Neighborhood drug seeker

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theboo

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Boy you all are gonna hate me by the time I am done. I use to be a drug seeking scum you all have a bitter hatred for. I say use to be because I have almost 2 years clean and dont seek anymore. I am sure you all know what a seeker is right? A DS is a drug addicted male or female whose sole purpose in your Er is to score narcotic pain meds. Norco, percs, oxy, trams and so on. There are 2 different kinds, your basic DS who comes in in withdrawal sweating and sneezing and miserable. They dont care about no one else but themselves. They will say they have CP to try to get in first. Then there are professional seekers they dress nice. Those are the ones who divert. They are usually quite patient and wait their turn. I was the first on the list. My usual ploy was back pain or a migraine. DS will complain of things that can't be found on an x-ray or test. Abdominal pain, headaches, back pain and tooth aches. I have run into a few DS while I was seeking. Someone who had a splinter who wanted a perc. Someone who was going Er to Er for a tooth ache get busted. We are the losers who ruin it for those with real pain. Withdrawal pushes people into doing whatever they have too to get their doc. Its sad and I hated myself everytime I did it. Today my PCP asks me for the symptoms of withdrawal and the signs of an addict/seeker. I am open and honest about it. People in withdrawal will have flu symptoms without fever. Sweating, nausea, anxiety, the shakes, hot and cold flashes. The sweating is profuse, high BP, high heart rate. But those symptoms in and of themselves dont mean someone is an addict. I still feel quite guilty. I am no longer a seeker I am clean.

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Why would I hate you for this post? It shows insight - which is lacking from many. Congratulations on being clean now. No matter how long, just take it day by day. You know the motto of the US Navy SEALs, right? "The only easy day was yesterday."

Yes, though, to your question - any EM trained doc will know which is the pt presentation consistent with "seeking"; however, we also know that some are subtle. What it is in which we are trained best, though, is pattern recognition. That's why that is how I describe the best seekers to my staff - these are great actors. They look just like pts with legitimate pathology.
 
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Boy you all are gonna hate me by the time I am done. I use to be a drug seeking scum you all have a bitter hatred for. I say use to be because I have almost 2 years clean and dont seek anymore. I am sure you all know what a seeker is right? A DS is a drug addicted male or female whose sole purpose in your Er is to score narcotic pain meds. Norco, percs, oxy, trams and so on. There are 2 different kinds, your basic DS who comes in in withdrawal sweating and sneezing and miserable. They dont care about no one else but themselves. They will say they have CP to try to get in first. Then there are professional seekers they dress nice. Those are the ones who divert. They are usually quite patient and wait their turn. I was the first on the list. My usual ploy was back pain or a migraine. DS will complain of things that can't be found on an x-ray or test. Abdominal pain, headaches, back pain and tooth aches. I have run into a few DS while I was seeking. Someone who had a splinter who wanted a perc. Someone who was going Er to Er for a tooth ache get busted. We are the losers who ruin it for those with real pain. Withdrawal pushes people into doing whatever they have too to get their doc. Its sad and I hated myself everytime I did it. Today my PCP asks me for the symptoms of withdrawal and the signs of an addict/seeker. I am open and honest about it. People in withdrawal will have flu symptoms without fever. Sweating, nausea, anxiety, the shakes, hot and cold flashes. The sweating is profuse, high BP, high heart rate. But those symptoms in and of themselves dont mean someone is an addict. I still feel quite guilty. I am no longer a seeker I am clean.

Congratulations on kicking that habit. I know from long experience of spending time with "drug seekers" that it is not easy, especially when people can't give you the help you need because it is hard to be 100% certain you have a drug problem and not a "zebra" illness that just hasn't been diagnosed yet.
 
Boy you all are gonna hate me by the time I am done. I use to be a drug seeking scum you all have a bitter hatred for. I say use to be because I have almost 2 years clean and dont seek anymore. I am sure you all know what a seeker is right? A DS is a drug addicted male or female whose sole purpose in your Er is to score narcotic pain meds. Norco, percs, oxy, trams and so on. There are 2 different kinds, your basic DS who comes in in withdrawal sweating and sneezing and miserable. They dont care about no one else but themselves. They will say they have CP to try to get in first. Then there are professional seekers they dress nice. Those are the ones who divert. They are usually quite patient and wait their turn. I was the first on the list. My usual ploy was back pain or a migraine. DS will complain of things that can't be found on an x-ray or test. Abdominal pain, headaches, back pain and tooth aches. I have run into a few DS while I was seeking. Someone who had a splinter who wanted a perc. Someone who was going Er to Er for a tooth ache get busted. We are the losers who ruin it for those with real pain. Withdrawal pushes people into doing whatever they have too to get their doc. Its sad and I hated myself everytime I did it. Today my PCP asks me for the symptoms of withdrawal and the signs of an addict/seeker. I am open and honest about it. People in withdrawal will have flu symptoms without fever. Sweating, nausea, anxiety, the shakes, hot and cold flashes. The sweating is profuse, high BP, high heart rate. But those symptoms in and of themselves dont mean someone is an addict. I still feel quite guilty. I am no longer a seeker I am clean.

Congrats on 2 years clean, well done! It's my 14th year coming up this December. :) I hear you on the guilt factor. I never tried to scam drugs from an ER, but before I became a dependent heroin and benzo addict I used to be a professional seeker. There was a group of us who would meet up then hit up several surgeries across the course of the day, get the scripts filled at different chemists, keep some back for ourselves, have the rest on hand to sell so we could put more money towards buying illicit drugs. I'm certainly not trying to brag when I say I was damn good at what I did, it's one of the reasons I won't attend a medical centre/practice these days unless they have a very strict policy on benzos in place, I want that part of my life as far away from me as possible now (too much shame and guilt over how much I disrespected the medical profession back then). I've also refrained from sharing any info on the open forums here regarding exactly how I used to operate when I was drug seeking, because I don't want to inadvertently give ideas to any seekers who might be lurking on here; however, I have been open with my GP in sharing exactly what techniques we employed to get scripts so he knows what to be on the look out for with other patients (although the surgery where I see him has a really hardcore strict policy on when and to exactly who they will prescribe benzos to, which is one of the reasons I like going there). Anyway, I'm starting to ramble, just wanted to let you know you weren't alone in this, or in struggling with guilt.
 
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