do you share information regarding drug use with medical staff?

[chairmenmeow47]

i know you are SUPPOSED to be able to talk to doctors about whatever you want. personal. hippopotomus oaths. i get it.

BUT

do you share your current drug use with a doctor? your history? only alcohol?

this thread is NOT about cigarettes.

[chairmenmeow47]

i only share alcohol beacuse it is legal.

i'm terrified that one day we will treat drugs and alcohol, and perhaps other "vices" or risky activities, the way we treat cigarettes when pricing insurance. so i lie. i guess that it's horrible for a doctor to not have an honest perspective of my medical health; however i do not want the conversation to default to drug use or to be denied pain relieving substances because of it. that's just me. i wonder how others are.

poll results are private.

[HotHamWater]

I haven't used any sort of drug in almost 3 years, but I shared everything when I did. I always wanted to get the most accurate assessment possible.

[Somewhat Damaged]

I only share if it's potentially pertinent to what I'm being seen for: when I had a seizure 4 years ago & went to see a neurologist to determine what was up, I wasn't immediately forthcoming with my cocaine and Ecstasy use but mentioned them when the MRI didn't provide any insight to what was the matter & I was pointedly asked about my drug use. Never really had occasion to visit the doctor when I was actively using either, although I was honest with my psychologist about what I was getting myself into at the time.

[amma_sol]

I have epilepsy so I see a Neurologist. I tell him everything about my drug use but not my primary care doctor. I've been pretty honest with him and he has been really cool about it. I've been pretty safe about my use and he also understands that telling me not to do it is not going to stop me. He told me the steps I was taking were good and I should continue being as safe as I can (when it comes to illegal drugs...).

[Robin]

I only share if it's potentially pertinent to what I'm being seen for.

This.

I haven't used any sort of drug in almost 3 years, but I shared everything when I did. I always wanted to get the most accurate assessment possible.

And this.

Your paranoia should not get in the way of your health. Having a lot of friends in the emergency medical field, I hear horror stories of patients that would lie about their drug use. A close friend of mine actually had a pt die on him. The patient lied about which substances were taken. My friend administered a drug that was standard for the complaint, but it reacted with a drug in the pt's system and sent the pt into cardiac arrest.

[guedita]

I only discuss alcohol and I lie through my teeth about how much of it I drink.

I also don't regularly see physicians, though. I'm operating under the assumption that I already have late stage liver cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, and a serious heart condition so that whenever something does get diagnosed I'll be prepared.

[locachica73]

I use to lie until I had the vomitting problems, then I just wanted an answer so I was a lot more honest. I am probably not as honest as I should be regarding how often I smoke/drink but I at least discuss it as a social activity.

[chairmenmeow47]

i agree on if it could be related to the condition. also i don't regularly "use drugs", other than smoking pot or taking something prescribed to me. like cara, i lie about how much i drink, well, how much i used to drink. explaining to someone my drug history would be a distracting conversation.

[Somewhat Damaged]

I've found myself getting wistful and going on tangents about what exactly I did on certain drugs, things the doctors had no interest in hearing. They're apparently not as intrigued by my exploits as I am.

[NachoCat]

This is an interesting poll. I have thought about this before. I usually do the "I drink occasionally" lie. I dont want them to think of me any differently and maybe give me less pain meds than they would have if I told the the truth.

[chairmenmeow47]

EXACTLY

i am the ONLY person my doctor prescribes a certain kind of pain med to.

[algunz]

I lie about all of my usage. If they choose to prescribe something, I'll do my own research to see if it could have adverse effects.

[nyarlathotoats]

^ I feel the same. I know you shouldn't fuck with your health, but at the same time, I don't want to be treated like a druggie. It's funny though, when I had an accident where I needed e.r. surgery on my hand on a few years back, and the doctor asked if i did anything other than drink alcohol, I clammed up. A few minutes later, he comes back and say, "Okay, you lied. We found cocaine & marijuana in your system as well."

The jig was up.

[Courtney]

I have almost never had doctors ask me about hard drug use. Usually they just ask if I smoke and drink. My use of drugs is very limited, so it makes it easier to tell the truth. But I also won't just tell them everything out of the blue, unless they ask, or I think it is potentially relevant to an issue and worth bringing up.

[HotHamWater]

The responses in this thread are kind of alarming. Why would you potentially compromise your health because you're worried about what the doctor might think of you?

[chairmenmeow47]

it's not JUST what they "think" of us, it's the power they have over the management of our care that is the alarming part.

