I'm concerned at how well the government has managed to frame the debate around "availability" and "supplies" of PPE. There seems to be little critical analysis in the media of whether the APPROPRIATE PPE is available. I'm an SHO in a "clean" unit in the hospital which has around 30 inpatients, most in 6 bedded bays. I also provide out of hours cover to 3 other wards. I feel like an idiot walking around the ward for up to 12 hours a day with 30 inpatients and 20 odd staff in dense physical proximity in the middle of a pandemic with NO protection. Is it just me that feels this way? I mention it to colleagues and I'm met with vague nods/agreements before they go off and review patients with coughs/fevers etc.
We've had probably about 10 "suspected" COVIDs. Thankfully all have been negative. But what happens when (and I strongly believe it's a case of when, not if) one of these inpatients turns out to be COVID +ve and you've been doing your daily business/reviews around them in the days prior? Is it just considered bad luck? How can that be considered acceptable?
Government/management etc will cite WHO guidelines but it's clear to me that these guidelines are borne out of dealing with scarcity of PPE rather than absolute protection of all HCWs. I also think it's laughable that WHO claims it's recommendations are based on "evidence" - for a disease that has literally only existed for 4 months.
I understand that PPE must be made available primarily to HCWs dealing with confirmed and high-risk patients but that shouldn't allow the debate around PPE to lose sight of the fact that quality, not just quantity, of PPE must be up to standard across ALL healthcare settings.
Also - side but related question - do we know whether Sars-Cov-2 might have long-term health implications? Eg EBV and lymphoma, Ebola-virus and ocular problems? Are there any virological pointers to suggest there would be NO long term implications? This worries me more than the acute infection.
I have a chronic nerve injury in my leg from a botched Achilles surgery three years ago. After being pumped full of opiates, I got addicted and started abusing them. Been clean for about 2 years.
Recently started kratom as I still I am on Tramadol, Gabapentin, and Cymbalta and I want to get off of it as soon as possible. I told my doctor on Friday at my monthly appointment that I was trying kratom and he lost it.
He tried to tell me it was not safe and there was a bunch of bad articles about it. I told him to refer me to one or explain to me how it was dangerous and he couldn’t. He just kept saying “ yeah they all say it’s bad”.
It pisses me off how these doctors try to shit on kratom because it threatens the money they make off the pharmaceutical companies, in particular the opioid manufacturers. He happily stuffed me full of Percocet and OxyContin but doesn’t want me taking a natural plant. Smdh
Cancer causes pain for many reasons, and a study in 2011 found that 75% of cancer patients eventually require opiate or synthetic opioid painkillers. The problem with these painkillers is that they cause psychological addiction almost immediately and physical addiction within a week of constant use, and tolerance rapidly builds when using these drugs. A cancer patient may start on the weakest opioid painkiller like codeine, only to find themselves on the strongest possible painkillers such as hydromorphone and fentanyl within a year. At that point the patient will be hopelessly physically addicted, and also so psychologically addicted that the patient may abuse the medication in an attempt to get high, which can lead to overdose and death. Also, there are plenty of stories of patients being thrown off their pain meds after being classified as an addict, causing the patient to seek out street Heroin, which is far more lethal and expensive. Aside from this, synthetic opioids and opiates have a reputation for being strong drugs, which can cause family members or friends to steal a patient’s medication and get addicted themselves. The patient could even end up selling medications on the street since a single pill can fetch anywhere from $5 to $100, and this could land the patient in jail.
Essentially, the use of opiates and synthetic opioids to treat cancer pain is creating another deadly disease within patients: opioid addiction. There is a better way however. Kratom is a plant with opioid properties that is far safer, causing far less physical and psychological addiction, and also in its natural form an overdose is practically impossible. This article will explore the issue of opioid addiction in cancer patients, in addition to discussing how Kratom works and how it could fix this serious problem in the cancer industry.
How Opioids Work, And How They Induce The Disease Of Opioid Dependence
First off, it is important to understand how opioids and opiates work, what they are, and how addiction to these drugs is a disease.
A drug is classified as an opiate
... keep reading on reddit ➡He can't make a schedule and stick to it.
I have severe chronic pain and need to see a pain specialist in Germany. Are the doctors alright with prescribing opiates for chronic pain patients? do they offer any other treatments as well? Thank you for your help.
So I've been in the rooms since 2004, brief relapse in 2012. In 2010 I became physically ill with multiple chronic pain illnesses. At first the docs threw 100% narcotic pain meds at me, which I did ok with, took as prescribed, husband kept track as well as I wrote everything down&reported to sponsor. A few years ago I switched PM doc and the new one was much nicer, actually trying procedures to help etc. He also switched me to suboxone, NOT for DRT, but for PM. According to him it's now being used in recovering addicts to treat pain bc it doesn't give the high of typical narcs, similar to the way methadone has multiple purposes. What concerns me is when I tell someone in recovery, ie a new sponsor, what I'm taking their 1st reaction is "you're not really clean bc its drt". I have to go through the entire explanation again to convince them it's for PM. There are groups on different platforms for people on this and other DRT for PM however I haven't gotten much support from the recovering community
Why are so many doctors pushing the Spinal Cord stimulators? If you have been actively in pain management, your program is working, moved to a new state... now these young (yes under 40 year old) doctors who do not have more then 8 years out of residency are telling me it’s my only option. They laugh, yes laugh, when I tell them my neurosurgeon and neurologist do not recommend the procedure. Told me my surgeon yes the chief of neurology doesn’t know what he’s talking about. My Neurosurgeon was the chief of neurology at an Ivy League medical school/teaching hospital. He only took my surgery because it was a challenge. They did not think I would walk after surgery and told me “i may wake up paralyzed one day”. So, why should i listen to some young arrogant dr? What are your experiences? Need honest input.
