DOSE:

Hydrocodone

Vicodin was moved to schedule II at the expense of those like myself that take the medication legally for pain conditions. The worst part is, it was purely done for drug enforcement reasons, and not how it would impact health.

Sadly, I was not informed of the impending change by my doctor at the time, and learned the hard way when I went to refill my Vicodin that there were no longer refills at all due to the drug reclassification. I had to then revisit the doctor (my rheumatologist) an hour away to get a new prescription, only to find out from the pharmacies that not only was it not in stock, but no one had any idea when it would come in. The best they could do was suggest to check back when they got a new shipment in a couple days.

I wasn't alone. While I have a chronic pain condition, I met others at pharmacies asking the same question they had a few days before, like a man who had back surgery after a major car accident and was similarly suffering. All in all, I went weeks without this much-needed medicine and if you're not familiar with Vicodin withdrawal, it's not fun and feels similar to the flu but much worse with pain added in for someone like me. And since then, many, like myself, have to drive an hour or more to a specialist for medical conditions to get a prescription every 30 days or risk running out.

I'm annoyed at the FDA for not considering how making the medication harder to get would seriously impact the lives of those who actually need the medication to treat chronic pain.

Exp Year: 2014	ExpID: 107753
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jan 14, 2016	Views: 2,045
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Hydrocodone (111) : Medical Use (47), Not Applicable (38)