Aa
Is this a joke?
I can't believe what just happened to me.
I am in shock.
Addiction and physical dependence are not the same thing. Now I understand what can happen when these 2 terms are confused .
THE END
I am in shock.
Addiction and physical dependence are not the same thing. Now I understand what can happen when these 2 terms are confused .
THE END
I am glad that you added to your post so it is more understandable.
As a former member of an ER team I can tell you that unfortunately your actions in all probability made you appear guilty of something. That ER physician would have been incompetent had he not tried to find the source of your low B/P and symptoms. One can not assume the obvious, indeed doing so can get you dead! His request to begin an IV which could deliver life saving medications in an medical emergency is a normal practice in the department. As your blood volume drops (with hypo-tension or other conditions) it can be near impossible to insert an IV into a compromised vessel and precious time is lost. In order to diagnosis the reason for your symptoms a blood draw would reveal many things including the level of fentanyl in your system. This would have allowed the physician to determine the best form of treatment for your symptoms. I'm sorry but unless I am missing something this ER physician was following protocol and acting responsibly. Again I may be missing something and not have all the facts. I'm not sure what you expected him to do. Just give you some pain meds and something for sleep? He would have been irresponsible and incompetent had he just handing handed you a prescription or two or even given you medications without first an examination. You are honest but you have no idea of the ppl that come to ER to just get narcotics. There is no easy way to determine who is honest and in need of pain releif and who is not unless you have numbers to back up your diagnosis.....or unless you are familiar with the patient. I assume the ER staff did not know you either.
A B/P has two numbers. The upper one is the systolic which reveals the pressure on your vessels as you heart muscle contracts and pumps blood through the circulatory system. The lower one, the diastolic reveals the pressure that is maintained in your vessels when you heart is at rest. Do you remember the entire number? for example 100/60 is an acceptable B/P, 60/50 is not.
I am happy to hear that some ppl can keep a prescription at their pharmacy as a back up. I have not heard of the practice. It would solve a lot of concerns.
I too am a chronic pain patient. I have been were you are though for different reasons. Even the ER I worked in will draw labs and do an examination when I present in an acute painful condition. They don't want to miss anything and I know their liability is great. Last time I went to ER to my surprise I had a huge kidney stone. I thought it was something else. So we never know and more importantly they don't know until their investigation is complete. So please don't be too hard on someone that was really trying to help you.
As far as your PMP not returning your numerous calls, in my opinion that is unacceptable. I understand that they are busy and I understand that they may get dozens of these calls a day. It may even take a day or two at the most to get back to you. Making decisions as to who gets a call back and who doesn't, again in my opinion is poor practice and risky to say the least. When you become so insensitive that you are able to ignore your patients pleas you should consider another career or at the least a change. Where is your compassion and understanding of pain management? I would change physicians. Again just my opinion.
As a former member of an ER team I can tell you that unfortunately your actions in all probability made you appear guilty of something. That ER physician would have been incompetent had he not tried to find the source of your low B/P and symptoms. One can not assume the obvious, indeed doing so can get you dead! His request to begin an IV which could deliver life saving medications in an medical emergency is a normal practice in the department. As your blood volume drops (with hypo-tension or other conditions) it can be near impossible to insert an IV into a compromised vessel and precious time is lost. In order to diagnosis the reason for your symptoms a blood draw would reveal many things including the level of fentanyl in your system. This would have allowed the physician to determine the best form of treatment for your symptoms. I'm sorry but unless I am missing something this ER physician was following protocol and acting responsibly. Again I may be missing something and not have all the facts. I'm not sure what you expected him to do. Just give you some pain meds and something for sleep? He would have been irresponsible and incompetent had he just handing handed you a prescription or two or even given you medications without first an examination. You are honest but you have no idea of the ppl that come to ER to just get narcotics. There is no easy way to determine who is honest and in need of pain releif and who is not unless you have numbers to back up your diagnosis.....or unless you are familiar with the patient. I assume the ER staff did not know you either.
A B/P has two numbers. The upper one is the systolic which reveals the pressure on your vessels as you heart muscle contracts and pumps blood through the circulatory system. The lower one, the diastolic reveals the pressure that is maintained in your vessels when you heart is at rest. Do you remember the entire number? for example 100/60 is an acceptable B/P, 60/50 is not.
