What should I do when my doctors think I am faking it?

[inpain23]

Two years ago I was in two car accidents and it resulted in a herniated disc in my lower back. The doctor who originally worked with me on this just told me to relax then after 3 months of still being in pain they gave me pain meds (vicodin) and did blood tests and x-rays. WHen nothing showed up on the x-rays I was told people my age don't have pain like this and that I was faking it for the pain meds. Well then they sent me to a specialist who finall did an MRI a year after the pain started thats when they found my injury. They put me back on the pain meds and sent me to physical therapy. After that failed to help me much they again told me i was faking for the pain meds so I switched doctors. He put me on Darvocet. It didn't work as good but it still helped a lot. I have been with him for a about four months and have been on the Darvocet about that long. Now he is telling me that I am adicted and that he wanted me to try antidepressants which I am not okay with because I have a small child at home and don't want to take a risk at having them backfire and make things worse. He is also telling me that he thinks it is my nervous system even thought my MRI shows it is my spine and my disc.

What can I do??? I have kaiser and if I change my doctor again they will just assume I am doctor hoping. The only thing I am asking from them is to fix my back or give me something to help with the pain. Asprin and motrin both my stomach. They refuse to give me anything but the antidepressants now.

On a daily basis my pain is a 7. I have been in this pain everyday for two years and now my doctors think I am faking it. I am desparate for help. I am 23 and don't want to be in this pain the rest of my life. I need advice and help

[nick30]

hi there,
when ur doc says it's your nervous system, maybe he means your pain is nerve pain(caused by the disc problems). In this case there are other alternatives to try such as neurontin(and other similar drugs). you should give the anti-depressants a go for a few months, they can actually help with pain. most dr's are very wary of prescribing strong opiates to young people(because the longer you are on them, the less they work, and seeing as you are young there is a risk of your dose going sky-high). also there are drugs like 'somac' that you can take with NSAIDs to reduce stomach problems. keep up the physical therapy, it is helpful in the long run. the fact that you are able to work with your pain levels at 7/10 is quite impressive. keep it up, stay positive, and exhaust all options, it's you who will benefit. try not to worry about the pain lasting forever, you still have an awful long time left and plenty of things can happen oin that time.

good luck
let us know how things are going

Nick

[Mollyrae]

Hello inpain and welcome to the Pain Forum.

What did the MRI show? What is the diagnosis?? I'm wondering because it is possible that you will get more help here if you explain your injurys.

Take care,
Molly

[Tuckamore]

Hello Inpain,

Welcome to the Pain Management Forum. I am glad that you found us but sorry to hear about your pain and the issues it has caused you.

Any physician that believes you can get "high" off a normal dose of Darvocet needs to have a herniated disc and be given no pain medications. I'm sorry if I sound harsh but too often physicians decide you don't have pain.

You definitely have your age going against you. Because you are so young some physicians shy away from prescribing narcotic medications. No physician wants to take the responsibility for beginning an addiction. Unfortunately for every one honest pain suffer there are 100 more drug seekers. If is very difficult for some physicians to determine the difference between the two.

If you simply cannot live with the pain you have no choice but to look elsewhere for a PCP that will beleive you and your pain. Have you seen a D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy)? They practice a bit different than a MD but have as much if not more education. They believe that the skeletal system has to be healthy and in line for good health to occur & achieve general homoeostasis. They are able to diagnosis conditions that are often over-looked by other practitioners.

Good luck to you. Please let us know how you are doing. We will be interested in hearing of your progress.

Peace, Tuck    

[Red931]

I agree with Molly. You need to let us know what your MRI reads to help us to help you. I have herniations and a bulge at L4-L5 and L5-S1 this cause pressure on my Sciatic Nerve. This is most likely your problem but we won't know until you tell us more.

Doctors, especially Orthopedics do not spend enough time with their patients and listen to the patient's concerns as well as explain their condition to them. This is because they overbook themselves and have to run to the next room. Have you noticed that with your doctors?

Back to your back....If you experience what I do...pain down the rear end, leg etc. you have to do some mild stretching exercises that I'm sure you learned in therapy. You also may want to invest in Ice Paks that are designed for the back and a heating pad as well as a TENS Unit. If you get this stuff you can apply stimulation and ice and heat at home while watching TV or relaxing to give you additional relief.

I have to take pain meds everyday also but I have alot of other orthopedic problems other than my back. My back I have been able to get under control the best of all the other problems. I am twice your age also, so I have more mileage on my odometer.

