Please help: doctor/patient confidentiality (US)

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking this subreddit for a loooooooong time, but this is my first time posting. I'm wondering if anyone might be able to help me out with a little problem I'm having.

For a little while now I've been getting medications that I used to be legitimately prescribed by a physician from darknet markets. I started doing this because, for reasons I won't disclose, I stopped seeing that physician and because I could get what I needed from the darknet I haven't been in a hurry to find another doctor.

However, now it looks like I might finally need to seek out another doctor for my medication needs and he/she is gonna wonder how I've been getting by without having my meds. So what I really want to ask is this: Would it be safe to tell my doc that I've been getting my meds that I used to be prescribed from the darknet? How far does doctor/patient confidentiality extend in the US? I know if I seriously harmed or murdered someone he/she would probably have to go tell the cops, but I haven't hurt or killed anybody. All I've done is gotten the meds I needed to function.

I'm really stressing over this because due to circumstances I won't disclose I'm not sure if I can continue to get my meds through the darknet, and I don't want my doc to refuse to give them to me because he/she thinks I'm an addict, or worse, go run and tell the cops and get me into legal trouble.

Somebody please help me out here. I'm really in a bind because I NEED to have these meds in order to function.


Comments


[14 Points] None:

Do not tell your Dr you are gettin meds off the darknet...say you have been without for periods of time..and hit friends who take the same meds up for a few tablets here and there


[11 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] sdfhgdhjbdafcadv:

It sounds like you are talking about benzos (because every other prescription drug is so much more expensive on the DNMs that you'd have been in a very hig hurry to find another doctor).

If this is the case, I'd try to come up with a story about your symptoms going into remission but lately coming back with a vengeance.

Another option, again assuming you're talking about benzos, might be to say you were using a legal RC benzo like etizolam.

These are just ideas off the top of my head, please don't take them seriously without doing your own research. Maybe find a sub with a community of users of the drugs in question and/or sufferers of your condition and ask for advice there. This is not an area I'd expect most users of this sub to know much about.


[2 Points] Thriz_whistle:

First of all, doctors can go to the authorities if you plan on hurting someone or if you plan on hurting yourself. That is all. I'm honestly not sure if they can even go to the cops if you admit to a past murder, but I don't recommend trying that.

They certainly can't get you in trouble for using drugs.

But why bother to disclose the darknet activity? Just say you wanted to try not taking the drug and it didn't work out well.

Edit: They can put notes in your file that make it less likely you will get what you want in the future. And they just might throw a note in if you start talking about weird shit like darknet.


[2 Points] Clix828:

[deleted]

What is this?


[2 Points] throwaway9248621:

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I'm not on any opiates. I actually take more than one controlled medication - one of which is a benzo-like substance to help me with chronic insomnia. Actually, what I was prescribed is almost impossible to find anywhere on the darknet, so I've had to find substitutes. I've even had to experiment with some benzos to get the desired effect - not because I wanted to, but because I had to in order to get some sleep. So yeah, I've used some benzos, but I've tried to stick with Ambien mostly as it's the closest thing I can find on the darknet to what I was prescribed.

If I can't get what I need from the darknet, then the doc's gotta put me back on what I was on or give me something equivalent if he cares anything at all about his Hippocratic Oath, because without it, it's basically bye bye sleep for God knows how long - possibly weeks.

I agree that telling the doc about buying from the darknet is probably a bad idea... Withdrawal's starting to kick in and I'm not thinking so clearly right now (God this sucks!). I'll probably just spin some yarn about managing to limp along with etizolam and other legal substances and tell him he's gotta give me what I need (and yes, I do need it) or I'm gonna walk out that door and find someone who will.


[1 Points] None:

I am always shocked by the paranoia that many of the people on this forum display. The doctor doesn't give a fuck about you. Just tell him you weren't taking the medication, okay? What are you stressing about?


[1 Points] None:

you say, "I'm not doctor and that's the problem". If she "asks how you've been getting by". Don't tell him/her anything else. You have pain/stress/depression/anxiety or whatever it is they are prescribing you medicine for. They are aware of your situation. All you say is I stopped taking it, and now I need to start taking it again. Don't make a big deal of it. I get xanax and valium prescribed, in small doses, because of horrible panic attaxks and vertigo attacks. We don't talk about it except, hey, i need more. I don't abuse it and I only take when absolutely necessary. You are an adult. they aren't your "boss". edit: don't psyche yourself out, and don't wait until you are crawling on the floor into your doc's office. Go in Monday.


[1 Points] None:

From what you said it sounds like you need ambien. I would tell your doc that you've tried every OTC on the shelf, and you still can't sleep. Tell him/her that you haven't slept in weeks and you cannot function without your sleep med. In my experience most docs are very compassionate when it comes to insomnia.


[1 Points] booobafeet:

"I've been buying them off a friend that won't take them anymore."

Done.


[0 Points] None:

I wouldn't tell them that I would just say I've been getting them off the street if you tell them that they may call the cops and tell them to investigate


[0 Points] anonjackstalling:

Tell them you have been buying from the local police, then who would the Dr really rat on?