I am happy to hear that some ppl can keep a prescription at their pharmacy as a back up. I have not heard of the practice. It would solve a lot of concerns.
I too am a chronic pain patient. I have been were you are though for different reasons. Even the ER I worked in will draw labs and do an examination when I present in an acute painful condition. They don't want to miss anything and I know their liability is great. Last time I went to ER to my surprise I had a huge kidney stone. I thought it was something else. So we never know and more importantly they don't know until their investigation is complete. So please don't be too hard on someone that was really trying to help you.
As far as your PMP not returning your numerous calls, in my opinion that is unacceptable. I understand that they are busy and I understand that they may get dozens of these calls a day. It may even take a day or two at the most to get back to you. Making decisions as to who gets a call back and who doesn't, again in my opinion is poor practice and risky to say the least. When you become so insensitive that you are able to ignore your patients pleas you should consider another career or at the least a change. Where is your compassion and understanding of pain management? I would change physicians. Again just my opinion.
I am not going to say anything, but your thoughts are free, right?
I am not even a member here!
I am not even a member here!
Wow.
I have gone through withdrawl when I ran out of my meds over a long weekend, and it was not fun, but it didnt get bad enough that I needed to go to the hospital.
I am glad you told your dr to f-off. My Dr. is great, she makes sure that I have enough meds, and my pharmacy- the same. I always keep a backup prescription at the pharmacy just in case.
I had a stint in rehab. I was admitted for alcohol, which was a joke because that wasnt the problem, the problem was I was bi-polar, schzoaffective disorder, and those idiots initially told me 30 days, so I was going to do it for my family, who accused me of being an alcoholic, but once they had me in there, they wanted me off all my meds! and put me in for 90 days - more money for them.
I went through hell because they stopped all my pain meds immediately, and at 30 days I had to beg my family to let me out, because the rehab wouldnt listen to me...I was in thier eyes a pain med addict.
I wonder what those jerks would say now, after I have broken my back, shoulder, finger and toes due to severe osteoporosis. Would they say I should meditate!
Once you get a new Dr. make sure you have a prescription at the pharmacy as backup. I often take my pill bottles in to show my Dr that I am getting the repeat as backup, and she can see how much I have taken.
As far as your test goes, maybe considering what you have been through, you could explain and they can re-schedule it, I think they will, then there is no use in worrying your family.
I have gone through withdrawl when I ran out of my meds over a long weekend, and it was not fun, but it didnt get bad enough that I needed to go to the hospital.
I am glad you told your dr to f-off. My Dr. is great, she makes sure that I have enough meds, and my pharmacy- the same. I always keep a backup prescription at the pharmacy just in case.
I had a stint in rehab. I was admitted for alcohol, which was a joke because that wasnt the problem, the problem was I was bi-polar, schzoaffective disorder, and those idiots initially told me 30 days, so I was going to do it for my family, who accused me of being an alcoholic, but once they had me in there, they wanted me off all my meds! and put me in for 90 days - more money for them.
I went through hell because they stopped all my pain meds immediately, and at 30 days I had to beg my family to let me out, because the rehab wouldnt listen to me...I was in thier eyes a pain med addict.
I wonder what those jerks would say now, after I have broken my back, shoulder, finger and toes due to severe osteoporosis. Would they say I should meditate!
Once you get a new Dr. make sure you have a prescription at the pharmacy as backup. I often take my pill bottles in to show my Dr that I am getting the repeat as backup, and she can see how much I have taken.
As far as your test goes, maybe considering what you have been through, you could explain and they can re-schedule it, I think they will, then there is no use in worrying your family.
I also wanted to add that in any pain management clinic there are those who need to be there and there are those who have no business there. It is left up to the doctor and the staff to weed the bad ones out of their practice. We as chronic pain Pt's know all too well what the people who divert and abuse does to us and us getting the proper treatment.
The ones who use the doctors to abuse and divert narcotics makes it so very hard on those who depend on narcotics to lead a somewhat normal life. I do not envy the doctors and staff that have to decide who is legit and who is not.It is a harsh world we live in and it is very hard to find a doctor who has not been taken advantage of therefore making it so hard on us the true legitimate Pt's.
