antidepressants

[BrownChoice]

I was never condoning the use of opioids either. Only stating what i know. If you take methadone and tell the DOT doctor, you WILL BE DQ'd. Look at the contract people. I know that methadone is used for pain as well as addiction. I agree they are very dangerous, if your not careful. Benzos are worse. There is a stereotype out there and, sometimes you cant fix chronic pain. My father in law suffers from it, and functions perfectly normal on his pain meds. You would never know unless he told you. Regardless, sorry if i was misunderstood. I hope people stop jumping to conclusions. I agree with the fact theyre not safe, but why in the world would the contract allow it if unsafe??
Look at "Article 35, Section 3.17 4b"
then read section 3.18.

i couldnt believe they allowed it either. Once i had read through the contract and got to that part i was floored. I guess times are changing.....

 

[gingerkat]

Well, I guess I understand it though. If you get hurt because of the job, you shouldn't be disallowed from working. Maybe some people can work on them, as most people probably can. I have a friend on the same med, and she gets a speedy on it instead of sleepy, so go figure. I don't know what the contract language looks like, but is Methadone specifically noted? If so, I wonder why? Since people could have paradoxical reactions, it would be stupid to list something that might be medically necessary and not affect someone. It almost seems as if you could challenge that, especially since the DOT doesn't list that as a banned substance. BTW, I took Methadone for pain and it was the most useless pain relief I ever had, so I took myself off of it.

I guess I'm confused about that stuff, since other things like Ritalin, which is a stimulant, but not an amphetamine is allowed. Who makes this **** up?

 

[BrownChoice]

Yes it does specify methadone as a disqualifier. The reason they dont allow it is because it is a full agonist and has a very long half life. It builds up in your system, especially if taken for pain 2-4 times a day. Others like vicodin percocet, or the twice a day meds, are partial agonists and dont build in the system. Making them the safer options. Ive researched all this because i was curious. The reason it is allowed is because people get tolerant over time and the meds stop affecting then. Unless doses are increased, rotated, etc. i know it is ultimately up to the doctor who prescribes it, if he says you can work/drive its okay. If theres restrictions, you gotta follow em. If not and something happens, you will be screwed by the blood test. You HAVE TO TELL your prescribing doctor what you do for work. If not and he has no idea, you are risking being in trouble. The doctor must know medical history and work duties to be ok, says the master contract. If you drive, you gotta tell him/her.
example: if your doctor gives you 2 medications and says take this one throughout day, yes you can work and drive. Then says heres a different one, maybe short acting, and tells you to take as needed, but not to take during work or if youll be driving, and to wait until your home for the day. So, that is what my doctor explained to me and is the reason they MIGHT give a long acting plus a shorter acting medication. Longer acting is the prefernce for doctors, as it doesnt give you peaks and valleys with plasma blood levels of the medicine. Making you feel hardly any side effects once your tolerant.
Regardless, there are reasons people need certain medications. If a guy with add or adhd needs adderal or ritalin, so be it, just be extra cautious. Or someone needed pain medicine, if it keeps them employed and off disability thats the idea. Once it starts affecting work or causing problems, thats when rehab is an option. Doesnt mean everyones safe driving around on adderal, but the responsible patients are.
my doctor spent a lot of time with me that day explaining things to me when i got my flu shot, haha!

the people who make these rules up are doctors that know what theyre talking about.
doesnt matter which medication it is, if used correctly and RESPONSIBLY, then theyre safe. Now its the over the counter medication you gotta be careful with, nyquil, diphenhydramine, robotussin, are some bad ones that will affect your day if you drive.

Be safe out there everyone!

 

[BrownChoice]

I was never incorrect about anything i said. The reason blood pressure meds are one of the worst is because it is difficult to treat a lot of patients, who are on them and keep the blood pressure stable. The dizziness/lightheaded and drowsiness are the effects these meds cause. When your blood pressure goes down, unless it goes down very slowly, you will feel dizzy.
these are the same effects other meds have as side affects, but with some meds you get tolerant to the effects.
ive never taken a blood pressure med but if anyone does or had to, i would go for the longest acting medication out there, and get stable on it.
in my opinion, the only medications that would bother me is the benzodiazepines. Even then though, your body will get tolerant eventually. I think most supervisors/managers should take these on the daily... Lol!!

 

[BrownChoice]

I don't believe it and think this doctor had it wrong. I can see if you take some very powerful medication that has the potential to abruptly lower your blood pressure. Not good to black out at the wheel. Having high blood pressure and doing nothing, now that's really taking a risk. If you're in so much pain that you need to continuously take opiates, first see a good doctor who can help fix what's causing that pain, and second, get into a good rehab program. If I need to take anything stronger than ibuprofin, something is very seriously wrong. Of course, I might take four ibuprofin tablets at once, which my doctor recommends for strong back pain.

if you get hurt out side of work, and after 2 or 3 months have passed, and you see 3 or 4 specialists and they cannot find a reason, what are you going to do? If on one hand you know you cannot work because you hurt all the time, ( since even a small amount of pain can become intolerable after having it on a chronic basis ), OR your doctors agree to put you on a pain medication trial and it turns out helping you very well for the pain and you feel you can return to work at 100% functionality, what will you choose? Remember, some might have families and obligations that rely on making a good living. These are situations that unfortunately happen all the time at ups. Of course physical therapy and less invasive techniques have been tried and failed. It is a tough decision but at the time when it comes down to it, if u was ever in that predicament i would do what i had to do, by doing anything i could to return to the job, safely.

have a very good weekend all!