How do I get prescribed an opioid for pain relief in Tokyo?

My lower back hurts so bad I can barely walk. I went to a 整形外科 and took Tylenol but it’s barely gotten better. Can anyone recommend a place preferably near shinjuku? Thx

5 comments
  1. They are stingy about opioid prescriptions and you may struggle to get them anywhere as a “new” patient, so I would try going back to the orthopedist and asking.

    I’m still hoarding トアラセット I got prescribed 4-5 years ago, FWIW.

  2. You’re not going to get opioids right off the bat anywhere. You take what they give you and go back saying it doesn’t work and see if they slowly step things up.

  3. Check how much acetaminophen (paracetamol) they prescribed you, the dosages here are homeopathic (fractions of what you would normally take elsewhere in the world), so you might need to take more to start with.

    For what it’s worth, opioids aren’t great for back pain and teaming acetaminophen + a NSAID (ibuprofen, ketofen, etc) and taking them regularly for a few days is the best thing to start with.

  4. I don’t know if it works different where you’re from, but here you should go to a doctor first and figure out how to treat the causes of your back pain first. what’s the point of taking strong and addictive pain killers if the cause of your pain remains and will just come back once the medication wears off? that’s how you develop an opioid addiction.

  5. I went to so many places, in so much pain and feeling so dizzy that I could hardly walk (my pain is in my upper back/neck), and I was never given any medication. I had to push for any type of pain relief, and even then all I got given was pain patches. They’re stingy indeed.

    If you weren’t given anything, go back and tell them you want pain medication (and potentially rehab) because it’s so bad that you can barely walk, and OTC medicine does jack. You kind of have to push it. Even then, don’t expect to get opioids.

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