Sunday, June 03, 2012 Dmitro asks

Q: Teri! are you aware of what has happened to Demerol in the US and Canada in the past few months?

There is a reason for this would you like to know why? Dmitro

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Answers (2)

Teri Robert, Health Guide

6/ 4/12 4:11pm

Dmitro,

I'm not sure what you're talking about. What has happened?

Teri

Dmitro Woychuk

6/ 6/12 7:57pm

Teri

I think that it has been at least a year ago I wrote on your site here that it looked like nearly all the hospitals ERs, at least on the west coast of Canada and the US were pulling Demerol off of their shelfs. You mentioned that you took that question to a meeting of many doctors from far and wide and the results diden`t match.

Late last fall I made an other trip from BC Canada to San Diego and back. I had a prescription of Demerol injectables and no pharmacy could fill it. Reason, the

suppliers diden`t have it either. Reason, the corperate pharmaceuticals/FDA

put a hold on it. Reason, from the FDA, "technical promblems" no details.

At least that is what all the pharmacist are saying.

If my calculations are carrect, this puts about six million North Americans who can`t tolerate oral medications at high risk of stroke or heart attack.

Dmitro

Teri Robert, Health Guide

6/ 8/12 10:50am

Dmitro,

First of all, Demerol/meperidine is not currently listed among the medications on the FDA drug shortage list. Second, I know people who have been given Demerol in ERs for Migraines recently.

That said, many ERs have set policies of not giving opioids for Migraines or headaches, and their reasons vary. I can't speak for them. You'd have to check with each ER to see what their policy is and the reasons be hind it. Some have set that as their policy because they felt that setting that policy would discourage the large number of drug seekers they were getting who were coming to their ERs and faking Migraines to get drugs. Another reason is that newer research has shown that any use of opioids is harmful to Migraineurs. It increases the chances of our Migraines transforming from episodic to chronic, and if they're already chronic, makes it more difficult to get them to revert back to episodic.

For these reasons, many ERs are using IV magnesium, which is a safe and often very effective treatment for actually aborting Migraines, which opioids cannot do. They also sometimes use "cocktails" of injectable NSAIDs and antinausea medications.

Opioids aren't the only treatment opition, nor are they the safest for us. I think you're seeing a conspiracy where there is none.

Teri

Dmitro Woychuk

6/ 8/12 2:18pm

Thank you Teri

I´ve been in Europe sense early April and out of toutch, Could be that Demerol is back in circulation? All the phrams I approached to fill my prescription were saying that their supplyers were told that it might in back late in June??

It might be off the FDAs list by now as well...

In regards to the ERs setting policies, I have been checking with the ERs directly in my travels for several years now. Yes, the doctors legally have the option to make their choices which I find almost allways conform to the policies. In the beginning I was just interfacing with the head nurse. They would usually reply, each doctor makes his or her own chioce.Some head nurses and most of the doctors replied "it has been decided" very few would say `ít is a policie´.Still I was left confused.

So on this last trip I got the idea to go to the hospitals own pharmacy and I got the lowdown on what and what was not being used for migraine attacks.

Lastly,I had no problems with Demerol till I move to Sweden 20 years ago. No injections of any kind for migraine attack! The only thing that worked was Cafergot suppositories, (Caffeine/Ergotamine Tartrate) IT IS ONLY GOOD FOR A QUICK FIX! Don`t get a prescription for this, you are in for hell!

Over 20 years I have slowly gotten into deep doo doo, chronic daily migraine with rebound for the past five years. I am getting into the Danish head pain center just in time. They are a research center and they have a team of pharmacologists that just deal with drug dependencys as most new patients have this from doctors and all their pills pills pills.

