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by gebeeson
3144 days ago
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I went through open heart surgery two years ago April and opioid over-prescription was already a concern. After discharge I received a six day script for the lowest dose of fentanyl and a month of Lyrica. I have a freakishly high pain tolerance so I managed to 'stretch' the fentanyl patches out to nearly one month (each patch lasted roughly three days). Hindsight being what it is - I obviously made it through. Being down in it though, it was far far less than pleasant. Especially that I was supposed to be active and all the usual recovery stuff. It was a bit of no joke as far as pain load goes. I didn't expect to be completely pain free as that isn't life as far as I am concerned, it would have been nice to have taken a little bit more of the edge off. Round the pain off some. |
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I too have had a major surgery several years ago. I was given morphine and than Oxycodone when discharged, but not at high enough dosage for adequate relief - 3 or 4 days of pure misery. There is no reason, when short-term opiate use is easily available, for patients to suffer like this.
It seems like the medical establishment was really pushing opiates for years, even when they probably weren't needed. Now they're swung too far in the other direction: under-prescribing them for fear of overdosage, addiction, and even punishment by the DEA and government. Wish we could find some middle ground.