After dealing with a major flare over the Holidays, without even asking for any other pain meds, I came down with a NASTY case of Bronchitis for the past couple weeks......of course triggering another flare..Grr. My doctors office actually sent me to the ER for the diagnosis because of how severe my symptoms were... I was told to go to my doc or back to the ER for any worsening symptoms. Well for the past 48 hrs I haven't been able to sleep because my coughing is so bad or I had to blow my nose or something.... the ER doc gave me an inhaler, Mucinex, and a Z Pac to take only if I didn't start getting batter within three days. I had been using the inhaler and mucinex and tons of cough drops, I've the counter cough syrup daytime and night, sitting in my bathroom filled with steam before bed, all in an effort to ease the cough enough to sleep. But it wasnt working. Sooo I called my doc to make an appointment this morning, Friday, to see if I could get some Codinr cough syrup to help me sleep, but he didn't have any available appointment so they told me to go to the urgent care attached to the office because I would have to be "seen" for that type of script......
Let me start by saying I haven been on ANY narcotic pain meds since September....
The doctor who saw me was acting really weird. cold, detached, and kind of suspicious, as well as curt and arrogant. Which was odd as I had heard him with another patient in the next room and he was lively and funny... Now the triage nurse at the urgent care noticed I had pretty high blood pressure and was concerned as i guess it can cause complications with bronchitis. Well the doctor didn't even talk about that, he did "double check" with a crazy to make sure it wasnt moving to my lungs, but then came back after looking at them, and said " well you have a cold" in a very disdainful voice like I should expect to feel this way. when I said I thou chin t I was diagnosed with Acute Bronchitis he said yes you have a cold, again in the same tone. I said well which is it, bronchitis or a cold, to which he tried to say they were the same thing.....NOT. And he proceeds to tell me to do the same things I have been doing but th at he "won't do anything else" for me.... I had been and was being very polite and Caldwell what about codeine cough syrup to help me sleep, and again explained about my doc not having any available appointments to prescribe it hence the reason I'm here... Well he didn't like that apparently because he got all huffy and said I cant you are on a pain contract?!?! I told him no I wasnt that I had been off all narcotics since September. All he said was well " I Dont know about that". This is through the same clinic as my docs office, and you can clearly see what I am currently taking!!! And he just tells me he won't do anything else??
OMG!! I realized as he was leaving, even though I have NO history of abuse, am NO LONGER taking ANY kind of narcotic, I am STILL being treated as a drug seeker/abuser!!! I probably shouldn't have been shocked but I was........
And I knew if I spoke up about how he was acting it would just make it seem like he was right .......and I STILL can't sleep for more than 20-30 min naps without being woken from coughing!!
Well I plan on filing a complaint with the clinics administration on Monday but am still very sick and not sure what to do about it....
like we don't have enough on our plates but we have to deal with pompous, assuming, arrogant, Aholes like him too???
As an after thought I texted my specialist to see off I was still on a pain contract if I'm not taking any narcotics and she said absolutely not btw.....frustrating!!! And extremely INSULTING Mindsets in some people!!

I am so sorry you are going through that...for freaking couch syrup! The inhaler probably isn't helping you sleep either with those side effects. Might be contributing to your high blood pressure as well. I wish there was something I could suggest. Teassalon perles? I have not taken it myself and certainly don't know if it would be medically safe for you, but I have seen it help, maybe worth asking?
I hope you get to feeling better soon.

Bleh! That's about all I got to say on that one. That's just terrible. It's hard when you're sick too because we all feel extra pitiful when we aren't well and are in need of hot tea and kindness.

I'd definitely complain. While I understand that urgent care centers get drug seekers and don't like to get into that, this just seems like overkill. It would've been nice if they could've called the pain office on giving you something.

Feel better soon,

hi songbird. i'm so sorry you are going through all this with your drs but i understand all too well. i am dealing with what seems impossible dentists and oral surgeons right now. even with a note from my pm dr saying its better to pull my infected teeth then do a root canal, they still won't help me. but i am going to keep trying with another oral surgeon. it's bad enough we are in pain all the time but to have to deal with difficult drs too makes it even worse. if i were you i would have your pm dr fax or mail or call your gp and tell him that you are no longer on their pain contract. because codeine is a painkiller drs wont prescribe it to people who are seeing pm drs and who have a pain contract with them. but if you no longer have a pain contract with your pm dr, then i would have them send your gp a letter stating that and have them mail you a copy too for your records in case you want to find a new gp. (the one you have doesn't sound like he is really helping you. he could have made the effort to call your pm dr to ask about the pain contract too.) i hope that you get the help and medicine you need from your drs to make you feel better. they do make a cough syrup without codeine in it that my gp prescribed to me once that helped more then the otc brands. maybe your gp could at least give you that until you get your pm dr to send him that letter. (i have to take the cough syrup without codeine bc i do have a pain contract with my pm dr. i forget the name of it but your dr should know. hope you feel better soon my friend. take care.

Because of the risk of spreading my old, and most effective and most experienced crps trained doc who has recently left my area for LA BLEH, doctor had me go to a Sedation Denist. Basicallly, they knock you out for ALL dental procedures, and the one I went to even used a combination including Ketamine! It was by far the BEST thing for me! It even helped reduced my normal daily pain from Crps for a week or so after! We all know the ramifications crps and our meds can have on our teeth, I had to have 14 fillings and 2 extractions, after never having any major problems before Crps. Ask your PM doc for a refferal for sedation dentistry, fyi you might have to have a refferal for your GPS to have insurance cover it!