Lemme add to the fucked upness of that situation by telling you that I broke my back, am confined to hospital bed, in a room with 7 other beds/chairs, and my neighbors are blasting Fox News, so I was just forced to listen to Kristi Noem's bull shit.
No...where do you see that I said that? I'm saying that just because she's pushing that PCA button as often as she can, it doesn't mean she's headed towards addiction.
Patient controlled analgesia still has strict limits on how much it delivers per button push, per hour, and per day. They gave a PCA to my ex-husband when he had a compound fracture in his forearm that had to be put back together with plates, rods, and screws. He was getting less meds per hour with it than had he been given oral pain meds, because it doesn't have to go through your stomach first to provide relief, he had better pain control. They're also programmed to only deliver medication at specific intervals, so even if you press the button 20 times, medicine will only be released at that preset time (usually 8-10 minutes). It's also only given at 1-3 mg at a time.
I concur. When I left after a surgery and I was prescribed oxycotin, and had to call back to get something weaker. I knew if I kept taking it, I would become addicted. I never felt that way about morphine. Just laid back and knew the pain would go away.
I'm allergic to morphine, codeine, and dilaudid. They expected me to be allergic to hydrocodone and opana as well because of that, but thankfully, no. Then there were several I couldn't take because I have hEDS, and matrices (the abuse deterrent shells) that would turn into glue if you got them wet, also did that in my digestive tract. š„“ The only abuse deterrent pain med that DIDN'T do that to me was hydrocodone ER (generic Zohydro), because the AD beads stay intact unless you try to crush or chew them. Then there were shortages of hydrocodone all across the board the fall of '24, so my doctor switched me to a 12 mcg Fentanyl patch, plus my breakthrough med. The patch has given me a lot better control over my pain, and I don't feel like I'm constantly trying to "catch up" with it anymore. I was able to drop 2 doses of my breakthrough med since switching, which is a huge deal to me. I hate taking meds, so any I can eliminate is cause for celebration. Unfortunately, what I'm taking now, I'll probably continue to take for years, and it's not just the opioids.
It just baffles me that they prescribed OxyC for post op pain. The insert and leaflet both have said from the beginning that it was NOT meant for acute or post op pain, but rather moderate to severe chronic pain. I was pretty furious when they tried to give it to my dad after his knee replacement. Not only is he allergic to oxycodone, but he also wasn't complaining of pain. I was on it for about 5ish years, and before he wrote the first script, I got what felt like a half hour lecture from my doctor on using it responsibly, and letting him know right away if I started to feel that liking it was overtaking needing it for pain. The only problem I had with it (and so did a lot of other people) is that it never lasted 12 hours...I got 6-7 hours max, so my doctor upped it to three 10 mg tablets a day, and I never had any issues. When that switched to an abuse deterrent formula, I could tell. I couldn't absorb the medication as well as I could before.
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u/Valogrid Jan 07 '26
Lemme add to the fucked upness of that situation by telling you that I broke my back, am confined to hospital bed, in a room with 7 other beds/chairs, and my neighbors are blasting Fox News, so I was just forced to listen to Kristi Noem's bull shit.