I’m considering going to the methadone clinic tomorrow for pain management, and I’d like to get off my pills. I’m out of my prescription already and I don’t have time to go through withdrawals (I have a full time job as a server now, which also means I’m in greater pain) However, I also currently see a pain management doctor.
If I decide that methadone doesn’t work well for me and want to keep on with my pain management doctor, will he be able to see that I went to the clinic ? There’s no pharmacy or anything involved, but he’s been able to pull my medication list and doctor information from my psychiatrists office. Would he likely be able to do the same about the clinic?
A woman comes running to the doctor shouting and screaming in pain "Please doctor, you've got to help me. I've been stung by a bee."
DOCTOR: "Don't worry; I'll put some cream on it."
WOMAN: "You will never find that bee. It must be miles away by now."
DOCTOR: "No, you don't understand! I'll put some cream on the place you were stung."
WOMAN: "Oh! It happened in the garden where I was sitting under a tree."'
DOCTOR (in anger): "No, no, you IDIOT! I mean on which part of your body did that bee sting."
WOMAN (still screaming in pain): "On my finger! The bee stung me on my finger and it really hurts."
DOCTOR (banging his fist, abusing and shouting):"Which one?"
WOMAN (innocently): "How am I to know? All bees look the same to me."
Y'all I think my main weakness is candy at night when my boyfriend goes to work and I'm home alone. Does anyone have any good tips to try and prevent myself from binging snack foods when I'm home alone? I do so good all day, but once I'm home alone I just let go. I've been getting better... but I still snack a bunch
So I explained my pain and what I currently do: 1000-2000 MG ibuprofen daily + up to 3000 MG Tylenol daily (none on good days, lots on bad days) + left over Percocet from my most recent surgery cut in half when it gets really bad (I'm almost out now - just two left). I brought in all my bottles and a log of my symptoms over the past several weeks.
Doctor proceeded to take a urine sample, and prescribe me the following:
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ibuprofen 600 MG 3x a day - when I asked about this she said it was less likely to cause nausea than the OTC stuff since it had less binder in it per MG.
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gabapentin 300 MG 3x a day - I wasn't aware of this product before but I did some research and it seems like it might be a real benefit. I don't believe my pain is neuropathic (I tore a muscle or tendon in my back / have arthritis in knee) but it seems to help with all types of pain. Anyone have any experiences with it?
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baclofen 10 MG 3x a day - another muscle relaxant. I've been on other muscle relaxants before and they didn't do much in the past. This may help my back pain a little, but not my other pain (knee, hernia). It seems to have a very bad withdrawal process so not sure how I feel about that (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baclofen)
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(upon showing her the Percocet) - "I don't prescribe anything with oxycodone but assuming you pass the drug screen we should be able to get you some hydrocodone next visit which is very similar". I've found that I need more than the "equivalent dose" with hydrocodone to get the same analgesic effect (2.5 MG oxycodone vs 7.5 MG hydrocodone) but it's better than Naprosyn like my orthopedic specialist gave me so I'll take it. I'm not sure what else she even prescribes though - I thought the high strength alternatives to oxycodone were even more prone to abuse? Anyway not relevant for me so not too worried right now.
Anyway, about to take my first dose of all 3. Hopefully this, combined with some physical therapy, starts to get things back under control. Thanks to everyone on here who's had advice, words of encouragement, and similar. This is a great community and I wish you all the best!
I live somewhat close to Louisville Kentucky and I have no idea what to do.
My primary care physician(PCP) doesn't want to prescribe my hormones or depression meds and wants me to have a specialist, except I live in a tiny town without a car or reliable transportation.
Lyft can work sometimes if a driver is willing to drive the 15-20 miles to pick me up and it inflates prices like crazy, and a tarc bus only comes by once around 4am and again very very late at night.
I have an endocrinologist in louisville I have managed to see for a while now but they are a nightmare to work with. My doctor works 1 day a week and never responds to messages relying on his staff to do it entirely while they have refused to give me my estrogen for more than 3 weeks now and regularly change my prescription levels and make me fight to fix them every time I need it to be fixed. This is messing with my mood and giving me menopausal symptoms.
I worked with a psychiatrist who kept insisting I work with a different person who didnt offer online visits, and then took away my medication after not showing up for one of my online appointments then dropping me as a patient after they missed a second online appointment, insisting that they were there and that I was not which caused me to be ineligible for their case management which I never even started and now my PCP will no longer work with me on those depression medications.
The area I live in has very little pedestrian infrastructure and it rains constantly even in the winter having had 10 days of rain in the past 18 days, I work a job 4 miles away by car and 10 miles away by foot and have been fighting for regular reliable transportation to work and when I have to walk its in the mud for 70% of the journey.
My current job is at amazon and it is physically and emotionally draining on me and nearly impossible without my medications now. I would love an online job and have been looking at finding a good transcription job if anyone can recommend one. I have plenty of experience and a high school diploma with some college credits but no degree. I have no cell phone but internet access and would appreciate help finding something that wont actively treat me badly for being transgender as some other companies have.
I really just need help to build myself up, right now I have so little working with me and so much making this difficult. I cant even apply for disability from home because I dont have credit cards they can use to verify
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