(This is a comment Jake Squid left on a prior thread on “Alas.” Jake’s wife has had chronic pain for 12 years. –Amp)
Almost anything you do, if you suffer chronic pain, is viewed as drug seeking behavior. Going to multiple doctors in an attempt to get help? Yeah, you’re a drug seeker. Asking for a higher dose? Drug seeker. Hoarding? Drug seeker. Questions or complaints about random drug test policy? Drug seeker. Past history of recreational drug use? You’re a drug seeker.
This gives the patient no power and tons of stress worrying about being labeled a drug seeker and cut off from the (usually minimal) relief that they are getting. It’s an abysmally designed system.
If you ever wind up with chronic pain, here are some suggestions that may help you:
* Never admit to any recreational drug use. It doesn’t matter if you had a single hit off a bong when you were 14. Deny having ever touched a recreational drug. You should probably also say that you never drink alcohol. If you’ve ever gotten high or drunk, you’re probably a drug seeker.
* If you have to go to more than one MD to get help, don’t report any doctor you’ve given up on. Carry your medical records with you & let the new office make copies. Hide doctor shopping as well as you’re able. Unfortunately, changing doctors because of changing health insurance coverage will be counted as doctor shopping. Doctor shopping is classic drug seeking behavior.
* Never question your pain doctor. Nothing good will come of it.
* When answering the doctor’s questions, pretend that you’re being questioned by the opposing lawyer at trial or an EBT. Your standard answers should be, “Yes,” “No,” “I don’t know,” or “I don’t remember.” Provide as little detail as you can while sticking to the point that you are in intolerable pain. The doctor doesn’t want to hear your story. Things that you think are important are a distraction and can and will be interpreted as a sign of drug seeking behavior.
* Do not miss an appointment. Although severe pain is clearly a valid reason that a person might miss an appointment, it will be viewed as – Surprise! – drug seeking behavior. If you have to kill your partner, kidnap small children or take a bus driver hostage in order to make it to your appointment, do it.
* Dress as well as you can. The richer you appear, the less likely you’ll be thought of as a drug seeker. Buy a suit, buy a cocktail dress. Look like you have money.
* If you do happen to find a good doctor, one who cares more about your pain than worries that you’re scamming them for drugs, advertise the doctor everywhere you go online. People desperately need reviews of docs in order to have any chance of finding one who will help.
I’m sure that there’s more that I’ve learned over the last twelve years, but they’re not coming to mind at the moment.
Eden. Start bringing your husband to your appts. If he is the only dr you can get meds from, you cannot afford to get rid if him. As long as you get meds from him, it won’t be worth trying to find a new dr. I’m sorry you are going through this. We do what we must to get the meds to survive. Bring your husband or sister or someone to the visits. I’ve never been made to get undressed for pain meds except once in an ER for a head injury and I refused. They treated me as a drug seeker anyways so fuck them. This dr knows he has you under his thumb. If he asks why you are bringing someone with you, explain that the pain makes you forget what is discussed at visits and having someone there to remember for you makes it easier. Isn’t this just fucked up that I’m telling you this? I’ve lost many drs and can’t get any to acknowledge my symptoms. But the biggest loss is having a valid script for pain meds.
Going after him legally will only screw you in the end. You will get labeled and black listed.
I’m sorry. Try to find a new doctor if you can before this one ruins your name with a false label. Do what you have to do to stay pain free. It’s not easy once you are dismissed.
oh my goodness i have been labeled a drug seeker i had one doctor for 17 years he retired so he ref me to another doctor all was good for a while till my sle kicked in full force and the new doctor that i didnt like to begin with tild me to go to a rumatoligist so i went to him well my lupis was worse than i thought i had to be put on kemo methatrexate pills and cortazone so that doc took over giveing me pain meds cause kemo makes the pain way worse with all the rest of what i was going through i went back to the doctor that started treating me when my doc of 17 years retired and she put words in my mouth i swear i didnt say she asked me why i left well i told her your the doctor you dont understand the short time she seen me all she did was bring in my pain med scripts and not say a thing about my nerve damage so my sle went in remission i went bk to her she said i turned a pee test down which was a lie and u can tell when a person does not like u this woman was the rudeist doctor i have ever ment no bed side manner shes a nurse pract its sad when a doctor puts words in a patients mouth ive never seen such a lier so she put me down as a drug seeker what gets me i was with mydoctor 17 years never had a problem i no this sounds crazy id love to take a lie detector test and prove her wrong because of all the lies she has put in my mouth this woman should not be in medicine she should be working at MICKEY Ds miss burkdull if you come across her god help ya she wrote me pain meds in the past she acts or is just stuiped she denies it and shes the one told me to go to a lupis doc and when i needed to go bk to her come bk and this is MRTGB WV we dont have a lot of docs here for certain problems
I was told yesterday morning that I was discharged from my doctor, after 14 years. She had been prescribing pain pills for me for 2 years, I have fibromyalgia. My prescription ran out on 2/3,and I had a 6 month follow up appt yesterday,2/12(thought I had an appt,didn’t even know I had been discharged 7 days earlier untill I called to confirm the time of my appt), I don’t understand why I was discharged, but I did reschedule my last 2 appts, BC I was it of town with my daughter on a college tour and wasn’t gnna make it back on time, and for the other one I had a migraine (I get chronic migraines)and I can’t move when I have those. Well,in the past she always called my prescription in,even if my follow up appt was ‘coming up’. This time she wouldn’t, and when I called was told she couldn’t refill them until she saw me,I was in alot of pain,and asked for a sooner appt(I was in the er on the 27th of jan and was suppose to follow up within 2 days but the nurse kept telling me they coldnt get me in any sooner
i have a question how do you no if you have been labeled a drug seeker how do you find that information out.
I have a calapsing disc i went to doctor i had my mri she called me a drug head was awful
I have followed this website for approx 6 months . I would like everyone to come to a website, full of wonderful, knowledgeable, supportive ppl. I am the Co- Amin of. Do a facebook search of FBS/CRPS, or http://www.Facebook.com/groups/fbsthepainthatstays
can any one tell me also how do they put u as a drug seeker i dont get it and ive never did nothing wrong to be that im wondering if thats my prblem anyone
yeah how do you find out if the doct labeled u whats the deal on that or wht u did wrond how do u find out ask doc go to a site ask for records WHAT
I recently experienced a similar situation when my husband was in surgery. I watched a young lady pushed out in the hall waiting room all alone by a nurse with her nose is bandages. She said she had a deviated septum surgery and other sinus surgery. She was crying because they said that she was drug seeking. It was obvious she had just had surgery and was in pain! Someone finally rolled her out of the waiting room yet other people waiting in the room with me starting to say “looks like a drug seeker to me”. Working for an attorney I know that this is slander. I was shocked at the way this poor girl was treated but now I know how the real world is. So sad. It is a scary world when anyone wants to judge someone by seeing them for 5 minutes after surgery. I worry for the time I’ll need help and how I’ll be treated.
i WANT TO ALSO NO OR UNDERSTAND how do you no if you have done something wrong wich i dont recall ever but i get treaeted really bad how do you find sout if you have been labeled a drug seeker
Just wanted to say that reading the tips for not appearing to be a drug seeker really helped me. I am allergic to morphine and this includes all the narcotics that come from it (vicodin, percoset, etc.). I didn’t realize that when I went to the doctor complaining of severe pain that he would see Morphine allergies on my chart and think I was after something. The most I ever usually ask for is Ultram and I always mix that with Ibuprofen (as directed by my PCP). I never understood why I was mistreated at an ER/ ED for arriving with pain complaints. I’ve shown up with my face busted open (fainted due to internal bleeding) and had the nurses ask me what my complaint was (well, having two black eyes is the start, ma’am). I didn’t even ask for any pain control then because I was too scared of being treated badly. Now I have a better idea how to communicate with the doctors and avoid being mislabelled.
As an addict in an active addiction now seeking help for this paralyzing disease, I am considering starting a blog or website to get inside the minds of addicts. I would have NEVER thought that I would err on the side of the ER docs and Nurses, but I want to help them now. So if there are any ER professionals here on this blog, fire the questions my way and I will take you inside the mind of an addict.
I am beyond frustrated! I don’t understand how people that are drug addicts seem to have no problem getting their fix and I can’t get any type of relief. I don’t even hope to be pain free anymore, I just want to be well enough to go to work everyday and take care of my family. I have jumped through hoops trying to get my doctor to treat me and it’s just not fair. I don’t smoke, drink or do drugs. I am an honest Christian wife and mother, but my doctor makes me feel like some sort of criminal. I just don’t get it. I have known of people that go in looking for something to get them high and they have better luck getting anything they want. Maybe I should go in and tell the doctor that I want to get high instead of just wanting to be able to cook dinner every night and bathe the kids. I’m sorry to vent like this, but I don’t know what else to do.
I have a long time friend of 37 years. I know her very well. She has had her share of chronic pain of which she has had no treatment for for more than a few years because her regular doctor had moved away and she never found a new doctor that she was comfortable with. She is now recently divorced, no job, raising three kids, no insurance, and is enduring so much stress from her current situation that her chronic pain is in full swing. She woke up one morning over Thanksgiving weekend with a kink in her upper back and we tried all sorts of things to alleviate the pain and settle the nerves. I also suffer from the same issues so I have a bunch physical therapy stuff at home. After a month of this pain that was now radiating through her shoulder muscles, down her arm and into her hand causing numbness and tingling, I took her to see my chiropractor and he advised her to go to an MD and get some muscle relaxants and pain relievers to get the muscles to stop tensing. He went ahead and massaged her shoulders and back and adjusted her, but he said it won’t be enough, that she needed to address the muscles first. She went another few days and while she was visiting her Aunt in another city her pain worsened, so I went over to get her and took her to a walk-in clinic that was close by. The doctor there said pretty much the same thing as my chiropractor did about her muscles and prescribed her 10 days worth of a low dose pain reliever, a muscle relaxant and steroids, and asked to see her back in two weeks. While she was on the steroids and the muscle relaxants she began to feel a little relief more so than the pain reliever had offered, and when she was out of all the prescription meds, her pain shot right back up. When she went back for her two week follow up she was assigned a different doctor who just stared at her from across the room and told her she was ‘doctor shopping’ and he wasn’t going to give her any drugs and if she got up and walked out now, he wouldn’t call the police. My poor friend is feeling helpless and like there is no hope of her ever getting better. She’s had this issue since November of 2012 and it has not eased up at all.
Because of this whole ‘Doctor Shopping’ label, my friend can’t even get a doctor to help her with the bronchitis and pneumonia she now has. They’ve diagnosed her, but they won’t treat her because they’ve decided that she is a drug addict and she has no insurance, that seems to be show stopper as well. So, is my friend supposed to just sit back and die because she has no insurance and has yet to find an empathetic doctor who will not just write her off and who will actually help her?
What can be done for those who are not drug addicts, who have chronic pain and need help? Will no one help them because it’s too dangerous that they may develop a habit or maybe they already have? Are they supposed to just ‘deal’ with the pain? That is so easy for someone who doesn’t suffer from that intensity of pain to say. My friend’s pain is what is keeping her from being able to get a job so that she can better support her kids and get health insurance for herself. She makes too much money in child support to qualify for state assistance, but they don’t even have enough money to cover their bills and buy food.
Something is really backward here.
