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james_d_rustles t1_j1oylby wrote

Reply to comment by BrandynBlaze in Machine learning model reliably predicts risk of opioid use disorder for individual patients, that could aid in prevention by marketrent

Lot of people have this issue, most people just know that you can’t actually be honest with your doctor anymore. I have friends who told their doctor that they smoked some pot in highschool, and at 28 they still won’t prescribe them pain meds after various surgeries, won’t prescribe them ADHD meds even with a diagnosis dating back decades and long history of similar prescriptions, etc.

Straight up, do not be honest with your doctor unless you genuinely need help with something. Don’t tell them if you smoked weed a few times, or drank more than 5 alcoholic beverages at a party that one time. It’ll only make your life a nightmare years down the line when you need medicine and can’t get any.

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linksgreyhair t1_j1p87iv wrote

Except: do be honest with your anesthesiologist because not disclosing drug use can cause horrible stuff, like you waking up during surgery.

This is probably obvious but I’m not talking about stuff like smoking weed a few times in college, but be honest about your amount of current drug and alcohol use and any history of very heavy use.

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james_d_rustles t1_j1pbd3m wrote

Of course. It’s really a shame that its set up like this, because you’re right, there are times that your doctor truly needs to know. But it’s a shame that it’s up to the patient’s best judgement about what should be disclosed or not, instead of simply being able to tell your doctor the truth all the time without fearing negative future consequences.

We really need a complete overhaul of the way we view drug use and drug addiction, it seems like the standards that the medical industry follows were written by 1930s mennonites. Nobody should have to worry about their ability to receive necessary medications 10 years down the line because they smoked some weed in college, or drank too much a handful of times. Past moderate drug/alcohol use should not bar a person from various prescription medications.

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Mejai91 t1_j1qsjhf wrote

Friendly reminder that adderall and oxy are not necessary medications

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delirium_red t1_j1pn6ta wrote

Opioids are prescribed routinely after surgery in the US, much more than actual indications require. I don’t think it is in the case in other western countries, they usually ween you off in the hospital and you get something like diclofenac (voltaren) for at home (unless chronic condition / end of life of course). So maybe ones denied are the lucky ones

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