I can not believe my doctor!!!! What do you guys think?

[kimmie305]

I was diagnosed about a year and a half ago with Fibromyalgia; I also have DDD and scoliosis.  I am a 29 year old female and the winter is really really hard on me.  My arms hurt, my legs, my neck, back, and hands hurt; my skin burns and I get really bad migraines.  I was going to a pain managment doctor and he was extremely rude to me.  I would end up crying after every visit; he basically accused me of lying to him.  Every doctor I have spoke to in fact has told me that I am too young to have this many problems.  One of my really good friends works for the doctor I am currently seeing.  He was really great and understanding.... At first.  He told me that he could help me and that Eventually this would all "go away."  My son recently got a rash on his stomache and arms, so I called his doctor and scheduled an appointment.  I was scheduled to see my doctor on the 23rd of this month; however, he prescribed my meds on the 19th... well anyone that has medication of any kind knows that the next month my meds would be available on the 18th and then the next month on the 17th because 30 days is always one day shy of the first RX accept in months of 29 days.  My sons appointment was today so I asked if I could get into my doc today.  The nurse asked me what I was there for and I told her I had to get my refills because I didn't have anymore so that is what she wrote on my chart.  My doctor came in very aggrivated and told me that he could not "take part in this" and that I am ADDICTED to my medication.  He then told me that because I am not making an effort to go walking outside *BECAUSE THE COLD HURTS ME SEVERLY*  that I am not even making an effort to get better.  He then asked me how many pills I take a day.  I am prescribed to take 4 lortab a day and lately I have had to take  4 a day and I am not sleepin well at all.  The cold makes my whole body ache terribly.  He told me that I had to be taking more than that because I was out of pills.  I looked at him seriously confused and said NO SIR I am not out of pills I asked to see you today because My sons doctor is RIGHT UP THE STREET FROM YOU. AND I hate to drive my son in this type of weather.  It is horribly cold, snowing, and icy.  Needless to say he had me so upset I began to cry.  He then told me that He would switch me to a pain clinic and offered me THE PAIN DOCTOR I HAD JUST LEFT and another one.   ????????????????????????
I just do  not understand SERIOUSLY.  I am beginning to seriously believe that there are NO good doctors out there.  How can a doctor sit there and tell you that you don't hurt like you say you do and ACCUSE you of being addicted???!!!!???!!! WTF???  excuse my language but i am seriously soooo tired of this bulll crap.  Because they go to school for a lot of years they have the right to sit there and demean me and my feelings and my pain?????  I am seriously starting to become depressed... I am at the end of my rope.  I do not enjoy hurting, I do not enjoy taking these meds and I do not think this is funny or some game.... THIS IS MY LIFE.... If it wasn't for my son I would seriously give up and shoot myself... But I can't because he needs a mommy and he is my whole world... he is the reason I fight everyday to get up and keep going....
Do I sometimes take a extra pill a day? YEP I sure do if i am in serious pain I will take one... does this make me a addict?  am I a horrible person because I do not like to lay in agony?  I take hot baths, I use heating pads, I have a heated blanket for goodness sake... I have done everything and tried everything that they have EVER asked... and yet EVERY doctor ends up treating me the same way...
WHAT DO I DO???  What do you guys do?  Anyone who takes the time to read this THANK YOU... SINCERELY... I am just soo sick and tired of this... its not right... i shouldn't be sitting here crying right now wondering if I am losing my mind and crazy.... I do not imagine this pain it is real... and yet every doctor I go to seems to think I am a liar..... I just wanna give up

[Janwantstoknwo_now]

Your experience was much like mine.  Except my Dr understood Fibro and was willing to try to treat & encouraged me to exercise when I could. I finally realized I must exercise.  I started with a few minutes, every other day.  I slowly increased exercise & felt encouraged.  After 2 years of  slowly increasing exercise, I began to feel more alive.  I did finally regain my health and felt good for about 10 years.  Then I had Total Knee Replacement Surgery.  The pain from that was more than I had expected & I was stressed with the pain & trying to do the rehab exercises.  My P.Therapist recognized I had fibro.  I thought about it & realized I do.  Now I am in a bind, I have cutback on rehab exercises because of fibro.  Now my knee is not being rehab, &I I am back in the pain of Fibro, asking myself If I can possibly make that struggle again, and will it work a 2nd time.

[primo777]

Kimmie, hang on..your child needs you as much as the air she/he breathes! Never put thoughts into your head like that. Since my children are grown I struggle with that-and then they call and need me. We need to just keep on-keeping on.....when you think that have your child read a book to ya (if their old enough)....instant smiles, guaranteed! GOD Bless, lisa

[primo777]

A sleep study test will prove chronic pain. I have been dealing with this for over 15 years...about 10yrs. ago, I had a sleep study..because of insomnia that I KNEW was caused by pain. I never told this doctor I have severe pain because I didn't think he would believe me. He said to me do you know your in chronic pain and that's why you can't get into R.E.M. sleep. Wow...I thanked him and started smiling and then tears. Finally, someone really knows. It's because we look healthy for the most part. Pain management wanted me to go back to counseling...since I have PTSD. After being through years of counseling, therapy..I refused to go and keep digging up the past. Least to say I have not had any pain management for two years. I also have other issues due too tumor removed from my spine. People and doctors do not understand not a moment goes by without pain-day and night. I would request a sleep study...GOD Bless!