I am not proud of my pain Med use. But I’m 56 years old I’ve got documented problems it’s been 6 years on meds I still have 2 work but sum days are hard I have been going to the same CVS for 6years and now they greet me like shit I have had one pharmacist say my doctor was on the shit list. And that was a lie I’m tired off the bull shit because of the pill heads that ruin it for me.and.other folks who need this shit I live in 34135 are they are heartless the pharmaceutical CVS I will call the news channel if it gets any worse
Cal me 2382067981 I’m. Filling tired of it lets stand up thank u for your ear!
I am worried.
My mother is in her mid-60’s with Multiple Sclerosis. She just had surgery. They won’t refill her pain prescription. The surgeon wouldn’t even get on the phone. He let his nurse take the flack.
The upshot is:
-tough shit, make the medicine stretch or get her GP to do another prescription
-the insurance company probably wouldn’t let them refill even if the surgeon approved (so much for the insurance company not interfering with a doctor and patient)
-surgeon’s license would be in jeopardy for prescribing more meds so he refused. He wasn’t making a decision based on my mom’s needs as a patient just on whatever would cover his ass. PUNK!
-I was supposed to sympathize with the doctor’s problem, NOT MY MOM
Her GP is over 80. I used to wonder why he still practices. Now I know. Because it will be hard as hell for his patients to get their meds when he retires or dies. I keep telling my mom to find a new GP or get him to prepare someone else in his practice to work with her. They both have their heads buried in the sand.
I am worried.
You know what, you can grow your own opium, and just make tea,it’s same thing that there prescribing you. Why should they have all the power? There not God ya know. There’s plenty of info on the web that will tell ya how to do it. Just grow enough to last you all year. Doesn’t take a lot. Good luck to all of you people in pain. If your lucky you live in a state with medical marijuana and won’t have to deal with there bull crap, like me. Good luck and God bless all of you. I know about suffering, I also suffer from chronic pain, and eventually was labeled as a drug seeker. Then I did something I never thought I would do, marijuana!! Turns out it works way better then pills anyway. Never went back, and now I grow my own medicine, and don’t have to jump through any hoops, f@#$ them, they just wanna control you.
Oh ya before people start labeling me as a drug seeker I cold Turkey pain pills after taking them for 6 years!! Was sick for about two weeks and then I was fine. How many drug seekers can do that? Addiction is all in the head, yes there’s some physical side affects when you stop, kinda like having a really bad flu, if you can handle being sick like a flu sick, you can stop taking pills. I would highly recommend marijuana for pain control, works great when you eat it, and you dont get sick when you dont have it.
To start with, I take a lot of medications for a chronic disease that I have had for 20+ years, the disease is in remission as long as I take these meds, so the disease is not harming me anywhere near as much as the medication is, as a result the medication has destroyed 90% of my periphial nerves also called neuropathy. It came on very quickly over two months, starting at the tips of all my limbs and moving daily up arms and legs, all my finger tips feel burned like I have pressed them onto a hot frying pan, same with my toes. It cycles from a burning sensation to immediatly freezing , then you get sharp prickling shots of pure pain that shoot up your legs and then everything goes numb, including half of my face and scalp. My Dr. recognized it immediatly and put me on extremly high doses of Oxy-contin for long dosing and just as much oxycodone for short dosing or breakthrough pain between. I have learned that just the words Oxy-contin will throw the public into a hysteria. Now let me be clear to all those people out there that have no idea what 24/7, around the clock chronic pain is and how it acts listen up; Without these meds I am sure that I would off myself AND most important I DO NOT GET HIGH, I FEEL NO EUPHORIA, I CAN’T/DON’T NOD and my eyes don’t even get pinned. So for me I can’t abuse them or get addicted because there is no reward, all they do is stop the pain at the source. I have learned to be glaringly transparent with everyone involved, that means when I see my doctor I take all my pain meds with me for him to look at or count if he wants, everytime a new manager takes over the pharmacy I make a point of talking to them about my condition (I show them my meds too and let them know that they can ask to see them anytime they want) my insurance company offers to have a nurse make one house call a year as an added benifit and I take them up on it, not because I need the nurses services but to have a documented visit by a third party to vouch that I don’t live in squaller or like someone who is strung out, then she sends a report to my doc. I do all these things on my own for the documentation, that is the wises thing you can do: document, document, document. then you have most of your bases covered already, make it easy for your doctor to trust you. If he doesn’t already, demand that he drug test you on a regular basis to prove that you are taking and need the drugs that they prescribe for you, and that they are not making it to the streets either. I still get discriminated by people on the outside of my treatment and some who have been involved from the beginning but I know I can make my case with facts and documents if it comes to it.
Here’s my dilemma ! I was fired from my neurologist after failing a drug test. I did not have any oxycodone in my system at the time. I had been very sick with nausea & didn’t take it! I explained all this, but didn’t matter! I have chronic pain, herniated disc, fibro, neuropathy. My family dr did write me rx for a few hydrocodone till I find another doctor. Well…I’m trying to find one, but no luck so far! I called one that my mom uses & since I was fired from my doctor, they won’t write me any meds for pain! So….I don’t know where to go! Pain Management Clinic? I’m not taking much for pain since I’ve started gabepentin, but I still have to have it now & then. :)
If your in pain and your Doctor wont write you a prescription for pain meds or enough pain meds what choices do we have:
1. Buy it from the street and now you are Drug Seeking Behavior or
2. Kill yourself it is the only way to end the Pain and if you tell the Doctor this then he will put you in the crazy house. So if there are any doctors out there remember you vowed to save life’s and if we people with pain don’t get relief you will cause many life’s to be taken. Please help or I am one patient you wont have and i am sure there are many more just like me.
I have Nuerogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome in both arms. I am in constant agony and my doctor treats me like a drug seeker. She has even tried to have my diagnosis changed! I went behind her back to a specialist whom reconfirmed my diagnosis and told me it’s common for doctors to treat patients like it’s all in their heads. Without telling me, my doc switched my pain meds down and when I confronted her on my last visit, she threatened me. Told me some people aren’t lucky enough to get pain meds and that’s what will happen to me if I challenge her ever again. Also told me to take all of my meds early and she’d switch me back up to a higher dose but less pills and once I’d done that she never called in my rx leaving me without meds for a week and a half. I also suffer from ptsd, so I have a hard time being assertive and I believe she takes advantage of it. I have no insurance, so I feel stuck at her clinic. I’m scared to switch doctors even though I have evidence of her behavior in my medical records for fear of being labeled a drug seeker.
I’ve been getting treated by an ENT doc for the past 6 years and he has done nothing, I’ve had surgery on both ears but my right ear was more aggressive then my left, having tumor’s removed in both, my right ear has never healed and has constant infections, I’ve been back to my ENT which tells me I have chronic ear pain and there’s nothing he can do about it and that I’ve just got to get used to the pain, I can’t get used to it, I can’t sleep, I’m constantly in agony and constantly getting ear infections, he was charging me $230 3 times a week to have an ear toiletry to remove the shit in my ear but because I could not afford that any longer, he refused to treat me and referred me on to another ENT 230 kms away which I was happy about because this dick was doing nothing for me but treating me like a drug addict, at one point even told me I wasn’t in pain and if I am, it must be coming from my shoulder or teeth so to make sure he wasn’t right, I even went and had scans, x-rays etc to find nothing wrong and pain getting worse then ever, I have seen other doctors plus been to the ED but they tell me there’s nothing they can do and they send me back to the ENT doc,
I saw another ENT specialized which is under the same useless dick and being with him for half hour, he diagnosed me and has order a MRI and actually believes me but I can’t get back and see him for another 4 weeks until my MRI has been done and I’m still in agony so since he’s 230 kms away, I presented to the ED were they have refused to treat me because of the ENT and they assume I’m after drugs user because I lost my cool after being told there’s nothing they can do, they had 7 security guards drop me, broke my ribs and called police, the police came and got the hospital to treat me for that one night as I was being a threat to any one just needed help to stop the pain that I’ve been dealing with for 6 years so now no doctor is willing to treat me as I’m now apparently violent and a drug seeker yet what they don’t understand is I never even took a panadol before my ear surgery, hated pain killers and I’ve only being frustrated since no one will listen, I know something’s wrong and filling me full of antibiotics etc ain’t helping,
I need proper pain relief and a plan to stop these infections because the antibiotics seems to make it worse and I’m at a loss of what to do and who to go to for help, only thing I can say is someone will listen when the only ENT in this town is walking around with he’s ears missing so then maybe he gets some sort of understanding on what pain I’m in every single day of my life, I can’t get an up side at moment except dead or jail because the pain really is getting to much and I’m sick of looking at my daughter every weekend and having to send her home because I’m in to much pain to get out of bed but soon this doctor is gonna realize what I’ve had to go through and miss out on because he has assumed I’m doctor shopping and just after strong meds, he’s got no idea the point I’m at :-(
Where are the replies to the comments??
I have been living this issue, my girlfriend and I, for the past 10+ years. What is happening is a conspiracy. No I’m not crazy hear me out. The system is set up to get people “hooked” on pills. Then they cut you off, they always cut you off eventually without offering any help to get off of the substance. This in turn sends people to the streets to buy what they NEED, not what they want.
Iv seen countless people who never did drugs in their life turn to the street. They will say they aren’t doing it to get high but to get their “medicine”, this is true for most. You don’t have to believe me but for some reason they want these people to turn to heroin. Maybe there is some back-room deal made in the mid-east. Who knows, that’s for the higher powers to understand. All we can do is live the lives they have made for us. And for a lot of people it isn’t good.
I wish the best of luck to anyone that has been a victim of the governments misunderstanding on the issue.
I have seen a lot of people wondering if they are being labeled as a drug seeker. Pharmacies can now see where and how often you fill other opioid prescriptions, so if you regularly get from a doctor and then fill from a dentist for a similar medication, popped. You are now a drug seeker, even if you filled inadvertently. No one cares that you have pain. It doesn’t matter what your MRI says or what you think deserves pain meds on a monthly basis, your doctor will refuse you at some point. If you are lucky enough to get into pain management, don’t complain about not getting enough. I see posts of people complaining that their six Percocets a day do not work with 3 breakthrough on top of that. Doctors only want to prescribe for a limited period of time (up to six months) and if you ask for a pain management referral, make sure you select one that really deals with pain. Some are now strictly injections and the other blah blah blah that doesn’t work.
I too live with chronic pain for 3 yrs now. I have been very fortunate to find a wonderful sympethetic dr. If u live in tx her name is dr. Horsley. If u truly have chronic pain, not only will she fight to get to the bottom of it bit she will help u to still maintain sometype of comfortable life. I am blessed that she is part of my life. Too everyone out there that suffers daily from chronic pain my prayers are with u and dont give up . Theres still a few drs left that do care.
This was a very interesting website I stumbled upon. It is unfortunate when a doctor does not believe you are in pain.
I have been seeing numerous orthopedic doctors for the past ten years now and I am only 30 years old. I kept reiterating that I thought there was something horribly wrong with my hips. I had an orthopedic doctor who was a complete ass to me after I had to get surgery due to a torn meniscus. I brought my hip complaint to him because I thought he was a good surgeon but didn’t exactly have the best bedside manner. Well, he evaluated my hips and said yeah you don’t have much movement in the joints. I asked for something to relieve the pain and had his nurse come in and tell me the only thing he could prescribe me was Tramadol. The unfortunate thing is, I actually have a severe reaction when taking that medication. It was listed as one of my allergies. The “allergy” is that it causes me to have seizures. So, I was very offended when he did not take that into consideration.
