FBI Shut My Dr. Down

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Hello to all

I know it's been a few months since I've been here but thought I'd share a experience with everyone here.

First,last time I was here I was going for some minor surgery. I'm happy to say I went thru that surgery with NO pain meds.
I've had some other health issues going on since then but that has been a big accomplishment.

So,last month I went to my monthly appt. and the office was closed. I asked the people next door if they knew anything and they said that the FBI and lots of other LE officers were there.
I wish I could say I was surprised but I'm not. I knew things were getting very shady at that office. I was seeing how pts. would come in and give cash to the nurse to call in there meds. There was never a receipt to get form my office visits. I knew this was not the way this was suppose to operate. I kept turning my head b/c I really liked her and her staff and certainly didn't want to have to start all over again. When I first started Suboxone I had to go thru a few Dr.s to find the right one.
So,here I was with only a couple days of meds left and of course I went into panic mode. I went to the pharmacy that I knew the office dealt with and they told me they would send a refill request and maybe someone would reply. Thank God and I really mean Thank God that later that evening the pharmacy called to say my meds were ready. The very next day I tried to get one of my other meds filled and was told the Dr. was flagged and no longer able to practice in La. I know without a doubt that God had helped me to get that last script.

Now,I'm going to go to a new Dr. on Thursday. I have no idea what I'm in for and hate starting all over again.
I wanted to put my story out for all others to say that if something doesn't seem right it probably is not right. Be prepared to find another Dr. if need be.

After my appt. on Thrusday I will come back to post and let you know how things went.

Thanks for allowing me to share my story here.

Love In Recovery

Marie

Oh my Marie,
I am so sorry this has happened. I do remember well the problems you have had in the past with doctors.
I remember years back my ex was seeing a doctor who was "too good to be true" She was also shut down but knew it was coming so before hand she called us and told us to pick up any prescriptions we had at the pharmacy, the next day we did and the day after she was gone. Never to return.

Please let us know how it goes on Thursday. Hopefully you won't have to start all over again since you have been stable and compliant. My prayers are with you.
Dee

Marie,

I am so sorry about what happened.

You know, the fact that we still depend on this medication is the one part of this treatment I hate. And being caught without it, is still such a fear.
That's the main reason I have a lot saved up. A year's worth.

My Dr announced during my last visit that he is retiring June 2014, therefore, I have one year left in treatment, I don't plan on finding a new Dr though.

It was SO good to hear from you Marie. I hope you keep posting and keep us updated on your new Dr.

Take care,
Blue

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Thanks Dee and Blue.

I think the shock of it really happening I've gotten over I'm just worried now about this new Dr.
After 2 years and having to change Dr's is scary b/c I don't know what to expect. Actually I'm expecting the worse and hoping for the best. It's all in God's hands now.

I'm sure he is going to drop my dosage i should not have stayed on such a high does for so long but it has helped so much with my pain but I'm prepared to be dropped.

At first I thought I'd just stop taking it then thought no way am I going cold turkey. Been there,done that with the opiates.

There are some of her pts that I'm sure that wasn't lucky enough to get one last refill. If I'd had gotten a phone call telling me about it might have softened the blow a bit. However,I knew it was coming.

Blue,I wish I could save a years worth. Good for you girl.


I'll let ya'll know after my appt.

Marie

Marie,
I am so glad you re-thought the just stopping thought. Sometimes our minds think faster than they should and we have to slow down and let the thoughts of what is right for us to catch up.
Whatever happens it will be for the best. Maybe the new doctor won't drop your dose once he/she learns of your pain. 
My doctor is able to work with me. For awhile I think she was afraid because of the state giving her and the other doctors around here such a hassle about their patients. But recently one of our most esteem doctors in the field gave a lecture and in that lecture he did quote what we have known for such a long time, the decision of how long a patient is on this medication and how much they take should be between patient and doctor. With that being said, it gives my doctor someone local (state-wise) to quote. 
I've always said, politicians should not be allowed to make these medical decisions. But I am getting off topic as I usually do. 
Good luck tomorrow, we will be there with you. Look to your left, there I am and to your right, there is Blue. See her? I do
love ya
Dee

I DO see Blue.....LOL

Now,can we figure out a way for you to  both walk in that Dr. office in person?

