Badassadam1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We get treated like pill popping druggies. So it > puts us in a rough spot always.
I personally wish that painkillers could be purchased over-the-counter by adults who passed exams certifying that they understood the risks. It would remove a lot of burden from healthcare professionals, and anyone in genuine need of the stuff would have access. That being said, healthcare professionals would do well to come across as being less judgmental even while assessing need for painkillers. I don't see it as a moral issue, and certainly not an issue that, even under the worst-case scenario, harms anyone other than the person requesting help. I wish you lived here.
I have signed an opiate agreement and they take it super serious and they will barely give me anything for pain so i add tylenol and aleve but not even that is good enough. I have to notify them before each surgery i do. I am too afraid to tell them i am not getting enough relief so i feel for others in the same situation as me which is a lot of people i am sure. My acupuncturist is out of town and he was kind of my weekly savior so i am really feeling it now that he is not here. Neck surgery is set for the 22nd of january but it is taking an eternity to get here. I wish i had a friend that was a spine surgeon because i know i would not have had to wait this long.
Badassadam1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am too afraid to > tell them i am not getting enough relief so i feel > for others in the same situation as me which is a > lot of people i am sure.
they shouldn't have a problem with you telling them you're not getting enough relief from what they've prescribed for you. They may not agree to give you more, but merely hearing that what they give you is, in your perception, insufficient isn't something that is actionable on their part. if anything, they should be, at the very least, apologetic.
She knows - because I have shown her - the records I keep, of daily blood pressure levels (because I have to make adjustments to medication based on fluctuation). I keep records of painkiller use in the same notebook: which body part hurts, which medication I take, how much of it, and when.
My old spinal injuries have been well-documented over the years, and they are the primary suspect in the pain issues that I have now. I have been going to the same clinic for years, so they have about two decades' worth of my history.
It makes all the difference when you have a provider who trusts you, and knows that you aren't "pill-shopping."
catnip Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > She knows - because I have shown her - the records > I keep, of daily blood pressure levels (because I > have to make adjustments to medication based on > fluctuation). I keep records of painkiller use in > the same notebook: which body part hurts, which > medication I take, how much of it, and when. > > My old spinal injuries have been well-documented > over the years, and they are the primary suspect > in the pain issues that I have now. I have been > going to the same clinic for years, so they have > about two decades' worth of my history. > > It makes all the difference when you have a > provider who trusts you, and knows that you aren't > "pill-shopping."
A whole lot of factors are at work in a doctor's decision to prescribe painkillers or not to, or to do so in a cautious and very limited manner. Some regions are scrutinized more than others. Sometimes particular hospitals with which doctors are affiliated have fallen under scrutiny impacting every doctor who practices there, sometimes in other aspects of their practices. Sometimes a practitioner is limited based on something another doctor in his or her practice is doing or has done.
Because some patients are irresponsible with opiates, Adam's doctor has to be cautious. Sometimes a doctor's hands are tied even when he or she knows a patient isn't pill-shopping. Just because Adam is having trouble getting what he feels he needs doesn't automatically place him in a category with inappropriately-opiate-seeking patients.
It's nice that catnip's pain management needs are being met by his or her primary care physician. I'm not sure if the point was that Adam should strive for that kind of relationship with a physician when he is catnip's age , or of the importance of keeping written records (at his age it isn't realistic to expect twenty years' worth of records), or whatever else it might have been. There are people in the real world who seek pain medications beyond what is medically optimal, and it's very nice that catnip's physician does not believe that he or she is one of such people. Maybe Adam got what he should have gotten from the message, but to me it almost sounded like "Neener, neener, neener."
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2017 06:25AM by scmd.
I know what it is like, to have inadequate pain relief. No need to go into gory history here.
I meant exactly what I said: I feel fortunate to have access to reliable pain management. My life would not be worth living - literally, no melodrama intended - without it.
Medical providers who lack the compassion and/or professional insight to distinguish genuine chronic pain from pill-popping rush seekers might need to reconsider their choice of specialty.
I have been writing everything that i take for a little while now so i do not forget or take too much i even keep track of tylenol and aleve. Can't really get the edge off unless i do acupuncture in the week.
Maybe it's my age, or the seriousness of my illness and medical conditions (well documented) I have no problem getting some pain medicine from my doctors.
I highly recommend keeping a daily meds chart for yourself. It's very easy to forget times and meds.
My wife, now retired, was a receptionist in a clinic that had four doctors. A couple of the doctors specialized with the elderly and one of the biggest problems was patients ODing on pain medication.
Patients would go to several doctors with the same complaint, get their prescriptions filled at different pharmacies and could take drugs as they saw fit.
Changes introduced by ACA forced electronic records that allow doctors and pharmacies to see those records no matter the source. It's a big step in stopping this drug abuse.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2018 01:43AM by tumwater.