I Need A New Doctor

Pain Pills
1
I went to see my usual doctor on Tuesday and came clean about my addiction to Ultram. I have been using for 5+ years at about 800 mg/day. I am in the middle of tapering off and I am down to 300 mg/day. I have told my counselor, my fiancee and now my doctor. The first two have been great, but the doctor was useless. He offered to write me a script for more Ultram and anything else that I thought might help get me throgh the withdrawal. He seemed completely unaware of the addictive potential of Tramadol. I told him that I had heard about people having seizures during withdrawal and he said that he would tell the other doctors in the practise in case I ended up in the ER, but that he would not write anything down on my chart, etc., for my own privacy.

He is a nice guy and in the past has been good at treating my diabetes. However, he used to be the president of the hospital where my wife died 18 months ago. While she was in Intensive Care in a coma, I went to see him to ask for his help in getting a second opinion. The brain surgeon who had operated on my wife was a total a$$ and had given up on her from the outset. He didn't even visit her for 2+ days (she was in IC for a total of 7 days) and stopped the meds that seemed to be helping with the pressure in her brain, which resulted from her brain aneurysm. Instead he was worried that the meds were causing an irregular heart beat. As my doctor said when I went to see him, she was 39 and had a strong heart. He did not understand why the surgeon was treating her heart when it was her brain that needed work. However, I later found out that the surgeon had called organ donor services as soon as my wife came out of surgery, despite telling me that we would not know anything about her chances for recovery for 72 hours. When I confronted the hospital administrator, she told me that the same surgeon had had another patient the previous year and that he had told the family that this man, aged 38, was brain dead and that they should disconnect life support. "Well don't you know it", the administrator said, "that same man was working in the hospital's admininstration office that very same day, having made a complete recovery". (I am sorry - I am digressing)

Anyway, the second opinion that my doctor arranged failed to show up. My wife never got her second opinion until it was too late and she was brain dead.

I think my Doc feels guilty at letting my wife down and that he would now do anything I ask, including prescribing any meds that I asked for. But I need someone who knows more than I do and who will help me through this. I live in Alexandria, just outside of DC. Does anyone know a good doctor in the DC area who can help me through this withdrawal?

Thanks
Tim
2
Hey Tim,

I'm so sorry to hear about your wife. I can't really help you out with the withdrawals, I know nothing about those drugs. So many people for different addictions talk highly of sub, there are many threads on the topic if you want to check it out. May help you get through the withdrawals. Hang in there, I'm sure somebody else will come around that probably has better suggestions then I do. Sorry I couldn't be much of a help. Just wanted you to know that I read your post and I'm so sorry to hear about your wife.

Love,
Liz
3
Oh and I'm not in the DC area so I wouldn't know of any doctors there. Sorry
4
Liz, thanks so much for replying. I know that finding a doctor this way is a long shot but just typing it out made me feel better.

Thanks
5
Dear Tim I was/am addicted to ultram I was taken 800+ a day of Ultram.I tried to taper only to end up taken more.I did this for 3-4 years.Finally I looked into suboxone.I mean I came here & asked questions & researched on the net over & over.I went to my Dr & fessed up to what I was doing and we talked about suboxone.We desided to give it a try.I have been on it since Jan 4 2004 and I have 60+days with no ULTRAM AT ALL.I do miss the high from them everyday,but I am feeling so much better health wise.I cant tell you to start the sub but I can say look into it the pros & cons & than deside if it may be for you,I have no regrets.There are alot of people who have done the sub & tapered off and some like me who will be on it long term.Anyways Im usaully on in the mornings I was just checking my mail & read your letter.If I can be of any help please let me know.It may take alittle bit till I can get back to you but I will answer what I can.Take care mj
6
Tim, I asked my SUB doctor about what pain medications I could use in the future and he suggested Ultram. I told him that it was addicting (according to what I read here). He didnt think that it was but addmitted that maybe for some people it might be.
---I have come to the conclusion that many Doctors ( including SUB doctors) dont know all they should with respect to addiction and treatments. To get a licence to prescribe SUB, all a Doctor needs to do is take a 8 hour course.
--Thanks to another poster ( I believe it was Ramon) I have been reading about SUB on a US Gov site. I also believe another poster stated that SUB was not yet labled for Ultram but that it was effective.
---I am going by memory so you should look it up for youself.

Click on the left hand side to read all you want about SUB and its uses.
Good luck Tim
Jake

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/b...5.chapter.72248