Chris Hegge has been taking opioids almost 20 years for relief from seven back surgeries, including a spinal fusion.
The drugs have helped him walk his dog, practice tai chi and lead a relatively pain-free life, said Hegge, 57.
But now the doctor he has relied on for relief is in trouble. His medical license was suspended in December for what state officials called "unprofessional" prescribing practices.
Hegge scrambled to find a new doctor before his pills ran out and pain and withdrawal kicked in. His current doctor wants to cut his dose by 10 percent a month.
Hegge says he's being punished for others' misdeeds. "Why do innocent patients have to suffer because of doctors being investigated? Instead of fighting chronic pain," Hegge said, "I'm fighting the system."
After years of surging opioid prescriptions, leading to addiction and deaths, the pendulum swung back hard against abuse, culminating in the July shutdown of the Seattle Pain Centers (SPC), a chain of eight Washington clinics. That state action, amid allegations of improper oversight that may have contributed to patient deaths, sent 8,000 patients looking for new providers.
Pain-treatment experts express sympathy for "legacy" patients like Hegge, who were prescribed high doses of opioids before a new approach took hold with new state rules in 2012.
"They have reason to be upset because frankly they were caught up in a medical experiment that high-dose opiates were the way to go," said Dr. David Tauben, chief of pain medicine at the University of Washington.
"It could take years to get these folks' (doses) down because their bodies have been so transformed by exposures that create changes in the brain, spinal cord and elsewhere."
Their problems are compounded by doctors who now fear sanctions for prescribing high doses _ fears that may come from misunderstanding the state's rules. Doctors don't have to slash dosing for legacy patients, according to Tauben and others. It says so in state and federal guidelines.
That's not much relief for Hegge.
"It's like a primitive voice in my head keeps repeating, 'have pain, stop the pain,' " he said, about a visit last month to an emergency room to seek help for pain, anxiety and symptoms of withdrawal.
