As usual, I kindly ask that users refrain from posting anything but useful advice in my threads. Believe me, I sometimes get a kick out of the random absurdities you guys throw out there, but do me a solid and take it to whatever thread is directly below mine. Thankya-big-big.

Anyways, last month I was at the free clinic. They had previously given me trazodone for my insomnia. I went back last month and complained to the physician that trazodone caused me to have random erections, and that I was afraid of priapism.

Now, this clinic has the policy that they do not prescribe addictive substances (narcotics, benzos, barbs, etc). My doctor last month had asked me what I used to take before losing my insurance, to which I replied that I had been on 2mg lorazepam nightly on and off for several years. Against clinic policy, he wrote me a 30-day prescription for my ativan.

Well, today I went back to the clinic trying to get a refill. There was a different doctor today, who said he was unable to prescribe another month of ativan, or even enough to safely taper me off (though, between you and me, totse, those pills were gone in the first week).

Now, I need to know what my options are. I want my ativan for the next two months until my medicaid kicks in and I can go back to my psychiatrist. My ideas are:

1) Look up the doctor who prescribed me ativan in the phonebook, and call him at his office.
2) Go to the ER in a few days and say I'm withdrawing (and then sue the clinic for malpractice to pay the bills)
3) Try to explain the situation to another clinic (I'm not counting on this one)

So, what do you suggest?

And, by refusing to prescribe enough to even safely taper me off, was the clinic indeed guilty of malpractice? Would it be worth taking to court?

Thankee-sai,
mike

id go option 1, or possibly 2 without the suing. i seriously doubt youd win.

if you do go down there and explain that youd need it for tapering off, maybe a different doctor would help you.

number 2, dont sue though. the guy did you a favor man dont shove it up his ass, i mean are you a junkie with no morales? dude its ativan not crack what would anyone you know in real life think if they knew you did something like this. im fuckin tired of the fact that almost all drug users would rip someone off or fuck someone over just to get drugs/money for drugs.

I only wanted helpful answers, kwerjack. I'm too tired to rip you a new one.

How could you conclude that I was suing the doctor who gave me ativan against policy? Of course I was grateful to that man.

I was talking about suing the second doctor, who denied me even medication to taper off safely. Knowing full well how serious benzo withdrawls can be (I had a seizure once), this jackass traded my safety to follow a rule instated by the nuns at the free clinic. If that isnt malpractice, I don't know what is.

What if I had another seizure, leading to another concussion? Who would pay those bills?

Jesus, think before you speak, man.

BLTC, prove to me theres still some reason to be coming back here after all these long long years.

mike

tl;dr

what i meant was, you only used those benzos in one week, your not gonna withdrawl. what i meant was that, by sueing, you would get that doctor that gave you ativan in serious shit. and thats gonna suck for him, after helping you out, giving you illegal drugs, and then you abuse them, and get him in trouble. the fact is, your not withdrawling, thats what i was referring to when i said all the shit about being a junkie with no morales.

How will I get the prescriber fucked over? He didn't do anything but break a rule created by the free clinic. At worst, he'll lose his volunteer position. He didnt do anything wrong, medically speaking.

mike

ok i wasnt aware he was a volunteer and that he wont be in trouble. what im saying is that im tired of drug users doing anything to get more drugs. hell, would you really go to the ER and pretend your withdrawling just to get like 10 mgs of ativan? your going to fuckin hell.

Last time they wrote me a two month prescription and gave me enough pills for a few days until i could fill it.

mike

ok so your gonna do that for like 60 mgs ativan? whatever dude i think thats really immoral and i would feel like shit for quite some time, probably my whole life for doing that. if you wanna go ahead, but..

Funny how much trouble this guy is willing to go through for some shitty sleeping meds.

Might as well just look to buy some benzos on the streets.

this is my point, not just how much trouble it is, but how much of a jackass move it is.