[Neanbean12]

Wow, this is so true! It's really disgusting to see how dr.'s mostly just judge chronic pain sufferers of any kind. They sit on their self built thrown and look down on us and accuse of of lying, being addicted, and tell us that nothing is wrong, that we are just crazy. I've been having such a tough time lately in and out of the emergency room and they just don't want to help anymore. They think I'm crazy and that I'm just trying to get pain pills. I think I can speak for most people in this type of position, but we would give ANYTHING to never have to take a pain pill or any pill again, at least I would. Thank you for sharing your testimony. I've felt so alone and depressed wondering what is wrong with me... it at least helps to know that I am not alone.
God Bless, I pray that touches us all and helps the doctors to see their wrong doings!

[Ingebose]

No you are not whining, you are not weak, you are not a nuisance to any
physician and if he/she does not know enough about this disease he/she should not be a physician.The last thing a Fibromyalgia patient needs is a
physician who does not understand or is unwilling to learn about this strange disease that is mostly to be found in female patients. Would there be more attention paid to it if males were in the majority? I wonder......
Seven years ago we moved to the Azores, Sao Miguel, for our retirement. At the time little did I expect to come down with a disease I had never even heard about. One day my husband and I were taking a walk on the promenade when I felt a sharp pain in my left foot and it began to swell.
By the time I got home the other leg was swollen as well and I began to
feel the very typical pain in my muscles and joints I had never experienced before. I consulted my female family physician who is wonderful and being
in Portugal I am lucky because you don't get shoved out the door within 5 minutes. No, she sat down with me and she asked me many questions, referred me to a physician whose specialty are lymph-nodes and after his
examination he told me that there was nothing he could do for me but not
to give up, he suspected that there was an underlying cause that was the
root of my pain. Back to my family physician she sent me for blood-tests
targeting arthosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, MS, Lupus and other causes to narrow down where the pain, the stiffness and the memory loss was
coming from. After I brought her all the results which excluded all other diseases she asked me to lie down and she pushed the typical trigger points all patients with Fibromyalgia share. I almost went through the roof with pain.So she asked me to sit down and explained in detail what to expect and how she could help me but also how I could help myself. I am an author and I would have to limit my time on the PC. She suggested 30 minutes off and 30 minutes on the PC. In total she wants me to rest at least 50% of the day and by resting she excludes reading or watching TV. The brain where this disease starts (and I believe it started actually sooner than that afternoon I could no longer walk, needs rest as well, so from the sofa of our Living Rooom I watch the wonderful clouds pass, the ocean and our balcony has been transformed into a sweet little garden arranged around the painting of a "heart-flower" done by a friend of ours who is a wonderful artist. Some medication was increased and some added, this physician is really a wonderfully compassionate woman who looked at me sadly and told me the truth, it would never get better, only worse and to live each day to the best of my ability. No walking longer than 20 minutes (I used to love to hike) no house-work (that suits me well, my husband has taken over a large amount of the cooking and we are able to afford a cleaning woman here who has become part of what I call my family. I can always depend on her as well as other friends who truly understand that I am not a whiner or like to complain, that I can't even sit long enough any more through a two hour concert and when we go for dinner my time is limited.My physician told me specifically that I had to sort through my friends slowly and see who was understanding of my plight and those who were not, because I would have to drop those from my friend list. By that time she could clearly see how I was loosing my balance, and that from now on my life would change entirely. More symptoms started to appear and she gave me a referral to the pain-management unit and Dr. Teresa Lima who was instrumental in setting-up this program in Portugal and all chronic diseases are treated for free (YES I WROTE FREE) Her technical staff is wonderfully kind and every month I have a date with the pain-management unit and Dr. Lima to pick-up my medication and check on me. One of the things which are so baffling about this disease is that it does not show on the outside. If you go on my website
www.ingeperreault.eu
that is exactly what I look like at age 66. Six years ago I was swimming with the dolphins still, now I can only venture into the ocean to ride the waves with a floating device, "my spaghetti" but it works. Of course the
resting and limited mobility as well as the medications caused a weight gain but I can live with that. What I find increasingly difficult is that in the midst of a conversation suddenly there is a blank and I forgot the word I
was going to say. I remember after a short time but I have to keep a note
book now for important dates and my memory which was so sharp now
leaves a lot to be desired. Just recently another symptom showed up. I perspire a lot and when I entered "excess perspiration in women over 65"
there it was - google told me that this as well was a symptom of Fibromyalgia. The Fibro-fog is annoying at best and without my good sense sense of humor I would be lost. Living and coping with this disease
is the most difficult thing I ever had to do. I have written two more books and am working on my sixth book plus I publish articles but I had to give-up pro-bono teaching of English conversation. I do count myself very fortunate because we live only minutes from the indoor swimming pool that
has the right temperature for my disease (and glorious views) and that there I also met my wonderful physical therapist who works on me twice a week. Sometimes in the water, sometimes on the massage table. Never
force yourself, the red line of overdoing and making your condition worse is very thin and you know immediately when you have overdone it. The pool
at 30 degrees Celsius is my salvation, I can do everything in the water that I can no longer do on terra firma. A set of exercises depending on how I feel that given day is being followed and some free-style slow swimming
is done just for experiencing the lightness of being. I am very fortunate to
have ended-up in a place like Sao Miguel where stress-levels are very low if at all, the quality of live is wonderful and the windows of our condo all
face the ocean. As far as diet goes I eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables
which are available all year due to three harvests per year and a sub-tropical climate good for me as well. The town of Furnas (45 minute drive) had active caldeiras and a huge thermal pool where the water is
loaded with minerals and you can swim year-round. Sometimes I don't
rest enough and then I pay the price the next day. Some friends had to be
cut yet others have taken their place and now I am going back to bed
because I am not having a good day today at all. Dr. P. told me the last time to swim as much as possible and become like a fish while another physician present and in training wondered if there was a way I could write
under water. I don't believe there is but I try to make the best of every day which is no easy feat. My heart goes out to the women and men who get
this disease early on in life, it is a difficult road but find out what agrees with you best and do try the hydro-gymnastic as well as physical therapy.
While our muscles are contracting it is up to us to stretch them again.
Dr. Teresa Lima, the pain-specialist has taken me to seminars on chronic illnesses putting my photo up on the screen and asking the audience if this woman was sick. "NO WAY" a chorus shouted. Then she asked me to
come to her and explain in my limited Portuguese how I cope. To think that
the little country of Portugal and the autonomous region of the Acores can
accept this disease and be very focussed on it while in the USA many
physicians simply dismiss it as imaginary is difficult for me to understand.
Hang in there all you co-suffering victims of Fibromyalgia - just think, they could find a cure if they tried.
  

