Help Chronic Pain

Question:

Kaiser really stinks. you have to know how to deal with them. Yes they think Im a addict that just wants pills, but I put my foot down.I tell them"ok, if you dont want to give me the meds, then do something for the pain!!" I just had 2nd Lap, and the Dr. said she couldnt find anything and wants me to see a specialist.. And a GI. Dr. Where about do you live? Maybe I could help you out… You should insist on seeing a specialist. Hopefully they will understand your pain. I have been on darvocet for 2 months now, it is my only way to function. But now my Dr. wants me to stop. If she does it will destroy me. Im useless without them because it is the only way I feel better. Motrin is not a pain reliever, it is only an antiinflamatory! I take 3 800mg. a day. Plus the other.     Jeanine

Response:

Yep, I now have Kaiser, and can no longer get the vicodin that I had taken for the past year. They don’t care that I am in alot of pain. I am going to have to find another MD, and just start paying for my own medical care. Kaiser is worthless. kb – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It sounds to me you have the same problem as me. You must have Kaiser. My husband thinks something happened with them and they arent allowed to give to many narcotics.

Response:

It sounds to me you have the same problem as me. You must have Kaiser. My husband thinks something happened with them and they arent allowed to give to many narcotics. I dont know, but it is the only thing that helps the pain. My body is so use to motrin, I could probably take as much as a normal person could od on. Email me if you want to talk some more.      Jeanine

Response:

Tell the pain doctor how you feel, detail your pain, be completly honest. Why not tell your OBGYN, its your pain .If he is uncomfortable treating it you have a right to see a doctor who can and will. If you do see a pain specialist and they presribe pain meds you should not get prescriptions elsewhere. What I mean is, if your pain specialist is treating your pain then they alone should be in charge of you pain care. Be honest , tell your pain specialist what has worked and what has not, pain clinics do alot more then just presribe medication. Good luck

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Hi Jennifer, Just wanted to tell you that I agree with Laurie’s post; keeping info from doctors will just make it worse for you in the long run (that’s more likely to get you labeled a ‘drug seeker’). And if your gyn is such a dimwit, get a new one (I realize this is easier said than done, I went through 4 gyns in this year alone before hitting gold with my present one).  But you should be getting the pain relief you need, without all the stress doctors can put on you as well. My primary care doc is a pain specialist, so she prescribes any pain meds (she’s reasonable with them, but only after months of seeing her and proof from all my specialists that I had legitimate, chronic pain– before that she’d only give me enough vicoprofen or soma to last FIVE DAYS!)  Not only was that taxing to always call her office, thus seeming obsessive and drug-seeking, but it was a pain in my wallet as well (my co-pay is $5 whether she calls in 15 pills or 90!!) But my old gyn, who did my lap (ineffectively–long story), refused to prescribe anything but tylenol 3 and motrin 800 (by the time I was seeing her I was already past the motrin stage and had developed an allergy to codeine (I was fine with it when I was younger w/ wisdom teeth pulled, etc.)  But although she would prescribe T3s, she absolutely refused to prescribe anything w/ synthetic codeine that was basically the same strength!  After debating with her, her response was "I don’t know of any other drugs than T3".  How much of a b*tch was she being?  I’m the patient and could’ve rattled off about 15 names of medications.  Then her true self came out: she wouldn’t even prescribe ultram (which was basically ineffective but I was desperate), and said she was hesitant to prescribe anything but motrin b/c of "what those things do to your liver".  For a while I was in this surreal cycle–my regular doc would say "this is gyn-related, get pain meds from your gyn" and the gyn would say "well your pcp is a pain specialist, get them from her." Whew, sorry, didn’t mean to vent! )  At any rate, do what you have to in terms of finding doctors who will pay attention to your needs and give you some relief!!!! Take care, roja —Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.—

Response:

And do I have to tell my GYN that I am seeing the pain doc?  It is not that I want to lie to him, but I have gone through quite a lot already and I don’t want him to discontinue my treatment all together.   I might be overreacting, but I want to be prepared for anything

The wisest course of action is to let any doctor that is treating you to know what else you are being treated for.  If you have a pain mgmt doctor prescribing you pain medication there is no need for your GYN to prescribe pain meds as well.  But other medications that he may prescribe may have and adverse effect on you and the wrong drug cocktail as we all know can be fatal. Why would your doctor stop seeing you for your gynocological reasons just because you are seeing a pain mgmt doctor??  What does one have to do with the other? The pain mgmt doc treats the pain, the gyn treats the reason for the pain, in my mind they should be working hand in hand to come up with the best solution to your current medical problems.  Also if your gyn decides to stop treatment, I would suggest finding another doctor. I myself had a drug problem in my younger years, all of my doctors are aware of this, they do not like to prescribe addictive drugs just because, but they will if I need them.  I have never had a problem getting pain medication from my doctor, nor have I had problems getting xanax and valium for my TMJ.  They do not prescribe it loosely and I do not go thru the presciptions like crazy to make them think I am abusing it….because it can be months to yrs between prescriptions I have had no problems when Ive called them and told them I needed more.  As far as pain medication I was on it solid for quite a few months back in late 97 early 98.  My doctors again felt no reason not to prescribe the drugs as I needed them for endo pain, and as I was having surgery they realized I needed something to get me to that point.  I took the drugs only at night so that I could function during the day, due to the fact I was taking less then prescribed, again, when I needed a refill they had no problem refilling it. I think you need to talk to your doctor or find a new one, a doctor who feels someone is addicted to drugs or is looking to abuse drugs just because they know the name of the drug is an a**hole. Good luck Laurie

Response:

Hello all,  I am going to be seeing a pain doctor on Tuesday for the first time.  My PCP has turned over my pain management to my GYN- who does not feel comfortable prescribing anything for pain.  I have been on Vicodin ES for a few months from my doc in San Diego ( before I moved to LA ) and made the mistake of mentioning to my GYN that I thought that Vicodin would help me better that Motrin, because I have been on both.  So of course as soon as I mentioned anything by name he decided that I just wanted drugs-which all of us know is far from the truth. Anyway I was hoping somebody that sees a pain doc could give me some pointers. And do I have to tell my GYN that I am seeing the pain doc?  It is not that I want to lie to him, but I have gone through quite a lot already and I don’t want him to discontinue my treatment all together.   I might be overreacting, but I want to be prepared for anything!  Well thanks in advance and good luck to everyone having procedures this week. Jennifer

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