I'll tell you what, kwerjack, I'll give you one chance to explain how going to the hospital to get medication is immoral. Then I'll logically pick apart everything you say, call you an idiot, and hope someone more useful wanders on in. Ok? GO!

mike

it is immoral, from certain standpoints, to get meds that you dont need.

i personally agree with you though, if you want it, and theyll give it to you, go for it.

the doctor is not at fault here, you were on their watch, perscribed one month of benzo's, which accourding to some medical schools of thought is not long enough to cause dependencey, ironicly. even worse was yours had a shorter half life, so there was no real danger of you falling into withdrawls yet...

now if you were on for another month or two, you woulda walked away with it then and there...


your best bet would be to find some doxylamine succinate containing OTC aid, as its both cheap and very very effective...
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxylamine_succinate)

If OP really needs the meds to fall asleep, DPH is very effective if you take 50-100 mg.

first of all mksnowboarder, i respect you as a poster on this board, you are one of the the better ones. i have nothing against you, but your views on this situation.

first of all, you abused the drugs, saying that you used them correctly. secondly, you arent withdrawling, so you dont need the ativan (if you do get it, your probably gonna abuse it anyway, lying, again.)

now, if you go to a psychiatrist, get the ativan for legitimate reasons, and abuse it, thats one thing, but going to the ER, possibly putting other people's lives in danger by bothering the doctors with your fake withdrawls, and abusing the drugs they give you that you dont even need, is very, very immoral.

i dont give a shit if you do it or not, im just saying, its not fuckin crack, and i would personally feel like shit for doing something like that, especiallly for ativan.

Well, first of all, if vilbe is correct and I would have had no chance of withdrawing, then the doctor in question was not at fault, and I would not sue, of course. That would be immoral.

Kwerjack, as far as the lying goes, what drug user hasn't lied in relation to their habit. At least I'm just lying to some hospital employees, rather than my loved ones. As for possibly hurting another patient by taking up the doctor's time, thats just not plausible. First of all, the doctors they actually have in the ER aren't really taking care of people that might die. Such a person would be moved to another unit. As far as some of the shit that might waste an ER clinic doctor's time, me asking for ativan isnt the biggest deal in the world.

They admit people by severity of condition. If I wasnt about to die, they'd take care of me last. And if someone started dying, I'm sure that, in a worst case scenarion, the doctor yapping away with me about sleep med withdrawl could just put me on hold for a moment.

I won't call you an idiot, though. You were just standing up for what you believed in, I guess. I happen to disagree with your moral code in this regard, but you're entitled to it anyway.

And to the users suggestion OTC sleep aids, I've been on everything. Every herb and pseudo-sedative on the shelves. And every antidepressant, antipsychotic, and sedative the doctors could think of. I told you I was on ativan on and off for years - they don't do that unless they've already tried all the other options and watched them fail.

mike

agree to disagree, i guess. this is what i suggest you do for the insomnia problem. youve had insomnia for years, right? you can handle the few weeks until you can go to the psychiatrist. in that point inbetween just buy some benzos, opiates, or even heroin from your local dealer so that you can get to sleep.

you said yourself that they were gone in a week. lets be honest here, you weren't using them for sleep. you fail at life.

And to the users suggestion OTC sleep aids, I've been on everything. Every herb and pseudo-sedative on the shelves. And every antidepressant, antipsychotic, and sedative the doctors could think of. I told you I was on ativan on and off for years - they don't do that unless they've already tried all the other options and watched them fail.


if it can make a withdrawing junkie sleep, i'm sure it can help you out man, this one wouldn't be one you'd normally find out there, and its no bullshit. i kid you not it knocks you out better than the ativan would, so try to find some unisom-2, or just something with doxylamine succinate as the active ingredient, and take 50mgs and be ready for bed in no time...

i would go with number two without suing also i say in your first post you said Thankee-sai. so you read the dark tower series im assuming.

for fucks sake cut the suing doctor bullshit already

in school until you're 31, studying.... little partying, and thats when the real work comes with residency, then hospital work and come all this way for some benzombie to sue him out of some cheap pills?

the doctor is not at fault here, you were on their watch, perscribed one month of benzo's, which accourding to some medical schools of thought is not long enough to cause dependencey, ironicly. even worse was yours had a shorter half life, so there was no real danger of you falling into withdrawls yet...