[silverfox67]

Hello everyone.... I have had Fibromyalgia since I was a teenager.  My grandmother would massage my legs and arms with Witch Hazel and Volcanic oil.  Sometimes I would take an aspirin (1950's).

Well, I was finally diagnosed after trying to ride a stationary bike - I couldn't get out of bed the next day.  I was all bent over like a little old lady.  The doctors gave me some pain meds and sent me home.   From then on, I had trouble getting out of bed - I was in so much pain, I would pull myself to the edge of the bed and fall on my knees then slowly and painfully pull myself up.  

After so many years of trying so many things I found that Ibuprofen did nothing for me.  I quit taking Tylenol as my liver has been damaged - so I did some research and found ESSIAC.    It has helped me so much that when I saw my orthopedist (I have DDD), she couldn't believe I was walking!   I have since added other supplements that have helped me with the pain and stiffness, but Essiac is my most essential.

Most of the time I have what I call "normal" pain.  I am never completely pain free, but I'll settle for a 3 or 4.  Much better than a 10!  For really bad days I will take a Naproxen - but since I believe more in natural healing, I rarely take any anymore.  Some days I take Apis Malefica (made from bees and their venom).  It seems to help.

Winter is the worst... can't stand to be cold - so I use an electric blanket and if I have to go out, I wear boots and a hat for sure.  If your feet and head are warm you can tolerate the cold better.

I was very fortunate that my doctors are so understanding and supportive.  I don't take opiates or heavy duty drugs, so I guess that lets them off the hook.    They do prescribe Zoloft for me - I don't take it everyday - I meditate on the Bible and pray a lot.

I am so sorry that you have had such a bad experience with your doctors.  
That is so sad.  - I am very grateful that when I went before the judge for SSI, he was very understanding and granted me the help I needed.  I was very weak and in a lot of pain that day and could hardly stand.  

Get documentation from every doctor you have seen now.  It will be very important for the day you try to get SSI or Social Security.  Yes, even the "crappy" doctors.  This will show the judge that you have tried very hard to get the help you needed.

I hope that you will try some home remedies - Sepia, Apis, Essiac, Calcium and Magnesium, Potassium, D3, and Fish oil with Omega 3.
These are the ones I take and altho I am not pain free, I don't have the really bad flares any more.  

Stomach issues are the worst for me.  Had a CT scan last week and am waiting for the results.  BTW - I am now taking Dexilant (supposed to be better than Nexium) and it is helping a lot.