Seeing pain doc Wed

[jj58]

Hello everyone, Just wanted some advice. This Wed I have an appointment with my pain doc. The last time I was in I was drug tested. I have mentioned this before here, I have to roll dice 3,7 or 11 gets you the drug test. The problem is that the cost is $453.00. for the test. This was the first time I had to drug test in since I have been going there on and off for 3 years. I had no idea it would cost that much. My problem is I cannot afford that amount. I could go in on Wed, and get another test. At that rate I might as well order from a BI site. I don't have insurance. I have been getting 10/325 percs/ 4x a day for the last 4months. Can I just stop taking them or would there be withdrawls? I was thinking of calling and telling the doc I can't afford the test and would they ween me off. Or would they refer me elsewhere, maybe where the price is not so crazy. You guys always give reaaly good advive thanks.

[Wabbitt]

He makes his patients roll dice to see if they get a whiz quiz? LMAO! Thats crazy....good luck

[M77]

@Wabbitt
You would be surprised at the value of random testing, or inspections.

When you arrive in Mexico by plane, you have to press a button. It is red or green, totally at random. Green you proceed through the checkpoint unimpeded. If it is red, they search every piece of luggage completely. Why? So dealers don't hire innocent looking elderly people, or nuns, as "mules." Since anyone can draw a red light, it takes out the human element. The other reason is it prevents corruption, as in it is pre-arranged what line a mule goes through , with the inspector waiving through someone they recognized. Everyone presses the button, with supervisors watching, and if red they must be searched. Actually pretty smart...so in the pain doc example, no matter how much the doc trusts you, you cannot feel that you can cheat, because if you roll the wrong number, you get tested....pretty good deterrent IMHO.

[naynay]

Hello everyone, Just wanted some advice. This Wed I have an appointment with my pain doc. The last time I was in I was drug tested. I have mentioned this before here, I have to roll dice 3,7 or 11 gets you the drug test. The problem is that the cost is $453.00. for the test. This was the first time I had to drug test in since I have been going there on and off for 3 years. I had no idea it would cost that much. My problem is I cannot afford that amount. I could go in on Wed, and get another test. At that rate I might as well order from a BI site. I don't have insurance. I have been getting 10/325 percs/ 4x a day for the last 4months. Can I just stop taking them or would there be withdrawls? I was thinking of calling and telling the doc I can't afford the test and would they ween me off. Or would they refer me elsewhere, maybe where the price is not so crazy. You guys always give reaaly good advive thanks.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news hun, but if you are taking them 4x a day you can't just stop taking them unless you are prepared to go thru wd's. Do you know if your drs office takes payment plans? See if you can work something out with them. You will want to try to conserve that relationship you have with that doc due to the fact that so many of us here can't find a doc willing to prescribe what is needed for pain. Once you loose that prescription...that's when prices REALLY get crazy.

[Lynx4]

Why don't you go to the appointment Wednesday and just see? You may not roll the dice on the wrong numbers and won't have to take a UA. If you do roll the wrong numbers, maybe you could say you were just drug tested on your last visit and they would let you off? You have to let your doctor and nurse know that you are struggling to pay the price of the UA and then if you do roll the wrong number this month they may let you off.

If you drop out you'll be paying a whole lot more than $450 a month for 120 percocets, I promise you. Try to keep what you've got, let them know your circumstances and see what happens.

And don't worry until it does happen If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas. (a phrase my brother used to say when someone would go "But what if....") You might not hit those three numbers again for a long time, who knows?

[jj58]

Thanks @Lyn ix4 I'll just go in and hopefully not roll the wrong number. I have managed to avoid it for many appointments. It stumps me that a drug test would cost so much. I called when I first got the bill, cause I was thinking there was a typo. They said they check for 20 different meds. Honestly I don't know of that many pain meds, unless they test for street stuff. Anyway I'll let you all know all how it turns out. Thanks

[SpaceMatters]

@Lynx4 always gives good advice. I would go in and b4 you roll the dice, ask to talk to the business manager. Maybe call b4 and even make an appt.

Explain to this non-medical person the cost of the test w/out insurance and if she has any suggestions. Tests which test for less drugs perhaps on occasion? Payment plans? Max of X # of tests a year, regardless of what you roll, w/the doctor/nurse deciding?

If the office mgr is any kind of decent businesswoman I bet s/he is not thrilled at the roll the dice method.

Explain you so appreciate the treatment you have been receiving and you respect their rules, you are just looking for ideas as to how best manage the cost.

This will also explain to the staff why you start sweating when you roll the dice. It's not the test; it's the cost! But 3 years w/out a test is a long time. No reason that could not be the norm for you, which would not be so bad, I would think.

Best of luck and what are the good #'s to roll? So we can be thinking of those for you. Wait went back and read it, you want a 2, 4, 5 - 10. Crazy stuff; but let's think of those #'s. Let me know if I got them right.

Sincerely,

Fire

[Wabbitt]

Thanks @Lyn . They said they check for 20 different meds. Honestly I don't know of that many pain meds, unless they test for street stuff. Anyway I'll let you all know all how it turns out. Thanks

Well i guess that answers my quesion. i was wondering if they could tell if your taking all the other meds which in my case is about 8 other prescriptions. I really hope my doc dosent use such a broad panel test as yours.

[chell55]

The cost for the drug test at my pain management is $1,100. I thought they had made a mistake the first time they billed me. On top of that my insurance will not cover the cost of a drug test either. I am very fortunate because my pain management office understands that this cost is ridiculous and so they allow me to pay them $35 for the test. Now I am not sure how they are able to do this but I just could not pay $1,100 every time they ran a test on me.

