Unhappy with pm doc

[Guest guest]

Hello everybody I lurk a lot but have not posted in a while. My pain

management doctor has a rule that none of his patients will be

prescribed " short-acting " pain meds to deal with breakthrough pain

(i.e. Lortab, Percocet, etc.).

I am on Kadian 60 mg twice a day and have never felt that my pain was actually

controlled. I had hernaited disk surgery in December 2005 that was useless and

referred to a pain mgmt doc shortly thereafter.

There are many days that I stay in bed b/c the pain is so bad. I find myself

wondering if it would do any good to go to the ER or to call my PM doc and tell

them how much I need relief.

Of course, if I go to the ER, I'll be put on a list as a drug-seeker so that is

really not an option. If I call my PM doc, I'll go through the office people,

MAYBE get a nurse to call me back, and be told that they won't make any

medication changes.

I don't know if adding Lortab or Percocet would help at all but I wish I could

just try to see if it will help on the worst days. It just makes me so mad that

he has this blanket rule that applies to all patients.

If he looked at my case and still felt that I shouldn't add that, I would

understand but he won't even consider it. I never, ever

see him, only a nurse so everything goes through her.

I just wonder if this is typical for PM docs? Do you actually get to

see your PM doc occassionally? Does your PM doc refuse to make any

changes to your meds to try and find a comfortable level?

I want to find a new doc but, of course, I don't want to tick this guy off since

he and my surgeon are the only docs that can provide letters and support in my

SSD appeal.

I know that most of the people on this forum are in much worse

situations than me and that is why I don't post much. I think my life is close

to unbearable and I can't imagine dealing with some of the things that I read

about on here. I just want to know what your

experience is with PM docs so I know if he is really as bad as I think or am I

just being frustrated?

Thanks to everyone who make this group a source of support for the rest of us.

Please post your experience with PM docs. Thanks!