Thanks for the encouragement I really need it.

Love,
Marie:heart:

I wish we could Marie

Wow! Such a jerk. Not a very professional comment I know but he sounds like an A class jerk. He sounded like he was persecuting you because of your other doctor. You did not ask to have to go to another provider it was thrust upon you. Not your fault at all. 
Had he taken the time to go over or try to obtain your records he may have seen something he didn't see today. 
Since you have to see another doctor for all of your other medications I wonder if it would be possible to see one that could handle your Suboxone without judging you. There is one out there for you, I know there is. I know I've said it to you before when you were having such a hard time finding the right provider and I still believe it to be the truth. I just wish you didn't have to go through all of this. Why be a Suboxone provider if you don't have any empathy for your patients. 
Maybe you should be on a lower dose and maybe not. That all depends on you, your body and how much pain you have. Would he rather have you taking something like Dilaudid or Oxycontin?

At least he did give you the prescription. Did he lower your dose today or let you stay at the current dose for now? 
Take baby steps. Today you saw  him and got your medication, next step, finding one who will give you your other medications. What kind of doctor is he? Family, general, Psychiatrist? 
Take tomorrow off to take some time for you and get your rest and strength back. We are always here when you need us my friend
Love ya,
Dee

I'll always be here Marie,
Have a great and wonderful weekend!

Hi Marie,
I',m sorry your doctor turned out to be like this. 
Like Dee said, when your looking for another Dr for the rest of your meds maybe you will find a new Suboxone Dr. 
I'm glad though that you got the script. Like I said before, I hate that we are still dependent on this medication.
 
Glad that's over !
 
Be well. We miss you here ! Hope you stop by more often !
 
Blue

Thanks Blue,I agree that it's still that we need a drug so we don't take another drug. This is the first time that i started thinking about coming off it..Not today but maybe in time. This Dr. that I saw gives me the impression that is his goal. I think it should be us the pt. that makes that decision. It's kind of like forcing someone into treatment and they not ready. It is a set up for failure.
I would love to not put so much money out each month especially to rude ass Dr.'s.

I don't know if anyone else ahs ahd this problem but I've had lots of trouble trying to get on the site yesterday and today.

I'll stop by again soon. you and Dee were the first ppl I thought of b/c I know you two really care. Thanks for always being there for me.

Love,
Marie

Hey Marie, how are things going for you? Any luck in finding a doctor to take care of you other medication prescribing? I hope and pray that you have been able to find some one. I think back to when I needed my other meds. My primary care provider is about a 45 min drive from where I live. No problem if you have transportation but if you don't have a way to get there it may as well be on the other side of the moon. Mind you these are not control 2 or 3 drugs but things like for thyroid and blood pressure. My doctor could have called in the prescriptions but instead insisted I come in to see him first.
That is a whole other story though, my hope is that you have been able to find someone and haven't had to go without. My prayers are with you.
Dee

Hey Dee,
I tried to call the Dr. back that I saw for the Suboxone about that and they sent a refill for all my meds. I don't know if he will continue doing that or not. I'm thinking I do need to find another Dr. for that b/c I doubt he will be of any good to me if I need him for anything other than Suboxone. I go again this Tuesday and I'm going to go with a different attitude. I'm going to let him know the last visit left me very upset and I didn't get the chance to ask him some things in the future.

What I hate most is they hold that damn Suboxone over us and I feel I can't be too assertive. Which brings me to,I've been thinking within the year I'm going to try to get off it. I'm not sure how that will work but between what it costs and dealing with nasty medical staff and Dr.'s I'm pretty fed up with it all. I think I can stay away from the opiates I'm just not sure about going thru w/d from the Suboxone.
I'll continue to pray about it and see how it goes.

