I live in the U.S., first off.
I was prescribed a narcotic following a minor surgery. I’m not going to say what kind of surgery that was and please don’t ask. I’ll just go ahead and say that the prescription was for hydrocodone/acetaminophen 5-35. I’m worried about having been prescribed this because I know there’s a state-wide electronic system used to monitor all prescriptions—accessible by all doctors, pharmacies, etc. anywhere else in my state—and I know that system is used to flag people for prescription drug abuse. I also know that medications like this are highly frowned upon by the healthcare system itself and even more so by the authorities. I assume it’s entirely possible that I look suspicious according to that system now.
I’ve only taken a three pills so far, out of ten total. If I take the other seven back to the pharmacy to have them destroyed, they’ll make a record of that, I would imagine.
What I mean is that I could just stop taking them now but never tell anyone that, and anyone looking at my medical history in the future would see that I picked up ten pills from the pharmacy, and that’s all they would see, and so I took the entire script as far as they know; whereas if I take the other seven back, and they make another entry in their records about that, that’s in effect like plus ten and then minus seven, and that way I would theoretically have three pills counted against my medical history instead of ten; right?
I could be way overanalyzing this, but frankly, I’m already terrified to take another one anyway. I honestly don’t like how they make me feel, which is good, but it would be just my luck that I’d take one more pill and start liking it immediately. I know what happens to people who end up liking this stuff, and how easy it is to end up liking it; I’ve seen it. It’s also that I’m still relatively young, and my health’s already bad enough at this point as it is, that I already know they’ll eventually put me in the ground with at least one major surgery, and I don’t want to have to get through that with ibuprofen because I’ve already blown it.
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Ten pills once is chump change
When I was a patient at the VA pain clinic for a couple years, I could fart ten pills on any given day.
Don’t listen OP! They’re gonna bash through your front door any second now and haul you away to some gulag!
Jk, you’re fine.
I’m still relatively young
Your naivety gives that away. I’m putting this on your permanent record.
I’m quite a bit older than you think and even more naïve, I promise.
Don’t get so distressed
I could be way overanalyzing this
You’re not overanalyzing it. You’re Wayyyyy overanalyzing it to a detrimental degree.
Even if you did take them back, and the pharmacy made a log of it, it would just be in their internal pharmacy ‘drugs to destroy’ log and wouldn’t be sent to the state or anywhere else to update your records.
All they see is that you were prescribed a very small amount of a low dose pain medication once after a surgery and you picked it up. Something thousands of people do every single day.
It’s not that important. You’re not going to be red-flagged because your doctor/surgeon wrote a prescription and you picked it up.
You only get flagged as a drug seeker for drug-seeking behavior. That does not include picking up a small prescription for a few pain meds a doctor wrote for you after minor surgery. If it did, anyone who’s ever had a root canal or tooth pulled would be flagged and the system would be useless.
You only get flagged as a drug seeker for drug-seeking behavior.
Exactly. My wife and I take a mix of Sudafed & another medicine when we have bad colds. The active ingredient for them is pseudoephedrine which can be used to make meth, so our state requires ID and limits how much you can purchase a month. On more than one occasion we’ve purchased the maximum we could in order to stock up before cold & flu season. Never had any issues doing so.
I think you’re thinking about this way to hard. Its an anxiety response. No ones going to blacklist you or judge you for taking a medicine you were prescribed by a doctor. They also probably wouldn’t make a record if the pills were destroyed. If they did it certainly wouldn’t be attached to your medical records. They aren’t being counted against your record. Its not a punishment or a test. You had a surgery, and the prescribed treatment for said surgery aftercare is pain meds. Its okay. You aren’t a criminal or suspicious or being judged for anything.
If you don’t like how they make you feel that’s okay. I personally can’t stand opioids and could manage the pain with Tylenol when I had surgery. But that doesn’t mean its a bad thing to take them. Opioid addiction is generally only a concern after several weeks of constant use, and if you immediately hated them then you’re even less likely to get addicted.
You are going to be okay no matter what you decide. No one will judge you or think less of you no matter what you do.
They don’t care if you bring them back. They put them in a disposal system and won’t document who you are.
The only time prescription monitoring comes into play is if you’re filling more than a normal amount. Some states have limits on pain pills or morphine equivalents. Unless you’re popping 10 a day and begging docs for refills, nobody gives a shit.
Are you afraid of becoming addicted? Or just that they won’t give you pills when you need them?
Are you afraid of becoming addicted? Or just that they won’t give you pills when you need them?
Kinda both, although more so the latter, tbh.