Then he had the audacity to say that he couldn’t really do anything about my hips because of “my size”. He basically didn’t want to deal with me anymore.
After that it took me forever to find another orthopedic doctor to take on “my case”. Me, still in pain that kept getting increasingly worse finally found someone who actually gave a damn. He did an MRI of my left hip to find out I was suffering from horrible osteoarthritis. There were bone spurs, torn cartilage, and complete remodeling of the joint. I was horrified when he said has anyone ever mentioned total hip replacement to you? I said no, I don’t think the doctors were taking my case seriously. Unfortunately I had to quit seeing him because my insurance dropped coverage at the only hospital where he performed surgery.
Finally, after years of confusion, suffering, and not being taken seriously I have a wonderful orthopedic doctor who is actively engaged in my case. Basically, what she told me is that we are just “buying time” from getting both my hips replaced. I just recently had surgery on my “less arthritic” hip where she said that I had one of the largest bone spurs she’d ever seen in fact so much that the bone had even formed more bone on top of it.
I just wished a doctor would have recognized this problem earlier in my life before the damage was undoable. I have to take maintenance pain medication, go to physical therapy, and acknowledge that my life has now physical limitations.
I guess what I am trying to say is that because of certain demographics and this prescription drug use epidemic that I was overlooked due to certain criteria set by the medical industry. My doctor said that she can understand why it is totally hard for anyone outside of a specialized medical field to believe my condition and the pain I have to live with every single day. I mean, who gets arthritis when they are a young adult? And such a debilitating arthritis that is disintegrating your joints and cartilage so rapidly at such a young age with no known real cause?
I am looked down upon and judged because of my use of pain medication. When you are actually in chronic pain you don’t worry so much about being seen as a “drug seeker” because what you’re feeling is not an addiction, it’s real. It took so long for me to get “documentation” of my condition that my pain and condition are a lot worse than it should be. I am ashamed of drug seekers because they cause so many people out there who are actually suffering to fall into this unheard abyss due to stigmatization.
If doctors actually listened to their patients and stopped worrying about trying to cover their asses, save face, or make an example of someone, they’d find out who was lying and who wasn’t. Good luck to all of you who are really suffering from chronic pain. I feel your plight. May God have mercy on us all.
I’ve read through all these comments, and have to say this scares me. Like the person allergic to morphine? I’m also allergic. Never in my wildest thoughts would I have thought this could make me look like a drug seaker. Holy $h*t. I don’t take pain meds. I take ativan. Have for years. For anxiety. My doctor hasn’t refilled my prescription for June and I’ve been in the er twice for rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and complete body numbness. I was kept over night at hospital becausr my heart rate was 160+. I was pretty sure I was buying the farm. I really did. Anyways they gave me ativan. And a Dr. Presribed me some before I left. And still no word from My Dr. I don’t understand. Why would she do this? I wasn’t abusing, seeking, none of that stuff. I’m scared. I don’t want to go into withdrawals again. So that’s my story.
Well I won’t go into my medical history or pain history since we all know how it is regardless of the cause. Either you can’t get medication or you can’t get enough to help it so you can live a normal life and of course we are all drug seekers, and addicts in the face of the world and most Dr.’s however, I am also that to my family, all of my family, even my grown kids, and now my husband has left because he can’t live his life around the chronic pain, well wouldn’t that be refreshing to be able to just walk out of our pain because we didn’t want to live our lives around it or around the fact of having enough pain medication to go and do all that we would like to do. So how is it that most everyone here seems to have family support but me, I’m I the only one whose family just can’t get it, this has been a 12 yr. problem, going to rehab like they want isn’t going to help my chronic pain and granted I do have to take more than I am allowed at times because of circumstances and stress that causes the pain to double but after 12 yrs. I probably couldn’t get a high if I took the whole bottle at once, I can barely get a little relief after being on the same thing for that long but of course you don’t dare bring that up to the Dr. or you would be drug seeking I guess I just need someone to understand I wish I didn’t have to take pain pills but that isn’t my call I wish I didn’t have pain but I do and I am sorry you can’t see it, but it is there and it is real and it has control of everything in my life. The only thing it doesn’t have control over is when I decide to end it all that I have control over and that is always on my mind. Why bother living when everyone sees you as a drug addict instead of a chronic pain patient. Anyone, have any sites for support let me know. Thanks for the venting.
I used to be a top athlete and took it pretty serious;
No drinking, no smoking, no drugs, no nothing.
I was unlucky enough to get cardiomyopathy.
Lived with a balloon pump for some months before i needed a left ventricle assist device (heart of titan) to survive.
I then had a hearttransplant.
Under a routine checkup the tool used to nip bits of my heart during biopsy got stuck in my nerve system and really fucked it up.
As far as i know I am the only living person who have experienced this.
The same pain comes and goes as it pleases and is so extreme that morphine barely works, luckily enough my doc has taken it as serious as possible And have given me free access to all tthe stuff i need in order to still want to live, and often checks up on me on how im feeling.
He felt he could do it when he knew i never went to the docs office bwfore my heart issues, and that i nevet took any painkillers for stuff possible to endure.
wow, I just don’t know. I do know I need the painkillers, and I also KNOW I am addicted. I gotta figure my doc knows this also. 5 years he’s prescribed tylenol 4. To take 2 every 6 hrs. Ok. Well, this last month, he wrote me a 90 day script, so I wouldn’t have to see him all summer. great. not. Pharmacy wouldn’t fill the 90 days, so they ‘broke’ it up, and did the ‘IOU’ type deal. Am just about out today, called in for what they ‘owe’ me, and they said, nope, not until July 3. I reminded them it was a partial fill, didn’t matter, BUT they will call my dr, shit. I just know this isn’t going to go well. I ACTUALLY want to get off them, but know I will withdraw, and have no idea how to go through it. Any ideas? I don’t think I have 1 day left on them. Any suggestions would be awesome. YES I have pain, legit pain, but damn, I don’t want to be a ‘drug seeker’ so I gotta do this. besides with the new obamacare or national healthcare, got a feeling drs are going to be NOT prescribing even small amounts, its coming.
so after reading all these comments I decided to throw my 10 cents in, I fell down some stairs whilst doing a removal job with a wardrobe on me and smashed 1 of my discs into my nerve column which resulted in mad sciatic pain too much for me to handle to be honest, I researched the symptoms online and figured it was a disc problem went ot my docs and asked for him to refer me for an xray to confirm what I more or less already knew, he refused saying he didnt think it was a slipped disc, on my third visit I practically begged him to send me for an xray telling him I would never come to see him again if he sent me for the xray he complied 3 weeks after my original request, (what a c u next Tuesday) :(
anyway went for the xray they referred me for a mri which took another couple of months but the mri clearly showed the damage and was asked by the surgeon to have surgery, a microdiscectomy to remove part of the disc, so I went ahead and had the surgery few days after the symptoms returned so went to the docs to ask for help, they prescribed me dihydrocodiene naproxen and gabapentin, mad doses every day and still was in pain finally went to see my local weed dealer and started taking weed for the pain alongside the prescription drugs the doc gave me, this seemed to work and give me some kind of relief.
I was open and honest with all the medical staff I dealt with and told them I was using weed to control the pain so maybe now im classed as a drug seeker, thing is with weed you can just give it up no side effects no withdrawals to speak off but the drugs my doctor gave me omg their an absolute mindfck to get off have tried cold turkey and endured the pain and am now slowly cutting down the doses every day as I don’t want to be stuck on these drugs rest of my life tbh id rather take the pain than be viewed as a junkie, the last prescription they gave me was morphine sulphate but I told them to stick it up their butts im never going down that road, in short if they say they wont give you the pain relief that you need fck them you will find other means to control the pain,
I live in the uk so its illegal for me to be taking weed to relieve the pain symptoms but I really don’t give a fck about the law who are they to tell me not to take something that relieves my pain? as for being viewed as a drug seeker I really don’t care as long as I can live my life painfree or as close as I can get, other peoples opinions of you will only affect you if you let it, ignore them and go about getting yourself painfree whatever the means.
I visit site from time to time, in hopes that someone will actually have a great doctor. I would like to get a message to Tina. The person under the number #130 who wrote comment at 2:12am on June 16th… You said you would like information on a support group..
I know of a great support group… I am Co-Admin of… Here’s where you can find us, & this goes to anyone else, who needs to vent, be with people ‘who get it’… you know,people like us..That understands the pain your going through… But we also cut up & laugh with a wicked sense of humor.
FBS/CRPS -the pain that stays Support Group
Thanks again, Barb
I have been labeled as a drug seeker. I had to go to the er with a terrible head ache which I have had for a couple weeks. They asked right when the PA came in if I was out of pain meds. My pain management doctor put me on Ultram which was fine for me. If it helped I would have been happy. Unfortunately it is giving me worse head aches. I have a brain disorder where some meds may worsen the pain where others help. I am not sure about the help part. I also have severe arthritis in my ankle and the pain management doctor when first seeing me stated he had been told I was a drug seeker. So I think I may be screwed. I need relief from the pain of my ankle and chronic head aches, but now I am at a total loss. I do not know what to do. No matter who I go to here they will all see me as a drug seeker!
I visit site from time to time, in hopes that someone will actually have a great doctor.. I would like to get a message to Tina. The person under the number #130 who wrote comment at 2:12am on June 16th… You said you would like information on a support group.. I know of a great support group… I am Co-Admin of… Here’s where you can find us, & this goes to anyone else, who needs to vent, be with people ‘who get it’.. you know,people like us..That understands the pain your going through.. But we also cut up & laugh with a wicked sense of humor.
Https//www.facebook.com/groups/fbsthepainthatstays1/ Thanks again, Barb
I find this site somewhat comforting if that is ok to say , I don’t feel so alone in this. I am a nurse to make it worse people are always looking at you because you have access they think you will steal. That’s not me ! Be I feel like i have to defend myself soon as people find our you take pain meds. Anyway after 5 disc herniations n too many to count pulled backs from job duties i none have that dreaded word fibromyalgia OMG if being on pain meds isn’t enough you get to try to explain this, even in the medical field … People do not know and i wish it it no one !!! A Strainer back how about a strains body n being beat not hit with a stick while your down, if you can imagine that. Most people say oh my but you can’t really imagine unless you have it. Hell i could couldn’t even imagine and I’m One of the most empathetic nurses you will ever meet or know. I cannot beleive this monster has take over my body a d now to have to less than beg for some releif from a dr that has NO idea what your going thru? I interview my drs. How bout that for a change to see if there knowledgable or compassionate to take me on. Start by asking them if they have any pain ? And if the answer is no . The they have no idea what we are dealing with . I listen to these stories here and will never forget being called a drug seeker i was floored, humiliated, I’m in excrustiating pain and to be labeled a drug seeker and a little red Fla was posted OMG you kidding me to top it off the dr says i will not be the dr to Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole, WHAT ? This is a joke , where’s the camera . I’m a nurse not a movie star lol if you can . I’m sorry just relating to all your post And had to share.but i found the best dr for this i could know he was referred by my orthopedic so i can’t be a drug seeker if another dr referred can i ? If i don’t have the medication i would rather be dead cause its hell to live this way with the so called PILLS to be without them , shoot me! Anyway if your in Florida my dr is DR Paul webster in Kissimmee on OAk street , physicians pain management n center (321) 442-8009. And to add to my therepy is my new Chiropractor and massage therapy dr camacho and group 407 933 1500 . He’s has changed my life …. :-) Good luck and god bless you all . I hear your cry and feel your pain and its not pretty :-(
Oh my i wrote a blog for the first time, with drs names n numbers i just wondering where it went so this is a retry of a post sorry .