Thanks for checking on me

Love
Marie

Marie, when you are ready to start your taper we will all be here for you. Small baby steps, no jumping off at high doses. Both Blue and Rae are doing well with their tapers. A small amount at a time and anytime you don't feel comfortable you can either add a little or stop for a while. Whatever you are comfortable in doing.
Hope your weekend was a good one. It is finally hot. Seems we went from freezing to devil hot all at once. lol
Thinking of you,
Dee

Thanks Dee,I really apprreciate it. I just hope this Dr. will work with me on dropping very slowly. I'm going to talk to him this week.

Wehave terrible hot humid days and it's down right miserable. If I ever hit the lottery I'm buying a house up north for the summer....LOL

Love

Marie,

Marie,

Like Dee said, we will be here for you if you decide to stop. And, she's right. just go slow.
I've been so slow that I'm stuck at 4mg for months. lol. I don't stress over it. Yet.

Tomorrow is chat night, haven't had it in a while, hope you ladies can be there !!

Be well, stay strong. Positive thinking

Blue

Thanks Blue.....I'll try to make it tomorrow night. I'll also be able to give you all a update of how it goes with my appt. tomorrow.
My plan is to go there with my lists of things I want to ask him and not let him intimidate me.

Love
Marie

I really meant to make it to the meeting last night and forgot about it till later. Please try to remind me when the next one is.

So,I went to Dr. Jerk and i think he is just not a nice person on any given day. I asked him about dropping my dosage and he said,let's stay on this dose for another month. Then he goes on to tell me that I've been on the Suboxone way too long and that I've traded one drug for another. He also said,that the difference is that now I'm getting my meds from a Dr. instead of getting it on the streets. Well,excuse me,but,I never did get my meds on the streets. He is just assuming this.
I tried to tell him that I didn't get a chance to ask him a few things last time I was there and as I "trying" to ask some questions again,he left the room. Can you say RUDE?

Now,let's remember this is a Pain Dr. that hands out opiates in large quanities. Bottom line is I think he does not like ppl that are on Suboxone b/c all his ppl and pts. say they love him. I loved my Dr.'s as well when they were giving me large amounts of opiates. If Dr.'s have this kind of attitude I really think they should not be a part of someone's recovery. I can't help but see it as he is only in it for the money.
He also asked me if I relapsed this past month. He just did a drug screen and has my pharmacy log. Then again he has the idea I was hitting the streets for my pills.

I so miss my Dr. that got shut down. She and her staff was wanting to see there pts. move forward. They would encourage you to move forward.

Anywho,I think we will call him Dr.Jerk since he has such a bad attitude.
He's probably doing me a favor b/c it makes me more determined to try to get off the Suboxone in time. I can't see me going to him for 2 years.

The worse is i feel I can't say much b/c he could be a ass and not fill my meds. Which I totally hate that hanging over me. We still have to depend on these Dr.'s to give us what we need.

After saying all of this I still would not want to trade the life I was living Dr. shopping and 20 pills a day.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Much Love,
Marie:heart: 

Hi Marie, I don't know why I didn't see your post earlier than now. I feel so badly for you in the way that your current provider is treating you. If he did not agree with this treatment then he should not have gone into the practice. That would have meant that he would not have become your  provider but it would have also gave someone else the chance to treat you. When one door closes, another one opens. I strongly believe that.
It may not be the door we want open at that moment but it does open.

You should have a right to express your feelings and ask questions. That is the number one rule they teach us about doctor patient relationships. But how can you expect to do this when treated less than human?
I want so badly to put together a list of providers such as this one, along with a list of the ones who really do care. The only problem is that no one wants to step forward with the names of any providers.

I talked to Blue in an email not to long ago about chat and she suggested that we stop chat for awhile. It has been slow and lately she is the only person who is attending. Maybe in the Fall we can bring it back. It is understandable to forget about coming. I myself am guilty of it more than once. By the time I remember it is a couple of hours past chat time.