I did do some research and the test they use is very expensive. It also has something to do with sending it to a lab to determine how much of the medicine is in you system. The test will show what you've taken but from what I have read to know how much it needs to be sent out.

It is awful what we go through now days but I'm very thankful for my pain mangement clinic. They have been very good and understanding with me.

[QVC1212]

@jj58 You've been with this place for 3 years, and never been tested? But you must have some strong reason to believe that you'll be tested this time, or you wouldn't be appealing to the members of PR for help and advice. Maybe the odds have finally caught up with you, my friend. They catch up with everyone eventually.

You asked for advice. My advice is to go in to the clinic, and if you have to pay, then pay. Use whatever methods are at your disposal to negotiate the price downwards, but it's not as if you didn't have notice of it. Let's say you refuse to test and pay, however. You will not save money, even this month. Order from a BI something like percocet and you'll pay $350 to $400 for 30 of the 5/500. You're taking 120 a month. So quadruple that month's price. Now you're talking over a thousand dollars a month, and what's worse, is that you no longer have the cloak of legitimacy---it's all illegal. Meds can be seized, and if you're busted in a traffic accident you cause, and you come up hot for a drug you're not prescribed, you're talking OWPD, operating while under a prescription drug. A drug offense. Lose your license for 6 months to a year. Pay driver responsibility fees, depending on what state you're in. Pay for an attorney. The cost is astronomical. Oh, and you'll get at least probation, and probation means regular drug testing. Come up hot on a UA with probation, and you're looking at jail, plus more fines.

It sounds as though you suspect you're dependent on this med. If you're really taking 4 oxy's a day for three years, you will go through withdrawal upon cessation of all meds. It's a fact. You should probably come clean with the doc and come up with a plan to wean you off the meds. If you can suffer through the withdrawals, just quitting is your cheapest option, but I wouldn't recommend it. Too risky, too painful.

[Lynx4]

Well i guess that answers my quesion. i was wondering if they could tell if your taking all the other meds which in my case is about 8 other prescriptions. I really hope my doc dosent use such a broad panel test as yours.

@Wabbit, the two pain clinics I've been to do test for everything. They can tell what you took and exactly how much you took. I looked at my test a few months ago and it had my Lyrica listed along with how much was in my system, and the phenergan I take occasionally was in there, along with my Sch. 2 meds and my benzo. It's very specific about the amount in there.

If you are supposed to take 8 other meds and they test you and none of them are in there they are going to be very upset. They'll assume you are selling them if they are meds worth money on the street; if they aren't worth anything on the street they'll assume you aren't in compliance with your contract because you are only filling the narcotics and ignoring the other meds you are supposed to take. My last pain clinic would print the non narcotic meds on the same paper as the narcotic meds so that you had to fill them (no way to separate them). I guess they figured if you had to fill them maybe you would take them. I was a good girl and took them all but it was tough to deal with 7 meds everyday and sometimes I felt like I was in a stupor. The best way I dealt with it was to take smaller amounts of the ones that messed with my head, and a week before my doctor's appointment I would increase the meds back up to what the prescriptions said. That way if they tested me the levels would be right.

Glad I don't have to do that anymore. My doc said I don't have to take my Lyrica unless I am having a lot of nerve pain, so there's no specific amount that has to be in there, and it can't show up as having too much of any of the pain meds because then I'd run out early!

Good luck if you've already taken the UA or blood test. If you haven't taken the test, take the meds prescribed to you for a couple of weeks before your visit, then TALK to your doctor about getting off of some of them if you don't want to take them. You shouldn't be forced to take any medicine. Good Luck.

[jj58]

@QVC1212 , Hi you make a strong case why people should not use BI sites. I decided long ago that theres no way I could risk using one of these sites. I think some people have had luck but the prices are way to high and you don't know what your going to get. Plus the whole western union/moneygram thing makes me nervous. Unforuntly for me I do tend to take my percs even when I am not in pain. I am going to go in tomorrow and see what happens.

[Wabbitt]

@Wabbit, the two pain clinics I've been to do test for everything. They can tell what you took and exactly how much you took. I looked at my test a few months ago and it had my Lyrica listed along with how much was in my system, and the phenergan I take occasionally was in there, along with my Sch. 2 meds and my benzo. It's very specific about the amount in there.

If you are supposed to take 8 other meds and they test you and none of them are in there they are going to be very upset. They'll assume you are selling them if they are meds worth money on the street; if they aren't worth anything on the street they'll assume you aren't in compliance with your contract because you are only filling the narcotics and ignoring the other meds you are supposed to take. My last pain clinic would print the non narcotic meds on the same paper as the narcotic meds so that you had to fill them (no way to separate them). I guess they figured if you had to fill them maybe you would take them. I was a good girl and took them all but it was tough to deal with 7 meds everyday and sometimes I felt like I was in a stupor. The best way I dealt with it was to take smaller amounts of the ones that messed with my head, and a week before my doctor's appointment I would increase the meds back up to what the prescriptions said. That way if they tested me the levels would be right.

Glad I don't have to do that anymore. My doc said I don't have to take my Lyrica unless I am having a lot of nerve pain, so there's no specific amount that has to be in there, and it can't show up as having too much of any of the pain meds because then I'd run out early!

Good luck if you've already taken the UA or blood test. If you haven't taken the test, take the meds prescribed to you for a couple of weeks before your visit, then TALK to your doctor about getting off of some of them if you don't want to take them. You shouldn't be forced to take any medicine. Good Luck.

Thats exactly what im going through. i dont take some of the non narcotic ones simply because i dont like flooding my body with pills i can do without. i do however get them filled even though my doc writes them all seperate. just in case the doc checks to see. i just dont like being forced to take all the meds prescribed. Ive already got enough problems as it is lol