My opinion is the PCP should wright the scripts, orders from Pain Management. This would save time and money for many people. My wife never sees her PCP because she's worthless, doesn't understand RSD. If she was a good PCP for my wife she would learn about RSD but many don't but should. How can someone even be called primary care doc if they aren't? Insurance company mumbo jumbo really.

i know its late but what saved me was being a veteran,no more private docs, for me seems they could care less

I am so sorry you are in this predicament! This angers me very much!
I can not believe this!!
You have a VERY serious condition, of which you have vested in getting TWO SCS's - and this Dr won't even lift his pinky to write out a script for your BT pain, yet his pockets have been VERY generously lined with $$. Yes he may be very skilled, but this goes beyond arrogance.......this crosses over in to laziness, GREEED and NEGLECT.
This makes me absolutely SICK.
I don't know what to say.
I'm just so sorry.

My Dr who did my implant sounds VERY similar to yours, and yes I guess I can understand that he's very busy doing his high-end procedures - but he should at least have a specialist of some sort to take care of this so-called 'little' stuff...which in reality isn't 'little' whatsoever - this is our quality of LIFE we are talking about. You aren't getting any follow-thru healthcare on procedures that target very serious pain conditions. Unbelievable.

Something just isn't right with this picture.
You should NOT have to be in this situation.

I am a patient at the pain clinic of the hospital my PCP is affiliated with. The way they explained it to me at the pain clinic was that those docs do not write for pain meds because there were too many problems with patients calling in after hours for pain meds, bugging the on call anesthesiologists who were doing surgeries, etc.

I'm now playing the WC waiting game waiting for insurance approval to be seen at a different pain clinic that will write recommendations to my PCP who will then write the scripts for narcotics.

My neurologist has been writing for my Vicodin, but my regular health insurance that pays for my meds has dropped him, so currently I am private paying but I can't afford to keep paying $105 a month just for that med.

Finz, I am really surprised that your WC claim is not covering your meds. Maybe this is something that you should check into. Lisa

You're not the first person to have a pain management doctor who gets locked into one or two major types of treatment that just happen to make him a truckload of money, meanwhile writing out monthly scripts for narcotics is not near as profitable, hence I'm sorry to admit that I think this doctor has his values driven more by his profit margin instead of your care and needs.

Real pain doctors look at the damage and then decide what's right for "you." With the type of injuries you're battling and the pain that goes with them, you do need a multiple discipline approach which will probably include medications. As much as I believe in the power with staying with one doctor, I think that if you were to look for another doctor and explain yourself out the way you've told us here, other pain doctors would understand why you're unhappy, therefore not holding your need to change to a new doctor against you. Your well grounded attitude will show the doctor how and why this problem is occurring. This will lead to better pain management. The problem isn't you, it's just your doctor if you ask me. By the way my heart really goes out for you. Bob.

Finz, I totally agree with Lisa, I was a wc case and they payed for everything, and I mean everything, They even heated my pool,solar with gas back up. When ever I had a problem with them I would call my lawyer and he would file for an emergency medical hearing. I definitely think this is an emergency if you have been withou meds for so long.
If you have a lawyer, Please contact him and let him/her know what is going on, they will get it taken care of. Hope you feel better.
Your friend Wendy

Ugh ! I DO NOT want to open that can of worms. Yes, they should be......and should have been all along. When I started this game, no lawyers were involved and a different primary was writing for my meds, so I just had scripts through my regular insurance and never thought about it. I don't want them to know figure it out and slam me with 6 years of med costs !

Plus, WC would probably do the WC thing and deny coverage or make me wait forever for things.....and my WC lawyer acts annoyed whenever I call him........

So.....yes, you are right but I will do almost anything to not have to deal with WC

I agree!
And regarding his office being 'bothered' with too many people requesting pain meds.....well, there's NO EXCUSE for neglect! If he's willing to do these high dollar procedures, he needs to be responsible for the ENTIRE package that goes with this. These doctors know dang good and well that the SCS usually still needs supplemental pain relief options.....
This is what DELEGATION is for!! He certainly can afford to staff a licensed individual to take care of these follow thru health needs. It wouldn't be that big of a deal to have someone taking calls and filtering the pain med requests to someone who can be on top of this.

There's only ONE other thing that peeves me more than what this thread is talking about and that is PHARMACY SKIMMERS!!!

I've seen up close and first hand the reality of what this type of corruption is doing to innocent people trying SO HARD to do whatever it takes to have their legitimate pain needs taken care of and yet for one reason or other, so many are not able to get the pain relief they need and deserve and end up hopelessly looking at ending their lives as the only way out.
I'm sorry to be so dramatic, but it's a reality that I can not comprehend.
There's NO excuse for pain patients to suffer, when there is PLENTY of REAL pain relief available.
Why not just let the street junkies be left to their own fate - the 'war on drugs' has gone wayyy over the top.
Can't we just shove them all in one of those multi-BILLION dollar space probes we are spending tax money on and send them out into space......
yeah.
Cuz obviously that money isn't going to go to the cause of trying to PROBE for cures of these conditions that plague us.
Ok, done with the Andy Rooney Rant
I'll shut up now.

I am lucky with my PCP, she prescribes my pain meds. I have been dealing with rsd for almost 20 years and have seen a lot of doctors, specialist and tried many treatments. Early on most of the doctirs treated me like it was all in my head and wouldn't prescribe pain meds. My ortho would only prescribe a minimal amount of meds and would not refill narcotics. They were only given for after surgical procedures and then I was lucky to get 30. My current PCP is wonderful she referred me to PM who I saw and didn't like. All he wanted to do was put me on Lyrica which I didn't want to try because I had a bad reaction to Neurontin. He basically told me to come back when I decided to try Lyrica, I haven't been back. I have rsd in my lower extremities, hips and spine. It also effects my right arm and hand somewhat, I have color change and temp change in my hand and occassional burning in my hand but it is tolarable where the pain in my legs, hips, feet and spine is not. The PM also said he would do epidural injections if I wanted them, I am on coumadin for dvt and chronic veinous inefficiency and coming off coumadin and going back on is not a simple thing for me and would involve a hospital stay of a least a week so I have been hesitant to try the epidurals. I am stable on my current regimen of coumadin and don't want to mess that up going on and off or increase the risk of new clots by going off. I will be on coumadin for the rest of, my life because I have Factor V Leiden a blood disorder that makes you more suceptible to getting blood clots. My PCP prescribes everything for me and I am currently on Norco 7.5mg though have new script to increase to 10mg because pain levels are increasing. I'm also on Robaxin and Celebrex. I wenr many years without proper pain meds and I'm thankful my PCP is willing to pescribe enough pain meds for me and actually gives me enough for a month and not just 30 at a time. Talk to your PCP he/she should be the head of your team.