So glad I found this site as it confirms everything I have gone through with doctors. Been suffering for a couple decades with almost no relief from any doctor, and I’ve been to many. Nobody can even diagnose me properly! One doc says it’s a disc issue, the other says that my disc issue could not possibly cause my symptoms and that I have fibromyalgia instead. What the heck do they teach in medical school?!? Of course neither has a solution.
I never smoked, drank, or did drugs, but they treat me as if I’m a junkie because I mentioned that chronic pain has taken away my quality of life and I want to feel better. I went to a pain clinic to get (hopefully) some better assistance and they made me do a drug test right away or they wouldn’t work with me. Wow, paranoid much? I am so clean I squeak … an educated middle aged professional female with no addictions.
I wish someone could recommend a good doctor who doesn’t have a pain pill phobia. I live in Wisconsin.
I have a question if anyone knows I have been seeing my pain dr for 13y and over the past 2yr my meds work they just dont last and on top of that I am taking care of my grandbaby. so last mo I ran short so I took something I shouldnt have but I run out! know he wants me to see a nother dr my question is he is putting refural in will another dr see anyone know???
I just felt the plight of being seen as a drug seeker. I recently had surgery on my right hip for severe osteoarthritis and I accidentally fell into a glass painting. I had an 8 inch bruise on my left thigh, cuts on my back, and serious bruising on my shins. I woke up the next day in excruciating pain and called to schedule an appointment but she was working at the hospital that day so I called there and she said to go to the emergency room because she was afraid i might have broken my hip. I was in so much pain I couldn’t even put on my socks. I went to the ER and they treated me like GARBAGE. Seriously, it’s like I wasn’t even a human. I told them to be careful with my hip when x-raying me and they just moved me with no compassion and yanked my left leg and I actually screamed out in pain which I have never done. I have never been melodramatic about my chronic debilitating illness. My dr. Said I have the hips of a 65 year old but I am only 30. Since I don’t look 65 they assumed i was a drug seeker. They wouldn’t give me any pain medicine while I was there and didn’t give me a prescription to take home. I don’t think I’d ever been so angry in my life. I know it’s hard for them to tell who is drug seeking and who isn’t but the ones who are have to suffer due to this bullshit. I am in pain management now because my dr. Wants to put off my two total hip replacements since they wear out in about ten years. I am scared and feel useless and sad. The last thing i want is some ER doctor profiling me as a drug seeker. Pain management is saving my life they treat me like a person there and I get therapy that makes my condition more tolerable. I wish there was something that could be done about this inhumane treatment but since I don’t fit the cliche stereotype of the average arthritis sufferer, I am doomed.
I am a Physicians Assistant and I see more and more of these types of cases in the ER and in the clinical setting. Getting narcotic pain relievers is fairly common place is the patient abides by some rules while being examined and questions. For instance, If I touch your lower lumbar area with my hand and you scream “Ouch” or break away from my touch it generally tells me that you are faking lower lumbar back pain. Your pain is not superficial. It is internal and unless you have been hit by a truck in your lower lumbar then a simple touch to the lower lumbar area of your spine should not emit any Mu receptor type pain superficially.
2. Remember, we are licensed professionals. Are incomes are dependent on maintaining those credentials. We are under a great deal of supervision and monitoring and scrutiny by the DEA and other Government regulations, especially in this day and age. We are not willing to lose our credentials for patients seeking narcotic pain relievers for simple recreational use. This gives us pause when see the same patient once, twice or three times in a month in the ER. That particular patient is using the ER as his overall treatment plan and has not developed a plan with his or her primary care physician or pain specialist. We will deny you narcotics when the trend is obvious. Sometimes, just sometimes we will give you a short dose to get rid of you. GOMER “Get our of my ER” 6 tablets of Hydrocodone is about all you’ll get from me. Your primary care doc should be notified the next morning, day or afternoon that you have visited us. He or she can determine is narcotics are the best course of action or use other alternative pain management that is available.
Or that patient doesn’t have a pcp. A lot of people have no insurance and so don’t go to see a doctor. They just go to the ER when their symptoms get too bad for them to handle. Yeah, some people use the ER as their overall treatment plan. Some of the people who do that do so because that’s all they can afford.
Or the patient doesn’t have a lower back injury. They have a chronic pain syndrome or a surface sensitivity that is bad enough that they can’t distinguish exactly where the pain is or….
I wouldn’t expect the ER to hand out scripts for 4 weeks of narcotics. That’s not their job. I do expect the ER to manage my pain while I’m there and for the limited amount of time (1 day? 3 days?) that it will take me to get in to see my pcp. Flat denial of narcotic pain relief from the ER (especially for patients who they’ve never seen before) is unacceptable.
Or the patient is a huge fake, trying to get high.
I am all for getting high. But I do understand the bind that medical professionals, who aren’t in the high business, find themselves in. Our idiot drug laws send a lot of people doctor shopping instead of just surfing to cheapvicsandpercs.com or dropping in to Morphine R Us after work.
I’m not questioning whether or not there are drug seekers. Of course there are. I’m questioning the default profiling of a first time ER patient that Scott strongly implies. If Scott sees me twice in one month for the same complaint or sees me on a semi-regular basis for various complaints of pain, I can’t blame him (too much) for refusing to give me drugs. If Scott sees me for the first time ever, I absolutely will blame Scott for not giving me drugs. People don’t present exactly the same nor subjectively appropriately. People are weird and varied in their social and medical interactions.
Shorter: Stop making “drug seeker” the default assumption when a patient complains of pain.
I see where you’re coming from…but I wonder about the stats. If 90% of Scott’s first-time patients eventually turn out to be mules for the Percocet cartel, then Scott’s assumption doesn’t seem all that irrational.
And apply public choice theory – he’s right about the worries about licensing etc.; you and I can think that he should just do what’s right, but – assuming he wants to feed his family – he has to maintain a happy relationship with the licensing authorities no matter what. His ethical incentive and his practical incentive may be grossly at odds; we know which incentives are most likely to be obeyed in that circumstance.
In any event, the right fix is MorphinesRUs, not hectoring doctors into being casual about pain Rx. If people are responsible enough to make these decisions, then let us make the decisions and get the gatekeepers’ role reduced to the minimum necessary.
I agree with your 2nd half of 146 (because Scott has no way of knowing the answer to your 1st half of 146) and 147, Robert.
Civil disobedience by medical practitioners could actually be very effective here. “What are you gonna do? Take away ALL of our licenses? Good luck with that.”
Since I have zero influence on the politicians, I’m gonna try to influence the medical community.
I’m a thirty-nine year old women who was diagnosed with MS eight years ago six months later I was also diagnosed with RA. I have two small children and have done my best to deal with in the most healthy way, even thou I am in a lot of pain most days I do not take any drugs to deal with my pain I try to manage it by try yoga, swimming 4 times a week and get lots of rest and I eat really well . my main problem is that is very hurt full to me is that I have had the same doctor for 16 years and been thorough all of this with me. But anytime I get really sick and pain is to hard to handle on my own my dr. sends me the ER for IV pain management because I cant keep pills down and they make me really sick IV is the only way I can go. My gastro has even informed them of my stomach issue and because I know after years of dealing with I know what meds work and which ones makes me break out in a rash. they treat me so bad like I’m a drug addict just trying to get a fix. and push me out of the hospital fast enough so the next day I have to go back because I’m worse the next day, then start saying that I need to talk to someone about my problem with pain meds for you kidding I get pains maybe three times a year when I come to the hospital I don’t take any pains any other time but I have a problem. its getting to point that I don’t know what to do when I’m in pain I feel that doctors are not going to care enough to help me live with this dieses. I help what I’m I doing wrong? how can I get treated better a the hospital and not be made to feel ashamed of what I have. thank for reading needed to get that all out. if anyone any suggestions on how to help me with this I would be so grateful.
Thank
LouLou
Why should civil disobedience be necessary?
If the medical professionals know best and have superior insight (which seems likely in many circumstances), then why are the opinions of state functionaries without medical competence in any way relevant?
If the medical professionals don’t know better, and need state oversight to keep them from murdering us all with arsenic candy, then why are the medical professionals put in the gatekeeper role and held to account by state functionaries for the uses to which their prescriptions are put?
Maybe it’s just the impending fifth decade talking, but I’m growing a priori weary with any claim to competence so superior as to override my self-direction, but which somehow need to be managed by the same class of knowledge worker that type up gutter extension permits.
I have what my pain doctor calls “the most painful condition somebody could have.” And I went undiagnosed for twenty years. I was finally diagnosed when I went to the hospital with aspirin poisoning when the pain got intolerably bad for a few days. My pain doc is AMAZING. I get shots, scripts for massage (so that insurance covers it), and yes, medication. One Christmas my normal med (Tylenol 3) wasn’t working because I was having a horrible flare up, and my doctor was in the Bahamas. So his nurse told me to go to the ER. A VERY snotty nurse came in, took my vitals, and flat out said “I think you’re drug seeking.” I was already in horrible pain and pretty pissed off as it was, and I snapped at this woman and said “Well no shit, sweetheart, I came here to get a shot of dilaudid, just like I was told to do.” A half hour later, a doctor came in, looked at my chart, and his face turned red. He called over the nurse who gave me an attitude and basically bawled her out. That nurse came in thirty seconds later with a shot of dilaudid and apologized. “I didn’t realize you were a pain patient, I’m sorry.” When you’re already in pain, and already feel an amount of guilt because of the way society views pain (“a real man can take pain,” etc.) and pain medication (“pills are a crutch,” etc…) along with the heaps of ridiculous unsolicited advice from everyone with an internet connection…. (“have you tried accupuncture/insert anything ridiculous here”), being treated like a drug addict makes it worse.
Scarily: my pain doctor says that in about twenty years all pain meds will probably be illegal. That was scary and depressing to hear. Without narcotic pain relief I would be suicidal. There’s a reason what I have is called “the suicide disease.” 98% of people who have what I have without meds kill themselves within two years of onset.
Great post, thanks for writing. :)
Alex,
I feel your pain (well not literally) but I have a serious painful case of osteoarthritis in both hips and I have to get two total hip replacements. I lived with this pain for years thinking all the popping and clicking was “normal” eventually it got so bad it felt like my hips were giving out on me. I have the condition of an elderly person and I am only 30 years old. You can only imagine how I get treated if I go to the ER. This was an unfortunate case of genetics. You can only imagine how scared I am because hip replacements wear out about every 10 years and I can’t be getting 3 or 4 surgeries on my hips during the course of my life. I am seeing a good pain management doctor now and he actually takes my pain seriously. I don’t know what i’d do if I was denied narcotic pain medication for my chronic condition. This is seriously the most painful thing I have experienced in my life and i’ve stepped on a stick that penetrated my foot, had a seizure at a grocery store and cut my left eye open on those hooks that hold the cheese, broken my hand, etc.. etc.. I wish I would have paid attention to this problem earlier on because it’s not like it’s reversible. There’s only one word to describe my situation: SCREWED.