There were some of the members of the SA communities that posted here in our community ( PM) that were sorry for the harm they caused us in taking advantage of their doctors to get narcotics. I thought that was a real eye opener for some here as they did realize how much that sort of thing effects us the CP Pt.
No one here has said keep_praying here was an addict, I just wanted to clear up why some have had doubts. As I said there are those who do abuse their doctors trust and therefore make it hard on the CP Pt and this makes some more quick to question a post like this.
No one here has meant any harm and wants to help all they can.
The ones who use the doctors to abuse and divert narcotics makes it so very hard on those who depend on narcotics to lead a somewhat normal life. I do not envy the doctors and staff that have to decide who is legit and who is not.It is a harsh world we live in and it is very hard to find a doctor who has not been taken advantage of therefore making it so hard on us the true legitimate Pt's.
There were some of the members of the SA communities that posted here in our community ( PM) that were sorry for the harm they caused us in taking advantage of their doctors to get narcotics. I thought that was a real eye opener for some here as they did realize how much that sort of thing effects us the CP Pt.
No one here has said keep_praying here was an addict, I just wanted to clear up why some have had doubts. As I said there are those who do abuse their doctors trust and therefore make it hard on the CP Pt and this makes some more quick to question a post like this.
No one here has meant any harm and wants to help all they can.
And I'm not accusing you of being one. I just wanted to point out how difficult it is for some of these providers to sort through these issues and the degree to which they are forced to do so every day. It was someone else above who mentioned the letter and I thought it was ironic that the request itself would be a warning sign to a doctor that addiction might be a problem. I feel bad for you and your situation, I've had to deal with chronic pain (I was hit by a drunk driver who ran a red light and got a lot of injuries), dependence on medication, and finally addiction. But I do want you to know that if you tell your doctor to eff off, if you leave the ER AMA, and even if you run out of your medication early, especially if you are also complaining about it being too strong, and if your reason for running out is that you threw some away, you will get cut off and you will have nowhere to turn to. How worried will your son be when he sees you going through withdrawal? I do wish you the best. I'm not trying to be judgemental, lord knows I have no right to that, But please consider the other side of some of these interactions so you do not get hurt by them. Good luck.
Keep -Praying,
I was not insinuating your an addict. i think in your case the messages have been getting messed up on the route to the doctor. You need to go in person to resolve these types of issues as the PM doctor will not usually deal with medication changes over the phone at all. We are certainly here to support you in any way we can. As I believe I said in an earlier post if your doctor is not listening then it is time to find a new one. But also know that most doctors will not do med changes over the phone at all. I would get your PCP to refer you to another PM doctor and be sure to explain that the patch does not work for you. Dealing with pain is hard to say the least, add children that depend on you and college too and that's alot for anyone to handle. Find yourself a PM doctor that will listen to you and your lifestyle and prescribe the medications that will help you function as normally as possible.
Kolo,
Being a CP Pt you can help the doctors understand some of the issues we have to deal with and therefore make the doctors aware.
I would encourage you to do as they have asked you as I See it as a huge step in having doctors understand our views and issues.
Good luck and let us know how it goes if you choose to do it:)
I was not insinuating your an addict. i think in your case the messages have been getting messed up on the route to the doctor. You need to go in person to resolve these types of issues as the PM doctor will not usually deal with medication changes over the phone at all. We are certainly here to support you in any way we can. As I believe I said in an earlier post if your doctor is not listening then it is time to find a new one. But also know that most doctors will not do med changes over the phone at all. I would get your PCP to refer you to another PM doctor and be sure to explain that the patch does not work for you. Dealing with pain is hard to say the least, add children that depend on you and college too and that's alot for anyone to handle. Find yourself a PM doctor that will listen to you and your lifestyle and prescribe the medications that will help you function as normally as possible.
Kolo,
Being a CP Pt you can help the doctors understand some of the issues we have to deal with and therefore make the doctors aware.
I would encourage you to do as they have asked you as I See it as a huge step in having doctors understand our views and issues.
Good luck and let us know how it goes if you choose to do it:)
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