Post spinal fusion HELP!

Hey,

I posted here about a year ago about taking oxycodone 20-40mg a day. A little history on myself, I have had a shoulde reconstruction anda spinal fusion a few years back.

Recently, I have had VERY VERY bad pain in my back and was all out of pain pills. I tried the tylenol, ibuprofen, tylenol3, heat pad and ever other possible remedy.

I do not have health insurance so I broke down and went to the doctor and paid 120 bucks to see him. I explained everything to him and he told me "doctor's don't prescribe narcotics for chronic back pain" and left me with a script for a muscle relaxer and tramadol which i filled for my own $ again(100+ dollars) and felt NO relief.

So, I had to take another route and call my go to guy for oxy's. I started of with 30-40mg a day and felt awesome. Than as tolerance built up i took more and more. I have been taking bout 80-120mg a day but rarely ever over 90mg.

With anything less my back hurts so bad I can not function. I went to the ER and they said they found nothing wrong yet they only did an x-ray and gave me 15 perk 5's and told me to go see a specialist. Again, NO INSURANCE.

I know I am getting addicted but my job is very physicaly demanding and I need the $ for mortgage and what not. Yet, I can not get out of bed and work or do anything due to the pain without oxycodone or oxycontin, and I am really not liking buying them of off the street because I do not want to find myself in legal problems.

I am in Philadelphia, Pa if anyone can help PLEASE do so. I am lost and do not know where to go from here :(

[Toomanyadvil]

Hi Jenka

      I'm sorry you have had such a hard time getting the medical care you need for your pain.
  Have you looked into getting state medicaid?
You may want to visit your local social services office and get an application. You would need to have a DR fill out a form but you may be able to go to your PCP and talk with him about it.
Many hospitals that are Not for profit have programs and "charity pools" that are set up to help people who need medical care but dont have insurance. You may want to call around to the hospitals in your area and see if any of them have this type of program. Every state has not for profit hospitals though some have fewer than others.
But getting coverage for an MRI may be something you really need.

You can also look in your phone book or do an internet dearch for clinics in your area. Some offer sliding scales in which you would only have to pay a % of what your weekly or bi weekly income is. Sometimes it ends up being 5-10 dollars a visit depending on how they work it out.

Ther are also some programs that help with getting medications.
You may want to visit a site called ehow.
www.ehow.com
It has alot of info on how to get financial medical assistance.
Some others are

FreeMedsandSolutions.com and NeedyMeds.com

I hope you can check out some of those resources and get the help you need to get medical care for your pain and find out what the problem may be. Its one thing that is a huge problem in a country and needs to be fixed. But there are available resources if you know where to fond them and new programs popping up every day so hang in there and dont give up the search for financial medical help. Its something we all deserve to have.
Please just be careful taking medication that isnt prescribed from a DR. Uping a dose yourself can be really dangerous.  We dont want to see anything happen to you.

TMA

[Toomanyadvil]

Hi I forgot to also mention that there is a Health Insurance forum here at medhelp. It is on the expert forum right side of the main forums page.
You may want to check it out as they may have some good ideas as how to get insurance and the medical care you need.
But I hope you will stay with us also and let is get to know you better!

If your interested in alternative medicine that may help with your pain feel free to message me and I will be happy to give you some ideas that you can try at home.

TMA

[sandee1818]

I agree you do not need the legal problems and you need pain management so it is importat that you do get a Dr who will help you with your pain instead of self medicating. I see you had previous problems have you tried contacting your old PM Dr?
There are many organizations that will help you but  simple phone call will not bring any results. You need to know where to go for this kind of information. I will see what I can find for you in your area and get back to you soon. I urge you to seek other means of pain control though as it is illegal and will only bring you problems which I am sure you don't need. I know it is very hard to deal with the pain and when no one will listen its worse but we are all here for you and will help any way we can:)

[Mollyrae]

Hi Jenka, It is a terrible thing to be in so much pain all the time and not feel that there is any help on the horizon. The money spent on self medicating must be a huge expense. I would urge you to take the money that is spent on meds and find a good Pain Management Dr. that can help you find the relief you need legally. It would be no fun to end up in jail where you cannot get any help at all. I am truly sorry for how you have to suffer. Please seek professional help. There can't be much cost difference as I know from my own son that Oxy's are a very expensive street drug. Take care, Mollyrae

[jenka]

Hey guys,

thank you very much for all your responses. I tried the legal doctor route again. I went to my primary physician that I have been going to for 6+ years and explained myself to him(he has all my prior medical history information, including mri results, xrays, surgery info etc..) I explained what was happening and what I have been going through.

His response to me again was "doctors don't give out strong medication for chronic back pain" wrote me two scripts one for tramadol (ultracet) and the other for flexiril(muscle relaxer) and told me "if you need something stronger go see a pain management specialist", I paid him $120 for the visit and left.

Came to the pharmacy and paid another 100+ dollars for the tramadol and muscle relaxer(this was Saturday 19th of July)

So, I was taking the medicine as directed in horrible pain all afternoon-night saturday and all day sunday(I got out of bed at 3pm sunday due to the pain), still I took the medicine as prescribed. Sunday night around 1130-12 it started raining and I was in so much pain I was about to go to the hospital but realized I have an Oxy 80mg laying around. I took a quarter piece (20mg) and the pain was gone in 20mins. Slept all night and woke up this morning in pain but manageable.