Ok so how in the world do you get red flagged? And who finds this out? I’m a lol freaked out bc I’ve got a good relationship with my pharmacy that’s embarrassing. Life sucks especially when ur diagnosed with nothing but painful diseases.
i am also labeled as a chronic complainer, i am suffering with vertigo , headaches, gait trouble vision trouble, back spasm neck stiffness. daily for 12 yrs. with no explanation .some stenosis in neck , insomnia. ect. i was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer 3 yrs. ago which should have been found earlier do to my complaining . i a,m now told i cannot see other drs. cause of what is on my med. record. i dont know what they say . but everytime i seek a new med. dr. they get my med. record an dismiss me. so stressed out from this. angry ect. drs. actually hurt an kill people. they dont care anymore….. its all about the money for them.
I got the shock of my life on my last monthly visit (that my insurance company will only pay 1/2 for)- I take a total of 4 meds a day – Xanax for sleep, a muscle relaxer, one pill for breakthrough pain and blood pressure meds. I take one aspirin a day. I have to be randomly UA’d – but this time, my UA came back showing I didn’t have the one drug I am supposed to take every 3-4 hours as needed – the pain med (although I had taken one that morning). Then I was told that because it didn’t show up in my UA they had to send it to another lab at a cost to me of $500. They (pain management doctor) said that he had a agreement with the drug company to do this when the drugs don’t show up in your system-could be faulty pee cup or something. Then they (dr and nurses) tell me not to worry about it that everything will be fine. I get my prescriptions, and my next appt and am out the door. Left totally confused. Then it occurred to me – this is the price I pay for the privilege I get for being on a pain management program. My dr is scrutinized and I am scrutinized – I never take more than prescribed. I don’t drink. I am deathly afraid of messing up and losing the privilege (and of dying by overdose, by the way). But I live everyday in fear that my meds will be taken away from me for one reason or another. My life was handed back to me when I started seeing this dr – I went 27 years with pain and never said a word until I thought I would blow my brains out. What I can’t understand is why would I have come up with a Negative UA for a drug I am only supposed to take as needed (again I took one tablet that morning) but still had to have my test sent out for a more in depth look to make sure I am actually taking it? I swear, you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. But to be told not to worry about ($500) who doesn’t worry about that? and that everything will be okay, it just makes me wonder if I am helping to meet someone’s quota. You know – like the dr. is being blackmailed or something by the DEA. The company that may have made the faulty test doesn’t want to pay, the dr doesn’t want to pay, so I pay. But I know that drug was there. Am I one of the better examples of keeping this dr.s license in tact? Am I being punished for being good by not abusing my meds. Please Please someone help me understand this. If you know something tell me – If it is the price I must pay for the privilege than by God just tell me! I’ll cough up the money, but there is just no other explanation for it other than to say I am being used as a example of not abusing the meds I am given.
Rufdup,.. I have a pain med I take 3xs a day and I’m allowed 2 pills of something else for breakthu pain, AS NEEDED. I Have to take UAs no problem, but mine showed I didn’t have enough in my system either. Nothing was said till the second time that happened. Well damn. Your right dam if you do, dam if you don’t.. I’m sorry this happened to you, I really don’t know if your being used as an example or not, but if it comes back clean and normal as I’m sure it will I’d totally refuse to pay for the $500 bill its not your fault the facility had a faulty urine bottle!!!!! Are you on disability? Have you applied? I wish u lots of luck.. hang in there and keep us posted…
Barbara Hillyer – Thanks – I am not on disability – I work 40 hrs a week (full time and have 15 years left before retirement eligibility) and am over fifty..I only recently found out that my condition is covered under the ADA laws but can’t afford to go on disability – First time I applied (took a shot) I was denied because I was working – at least that was my understanding. You make sense: When this comes out clean and normal (and yeah, it will) then I should refuse to pay – problem is I am still stuck with the bill-its still in my name. It just makes you wonder and wonder – what are they up to? And can pain patients really trust their own drs? I will keep you posted – thanks again.
A Google search will provide you with articles written by doctor’s & nurses that advice other healthcare providers about how to spot drug seekers. First of all, over dressing or under dressing are both on the list. Secondly, all hospitals and doctors now have access to a data base that shows patient’s narcotic prescription drug history so lying about past doctors is a very bad idea. (and is in fact, one of the typical signs of a drug seeker).
Actual Signs of a Drug Seeker:
-Allergic to non-narcotic medication
-Overly nice
-Claims that only one drug works for them
-Under dressed or over dressed
-Either too knowledgeable about narcotics (Such as telling the doctor what medicine to prescribe, the milligrams, frequency and # of refills ) or pretending not to know the name of the narcotic that they want…the standard line is “Only one medicine helps me, I can’t remember the name but it starts with a D” (Dilauded)
There are more but please do yourself a favor and research online to learn directly from medical personnel how they identify and flag drug seekers.
One very honest doctor said that he determined a woman was a drug seeker based on multiple flags & sent her home with non narcotic pain reliever in spite of her claims of severe migraine. The woman came back to the ER the following night and another doctor ordered full tests. Turns out she had an inoperable brain tumor and would die soon. This doctor felt horrible and said that since then, he has ceased making assumptions about patients. Too bad he’s probably in the minority.
Hi my name is Sarah, I’m 34 , a mother of three boys, I homeschool my middle son and work job as well. I have been diagnosed with chronic pain , fibromyalgia , for 14 years as well as SEVERE chronic migraines . My question , I have also been labeled as drug seeker. By ER . I have as I said severe migraines, I have been in pain management, I AM allergic to all in morphine class as well as triptan class, I have had test after test run, well nothing worked was on pain med 5times day for years, and overs and over tried on new med for migraines wte came out . Had total hysterectomy done at age 30 in hopes of fixing it , didn’t . I have had neuro doctors and other doctors . No one wants to treat and the one that did got into trouble and dropped all patients. :-( horrible in if self.
But what do u do if u r doing as told and taking meds right pass all rest and nothing works but at shot of one med works and ur not allergic to, the doc u r seeing tells u to go to ER for the shot when it’s too bad, and u do what ur told and I mean full out vomiting, rocking, in the worst pain u r having anxiety issues and feel like blowing brains out migraine, of which I have three a week, u go to ER at least three times in a month to deal with pain because ur own doc tells u to so what r u sposed to do? Because ER doc has no idea of past testing or ur history, they only have ur word and a drug list on computer that shows narcotics u have used and r taking. I have had thousands of dollars in DNA testing done, and found out that yes I AM allergic to these meds I’m not crazy, what I say is really happening I’m not leading on, I am a nice person, I do hurt when touched and clench away, I am usually in PJs when I go cuz it’s at night.
Please tell me what do u do for that? What do u do when ur doc sends u to ER and the doc there treats u like a junkie seeking fix tells u ur in too much and that I know I’m and addict, that he won’t treat me unless it a med I’m allergic too or one that doesn’t work. He even went as far as to tell me that he knows I’m NOT allergic to the meds I am , when I have testing that says otherwise. ( douche) what to do, help!!!
I would add, always insist on speaking directly to your doctor. Pain clinic nurses are often judgmental and downright intolerant, even those who boast of “advanced practice” degrees or who carry the “Medical Assistant” label. Whatever they are, they are NOT your doctor and are not trained or licensed to make decisions on his/her behalf! I recently had a run-in with a very staid and matronly “advanced practice” nurse who outright LIED to me, saying she was speaking to the doctor about a recent change in my prescription, when in fact I could hear him doing dictation while she was supposedly speaking to him. This nurse also REEKED of alcohol, and not the kind used in the hand sanitizer she was using copiously throughout our little visit. Of course when I reported this misconduct (her lie, not my suspicions about her alcoholism) to him I was labeled, you guessed it, a drug seeking patient–and I AM A FELLOW MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL!
The sad fact is that pain is an industry in this country, and if our pain is curbed by the use of medication, we come in for less frequent spinal injections, which cuts down on profits for the pain specialist, who is in most cases just a bored anesthesiologist who got his medical degree from another country in the first place. If you find a physician with a heart, hold on to him/her for dear life because they are damned near impossible to come by and when they do exist they have the DEA and corrupt FDA (which is owned by big pharma) breathing down their necks threatening their licences and means of treating the patients they have the decency to care for!
To #139 I live in Wisconsin too. My most heartfelt advice to you (which I realize is not supported or advocated by this blog) is DO NOT go to Advanced Pain Management out of Milwaukee or any of their satellite clinics such as the one in Green Bay! They will use your spine as a pin cushion, give you addictive medication for a couple months (long enough to get you hooked and to trust them enough to stick needles in your spine as many times as the law allows) then when they’ve reached that maximum number or allowable procedures they will simply stop prescribing for you, COLD TURKEY without notice. You will just walk in to the office one day and be told, for NO REASON WHATEVER that they have “changed their prescribing practices” and you’re out of luck.
Their staff is always rotating, especially the ALLEGED “Advanced Practice Nurses” and “Medical Assistants” and they treat squeaky clean professional people like ADDICTS, even when they’re not even on opioid medications! They “say” the accept medicare patients but prescribe forms of drugs ONLY in the form that medicare does not pay for. That way they can claim they accept Medicare patients and get the government perks that entails but the Medicare patients cannot actually AFFORD their services because of their prescribing policies. They also charged medicare for a procedure that they never even DID on my neck! I have not yet decided if I’m going to sue over that, because it’s bad enough being a chronic pain patient. Adding a lawsuit to that would probably prevent ANY care from any doctor ever…especially in Wisconsin, the state that still lives in the medical dark ages unless you live in Madison, which is where I suggest you go to find a good pain doctor. University Hospital is likely to have someone young and unjaded enough to actually treat you. Good luck.
Regarding #156 who unbelievably, literally, shared the following:
“…Actual Signs of a Drug Seeker:
-Allergic to non-narcotic medication
-Overly nice
-Claims that only one drug works for them
-Under dressed or over dressed
-Either too knowledgeable about narcotics …”
What total ignorance. That is 1960’s thinking! At the very least it’s pre-internet in origin. I would love to say that no colleague of mine thinks in such archaic terms, but that would be a false statement. The sad fact is that despite its complete and total WRONGNESS, lazy doctors, nurses and pharmacists who have never experienced pain use this decades-old, outdated “screening tool” to deny patients in need the care they deserve.
The sad fact that it gets perfectly legitimately suffering people falsely labeled as drug seekers, when what they actually are is human beings who have been in pain for a very long time does not phase these phonies who have long forgotten the oaths they took upon entering their profession.
This angers me beyond toleration, and to see such garbage posted here, on a forum for people who are in pain is a slap in the face to us all.
Bachelor’s level Pain Management classes now teach NURSING STUDENTS that poorly managed pain patients develop stress or “Curlings Ulcers” which make NSAIDS intolerable and even more dangerous than they have proven to be for “normal” people. Furthermore, many people after years of poorly managed pain HAVE developed drug allergies due to repeated exposures to any number of toxic substances, which certainly includes plant and/or chemical-based medications. That is, after all, precisely how allergies and sensitivities develop!
Since when is being nice a bad thing? That’s just plain stupid. Some of us, most of the baby boomers now entering the age at which pain becomes more of an issue, were raised in a time when PEOPLE HAD MANNERS. That people seem not to have them now is NOT OUR PROBLEM! Being nice is not a personality defect! That is just screwed up on SO many levels! I will never be in too much pain to behave with common decency. So my MANNERS have labeled me as a drug seeker, yet if I don’t have manners then I’m a “low life dirt bag” and also labeled a drug seeker. This is pure bovine excrement!