Im going to call you out on this one Vilbe, as many doctors do in fact believe that a benzo as short acting as ativan CAN lead to dependency in as little as a month(some times even less). You will start noticing withdrawals faster with a shorter acting benzo like xanax/ativan compared to longer acting ones like klonopin/valium. The withdrawals also seem to be more severe. You can use this to your advantage man.

And to mksnowboarder: I kinda what your going through man, I have debiliting insomnia and it took fucking forever to find a doctor who was willing to prescribe me anything. I started off on ativan but i built a tolerance to it hella fast and had to switch to different benzos. My advice to you man is to find the original doc who prescribed it too you and explain to him how helpful Ativan was for your insomnia. Be sincere and chances are if the dude was willing to break clinic policy by perscribing it to you in the first place, he obviously cares about your situation and would probaly do it again. Going to the ER isnt going to do much; even if you go in there screaming bloody murder the best they will do is give you a shot to stop the withdrawals and a small perscription, 15 days at most. It's just not worth it, considering the bills just to go the ER wouldnt make it worthwhile. And if I read correct, you said you've pretty much tried everything for sleep, right? I dont understand how a anti-pschyotic like Seroquel wouldnt help you out in a situation like yours. It is much stronger then Ativan and for me it works wonders. I also second the recomendation for doxylamine succinate, by far the most sedating antihistamine known to man. Give it a try, you dont have anything to lose

And no offense to you bro, but I take it as you dont have enough money to pay for insurance, you definatley don't have enough money to sue a doctor, especially if you are trying to prove malpractice(which looks in your case to be a longshot). These guys are well covered, most with very good legal teams courtesy of their insurance. A lawsuit probaly would not be in your best interest, especially over something like Ativan.

~dU$tY

Just try calling your first doc from a few months ago or whenever (as long as it has been within a year) If they are reluctant to call something in over the phone just tell them your current financial situation and ask if you can pick up a prescription and make an appointment when your medicare kicks in. I actually used to just call my doc when I was in college and she would always call in my benzo requests.

I think its funny that you're coming in here with such a holier than thou attitude while simultneously asking for input on one of the most rediculous plans I've ever heard.

Firstly, you cannot go into withdrawls after only one month of therapeutic benzodiazepine doses. The people at the ER will know this and they will certainly know that you are in no danger.

Even if it was theorhetically possible for you to be in WD you couldnt fake it convincingly enough to fool an ER doc. How are you going to fake elevated heart beat, blood pressure, or body temperature? What about tremor and muscle spasms? (no, shaking your hand isnt convincing.)

Even if you could have been in WD, and even if you somehow convinced the ER you were in WD, you still couldnt sue the doctor because you can only sue for damages. Being mildly ill for an afternoon is not worth enough money for any attorney to take your case and it damn sure is not worth enough to pay the ER bill.

And, even if you had suffered, you still couldnt sue the doctor because he did nothing wrong. You were being treated at a clinic that does not prescribe scheduled medication. You knew that when you began treatment. There is no way you can claim that the dotor acted inappropriately by following the rule you both agreed to.

SO I will repeat, stop acting like you're so much better than BLTC and we need to "redeem ourselves" in your eyes you egotistical prick.

And, for the record, if your insomnia was really as bad and interfered with your life as much as you claim you wouldnt have wasted all of your MEDICINE to get high. This proves that, in addition to being an idiot, you're also the kind of low life cocksucker who tries to con doctors into giving you drugs you dont need. Its because of assholes like you that I and many others on this board have suffered for years without the medicine we need.

In Summation:
You are an egotistical fool and you need to stop acting like you're better than anybody else because you are, in fact, one of the lowest forms of life on the planet. Fuck you.

I think its funny that you're coming in here with such a holier than thou attitude while simultneously asking for input on one of the most rediculous plans I've ever heard. ...
.

