Pain Management

My GP said all my pain was a result of chemo mixed with menopause and would eventually subside. I asked her how long is eventually...turns out its as long as a piece of string. 
She gave me s script for mild antidepressant for the hot flashes but no guarantee it will work. Haven't started them yet. 

Has anyone seen my bucket of sand? Feel the need to stick my head in it!!

I get Panadeine Forte as I can take 2 if really bad pain (such as the occasional migraine) or take 1 + paracetamol for the more garden variety pain.  You'd think an oncologist would have some leeway with prescribing but he said that he can only prescribe 20 at a time.

I asked my GP on Monday and was told a permit was needed I have been seeing him for 20 years
One day last week a TV program allegedly showed 5 brand new patients going to a new GP for Fentanyl 4 GP gave out the drug
the patients with a Genuine need for Endone won’t receive it and suffer the pain
What a Dysfunctional system.
 

I'm the same with endone as @Sister  - it makes me throw up.

The crackdown started earlier this year (or late last year) ... When Keith broke his rib (when I was having my Rads), the emergency Dr gave him a 3 day script for Endone, then nothing - suggested he use panadol (which was never going to 'cut it'!)  He was in excruciating pain, needing 2 more ambo callouts ..... Eventually, a Dr at Laurieton gave him the equivalent of Panadeine Forte (ALSO now on the 'endangered list' because of the codeine component!) 
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/31/the-opioid-crisis-and-why-australia-is-cracking-down-on-codeine

Getting the script was like pulling teeth!  He was in such obvious pain!  But there are so many people who are Doctor Shopping, trying to get them to make 'hooch/morphine equivalent' ..... it has made it virtually impossible for 'regular people' to get the correct medication for genuine ailments & pain!

Lyrics is heading down the same path, right now, as one of the most prescribed pain killers out there & there have been quite a few deaths from overdosing on it in Australia as well  :(   So take care with that one too!!

Is the Endone situation recent? I got a prescription for Endone from my dentist. In case of bad pain! Never used. Seems bizarre if it can't be prescribed for someone in real need. 

@Stork
Far out it's unfair to be caught up in a crackdown.  I did notice that the script stated this drug could not be computer generated to be in Drs handwriting 
Hope you get some relief somewhere 

Endone has a tendency to make be throw up, Tramadol works a bit but mostly just has the constipating effect, I can't take aspirin as I'm allergic to it, or ibuprofen because it belongs to the same family and I'm not willing to chance it.  So bloody annoyed about the codeine clamp down as the real opioids are the only thing that really works for me.  And I'm very conscious of only taking them when I need to - not because it's so hard to get them but because they stop being so effective if you take them too often.

@iserbrown
In October I had a minor knee operation my GP prescribed Endone and Panadol Forte, when I saw the surgeon after my knee op I asked for some pills he told me no and to ask GP

when I asked my GP he told me all class 8 drugs Endone is one,the government has clamping down on the drugs and a permit is required I did not qualify for the Endone,all my joints,muscles and bones are very painful,my pain threshold is high but it is going down fast, and my knee is still painful and swollen 
Take care Stork 

I've been told I have an opioid malabsorption condition. Apparently certain enzymes can be absent in the gut which breaks down the chemical components into bits and pieces which are then turned from one chemical to another which the body then absorbs and reacts with pain receptors. The following do zip for me. Morphine, codeine, endone, targin, pethidine. They all have no effect on pain whatsoever, and I just vomit non stop. My body can absorb some artificial opioids if given sub lingually (under the tongue). This is absorbed through the mucous membrane in the mouth, and goes directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the intestines, which don't break it down. Cocaine works the same, absorbed through the mucous membrane in the nose. Also have had Fentanyl patches which worked well. Again absorbed through the skin and directly into the bloodstream. (Think nicotene patches and hormone patches) This method gives a slow, sustained relief, and I was given the same drug under the tongue until the patch had gotten into my system. This was sorted out by the pain clinic at a major teaching hospital in Sydney. What a relief to finally have something on my record, to be used if necessary.

The other thing to understand about these drugs is that they only work for some people, it's a bit of a genetic lottery. They work by binding to certain receptors which happens more readily in some patients than others, this can make the pharmaceutical science a bit unreliable.
I'm one of the lucky ones in that regard, and I don't seem to have developed any resistance. Mind you, the dose I take is low, only a quarter of what is usually prescribed per day. If the drug isn't working now it's probably not going improve, which is a bugger. You can only give it a go I suppose.