Good Luck

Dino

[jamiej44]

Hi my friend in pain!!! First of all, any doctor that says you are  to young to have pain must be completely out of his or her mind. I do not understand why you have not gone for another M.R.I or even x-rays, C.A.T. scan and also there is a blood test to find out how much pain you are in. I am not sure of the name. I think it is the C.P.K. test. Anyways what the blood test proves is that it will show how much pain you are in by the reading of how many Endorphins are in your blood. Endorphins are a naturally created pain medication found in the brain that travel from the brain and go specifically to the area you are haning pain. Please though never give up. I have been dealing with pain for 16 yrs. The first three of those years I heard the same thing all the time it is in your head. I heard it so much I just finally jumped up into my doctors face and said I am not crazy I am in pain, Now what the **** are you going to do.First he gave me the blood test and that came back well lets put it this way I was at the Pain Clinic of The Montreal General My doc freaked over the blood test becuse it was three times higher then it was supposed to be. So Inpain23 you take care and be strong if you ever need to mtalk e-mail me ***@****. Take care. Jamiej44

[Dezdon]

Why do the Dr's think your faking it and why does this other Dr think your addicted after four months?

[inpain23]

My MRI shows that I have a herniated disc and bulge in almost the same areas only mine is just the L5-S1. It causes me the have severe lower back pain when it really flares up which happened Saturday (Kaiser told me to take Tylenol even thought they told me it probably wont work). It also puts a huge strain on the middle of my back because I am constantly trying to re-adjust my sitting position to take pressure off my lower back. With my pain meds I never went over my prescribed dose and never even took the full dose. I have seen a back specialist and he was the one who found the injury he aslo told me that because of my age that all I would need is physical therapy.

I just bought a palates video with a workout that helps build stronger muscles in the back and I am going to give that a shot. It is just really hard to work out when most movement hurts.

[inpain23]

They think I am faking it because they told me that people my age rarely ever have back problems and that I am too young to be experiencing this pain even though they have the MRI and C.A.T scan that shows my injury.

I have kaiser and have never ever had any health problems until I got into the Adult medicine. Many people have told me that Kaiser just likes to keep people sick so that they can get more money and now I am starting to believe it LOL.

[inpain23]

Thank you for all your support. This has been the worst two years of my life and it is finally good to talk to people who don't cal me crazy and too young to be in pain. I have felt like giving up on my doctors so much and still do. I will keep everyone updated on my situation and try all the advice you have given me so far. Thank you!!

[inpain23]

I give up on everything. I emailed my doctor today at work because Friday night I was in the ER with bleeding in my stomach from my IBS and was told not to take motrin and aspirin and asked him what I could do and all he said is Thanks for the heads up hope you are doing better. I am done with this. I am ready to give up on everything the way they are giving up on me. So thanks for all your advice and support but I am out of here

[LCDLBA]

I too am a chronic pain sufferer and have been for several years. There is a LOT of options out there that you need to be utilizing. Ask your doctor to refer you for spinal injections, acupuncture, and massage therapy. Medications can help, but you have to really use more than just that one avenue, because honestly it will become an addiction. What you have to be doing is working to cure or at least help the pain issue. Physical therapy combined with the above mentioned avenues, should be a TOP priority for you. If your doctor will not provide pain medication, as the patient you need to tell him/her that you expect them to exhaust EVERY avenue of treatment for you. Begin those right away, as soon as your doctor says "yes" you can do them. Another thing that may help is to take a parent or other adult family member (such as an aunt) or someone that you trust to help you with your medical decisions. It may be that your doctor feels you don't want to be serious about pursuing healing procedures, by having another family member there to vouch for you and help your doc understand your circumstances, you might make quick progress. Best of luck to you. I hope it works out.

[Red931]

Before giving up why don't you go to a doctor that just deals with back injuries and nothing else or better yet a neurosurgeon? These doctors specialize in this area and you would not have to worry about being accused of shopping around to get medication. You already have MRI films and a report that specifies a specific injury.

The stretching will help but what you have to realize is that you now have degenerative disc disease. It does not improve over time it just gets worse because it is irreversable. You have to learn to control it and at times it is going to require medication that is stronger than Tylenol. If not narcotic there are others like Celebrex. However, I stay the hell away from that one it has too many problems with it.

You have to understand that because of your age doctors don't want to start you on narcotic pain meds because you will need more of it over time to get the same level of pain relief because you build up a tolerance to the medication. Doctors will give you anything if your over the age of 40.

While you may not want to hear this, Acupuncture has been known to be very effective for this type of injury with younger patients. It didn't work for me though, but I'm in the over 40 club.

You should also look into epidural injections of facet injections. They can give you relief for months at a time if they work for you. Doctors that just deal with back injuries usually use this method when physical therapy fails.

Good Luck, I hope you find a doctor that can help you with this.

If you have any other questions you think I can answer don't hesitate to ask.

Dino

[Red931]

Was I reading your mind as you were typing? We posted the exact same advice and you must have started just a minute or two before me. That's out there. LOL