Under or over-dressed. I understand not showing up in dirty, nasty clothing, but how can one be “over-dressed” for a doctor’s appointment? I take it I was labeled a drug seeker because I occasionally carried the Louis Vuitton purse my mother left me rather than my every-day bag? I should not have worn the diamond earrings but settled for the garnets instead…what? I’ll use drug store makeup next time, or would department store be a better middle ground? What exactly is “over-dressed” anyway? I’m sure no-one is showing up at the doctor’s office in a designer cocktail dress that never saw a rack and Stuart Weitzman Diamond Dream Stilettos. Seriously…
As far as knowing too much about medications. What person who has been in pain for ten years or more DOESN’T know what does and does not work for them? Why pretend otherwise? Knowledge that doctors used to so jealously hoard (speaking of hoarding) is now available to anyone with the ability to click a few keys and understand Latin based words of ten letters or more. Anyone with an IQ over a hundred can pretty much self-prescribe, and MOST COUNTRIES IN THE CIVILIZED WORLD ALLOW THEM TO. But the United States, the nation of “for profit medicine” does not, because the DRUG COMPANIES wouldn’t like that, because the cheapest medications are also the ones the work BEST and they’d put the VULTURES in the PAIN INDUSTRY out of business!
By these ridiculous rules, which would be laughable if they weren’t causing so many human casualties, someone with multiple well documented physiological processes resulting in intense chronic pain who has been on the same dose of the SAME medication for ten years, has never “lost” a prescription or needed it filled early, has never ONCE taken a prescription from another provider, EVEN WHEN OFFERED, and that includes ER visits and out of state visits strictly for DIAGNOSTIC workups (which cannot, at least should not be counted as doctor shopping, since all records are forwarded to the original physician) …that person by these archaic rules would still be considered a drug seeker for being too nicely dressed, knowing too much about her drugs (even though she’s a fellow medical professional) and TOO NICE! Because her “regular doctor” got tired of prescribing narcotics and her “pain specialist” prefers to use her spine as a pin cushion and then throw her away like to much used toilet tissue that person, an Army Veteran and Health Care Professional is circling the Suicide Bowl with NO OPTIONS. It’s inhuman.
This whole thing should be the new DSM5 definition of insanity!
To 161 – I was 156 and I seriously have no idea what you are talking about – did you get your numbers mixed up?
have horrible pain shooting through my arm and shoulder. has been like this for about 6 months ever since I’ve been on a job where my neck and arm is in a horrible position. was getting so bad that i was waiting for my benefits to kick in that way i wouldnt have to get personal insurance, so bad i got the insurance anyway.
was referred to a doctor by my co-workers who were getting pain medication (quick fix) with the same thing i was going through. saw the doc in june automatically perscribed me lortab 120 per month. Was like tic tacs so he upped my dose 2 months after and it’s been working out so far.
Then, his front desk person charges me the first time i went in, i get a bill 2 months after stating i didn’t pay. The billing person was very rude and he also charged the insurance company money for a SPLINTER REMOVAL. i did not ask him to do this he willingly did it on his own without asking me or letting me know there would be a charge. same day he upped my dose. i let the billing person know I payed but i will look into it with my bank. She still was rude and i grew frustrated and then she hung up on me.
Week later i get a letter in the mail from my doctor stating he was terminated the doc/patient relationship because i spoke ill of him and his staff and was beligerant (never happend.) and he would be willing to send my records to new phycisian.
now i don’t know what to do. I need to obviously find a new doctor soon i hate the late nights i can’t get any sleep, being in that horrible pain. was told it was most likely from a car accident i had back in 2011. but he never tried to diagnose me. just sent me off with the medication, although it helped very much (also have horrible cramps, migranes which the lortab helped with all of that) now im left with nothing and probably no refills.
I don’t know if i should be honest with my doctor, or take my persciption to my new doc if that will be any good? this doc was just not a good match. would like an honest, more hlepful bed side matter, but i do need to make this pain go away.
any suggestions would be nice.
To # 163, couple of things- 1st- I hate to hear your having this issues. You have ‘the right by law’ to write & submit a letter to that doctor that has dismissed you, DIS-agreeing with what they have put in your file & the reason you were dismissed. It’s called an ‘Amendment’. Make a copy for yourself, Mail it, to where it requires a signature upon delivery… Give it a week or so, then ask for A COPY of your medical file from them, (it may come on a CD) & the letter you wrote, had better be in there!!!! When you find a new doctor, & hopefully you have found one by now, hand deliver your medical records, CD whatever form it comes in. You have to be totally honest because now days the data bases are all linked together, & they will find out if your not telling the truth then that Amendment you wrote for you record, is out the window you will never be believed again, & guess what– Yep you’ll be labeled… Good Luck, Keep us informed so that others that may run across this situation, will know what to expect. Barb~ Anyone needing support or learning how to manage their chronic pain– https://www.facebook.com/groups/fbsthepainthatstays1/
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My doc just “fired” me because I called in after hours after they messed up a prescription order and insisted they call the after-hours doc. The GIRL (kiddie voice) on the switchboard said I was rude and threatened her.
I’m 49, an educated, working professional and am sick and tired of being treated like a criminal. I was asked if I had ever been a victim of domestic violence or rape, and told “you HAVE to answer this.” (I refused on principle). The doc said this makes me more likely to become an addict, so they must limit my meds to prevent this – although it leaves me in pain and suffering. Uh….rape and domestic violence are not someone’s fault the last time I looked. I’m tired of taking drug tests and told I’m lazy because I don’t want to do “group therapy” with other pain patients. Talking about pain isn’t going to make it go away.
Doctors have forgotten that THEY work for us, not the other way around. I’m a CUSTOMER, not just a patient.
Unfortunately, no. You are not a customer. You are a resource, a source of income. Look at it this way – if you don’t like your pain management doctor, where are you gonna go? Yeah.
Wouldn’t it be nice not to be treated like a criminal just because you suffer from pain? I’m not sure how we get there from here.
Careful there. I’m almost 33, and on the phone, I sound about 8. I’ve gotten used to “Is your mommy or daddy home?” from strangers calling my home number, but if I answer the phone at work, I expect the person on the other end to assume that I’m an adult.
I’m tired of taking drug tests and told I’m lazy because I don’t want to do “group therapy” with other pain patients. Talking about pain isn’t going to make it go away.
Just to hopefully provide a little encouragement… I work in mental health. I supervise a student working at a pain clinic who provides individual and group counseling, and no, talking doesn’t make the pain go away but it can help with the anger, depression, and other feelings that make living with chronic pain even harder. It can provide ideas and options for how to cope with the times when the pain is bad and make the most of life when it’s more manageable. It can make you feel less alone.
I hope you’ll give it a chance.
I’m not sure how we get there from here.
End paternalistic governmental overreach on health care matters by reformulating the FDA as an informational and research bureau empowered to investigate and publish the safety and efficacy of drugs, and eliminate the government’s claimed power to tell free citizens what drugs they can and cannot use.
Gettng the state to give up the power is the easy part; getting liberals to give up the idea of a warmly avuncular government making sure everyone’s boo-boos are fixed, and conservatives to give up the idea of a sternly protective government making sure nobody does anything antisocial or naughty, would be much more difficult.
Some of those liberals would say that we just need to get the avuncular government to see the wisdom of letting there be more access to pain meds; some conservatives would say that we just need to have the paternal government do a better job of researching which pain drugs aren’t, you know, fun or something similarly distressing. All those people are well-meaning, but inhabiting the Bozosphere. All human institutions are going to get things wrong, sometimes more than other times, and governments are not immune to that; a government with the power to regulate an area of life is a government that can and probably will fuck up that area of life periodically, occasionally, or – as in the case of drugs of all sorts – continuously.
The way to get the government to stop fucking up an area of life is to forbid the government from being involved in it.
All right there tea party. I am just as scared as the rest of us seeing as I have to get both hips replaced in my 30s. But these genetic fucking retards screw ed us all. Now that is why they are back all on heroin. Why do you think Margaret Sanger supported planned parenthoood so bad? To help the impovershed? No. It was eugegnics. A means of population control. Thats where Hitler got the idea. Check your facts and by the way the cheap ms contin I was prescribed made my feet and legd swell until they became red and painful. Hopefully my doc believe s me when it doesn’t show up in my drug system. Social Darwinism. May the odds be ever in your favor[Moderated by Amp.]
I am also in pain all the time for years I have both knees replaced l4 s1 disk fused 3 shoulder surgerys hip surgery total of 32 operations I think.I still get the look and you don’t need this I an now 60 years old and was told on 9/18 2013 that I need a mother back surgery sure dont know what to do. I have no family that will help me I guest I am so hard headed I want ask.
Hello
Just a little about myself I am 60 started having surgeries when I was in my late 30s had knee surgery first then a year later another short story by the age of 45 I had to have both replaced 3 shoulder surgeries hip surgery elbow both hands 2 disks in my lower back fused that was 2 surgeries hand surgery on both I don’t think I forgot any but total 35 surgeries. I went to the Dr 9/18/13 and he told me I needed another back surgery. I know how it is to go to a Dr about pain meds. The way they talk to you is not right, I got kicked out of a pain clinic because I raised my voice to the pill nurse just to get a prescription for my pain meds had to set for 3 hours and still got charged a co pay for setting in the lobby for 3 hours no Dr no nothing just setting there. It is not good to be in pain all my and your lives.
Promised an update so here it goes: Everything as it should be – I have the best pain management Doc in the world. It was as I expected: so many tests a year to prove you are not abusing your meds or any other type of meds, drugs and so on. The bill I got from the lab that tested me charged over $800 of which insurance only paid 250. I am stuck with the bill, but I can say, my Dr trusts me to the degree he can trust any of his patients. He has to do what he has to do and I have to do what I have to do. As long as I am in compliance and not abusing the privilege, all is well. I am still a little upset over the lab charges, but then again, Doc’s contracts is with a lab not a preferred provider. Oh, well, small price to pay, right? I do have a great deal of respect for my Dr. He is honest and has my welfare in mind.
Not sure why my post was moderated and crossed out. I was a little angry at the time of writing it and may have crossed the line. I do apologize and was just venting. At any rate I had my doctor’s appointment today and was completely honest to him about the morphine situation. He was totally fine with it and understood and didn’t threaten to cut me off anything. He just decided to try something different and everything is fine. I had myself worked up over nothing. But yeah people on here are right. If you actually do find a compassionate doctor. Hold on to them for dear life. I feel lucky now. This doctor actually saw a woman die from a Tylenol overdose. He said back then there was not much they could do for her except keep her comfortable and just watch her die. So yeah I would say his heart is in the right place and he is in the right profession. He is not foreign or bored or a vulture who isnists on unnecessary procedures for more profit. He is nothingbut full of compassion and understanding and keeping you as comfortable as he possibly can. God bless people like him exist. My physical therapist told me not to take the drug seeking thing personally because I have the condition of an elderly person but physically it doesn’t show. But sometimes it is hard not to. But I understand the position these medical professionals are put in. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t, right?
Hi everyone, this is my first time commenting in this column. This is in answer to rufdup. Count you blessings that you have a good Doc who understands and works with you. I about had with these Doc’s. I need surgery on my neck C4-C5-C6, however the only surgery I can get at this is fusion; since the FDA has not approved multiple disc replacements at this time. Of course the pain from the bulging discs is driving me nuts. I am trying to wait for the FDA to approve multiple disc replacements because I do not see the benefits of fusion surgery since 85% of patients have to be re-operated on, whereas disc replacement has been proven to have only 5% of patients to be re-operated on.
