Has this doctor mentioned when he is going to wave his magic wand and make the source(s) of your pain go away ?
I absolutely understand how difficult it is to find the right doctor to work with you to manage your pain. I also understand that they are under some pressure. Docs who over prescribe make the news all the time....they can go to jail, lose their practices and families because of one bad patient who was a drug seeker and went out and did something foolish. I understand that that can make them cautious....but damnit, it does not give them the right to treat all of us like we are just looking to get high !
I'll be honest.....I have been having trouble incorporating this next bit of advice in my own "pain story", but I'd recommend bringing a spouse, friend, parent, whomever, to your appts with you. Have them rehearsed and ready to speak up with saying "Hey, that's only 10 days worth of breakthrough meds !", "What do you expext her to do the rest of the month ?", "With current meds, she can sit up and watch tv....she can't do housework, go out with friends, or interact much with the kids !" etc
Bring a pain log to your appointments showing your pain levels each day.with meds, ice, heat, tens, laying down, and all of the other stuff we have to do to make life bearable.
If you are feeling nervy......and have a new pain doc lined up (
), ask this joker what the maximum dose of morphine is. The answer is, there is no limit. I've had one patient who needed 1200 mg every 8 hours to control his pain while he was still on orals. I'll be honest.......I worked in hospice, so docs were more willing to prescribe higher because there was a limit to how long the patient would be taking meds. I am not trying to make light of someone being terminal, but if they can need high doses, why would a doc who treats a patient who is going to live another 10, 20, 30 or more years with chronic pain not think their tolerance will increase over time ?
As CP'ers, I do think we need to do everything we can in the non narcotic pain management area to make sure we are doing everything we can to manage our conditions. I think, for instance, if I were to ask for an increase in narcotic but also refuse to try Neurontin because I heard it makes people gain weight or it adds to brain fog, I think the doc is justified in saying no to the increase in narcotic. If the Neurontin made me vomit frequently and the narcotic did not, I think he should increase the damn narcotic
Okay....I'm done my rant now
I hope you are able to work things out with your doc....or it is time to find a new one.
Wishing you less pain