Worked till 130-2 till I need another piece. All together I took 40-45mg of oxy today and I feel fine. Played with my daughter, mowed the lawn, hung out with my fiance and made dinner.

I called my pain management doctor(from surgeries) and he told me that I would need to go get an MRI. He told me that he wants to do epedurial and for me to go to physical and water rehab. And, if I wanted stronger pain medicine I needed to go to my family doctor!!! I explained to him that I can not afford MRI and or an epedurial and I was in no position to pay 300 bucks a week for rehab(all routes i took before)

He told me that I needed to get surgery to remove scar tissue and that "may" relieve some of the pain but it's not guaranteed. Besides that he can not help me.

I applied for state insurance and was declined. I applied for all possible programs and was declined for everything due to the fact that my fiance and I make too much money to qualify.

As far as the charity programs at hospitals I did the research and there is a hospital offering that. it is $150 dollars to visit the er no matter what they do for you that visit EXCLUDING MRI, CT SCAN!

So, I do apologize for the VERY VERY long post but I am screwed. I am going to pick up 10-20 oxycontin 80mg from my friend which would last me for at least two and a half three weeks.

I have two options left to me at this point. I can either 1) Go have surgery(which the doc wants 20% upfront, surgery costs 100k+ which would mean I need 20k upfront) or 2) Get epedurial #12 and pay 2300 for it. and of course 3) Buy illegal pills from my friend because no doctor wants to help me and I am not going searching for a doctor.

Again, if anyone is in the Philadelphia area and/or it's surrounding area like NJ or Philadelphia suburbs that goes to a doctor they know real well or have any other advice PLEASE!!! help me. if not, I understand.

Thank you al very much for everything, I appreciate it!

[jenka]

Update:

I also went to my chiropractor  today. I paid him 50 bucks for the visit and he adjusted me. Felt good for 10 mins than went  back to how it was before the adjustment. I just got my tens unit out and it has been on since i got him about an hour ago.

I spoke to him about my problem. He explained to me that the government is really getting on doctors behinds for prescribing pain meds. and that Philadelphia has such high malpractice insurance and so much scrutiny from the state that in order to get pain medicine you need to find a doctor who really trusts you and can understand everyones situation. Due to the fact that everyone's situation and pain is different I would need to find a doctor who takes each patient on a case by case bases and doesn't just do the same thing for every person who comes in their and says they have pain.

however, he doesn't know any good doctors to recommend to me.

[sandee1818]

I am sorry for your pain and I know it is frustrating but please don't give up on the legal route just yet. Here is a site that offers help for free meds a list of Dr's willing to prescribe the meds you need and places you can get assistance for all the  financial end of all this.

http://members.tripod.com/~EAT_2/index-2.html

I have used this site and it is great! Let me know what you think, and I will look into getting you some local help:)

[jenka]

there is no one in philadelphia on that site. and when i hit the find a doctor tab it sends me to mdjunction.com

is there no one in philadelphia who knows a good doctor?

[sandee1818]

I am sorry to hear that you did not find a Dr but there is also alot of other useful information there too. I have been working on helping you out for ther past couple hours and also have sent you some more info, you will need to follow up.

[jenka]

I have done research as well. All the links on that page are dead or not working. I searched the site for Philadelphia zero results and New jersey zero results.

I have been searching clinics and testimonials in my area and no luck

[Brndnsdad]

My pain management doctor also prefers my family doctor prescribes all the pain meds. I think that is a common practice due to the folks that do abuse the system by going to different doctors. However, I've made certain my PM Dr has sent copies of all records to my family Dr and had them talk over the phone once. You might ask your PM Dr to call your family doc so they discuss your case and understand what your medication needs are. It's worth a shot and probaby won't cost you anything.

[Mollyrae]

I know you have been turned down for SSDI (am I correct). Hire a Lawyer. I had to, even after 5 Back Surgeries. I received SSDI 18 months later. Give it a shot, what do you have to loose. Most Disability Lawyers only charge if they win.  Good luck, Mollyrae

[Tuckamore]

What a horrible situation you are in. I am sorry for your pain and that the physicians you have seen are not willing to help you. Have you considered getting a new PCP? I searched for years and gave up in fustration and was close to ending it all. I "stumbled" on my current PCP of 5 years. I did not even have to tell her that I was in pain, she knew it, she said she could se it in my eyes and she "felt it" when she examined me. She is a DO. I encourage you to find another primary care physicain and explain your situation if you are unable to locate a pain management doc. Hang in there and don't give up. Tuck

[Jaybay]

One thing I don't understand about your case: why would your fiancee's income be included with yours when applying for government assistance?   If you aren't married, any government agency will only look at your own income.

Does your bride-to-be have insurance that she can put you on once you do get married?  If so, you might want to move up that wedding date.  :-)

[Tuckamore]

Usually they consider the income of the "home". It doesn't matter if you are married or not. Crazy isn't it. Some insurances (at least in the state of WI) will allow you to put your significant other on the insurance if they reside with you. At a recent part time position I held I was even able to put my father on my insurance as he lived with in my home.

[sandee1818]

Here are two I found..


Catherine Maturo, DO
  PAIN MANAGEMENT
  FAMILY MEDICINE


716 Belgrade Street
Philadelphia, PA 19125




Wilhelmina C Korevaar, MD
  ANESTHESIOLOGY
  PAIN MANAGEMENT


401 S Second St #N100
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Diplomate
Ph: 610-247-5117
Fx: 610-527-4523