Re: Rant about pain control

[Guest guest]

Wow, Marie! The ignorance of these doctors who are NOT living in our

bodies is totally mind-boggling. I wish they could experience one day

of what we deal with everyday. How dare they tell you how you are not

feeling! Doesn't it make you just want to stomp on their foot and then

when they yell " OW " tell THEM it doesn't hurt?!?!!

Have you ever gone to a pain management doctor? That's where I started

when my PC's office decided they would no longer write for pain meds

at all because of the ones who abused them. Sucks, doesn't it? Once

again innocent people are having to suffer the consequences of the bad

people. Anyway - I had a really good pain management doctor that was

more than willing to work with my Rheumy in keeping my pain under

control. Now that I don't have insurance, I switched PC's and had to

give up my pain management doctor, but I am grateful the PC I have now

knows I don't abuse my pain meds and works with me to keep the pain

under control.

I can feel the pain in your words when you are trying to make it up

the stairs at night. With all of the symptoms you described, do you

think you are in a full blown flare? Perhaps your Rheumy can put you

on prednisone until it calms down? I would also ask for a referral to

a pain management doctor. Please let us know how it goes tomorrow. My

prayers are with you.....Doreen

>

> <<what do you take now for your RA marie?>>

>

> I am currently taking Enbrel weekly, depo medrol injections

> monthly, and tramadol, though the doctor will only give me about

> half as much tramadol as I really need. She thinks I am currently

> doing " wonderfully " . I suppose if you define spending most of your

> days alternating between the couch and the hot tub as wonderful,

> she's right.

>

> The Enbrel worked better for the joint pain and stiffness than

> anything else I have tried- outside of Vioxx- for a while. In my

> own personal experience, RA is like the Borg from Star Trek- you

> can slow it down for a bit with something new, but it learns and

> adapts. Lately, it seems to have spread out to every muscle in my

> body- for the past three weeks I have felt as though I had a

> terrible flu- exhausted and hurting absolutely everywhere. Some

> days it's all I can do to make it upstairs to go to bed. Nothing

> more than my own hardheadedness keeps me from giving up and

> sleeping all night on the couch. My husband and I have decided to

> sell our two story house and move into a ranch with a first floor

> laundry when the housing market recovers, but for now I am going to

> sleep in my own bed even if I have to be half carried up the stairs

> each night to do so!

>

> I see the rheumy tomorrow and I plan to have a serious discussion

> about pain control with her. For all the talk about how no one has

> to live in pain these days, in my experience actually getting pain

> medication is a challenge. Took me 5 and a half years to get the

> tramadol- and then, only half as much as I need to dampen the pain

> enough to function somewhere close to normally. When I asked for

> the slow-release tramadol, the doctor told me that it is only for

> people who have pain every day. I told her I did, and she replied

> " no you don't " . And she's better than my primary doctor- he told me

> that " tramadol is a very bad drug " and he doesn't like to prescribe

> it. End of discussion. Yet I know of people getting ridiculous

> amounts of very potent painkillers on a regular basis. How does

> this happen?

>

> No one wants me snowed on painkillers less than I do- I just want

> something so I can remain productive. What in the world do I need

> to say to these doctors?

>

> ~Marie

>