You could definitely bring them back to a pharmacy. But It might be better to give them to a trusted loved one who will give them to you when they know you need them. Although if you have a doc that wrote the script for you, they’d almost certainly do it again next time, assuming you go through a similar surgery.
There’s a lot of talk about pain meds, but tbh docs are still willing to give them out. Docs are trained in red flags but anyone looking at your record would see someone who legit needs it.
A lot of people here saying you’re over thinking things, but as a chronic pain patient, I know exactly how suspicious and damn right shitty some healthcare professionals can be, and how horrible, and guilty, they can make you feel for something completely innocent because they’ve been drilled about “pill seekers” or whatever (but were never drilled anywhere near as hard about prescribing responsibly, only profitably) and don’t care enough to actually look at why you’re taking them.
I do agree with most of the comments that being flagged by anyone is probably not something that should be concerning you at all, you are prescribed the meds by a doctor, and especially after a procedure that has painful recovery, no one will think twice about it.
But it is so fucking important for people to see the kind of impact that clamping down on patients (the stress, panic, anxiety, fear, guilt despite having done nothing wrong, and so on) instead of the doctors doing the irresponsible prescribing.
I hope you manage to calm your concerns, and feel better soon.
I’m not going to say what kind of surgery that was and please don’t ask.
Ah, so it was butt surgery. Got it.
Lol.
You’re over analyzing it. These medications are prescribed all the time, especially for surgeries. They’re only concerned if you start filling multiple prescriptions for the same narcotics at different pharmacies. They aren’t going to care if you return the pills back. It’s just going to go into a pile with expired medications to get destroyed. I doubt they would make any record of it. You don’t have to take any painkillers if you don’t feel they are warranted. I didn’t take mine when I had my surgery. Once you have completed recovery, if you want to get rid of the medications, any pharmacy will carry the materials you need to destroy the medication safely. I don’t remember what it’s called offhand, but you can go to any pharmacy and ask for some packets of the stuff that destroys medications, and they’ll just give them to you.
Bro, “the system” doesn’t even catch people who are abusing their prescriptions, they’re not going to “get” you for ten hydrocodones.
What the fuck? Nobody is going to give a damn lol. Stop reading shit on the Internet.
Like everyone else here…your over thinking it.
That med is barely anything to worry about. Your doctor prescribed it, take it.
Trust me, you’ll know when you’re on the serious stuff when you have to get a new script every month that makes you go to the doctor just for a refill.
I’ve a new medication that I can only get from the hospital. They have to send it out and give me a months supply. I can’t get this one from the Dr. It’s a biologic and used for ulcerative colitis so it’s not an addiction reason.
It’s 5/325, the Tylenol is in there mostly to “prevent abuse”. I say that in quotes because you can separate the two by powdering the pill and putting it in cold water overnight. The Tylenol won’t mix with the water. It’s a pointless addition to the pill.
As for your concern though, they gave you ten. You’re way over thinking it. If you don’t want any remainder when you’re done most pharmacies have a drop for old meds or will otherwise take them but they don’t care who you are and won’t keep track.
I’ve only taken a three pills so far, out of ten total. If I take the other seven back to the pharmacy to have them destroyed, they’ll make a record of that, I would imagine.
probably not, actually. you got the pills legally. You’re not trying to get more. nobody is going to look at you like you’re a chronic user.
that last paragraph, though, is an excellent reason to return it anyhow. Especially if the pain is manageable without. I would suggest talking with your doctor/pharmacist about it. they can give you better guidance.
I don’t think there’s anything you can do about it. Taking them back is not likely to make it to the database. The most important thing is to not need pain pills again soon - try to push off any further. Surgery.
My ex got hit with that - came back from surgery and was red flagged so couldn’t get pain pills for recovery. My best guess is it was because she had two unrelated surgeries from two different specialists. It’s possible one ten pill prescription overlapped the second, I don’t remember. As a teacher she had the summer off so wanted to get them out of the way and have the rest of the summer to recover or enjoy. Don’t do that
Okay, yeah. That’s exactly what I was afraid of, and thanks for telling me. It’s as literally dystopian as I was had assumed. Great.
So someone I was caring for recently was on the same meds. And they didn’t like the feeling and were paranoid they would be addicted. After 3 refills they are not addicted and are fine. They no longer need or desire them. However they sounded just like you, freaking out and over analyzing things. Don’t post on the internet when you are under the influence of these. Also, do not make any “life decisions”. Take as needed for pain, allow your system to heal. And write yourself a post-it note that says, “Are you high right now?” And maybe a little Stop sign to remind you to just chill while on these. Everything will be ok.
