Im 47 and have been suffering from migraines as long as i can remember. i have a new Dr. she asked me to sign a contract but i was told it was so i only used one pharmacy, but after going in an seeind the PA i was told i had a narcotic contract which i didnt know anything about. I cant take many migraine med because i am allergic to them and vicodin and norco just makes me so sick. they put me on one bottle of Stadol nasal sspray a month and sometimes i run out because i have these migraines that sometimes last more then ten days. I have given up because nothing else is going to help. The stadol does stop the pain within a couple min but leaves me tired and drained. I think this contract stuff is for the birds... I am always willing to take drug tests for my dr. if they ask. I dont need a contract for that. I can see if a person had a history of drug abuse or something in the past, but not for the kind of miserable chronic pain i suffer from.
Im 47 and have been suffering from migraines as long as i can remember. i have a new Dr. she asked me to sign a contract but i was told it was so i only used one pharmacy, but after going in an seeind the PA i was told i had a narcotic contract which i didnt know anything about. I cant take many migraine med because i am allergic to them and vicodin and norco just makes me so sick. they put me on one bottle of Stadol nasal sspray a month and sometimes i run out because i have these migraines that sometimes last more then ten days. I have given up because nothing else is going to help. The stadol does stop the pain within a couple min but leaves me tired and drained. I think this contract stuff is for the birds... I am always willing to take drug tests for my dr. if they ask. I dont need a contract for that. I can see if a person had a history of drug abuse or something in the past, but not for the kind of miserable chronic pain i suffer from.
I have suffered from migraine headaches for over 10 years. My physician prescribed hydrocodone with acetominiphine for my blinding pain, allowing me to take 1 tablet every 6 hours. He also prescribed promethazine for my nausea, allowing me to take 1 tablet every 6 hours. I take Imitrex at the onset of my pain, but am limited to 2 doses per week. I take
Venlafaxine (Effexor XR) daily, along with Lipitor for my cholesterol. I have started taking Xanax ( 1 tablet twice daily), Zyrtec (sinus/allergy medication), along with Zolpidem Tart ER 12.5 mg at bedtime. I take Restoril (Temazepan) 30mg at bedtime, which allows me to get a full night's sleep.
Has anyone had experience with this mixture of medication? I feel like I'm drowning in quicksand being on all these medications, but I don't know how to go off of them! Any advice would be welcome...
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
First of all, great information as always Megan! Where do you find the time? I'm sitting around my house drooling on myself half the time!
This is just another way Migraineurs get treated like drug addicts. I can understand signing this if I'm in treatment at a Methadone clinic, but not if I'm asking for pain killers because I have a chronic pain condition. Ridiculous.
You are absolutely right! Chronic pain is now considered a disease. would a doctor make a diabetes patient sign a contract like this? Someone suffering from terrible pain should be able to take the amount of pain medication that they need and not be undermedicated because their doctor doesn't want to get in trouble. Patients who have chronic pain rarely abuse pain medication. After saying that, I will say that pain meds are really no help for me in treating my migraines. I have become allergic to all narcotic pain meds and I have to use migraine aborting meds like Zomig, Maxalt, Imitrex, etc. Sometimes I take Ibuprofen to help these other drugs. Sometimes I get good relief and other times I am sick all day. I take topoxmax for another condition and the only effect on my migraines I have noticed is that I have not been getting the worst of my headaches - the ones I call "Paralyzing Migraines" where I awake with the migraine and I cannot move, call out, open my eyes or anything. I have to keep the chewable form of Zomig or Maxalt next to the bed for those headaches, but I have only been having "Devastating" migraines - similar to the paralyzing, but able to stumble to the bathroom with my eyes open like slits. I am just grateful to not be having the paralyzing migraines!
To be clear - it is not primarily Migraineurs who are asked to sign these contracts. The gold standard for Migraine treatment is not pain management, at least in part because many of the drugs people take regularly in pain management would cause rebound headaches if taken on a regular basis for Migraine. It is more often people with other types of chronic pain who are asked to sign these contracts.
I hope I didn't sound like I was accusing the doctors, though. Doctors who prescribe narcotics without covering themselves are not only risking their medical licenses but their own freedom. This is a serious issue. If it becomes too risky to practice pain medicine, no doctor will be willing to do it. Then chronic pain patients will have nowhere to turn. That's why I called these contracts a necessary evil. I also think most doctors administer them fairly. I was asked to write for some patients who felt their doctors had not been fair in use of the contracts. I doubt that situation happens very often.
- Megan