legislation passing this year…
So what did Marylanders get? Well… whooohoooohooo, with a Dr’s. approval, recommendation, etc. a long standing relationship with patient (a whole host of strings and loopholes, or perhaps better called blackholes) a Maryland resident can fight in court with a Medical defense, save the 100.00 fine and the criminal record – BUT, what Dr. i the state of Maryland is going to put his neck in the noose for me, or others like me. Ironically, when getting into the pain management program I had to sign an agreement that I didn’t and wouldn’t use marijuana or I could be terminated from program – that’s fine, terminate me but give me the plant so I can take care of my own body, mentally as well as physically… you addict me to this crap, refuse to listen to scientific facts about the benefits of adding marijuana or simply replacing the opiate therapy with cannabis therapy. You prescribe me 300 mg of MS Contin + 60 mg of Oxycondone DAILY – and “I know” that I could do much better with marijuana as an additional or an alternative medicine. Ho on earth can a society sit back and say it’s better for anyone to be on the opiates than to legalize cannabis – does medicine have to make you feel like crap to be good, come on people… and voters, wake up!!! If 80% of the people say yes… then lets make it LAW by voting… and if we can’t then this so call democracy we live in, is nothing more than a Twisted Matrix Holographic Mindfukker
So you get terminated from the opiate program if you use cannabis? Sounds like a good plan to me. Like trading Derek Jeter for a bag of baseballs.
I have been on hydro, cymbalta, ambien, and naproxen for a long time to control the pain of endometriosis. I just got the lupron shot which has only exacerbated my condition. I am in serious pain, and the worst of it is that my doctor doesn’t care. In fact, it really looks like she thinks I’m faking the severity. She had be take a urine drug test since she thinks I’m just out to get drugs. Well… nothing is working, I am very tired of popping pills and then being accused of being a user. My case of endo is advanced and it is hopless when my doc loses her humanity and has so much control over my body and doesn’t help me. I can’t explain the pain. It’s too much for me. I feel hopeless
Lulu,
If you are in a medical marijuana state you need to speak to a doctor who is very well versed in this area. He or she can help you give it a shot if they feel you qualify.