Maybe it's just from a true lack of sleep and anxiety that he is coming up with plans that seem ridiculous. And, in his current financial situation things may seem more desperate and out of reach.

Also, there is an unhealthy number of posters in bltc who just flame without even trying to be helpful.

If this was about opiates I guarantee that 50% of the people criticizing him wouldn't have said one word about it.

haha so true.

but then who the fuck DOESNT want opiates?

say he walked away with 30 5mg hydrocodone or even 60, they don't have to renew the script, its a free clinic what are you expecting? OP also admitted that he wasn't on them as intended for a month either, so he's most likely not hurting for them, its not a crime to want something...

its not a hard thing to believe that in america half the doctors want your money, the half that do somewhat give a shit, half will get a clue and the other half don't..

Ok, people still aren't getting the whole suing thing here:
A) I would not sue the doctor that prescribed the ativan.
B) I would not sue any doctor if there was no true malpractice. I would of course consult with a lawyer and a medical professional to determine if what the clinic did counted as malpractice.
C) If someone starts you on benzos, they have, at the very least, the obligation to taper you off them safely.

In regards to my insomnia, doxylamine succinate is the main ingredient in NyQuil, which I have taken many, many times. Yes, it makes you very, very drowsy. My insomnia is not a result of not feeling tired, though. I can be exhausted and three days without sleep, but if I lay down, the racing thoughts will keep me awake no matter how tired i am. I've been on seroquel too, which helps a little with the racing thoughts, but not enough. It makes me feel like a zombie. And it's a fortune without insurance, and even with insurance, ativan is much, much cheaper.

Sure, I squandered that 60mg of ativan in a week. The thing is, my psychiatrist was prescribing me 180 2mg ativan every two months. That gave me enough to fuck around with, and still have one every night for sleep, and then take a two week break before getting another script to kill my tolerance.

If you've been prescribed benzos, you must have had those occasions where you wake up naked on your lawn and wonder where your benzos are, because you dont remember taking any more than one. And if you havent experienced this, just shut the fuck up.

In regards to my arrogance, some of it is deserved. I've been here much longer than almost everyone else, and have greater knowledge of these chemicals, the laws, and the social situations that surround them. I never make frivolous posts, and try to help people when I can.

But the main thing about that is, I have fun trashing you noobs. I wouldnt come here if it wasnt fun for me. And don't you dare complain, because I often have good knowledge to share. It's a fair trade.

And you imbeciles have been here for so short a time, and know so close to nothing, that you must have shamed your eyes, so keep them to the ground when we pass. One person with a legit belief contradicts me, and the rest of you, being absolutely below conscious thought, follow like the worthless sheep you are.

But I have to thank the older members who have a rational bone in their body, for standing by me in the later posts. They are my audience, not you kidiots. I barely notice your existences except when you irritate me.

And yes, I do read the Dark Tower. Thankee-sai for noticing, youre the first or second person on totse to catch it. Kudos.

Anyways, I've got me a few kpins that'll last a week. By then, I should have my insurance online . There should only be a few weeks of discomfort before having regular access again.

Thank you for your responses (you know who I mean).
mike

n regards to my insomnia, doxylamine succinate is the main ingredient in NyQuil, which I have taken many, many times. Yes, it makes you very, very drowsy.

see, even if double dosing or triple dosing nyquil, your still not getting the 50mgs i recommend you try. even if that initally doesn't work add a drink or two to the mix [which you could do without fear of tylenol/dxm] you'd be out...


i wouldn't believe it either if i didn't try it myself. IMO nyquil's problem is the dxm involved, and the fact your barely scratching the surface of this hypnotic...





that'd work in the meantime. but go back to teh free clinic another day, and try again, or just wait for your insurance to kick in. find a good doc, stick with him [i remember you moving right?], that way if your insurance does lapse he might just keep taking care of you regardless of the fact/reduced rate [if they do that in CT they gotta else where, we're ruthless bastards]..

not trying to hijack your thread but have you finished the series? if not what book are you on?