[locachica73]

I have never had anyone deny me pain meds due to my admission that I occasionally smoke weed or drink socially. I am pretty sure I even told them I have occasionally done heavier drugs. The only time I have been denied paid meds was because they were worried the morphine was making me throw up more, but they took it away and I still threw up so they gave it back to shut me the fuck up.

[HotHamWater]

Yeah, well, they're doctors. If they don't think I should be taking something that I want to take because of a potential drug interaction, then so be it. I put more stock into what they think I should do, given all the facts, then what I want to do.

[Robin]

Maybe y'all should find a doctor that you trust if you're paranoid about your current one.

[HotHamWater]

Yeah, I agree with Robin. Maybe I'm confused about what seem to be adversarial relationships with your doctors. Whenever I would tell a doctor about my ecstasy, psychedelic, or marijuana use, they would just note it and move on. I never got a lecture, and was never worried about them calling the cops. I just took it the same as if the doctor would ask me about my diet or if I smoke cigarettes.

[guedita]

The difference could be that you might have an actual relationship with your doctor. I just always end up going to Urgent Care after avoiding seeking medical treatment for as long as humanly possible.

[HotHamWater]

And you think an urgent care doctor is going to do what, exactly? They hear about drug use all the time, you think they're going to choose you to screw over for some reason? Or you think they'll deny you some pain killer that you want? I trust them to make that decision before I trust myself.

[locachica73]

I find urgent care docs are even more relaxed with their prescription pad then any other doctors, I got 3 refills on my last round of muscle relaxers. Unless you are going in regularly asking for perc 30's I don't think they even give a shit anymore.

[guedita]

And you think an urgent care doctor is going to do what, exactly? They hear about drug use all the time, you think they're going to choose you to screw over for some reason? Or you think they'll deny you some pain killer that you want? I trust them to make that decision before I trust myself.

I JUST WANT TO BE LOVED AND RESPECTED BY STRANGERS.

Loca, please PM me the address and names of the Urgent Care doctors that have hooked you up so graciously, thx.

[faxman75]

I don't think these people are concerned about a lecture or doctors calling the cops. I think paying for treatment or managing the care in a different way is their concern. They think sharing their illegal drug use will become a distraction to the treatement they are seeking.

I'm with the folks who say it depends on what they are seeing the doctor for. If I'm there for pain i'm not telling them I smoke weed because it doesn't really matter that I smoke weed and telling them I do any drugs raises the "addict" flag and they will be less likely to prescribe you much of anything. I had a super paranoid doctor a few years ago who flat out told me he was giving me a one time only prescription for vicodin for my neck pain. This despite the fact that I had never been a pill popper, never regularly went to the doctor for any reason unless i was really in pain. This was the first and only prescription he ever wrote me. When I ran out, I was still in pain and it sucked. I considered another doctor but what a hassle, more missed work, more appointments etc. The pain went away 4-5 days after that and I haven't had to see a doctor again until a few weeks ago when I pulled a back muscle. The doctor gave me 800mg of ibuprofin and some muscle relaxers. They worked just fine and fortunately I had some left over because I have had tooth pain after some dental work and the dentist didn't prescribe me anything so the extras were handy. I wish these doctors weren't so tight with the prescriptions.

[chairmenmeow47]

i do fully admit that my fear that one day anything in writing will count against you for insurance purposes or something is insane.

but,

this has nothing to do with drug interactions. i doubt there is anything i could take today that would be affected by the fact that i did pills at coachella last year. a nurse recently told me what i was doing good, at least from a hospital perspective, they treat you a lot differently if they think you're a drug addict. i also want access to a very strong narcotic for my legitimate pain and don't want to be denied because once or twice a year i do hallucinogens and sometimes i smoke pot.

i agree we should be able to have a close enough relationship with our doctors to talk about this stuff, but insurance companies get in the way of that.

[roberto73]

It's been years since my drug consumption was frequent enough to be a potential source of embarrassment, but I always told my doctors about it, even the sketchy ones at student health when I was in college. I figured they'd heard it all before. My general feeling now for those of you who worry about your doctor treating you like a drug addict is pretty simple: don't be a drug addict. Problem solved. But I'm old and square, so what do I know?

[HotHamWater]

Furthermore, I would be cautious about prescriptions for narcotics if I was a doctor. I don't want that kind of liability hanging over my head, unless I know about the patients habits and about what they put in their body.

But I'm also old and square, so what do I know?

[guedita]

Perhaps us young and hip patients should find young and hip doctors with loose ethical Rx standards.

Also - Ivy - I'm with you on being wary of things going on any sort of permanent record. Makes me think of Elaine in that Seinfeld episode.