In the meantime I have been out of work since September 2011 (still fighting for my SSDI). My Primary Care Physician referred me to a pain management clinic which prescribed pain medicine for 1 month. When I went back the next month they asked me for a urine sample, than 10 days later they asked to come in for a pill count. Then they called me and stated I tested positive for Marijuana, I told them that this was impossible because I do not smoke that stuff and I don’t drink either. I am very careful in what type of medicine I take (I hate to take pills). I am 63 years old and have never been treated so bad (the staff was horrible and snooty).
Now my Primary Care Physician informed me that she will retire by the end of this month. Therefore I have to look for another Doc. Being in pain on a continuous basis really sucks (sorry). I bet you that nobody in congress who has chronic pain has to face the problems the average citizens has to content with on a daily basis; I bet you they have no problems getting their pain meds. As long as people stay isolated and do not unite and build a coalition it will remain this way.
I shattered part of my humerus and had a partial replacement basically to save my arm. I had Norco for six months then was told to use Ibuprofin but even up to 800 mg doesn’t really touch stretching, pulling, burning pain of scarred muscles not to mention frozen shoulder. So chronic pain is part of my life. I wish there was something that worked on it but alas, no. Can’t afford massage therapy so that’s out.
Guess I just have to get used to it and being nauseated when it’s worse. Not much else you can do…it could have been worse.
All the chronic pain med patients ever discharged from our practice have been caught forging RX’s or totally breaking their contract for pain meds repeatedly. We hear the same stories of losing pills (dropping the toilet is a favorite, as is a guest to the house stole them from the medicine cabinet).
A red flag is the new patient directly supplying records rather than their former doctor’s office, so the advice about having your old records on you is poor.
This is for #177 (works at PCP). In regards to providing your own medical records. I am an Ex-Army wife, and while my husband was in the Army we were instructed to always cary and maintain a copy of all medical records, even when we are not affiliated with the Army anymore. So your assumption (you know what it means) is wrong. I am sure that there are many former military children, and wifes, as well as ex-wifes do this automatically since we are so use to it. Not everyone that has their own records is a druggie. That is most definitely stereo-typing. That means your establishment may also discriminates against others (race maybe?). I do not deny that people may do those things you mention; however, you may want to take time to listen to your patients without preconsived notions. If you can not do that, then get out of the medical business.
I also usually have my own copies of my medical records. I move a lot, and I’ve found that, when I ask the doctors’ offices where I used to live to send my records to the offices wherever I move to, it’s really a crapshoot whether the records will actually get sent, and if they are, whether they’ll be complete. I always get copies of my records before I move.
Ok so the long and short of it 30 years old, served 6 years in the Army, two purple hearts a bronze and a silver star, college educated and in IMMENSE PAIN. My last tour ended my military career with an IED explosion, long and short of it I am damn lucky to have legs, but I have had both knees replaced and about 4 dozen pieces of shrapnel pulled from my chest adding to the already crazy relief map looking set of scars ( 2nd tour saw me taking 3 Ak rounds in the chest from a secondary shooter a boy of 14years old mind you, as I breached the door as point man) I have severe nerve damage to my spine as well as damage to both the bone and discsL4-C7 , leaving me in debilitating pain. I go to a private pain clinic ( 3rd in two years ) because well frankly the veteran health care system is draconian to say the least. No a few dozen posts back some one lists overly knowledgeable, polite, and over dressed as a sign of a drug seeker? I gotta say this is just asinine, but sadly true. I was home a week ( this is June by the way) at best, first appointment with my doctor, I was dressed in my uniform medals and all ( I’m proud and make no bones about it I ended my career as a captain 75th Ranger Reg. ) was polite, and sat patiently despite being in agonizing pain. The Dr, came in calm as day and said “ for a man who claims to be in so much pain you sure look like your holding up well there sport”. Sport oh hell no, so I replied to him calmly “ Doc ever been shot in the chest? And still have to contend with hostile combatants, and pick up a friend who just had his face removed by Hajji?” Didn’t think so, how about dragging your friends out of a fucking burning humvee? Yeah I am in good sprits because I can sit in a room and not worry about being shot or blown the fuck up. That ended that relationship, I moved on to a second Dr, who frankly could not diagnose a common cold and wanted to push PT on me ( yeah sure running 3 miles a day with 2 fake knees and sever trauma to the lower spine will sort every thing out) he also thought that because I weight 230lbs at 6’3’’ that and I quote “ I am obese” and need to bring my weight down, in order to relive my pain. Bullocks I’m 230lbs with a fucking 8 pack set of abs. 3rd Dr. Finally this guy gets it, I don’t want heavy artillery I want time release meds with just enough to allow me to get back to work, and to allow me to do PT properly ( I work as Private Military Contractor, speaking 3 dialects of Arabic, Afrikaans, French and Cantonese, ^-^) So I need to get back to my feet and back to where I belong ASAP. The fact that these Drs for a lack of a better word to call them are either all too willing to hand out way to much medication to people who look like they just shot 3 bags of dope, and then turn around and give the poor bastard with one leg and half a fucking face aspirin just boggles my mind. But I digress, I just wanted to rant a bit and tell every one hang in there, there are good Drs out there dedicated to relieving pain and improving your quality of life. Because frankly that’s what pain management is about improving your over all quality of life. Hold Fast!
Christine Horold- I really feel bad for you – I know your pain (not to sound stupid) but I have similar back issues with the bulging discs and stenosis and other either injury related or natural happenstance issues. I agree with you that it is not fair to suggest that people who carry their medical records are druggies (really ignorant comment made on that by whomever). My mother has serious serious pain and she is 74. Her doctors won’t prescribe anything for her either. I can attest to the fact that she never smoked a cigarette let alone pot. She was and is a great mother! It angers me that her doctors treat her the way they do – however, all of her doctors are military doctors (yes she is a dependent). She has had knee replacements – she has had other surgeries and still they will not prescribe anything to offer her relief. I am so angry about it that I referred her to my doctor, but unfortunately, he doesn’t take new patients (makes me think my days are numbered). It brings tears to my eyes to see her hunched over, bearing an insurmountable pain – I don’t even believe my pain is comparable to hers. I cannot understand why her doctors won’t help her. I truly understand how you feel and can relate. I wonder how long it will be until my medication is denied to me – the quality of life I think awaits me is terrifying! I just don’t believe anyone cares about the elderly. It’s as if they want these folks to suffer. Again, I am sorry you have to go through this – All I can do is wish you the best and hope your kids are there for you as it is all I can do for my mother.
Hi rufduf,
I am sorry about your mom, and I feel for you. My daughter is a VET and had ACDF surgery, PTSD, as well as bad knees, (is fighting for her benefits), she is in constant pain and really can’t help me. I am staying with her to help her as much as I can. I am thinking about relocating to one of those states which allow medical marihuana because I am at my wits end, eventually I will move to another country where medicine is still practiced. I want to live a more productive live. I am so disgusted with the medical profession in this country. What ever happened to the doctors who really gave toot and treated patients like the suppose to be treated, with dignity. You may want to watch Dr. Gupta’s program on CNN.com about medial Marihuana, it is eye-opening to say the least. Thankyou again for your concern.
this is a reply to fSequence1123. First of all I want to thank you for putting you, live on the line. My daughter was in the Army, although she served state side, she has been given the run around by the Vet-Admin. Just went to an appeals hearing in Winston-Salem for her benefits. She had ACDF neck surgery in 2010 and is still in pain. They took x-rays, and said she should be alright, she asked to have another MRI done, her PCP told her she didn’t need one. I finally had enough and went with her and told her PCP, if she did not let her have an MRI I would notify the AMA, the Vet Admin in DC and report her. She got her MRI 2 month later, and it showed that there was additional damage above and below the disc where she had her ACDF. Of course, when you inconstant pain it also plays on your psyche, and she now has anxiety, and depression attacks. It help sometimes to vent your feelings, even though it does not lessen the pain. Rest assured that people on this panel are always want to listen, and give advice when they can. Please continue to cronicle your journey on this site, and I want to encourage others to do the same. In the meantime stand strong!
To Christine thank your daughter for her service, here or there doesn’t matter we all pay that pound of flesh for our service. I hope your daughter continues her long journey to getting better, and I feel for her with the vet admin, it is horrendous, and always a battle with them. I feel for her and the panic attacks and depression as well, comes with the territory and the hassle of dealing with the government. Hold Fast and best wishes
i am amazed at how awful some of your doctors are. i’ve gone to the same doctor for 4 years now and recently dealt with addiction to meds that he had prescribed me. i went off everything for awhile and he will never prescribe those meds again but hasn’t let it interfere with me being able to take meds that i actually DO need, even if they are controlled substances.
obviously everything is easier said than done but there’s no reason any of you should have to put up with someone who is supposed to be a professional treating you this way. if you find a new doctor and insurance accuses you of doctor shopping and you call and explain (and/or complain/are demanding enough) they will most likely listen to you and fix the situation- or at least my insurance has the multiple times i’ve had to call them.
I am a wondering how many here are have Work Comp related injuries? I worked for our schools for over 10 years (LOVED MY JOB and the kids LOVED ME) Being pretty computer literate, I was often asked to help in the computer lab. Well, I have not worked for many years and did work through horrendous pain for many years. The reason for all of the following is because on day I was asked and one other gal to set up an entire computer lab by ourselves, even after asking for help. This was when MAC was the choice computer and they were all one HUGE machine. We had to remove 34 Macs and set them on the floor in the back of room, and then lift out of boxes and put on tables 34 new monster machines. I could not raise my arms over my head after that, or braid my hair, and was in constant back pain, I finally filled put work comp papers, thinking it was my back (It was my neck, like it just more or less blew up in between a disk and more stuff). Now 15 years later after a very badly botched neck fusion (which I and the Dr knew was BAD) but he chose to ignore. I even had an MRI at the hospital by the surgeon on call, and he said there was something very wrong, but my Dr had to choose how to handle it. HE DID NOTHING, and sent me to chiropractic for years with metal that was never fully connected. After many years they finally admitted, yes the screws were never connected, and neck never fused. I then insisted and went to (sorry this is long) USMC and the head of cervical surgery did a 10 hour surgery thru the front (saying he had never seen such a twisted mess in all his years) then when I woke up, was told the too could not finish connecting (I am very petite) and they were going in through the back, another 10 hour surgery through the back of my neck 3 days later. I finally settled my case , after being so stupid I didn’t even have a lawyer, and the JUDGE herself said to me to leave and when I came back to my court, have an attorney, they were screwing me royally (in judge talk though). I got a little money but mainly settled for lifetime medical on what was left of my neck. Since then I have been treated like this entire ordeal was my evil plan and it’s going swimmingly. I am so lucky, DAMN I’m good, I am AMAZING!!! So…After all these years I still have to fight for meds, for any help. It’s like I am doing my part of the signed deal, and they don’t have to…they can change the rules as they go. IT’S UNBELIEVABLE how shitty I have been treated just for REALLY being in pain! I even waited too long to get disability, and was denied FOREVER for being honest. I do consider myself an expert on WHAT NOT TO DO with Work Comp and Disability. So if anyone ever is going that way, talk to me and I can guide you on what definitely NOT to do. If you are still with me. I thank you for sticking it out. Just one more thing, I can relate to EVERY single post in this thread. Hang in there fellow pain sufferers!
