pain specialists

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Mitch, even though the medical board here in Indiana has begun really tightening down on docs who write too many rxs for controlled drugs, the pain specialist my daughter sees is an idiot (why she still goes there). My other daughter went with her once & she didn't even see the doctor. A nurse asked about her pain level & gave her 6 prescriptions! The whole thing took less than 10 minutes. They don't require her to take her actual meds in so they can see if she's taking them correctly. She's on a fentanyl patch, fentanyl lollipops, some kind of narcotic, klonopin, xanax & sleeping pills. It's ridiculous. She drives 1-1/2 hrs. to this place. I've tried to get her to switch to the Ind. Univ. med ctr in Indianapolis, about 45 min. away, but she doesn't want to. I'm sure she's afraid that they will actually do the job of a pain clinic & not just hand her a bunch of rxs. Sorry for the ranting; you can tell this is a sore point with me. I'm afraid that if this clinic gets closed or something & she gets cut off, she'll have a really bad withdrawal. Several years ago when a doctor stopped her heavy-duty pain meds suddenly, she had seizures, hallucinations & a psychotic break. So the idiot psychiatrist got her on a bunch of benzos & she ended up needing inpatient detox from those. I believe that she has taken so much for so long that she is having tolerance withdrawal now. For those who don't know, tolerance withdrawal occurs when the body has gotten so used to a drug that it no longer recognizes it, so that the patient experiences withdrawal even though they are still taking the drug. You can keep increasing the dose until eventually something really bad happens, like an accident or coma. And there are lots of doctors out there who just keep giving the patients these drugs! One guy here in my area was writing rxs in the name of the patients' relatives. He got caught when one of these relatives found a pill bottle with their name on it & knew they didn't get that rx! There have 3 or 4 docs in Indiana in the past year, that I know of, having licenses suspended or revoked, and yet it continues. It's very frustrating--infuriating, actually.

Ramblin' RoseModerator A merry heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22

To: Neurosarcoidosis From: mjcv29a@...Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2010 09:57:09 -0400Subject: Re: Not tolerating meds

,

How much pain are you in? I have had severe pain for over 15 years and being a Chiropractor I fought taking pain meds and tried natural remedies and when they didn't work I tried all the non-narcotic meds. Neurontin worked great in high amounts for me but after a few weeks gave me narcolepsy. I didn't realize I had Sarcoid and had nerve damage and other side effects from it. I was really getting depressed because my way of life was miserable. My pain scales were close to 10. The funny thing is, if it were any other patient I would have sent them for serious pain meds until we figured it out (I hate seeing people in pain).

I finally went to a friend who convinced me that going through life in pain in no way to go through life and I gave in. It has been a roller coaster ride especially since the biopsy came back for Sarc 4 years ago and the steroids started etc. then the arthritis and if you got through the FSR book I have pain in 80% of the places we can have it. And a few they haven't written about lol.

Most Pain specialist in my area are idiots. They make all their money off of injections and I've had talks with the Doc in 2 of the biggest groups and what they really know and care about pain management you could fit in a thimble.

If you have a primary start there. There are so many immediate and time released meds that can help you. Don't be afraid of the term narcotic or addiction. Very few people who are in actual pain actually become addicted to the meds and if you have someone who knows what they're doing they can get you off of them if you need pretty painlessly.

I've found in the last 15 years after having it all happen to me that I can help 90% of my patients naturally but the ones that I can't I help get out of pain any way we can. I really believe the depression will quickly decrease once you deal with the pain.

I actually drive an hour and a half to a Neurologist who is also a pain specialist who understand s about what we're going through and it's worth the drive. I also drive 2 hours to a Pulmonologist in NY because the guys in my area know nothing about Sarc.

Let me know if I can help

Mitch

Not tolerating meds

I have had a rough year. Just recently the doctor tried me on a new med, Cymbalta, from which i developed side effects of increased chest tightness and pain. A home health nurse has also been visiting me once a week. Every time they try a new med for me...I don't tolerate it. Previously i tried neurontin and that had side effects for me, too. At least the nurse said she told the doctor i should visit a pain clinic. And she also told the doc that i should try another antidepressant. I took a test for depression and scored very high. I wish they would try an immune supressant but the depression and pain are higher on their radar. and i am too depressed to get mad enough to fight for more. ...maybe if we get a handle on the depression i will get some balls and fight harder. lol.... S. Life may not always be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we might as well dance!