re: pain meds and doctors and more to Scot

[Guest guest]

Scot wrote: Pain meds..... I hate that subject. After seeing my GI

Doctor (the first one I've seen outside of the hospital) I was given

Propoxyphene-APAP 100/650 QTY 30. They lasted me 8 days.

I'm out and in considerable pain. I called in for a refill and the

Doctor called me back. He said he could not perscribe pain meds over

the phone. I would have to visit him for every perscription and they

would never exceed QTy 30. I asked how he has treated similar

patients. His first statement was to mention that the majority of

patients who were similar to me were people who could not stop

drinking.

Scot,

Is there any chance of you finding another gastroenterologist in your

area? I know it's tough to find the good ones, but personally, I

wouldn't be able to deal with one like yours. I drank before my

first hospitalized attack, (not right before, but in the years

before). I admitted this openly at the time, since I didn't know

diddly about pancreatitis, what it was, where the pancreas was, what

caused a pancreatitis attack, etc. I was dumb to it all.

On my first appointment with my GI he told me that if I continued to

drink, it would kill me. That simple. So I told him I'd quit, which

I did that day and never turned back. Fortunately, this doctor

believed me and never brought up the subject again. When I fired

this doctor and found a new one this year, I told him my diagnosis

was alcohol related pancreatitis, that I used to drink prior to my

diagnosis and that I had given it up in April of 2001. He, too,

believed me and has seen enough of me and treated me enough to know

I'm telling the truth. In fact, he's the one that thinks the

original diagnosis was incorrect, and wants to test me for genetic

related pancreatitis. But I'm getting off the subject here. The

subject is that these doctors trusted and believed me when I talked

to them about my habits, and my pain. They both increased my pain

meds when necessary, as my disease developed continually and the pain

along with it.

After my last attack, which has lingered longer than any earlier

ones, my GI increased my meds once again, up to a 50 duragesic from

the 25 and up to 2 10's percocet instead of one. He knows I'll only

take them if I absolutely have to, and many times I don't. But it's

there if I need it. There's great reassurance in that, and in knowing

that I don't have to get down on my hands and knees in debilitating

pain to have my pain issues addressed. My first GI would write a

prescription for 90 Percocet, enough then to last me 3 months without

having to see him. Right now my other GI is only writing a script

for a month's worth, but that's because of the problems with my

pseudocysts and his need (and mine) to see me every month to monitor

what's happening. During the summer when I was doing well, he would

write the script for a month's supply, and I would have to go to his

office each month to pick up the refill script, but it didn't require

him to see me. And I know that now that I'm feeling better, we'll

probably go back to the once a quarter appointment schedule again,

and he'll adjust my scripts accordingly.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are doctors out there

who are a little more flexible with addressing the pain issuses of

their patients, and your doctor would be too rigid for me. There's

also the option of a consult with a good pain management physician,

who could work with you on the pain issues and take that part off the

responsibility of an unyielding GI. I went to a pain management

physician with my first doctor when he was initially hesitant to

prescribe adequate medication for me, and based on this other

doctor's recommendations, my GI changed and increased my medications

until we found the right medication to handle the pain. Having

someone else's professional recommendation often takes the burden off

the GI, since many of them are afraid to try anything that they

haven't already used and prescribed for their patients before. Would

you, and your GI, be willing to work with an outside consultant in

this matter?

Those are just some options that I thought I'd throw in. Many of us

have been at the point where you are today, so I wanted to give you

something else to think about.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.