Unsure Where To Go From Here

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

I am new to this group. Here is my situation. I have been having joint and

muscle pain intermittently for several years. Recently during my pregnancy,

the joint pain became quite severe, affecting all of my joints. They chalked

it up to fluid retention. After delivering my son, it did not go away. They

did all the bloodwork for RA, lupus, etc. and all came back negative. My

primary care doctor sent me to a rheumatologist. She said my exam was

" remarkably normal " but never even brought up FM and never did any trigger

point palpation. She prescribed me Percocet 5 mg and told me to come back in

2 months. Well, they couldn't get me the next appt until 3 months later.

During that time, the pain became more intense and besides being in my

joints, was also in my muscles. I even have pain in my chest when taking

deep breaths. Even the backs of my thighs hurt when I sit on the toilet. In

addition to that, I also began experiencing bowel symptoms...what basically

felt like diarrhea cramping, almost daily. I have also always had restless

leg syndrome. The pain was so bad that I was having difficulty getting

through the demands of the day, especially with a new baby. I called the

rheumatologist to discuss the increasing and changing nature of my symptoms

and several times was told she was on vacation. Finally, I called at a time

when she was there. I broke down on the phone with the person who answered

and explained my frustration. I wanted to speak with the doctor about what

could possibly be wrong with me and if there was any other treatment that may

work. At the time I was only taking one percocet at night. This was giving

me temporary relief. I fully expected the doctor to call me back but instead

the receptionist called back and said she had spoken with the doctor and the

doctor had said that percocet was all she could offer me because I was still

nursing my baby. I told the receptionist that it was only giving me

temporary relief though. She said that the prescription said I could take it

every 8 hours and that's what I should do. I explained to her that I didn't

have enough medication to do that because I wasn't due back to the office for

another 2 months. She said that would be no problem, just call for a refill.

Well, instead of taking it every 8 hours as instructed, I took one at night

and one in the morning. It was giving me a few hours of reduced pain so I

could get some things done. Well, when I called for a refill (had gone

through 60 in a month and a half), the doctor called me back and left a

message on my voicemail scolding me for abusing pain medication. She said

that she had called my primary care doctor and told him the situation. I was

floored. I had not even gotten to talk to this woman since my initial visit

of only 15 minutes with her. I had tried desperately all those times to get

her to discuss what was going on with me and I could never get her to call me

back. I wasn't even taking as much as the prescription had said. Well, I

wrote a letter to her explaining how wrong I thought her treatment of me had

been and sent a copy of it to my primary care doctor. Neither of them ever

called me back. So now, I don't even want to go back to my primary care

doctor because I feel the relationship has been tainted. In all the years I

have been going to him, I have never asked for pain medication. I hadn't

even asked this rheumatologist. So I don't know where to proceed from here.

I really think FM is what I have based on my symptoms and everything I have

read. I really think I need to see a doctor knowledgeable about it and at

least get a diagnosis. I don't care about " getting pain medication " , I just

want to feel better. How can I go about finding a primary care doctor

knowledgeable about this? The only doctors I can find who are supposedly

knowledgeable about it are specialists and so I would need a referral from a

primary care doctor. And now I am also afraid that this whole thing is in my

medical records and so any doctor I go to will right away think I am some

kind of drug addict. I am a high school biology teacher, a devoted mother,

and I am married to a police officer. I am hardly a drug addict. I am just

so horrified this has happened. Any advice? Sorry this is so long...I am

just so desperate for some help. I can't keep living like this, it's

wearing me out and making me depressed. Thanks in advance.

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YYYYMy Gifts From GodYYYY

Hannah 12/96 & Hunter 3/02