Why Your Doctor Won’t Prescribe Pain Meds | Edina Physical Therapy (2024)

FAQs

Why Your Doctor Won’t Prescribe Pain Meds | Edina Physical Therapy? ›

Most times when your physician won't prescribe you opioid pain medications, it's because they are don't want you to form an addiction. Opioid painkillers are incredibly effective, but also incredibly addictive and habit-forming.

Speak directly with your doctor about why they've prescribed you certain medications and why they won't prescribe you others. Some additional reasons why your doctor might not prescribe pain medications include: Drug-seeking or disruptive behaviors from patients. Personal beliefs and values.

Where does it hurt? Be specific. Let the doctor know it's not just your “back” when it's your “lower back and sometimes down your legs.” If your pain moves around, tell your doctor all areas that can be painful and the areas that hurt most often.

Some patients refuse pain medication because they worry about addiction, tolerance, and adverse effects.

If you feel your primary care doctor doesn't take your symptoms seriously, ask for a referral to a specialist or go to a different practice for a second opinion. A fresh set of eyes can be extremely helpful. Review how to present your symptoms factually, clearly, quickly, and without unnecessary minutiae.

Prior to asking for an increase in pain medication, consider other possibilities for pain management, such as non-opioids medicine, medication changes, physical therapy, etc. However, if these treatments have been unhelpful in the past, explain why. This can show the provider that other options have been explored.

Because of the complex relationship between the brain, the nervous system and the body's hormones, chronic pain requires a multidisciplinary treatment approach. It's not like having infection, where you take antibiotics and it's gone. Chronic pain is complex and there isn't one treatment or one pill that will cure it.

Vivien Williams: Morphine, oxycodone and hydrocodone are commonly prescribed opioids. Dr.

How do you tell your doctor you don't want medication? ›

If you trust your doctor you take there answer seriously. Then you way pros and cons. You tell him or her the way you told us, i.e. “I don't want to be on ______ any more.” He or she will ask why so have your thoughts together on why you no longer want to take it. But it is your right to refuse any medication.

Patient abandonment is a type of medical malpractice. It comes into play when a physician prematurely abandons a doctor-patient relationship with no notice and/or without a reasonable excuse. There's a fine line, and understanding what constitutes this potentially-devastating act of abandonment is important.

Benefits and risks.

Long-term use of opioids may lead to dependence on the medications and, eventually, addiction. The longer you use opioids, the greater the risk of becoming addicted. But even using opioids to manage pain for more than a few days increases your risk.

You should take your pain medication regularly, just as prescribed. Sometimes this means taking medicine on a regular schedule, even when you don't feel pain.