All in all though with everything that we have done through in the past, the doctor shopping, ER visits, phone calls and everything else associated with the "hunt" trading the now for the then is not an option. I pray that everything gets better on your end. We are always here anytime you need to talk, vent or even just sit and visit my friend.
Love to you,
Dee

Thanks Dee for the encourgement

I do have a update on my Dr. that got shut down. She's back in practice and I'm going back to her next month. I know it's risky but she insist that everything has been worked out.
I'm going to wait till I see her and get my RX then call and tell the other Dr. that I don't think him and I are fit to work together. I always really liked my Dr and especially her staff and after going to this other Dr. made me appreciate her even more.

After my experience with this Dr. makes me believe what I've felt the whole time. That some Dr.'s are only in it for the money. It would be interesting to know how he works with his opiate pts.

Dee,I have no problem giving you the names of the Dr.s that I've come in contact with while I've been trying to stay in recovery. I intend to go to the Dr.Rate site and comment on that site. Maybe it will help one person from the stress that some put us thru.

It's plenty stressful enough for us to have to go to a Dr. and PAY cash then to be treated like we have some sort of contagious disease is just wrong on all levels.

Let me know when you and Blue start the chat up again.

Love

Marie

Good morning Marie,
Have you been to see your old doctor yet? Please let us know how that goes. I do hope everything has been worked out. It would be great if you could get back in to where you are comfortable.

I do agree with what you say about some of these doctors. Money and dollar signs is what they see. There are some good ones and they are the ones who do seem to be the target of investigation. The ones who care about their patients and do whatever they can to work with them. They are also the ones who challenge the rules and do what is in the patients best interest.
I know we have to have rules and regulations but honestly we have to be able to allow the providers to treat each patient as an individual not like cattle on an assembly line.

Guidelines are just that, guidelines and not set in concrete treatment. They are there to guide. Then we have the providers who just don't seem to give a damn about anything and continue to treat patients who are always coming up short on their meds or have the continuous dirty U.A.'s
We have some of those in my area and it makes it hard for the people who are on the waiting list. I am not saying they have to stop treatment for a relapse. Work with that patient but when that same patient seems to be doing the same thing over and over again. Well, I seem to think they just aren't ready and room needs to be made for the next person.
I seem to have gone off on a vent. This is something that is very important to me. I wish there was enough providers for the ones who really want it but sadly there is not.

When you have time, check in and let me know how everything is going.... I care.
Dee

Just checking in with you Marie to see how things are going. When you have a little time, check in. I do still worry about you my friend.

Hello To Everyone,
I hope I'm in the right section to post this.
So much has gone on since I've lasted posted. I'll try to make it short. My husband kept saying he had acid reflux but blacked out a few times. After months of fussing for him to have a stress test he finally did. They put him in ICU immediately and did surgery. During surgery he died twice. He is ALIVE now. He was totally 100% blocked in 3 of his artieries and 80% in the other. It's truly a miracle he is alive. Then we have issues with his Mom being old and all the problems that comes with that. Other things as well but my point is it's been very stressful.
I'm happy to say I didn't pick up any drug during this time. However,I've had to have some test done and my Dr. suddenly lost her license,AGAIN. Last year she got shut down over other issues. I'd been thinking for the past few months it's just time for me to get off the Suboxone. I'm dropping myself down and I don't think I'm going to tell my Dr. that I'm doing that. I'm going to go one more time this month so I can have plenty of back up meds while I'm tapering. I've dropped down to 1 1/2 in the last week. I was on 2 1/2.
After my husband has had to recover and we've had to use the lil money we had saved to live on for the last 3 months(self employed) made me also feel the need to get rid of this expense. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared,but,I think I needs to be done after 4 1/2 years. I just don't ever want to go back to where I was.
I'm also annoyed that we all have to follow the rules to continue to get our meds but she doesn't follow them enough to even keep her license renewed.You never know if she will be there and if her scripts will be able to be filled.
I will forever be thankful for her and her staff. I just feel it's time. When I started this over 4 years ago I did not put a limit on myself of how long I would stay on it. I figured I'd know when the time was right. I've also put much prayer into this.

I didn't mean to make such a long post.
I know last time I was on the blog Blue Eyes was close to being done with the meds as well. How did that go?

Dee and Blue Eyes I hope you both doing well.
Thank you for letting me share and get this off my brain.

Much Love To You All