Over and out....Dmitro

jacallahanjr

6/ 9/12 11:02pm

I can get a demerol injection here in my area of Az. also in San Berdino Co. Ca. and in Nevada basically upon request. They don't like to use it becuase of rebound issue's and for some reason people will flood an E.R with headaches if its common knowledge they use demerol (have seen this happen at 2 small local hospitals over the years) There are better options for migraine/headache relief. Dilauded 3-4mg IM works great with no hangover. So no Demerol shortage here.

Northstar

6/ 6/12 10:10pm

Hi, Dmitro;

One of my trips to the local ER I was informed NO More Demerol, and that it would be near to imposible to even find it anywhere. This was near5years ago or more. I freaked like most of us would.

Lately I was told in the past year no narcotic would be given to headache or migraine people through Neurologist. NONE. That's why many "Pain Clinics" have popped up. Some are great doctors who want to help you. Then others keep giving you more and more narcotics like Moriphine I was up to 200mg a day pluss others.

My doctor now tries natural products and I still am allowed limited narcotic, to the point I DON'T feel like a drug user. My doctor takes alot of his OWN TIME to try and help me. My NERO and Pain Dr. work together.

I was told off the "Record"( in er by the er dr) too many side effects from Demerol, ie throwing up was a main one. UM DUH! Migraine here... I dearly hope you find something else. Im on Norco/ Xanax1mg/ Benedryl/ my ER combo is per IV 50 Benedryl, 10 Valium, 10 Zofran. (Zofran replaced Reglan so heads up on Reglan for nauseness) Lori

Dmitro Woychuk

6/ 7/12 5:47am

Thank you Lori

That is the same lame excuse I was getting "it`s a narcotic" and no one yet has been able to qualify that statement. There are still other narcotics on the same shelf, why not get rid of them all? My doctor has been with me for ten years now and she has been very supportive. She set me up like a diabetic with injectables,and I only use this for migraine attacks. It looks like this idea has come from the corporate Pharmaceuticals through the FDA.Now we see demerol completely blocked at the big Pharms level. Now the FDA come up with an other lame excuse "technical coplications" and that is all your pharmicist can tell you.

LEF magazine might have the answer in one of their articles (followed by one page of references) published last fall.The big pharms often create drug shortages in order to up the prices. Ho hum

Dmitro

Dmitro Woychuk

6/ 8/12 12:46pm

Hi, Lori ;

Dmitro again. I missed one on your response. With the Demerol injections, the doctors should never be giving this straight! never! They should be adding something like Dimenhydrinate 50mg/ml injection in the sereng with the Demerol

to counteract side effects ie; nausea etc. They used to give out seasick tabletts before the injections here in Denmark, probably a carrey-over from Viking days??

DUH....

Dmitro

Northstar

6/22/12 3:27pm

Hi, Dmitro; Let us know about the Pain Clinic you are starting. See what they do for you. I just started a new program for my chronic migraines yesterday, with my Pain clinic Dr. I'll let you know in about 4 weeks if its changed anything! :) Lori

Dmitro Woychuk

6/23/12 6:40am

Hi again Lori

I´ll give you a quick rundown on the clinic in Denmark called Headpaine center, Neurology Dpt. Glostrup University School of Medicine, DK. This is also a large research center for migraine as well. They are using a new technology called `functioal Magnetic Resonance Imaging´(fMRI) with their medical practice, and the only ones doing so to my knowledge.

The fMRI developed only ten years ago is a quantum leap over the standard MRI as technicians can see the brain image in real time, see the exact loction of where the migraine starts and how it spreads and develops through the brain. They can even zoom in on a microscopic level and see the neurones fire and were thay are not firing.

Jes Olesen, the director of this clinic, and co-workers published a 17 page article `Origin of pain in migraine: evidence for peripheral sensitisation´ The Lancet vol.8 July 2009, which will knock your socks off if you can follow the medical terminology.

Yes, this is going to be real exciting and I hope all goes well with your appointment at the pain clinic. Print this message out and share it with your new doc.

Dmitro

Q: Teri! are you aware of what has happened to Demerol in the US and Canada in the past few months?

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