I am so very sorry for the way you have been treated. You are not just a hero (YOU are a SUPER HERO) and our kids should have little dolls and such of you and your men instead of Spidey and the other fictitious hero’s. YOU are real, they can reach out and touch you, and you helped save their homes and family for them. There is no way to ever repay you! My husband was a Marine, who lost his father ( a civilian aircraft trainer) who went down in 44, when my husband was 2. He never got to know his hero! You know I am 56, my hubby is 73, and he doesn’t partake, but my cable TV is almost always on “TCM” and the old black and white movies and stories of real men of WWI and WWII, and how people and hero’s were treated then. It was like an entire different world, and we didn’t have all the COOL stuff, but it was better, people were better! This country has sure changed and let the War Veteran down (IMHO)I would love to shake your hand some day sir…and I salute you! We fly and an American and Marine flag at our home EVERY DAY, proudly! I will think of you too now, when I look at them. I hope you find the help you need. And just as much, I hope you get the RESPECT you deserve! Thank you for your sacrifice, and if I could ever do anything to help, (I know I can’t) but I must offer! Thank you!!!! Teresa (Please don’t make fun of me because I speak sincerely about what I believe)
i feel for all of u iam trying to do this with a gal s2 i dont think it will let me post anything with a android device to bad i am 63 and have lots. of info to share
more of the stuff the docs try same old same old.
i dont understand when will my comment show up soso i know
dress professionel as u can .i am63 and have a good friend a doctor but 2000 miles away he would not write if i lived next door . when he was in med school and broak pennyless. iallways helped him when he was home for a braek from school he went on to become a promanet doc i new he would . he told me the docs talked about patients like they were stupid anamals . now with the dea comming down it makes it lots more harder than it was.
i am a computer dummie with lots of info il. ol post it when i see thiss one come up tillthen i need to get a lap top this smart phone makes u need pain med
Thanks to Obamacare, and the laws of the ACA, you will NOT be able to just doctor hop and seek opinions or any help from multiple doctors. I have been suffering with chronic pain since I was in an accident in 1999. I’ve had multiple surgeries that have not fixed the problem and I have a lot of trouble getting pain medication or any understanding. I’ve been labeled a drug seeker. Going to the ER, never again. They have me black listed. Does not matter what my husband tries to tell them or what records we show them.
I tried to go to another doctor recently in the city, to see if they could help me. He pulled up my name in a database on his lap top and told me that he sees where I have visited 5 different doctors in the region for help. He told me that he didn’t think he could help me. He chalked me up to being a drug seeker. I could see it all over his face. I asked him how he knows what doctors I have been to, and he showed me his lap top which is the database put in place by Obamacare. Right there was listed every doctor, and their remarks on their records.
At this point, what is the point in living. No one wants to help me. My husband is about to move me to Mexico and seek help there, where some doctors are more humane about pain management.
Taylor, I went through the same exact thing. I began having severe anxiety attacks in 1997. I was diagnosed with GAD and PTSD. After being tried on every SSRI that they could throw at me, the psychiatrist agreed to put me on xanax. I was young then and didn’t understand how physiologically one can be addicted to it how tolerance to the drug can build. The xanax took all of my panic away and it allowed me to live a normal and happy life. It was the magic bullet for me. I was able to take care of my kids, home, and later, start college. Before xanax, I couldn’t even sit in a college class, I was so panicky. Xanax did give me my life back. About 3 years into the drug, the psychiatrist said “Now lets take you off of it, it’s been long enough”. I thought, sure, why not? I’m probably going to be OK and my panic is under control now. Wrong! As soon as I tried to taper off of the drug, the doctor’s way, and like most doctors who prescribe benzos, this one had absolutely no idea how to do a taper. I became violently ill the first week of the taper, was in the ER with racing heart, chest pain, you name it. I came completely unglued and my life started falling apart. I went back to the dr and I did beg, it was pathetic, but I did not want my life to come apart, and I was desperate for the chest pains, panic, etc to go away. Really, the dr had no idea what to do with me, so he listened to me and put me back on it. Shortly after, this dr retired and I was bounced to a new dr who had a real understanding of my anxiety and never had a problem refilling my scripts.
My life continued, I went back to college, my kids grew up more, and then… I moved to another state, and had to go through the whole ordeal of meeting a new dr. I was nervous that this dr was not going to be understanding, and it turned out I was correct. The new dr, who shared a practice with 2 others, the ONLY psychiatrists in the town, immediately told me “I will not continue this xanax script. You’ve been on it too long”. So I kindly excused myself and tried to go to a general practitioner, and you know how that goes. They treated me like I was a drug addict, and told me it was time to get off of it. I tried to go to another doctor in the next city, same treatment. Finally, went back to the psych dr and told them, I need at least a month or two on the script filled so I can start a taper. DR agreed but told me he had no idea how I was going to taper it. Can you believe that? I was sent off with a 2 month supply to taper on, and after that, no more.
I wish I could tell you that everything went OK and found someone who understood me but I cannot, because I was forced into a taper. I did a lot of research online, found out how to titrate a taper, and went in with the best of my ability and got through it. I thought I was going to die. I truly suffered and my husband, bless his heart, went to the doctors here and tried to fight with them for me. I was in and out of the ER with blood pressure spikes. SO, they had to put me on a beta blocker. ONCE I got on the beta blocker, the rest of the taper went so much easier. No more heart races, no more BP spikes, no more shaking.
I don’t know if this can help. I will tell you that the atenolol helped take the panic away for me. It’s a hell of a lot easier to get a dr to script you for blood pressure medication than it is xanax. So I’m on the atenolol and it works very well for me. It’s not the greatest drug, but it does keep it under control.
I’ m so sorry that you are going through all of this. I know how it feels and hope you able to find help with it.
Dear comment 180,
I cannot even begin to imagine the hell you’ve been put through. It makes me so sad. Not only having to deal with psycgological but to have physical pain as a constant reminder. My dad was Vietnam he still has ptsd and never properly dealt with it. Needless to say my house growing up was like army training. Lot’s of verbal physical and psychological abuse and torture. I was broken down but was never built back up afterwards. I am now in ptsd therapy for war veterans. Though I was not in actual combat I had to fend for my life and was in a chronic state of fear. I am learning through therapy that I’ve been severely traumatized and it had severely affected my quality of life. I ran from that traumatization for so long I still have nonidea who I am and that is scary. What scared me the most was after i got diagnosed with this physical disbality and still can’t face up to the fact that I need to total hip replacements at 30 I just stopped feeling I wasn’t sad or angry or indignant. I felt numb dead inside I felt absolutely nothing and that’s scarie than any feeling ever. I guess 180 what do you do to remain strong? I know I am a girl and we are weaker but I have done nothing but have to fight a different kind of war my whole. But see I never signed up for that. I was into the trenches with no tools or training I live by fight or flight now. I do know when put into a situation where my life is being theatned that I know I will fight. But I get so sick of always having to fight something and even having to fight and wait for pain medication that I dont.even want to be dependent on. I used to use comedy as a coping mechanism. If you come from such darkness you’re allowed to make light of it. But once I got a physical disability on top of the constant mental anguish. I was ready to throw in the towel for good. But i remain swinging. I am not ready to give up. So 180 how do you cope? At least thro if h this intense therapy i am finally reaching out not recoiling in fear. Yet i still struggle from leaving my apartment. And yes ibam educated too just stuck in hell that’s all. Sorry for venting. I hope you read this 180.
Hi 193 fellow ptsd sufferer. I am in special therapy actually on the .gov website. It took me years to face the fact that I had been traumatized and it was ruining my life. In some ways I can than my physical pain because it woke me up from mental pain I put myself through. And I knew it was time to do something because subconciously I was slowly killing myself. I hated myself because of the trauma I exerienced and my hippocampus has actually shrunk to protect from the worst memories. I wouldn’t have made it though college without benzodiapines and addmedication. I couldn’t intimately relate to anyone because they all had it so easy. I never talked about past with them because how would they feel what would they say? I faked so many of my emotions my real emotions for so long I didn’t know who I was. I was diagnosed ptsd in 2009 I had been sufferibg forever and didn’t realize it. I tended to self medicate much too often with alcohol of course that goes unnoticed in college haha. I blendedin just fine but never felt like myself. With the diagnoses I accepted from my therapist s I was never completely with them because i didn’t want face that darkness in
side me. Denial was always a welcome presence in our family. I am in Cognitive processing i leave each session shaking uncontrollably it is so hard. But I have to get it out and learn to deal with it different ly I am an intelligent person and my quality of is not what it should be.
Oh and Stephanie I know bad xanax withdrawal can be my pdoc had me on xanax xr. But once it would wear off my central nervous system would be out of control and I was having even worse panic attacks! I am klonopin now itkeeps my general anxiety control but I am still afraid of everything. I mean you name it from meeting a new doctor to return ing something to the store. I always make up excuses for not doing something and I actually believe them. That’s something I am working through witg my new therapist she’s the only one ive ever trusted after 10 years of being in and out therapy. I am so far removed from myself I don’t even know what happened ness is. I wish you the best Stephanie. We have invisible illnesses and doctors don’t really have tests for those do they? Why don’t they just set up a lie decector in the office? We are already treated like criminals when we were vitimized are too scared to ask for help and whenwe ffinally are often looked down upon. My blood pressure was so high the last time i was pain management I was scared it had never been that high in my life. And nothing was even wrong! I just therapy actually works for this time I am tired of living in fear avoid ing reality.
So my last pain doctor quit seeing me because my insurance dropped me me and in ohio its considered illegal. So I waited and waited to see my new doctor. I filled out the Ohio health financial aid and was finalky accepted at 100 percent care. Have NEVER BEEN TREATED SO HORRIBLE!!!!!!He said that I was a “liar” and I was nothing more than a drug head in this town. And until he seen my records frm my previous pain dr he wouldnt see me. I asked him what am I supposed to do suffer? And he said yes if that’s what you want to call it. And I can’t live on pain meds for the rest of my life. That I need to.suck it up and get over it. I know I am facing another back surgery. A 360 fusion. He commented and said why are you doing this. Your second surgery is going to be just as big of a mess as the first one. And people like him are going to have to pay for it. I said I’m sorry you think.that way. I told him I am was willing to try anything to help with this horrific pain. I mean this is the type of pain that makes you think of suicide. Our discussion got more and more heated and he said what do you want from me..I.replied I want help..he told me he wasn’t God. And until he gets records to prove that I am not lieing he refuses to.see me. I am in serious.depression. I see no help for me in the future. Just a future of unbearable pain and no life. I can’t even get married cause I wouldn’t be able to walk down the aisle or enjoy a honeymoon . And my next surgeey is 462, 000 I will never pay that off I’m my life. I feel as If my life is.over.
I regret trying to be helpful and alerting pain med patients that supplying their own records to their new pain med doctor is a red flag – it clearly was a waste of time based on the rude and/or ignorant responses it generated.
I never said you shouldn’t have a copy of your own records, but that a new doctor won’t fully trust they are getting your COMPLETE records when you, the patient on controlled substances, are the person handing over the records and not the former doctor who legally MUST provide an EXACT and COMPLETE reproduction of ALL the records requested on a HIPAA compliant release within 30 days or face huge fines. Wake up, or remain in denial, not my problem. Adios.