Crazy pain appt!

[SandyRN]

I'm physically exhausted from my pain appt today. First of all I had to go pee in the cup which is fine because I've not taken anything I'm not supposed to take, but of course I couldn't go. They told me to wait til my appt was over then maybe I'd be able to go. My doctor was running an hour behind and was sick as a dog. He told me I can take my MS Contin 60mg 3x a day which was what I wanted, but he wrote the RX for 30mg 3x a day. I had to wait even longer to get him to change the RX....then, I drive to the drug store and take out my RX only to see he wrote it for the 8th! I would be in SERIOUS withdrawl by then as I had taken my last pills this morning. Had to go back AGAIN but the guard witch at the desk said, "Ha, well...I seriously DOUBT he put the wrong date!" I was about to lose it at this point and told her she needed to go ask him because I know he didn't mean to do that, he's sick and tired and very scattered. So, he writes the 6th OVER the 8th with his initials, which I argued about because I didn't want the store thinking I'd changed my RX......so, get to the drug store, and they won't take the altered RX. Back again to the office to get him to write me a new, correct RX. The drug store didn't have enough pills to fill my RX....they tell me this after waiting 30 minutes! Talk about livid and being in some major pain. So I had to go to another pharmacy who could actually fill my RX.

I sure hope he doesn't get sick again because he just could NOT think, and I'm totally worn out, irritable, and sore.

Thanks for allowing me to vent. Sometimes I just get SICK of having to take this medication!!!!!!!! :rant:

[SharonA]

What a merry-go-round you were on. I'm dizzy from just reading it. :dizzy:

[humpieumpumkin]

Gezzz Sandy!
Sounds like a very physically and emotionally draining experience. Your doc wasn't on the ball today:( You would think the pharmacy would have let you know they needed to order out as soon as they noticed that instead of letting you sit there. These pharmacists know that your in pain just becuase of the drug there filling. Why couldn't they just tell you to leave then come pick it up when its ready!! Sorry about the day, at least you can take the extra pain meds to get you over the hump!

Erika:hi:

[SandyRN]

They weren't getting in their shipment til tomorrow, and I guess they were so busy they didn't bother to check first to make sure they had enough to fill it. With schedule II narcotics they can't do a partial fill and let me pick up the rest another day. It stinks, but that's the law. Sometimes it's just too hard to deal with taking all these meds.

[humpieumpumkin]

Yeah, I have never had issues like that luckily. Do you have enough meds for today at least?

Erika:hi:

[SandyRN]

I went to another pharmacy and got them filled there. Luckily my pain contract doesn't stipulate that I have to use the same pharmacy every time. I was SO relieved to have those bottles in my hand. I don't ever want to go through withdrawl again from running out of my meds. ugh!

[Bessie]

Sorry you had such a crazy day but I am glad you go it all figured out. Hope you have a better rest of the day :)

[Sarojini]

That's crazy!!!

But at least you HEAR from your pain clinic. I'm livid right now, because I placed two calls to mine -- one before my surgery and one after -- stating that my uro wouldn't give me any pain meds because I had a contract with them, and as a result, due to surgery, I'd be out of breakthrough meds before my next appointment. I asked if there was anything we could do and to please call back.

They ignored me both times.

I'm out of breakthrough meds for two weeks.

Things happened at work today that upset me very very much and I am in some serious pain.

Ugh.

But, this was about you... I"m so sorry you had a crappy appointment...

[ICNDonna]

Sounds like it's time for a hug, a pat on the back, and a "there, there, it's going to be better soon." Sounds like a horrible day --- but at least you got your meds.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[SandyRN]

Jen I'm so sorry you're having a rough day. I can't imagine why they won't call you back!! My doc has one of those stupid voice mail thing and no matter what number you push you can NOT get a person...always have to leave a message and wait on them to call you back. I really can't stand waiting on them to get around to calling me back.

If you need a shoulder you know where I am! :grouphug:

ps..just a thought...could Dr. Evan's call your pain mgmt doctor for you and tell him you just had surgery and that you need more meds? It couldn't hurt.

[ICNDonna]

And another :grouphug: --- this one for Jen. I hope your tomorrow is better.

Donna

[humpieumpumkin]

Sandy:
Im glad you were able to get that script filled before it was too late!

Jen:
Hopefully they will get back to you soon! It can be wicked frustrating waiting for the doctor to call!

Erika:hi:

[Sarojini]

Unfortunately, Dr. Evan's office will not do that. So, essentially, I'm stuck.

Thanks for the hugs.

[SandyRN]

I guess if you ever get them to call you back you could show them your discharge paperwork from the hospital. Maybe they'll be a bit more understanding about it then. Now if they'd only call!

[Bessie]

Jen,
Is there any way you could go by your pain management doctor's office and talk to them about your situation? You should not have to be without your medication.

[IC SARAH-CPP]

Sandy,
Whew, that does sound totally exhausting! But I AM really happy that you got your meds and your doctor let you take the MSContin 3 times a day. I cant imagine only being able to take my oxycontin 2 times a day!
Jen- I wish I could give you a big hug! I know how much it sucks to be in that kind of situation and I don't know anything that upsets me more than waiting for a call from the pain clinic. I was recently in Hawaii for a couple weeks and ran out of b/r meds there and I was totally in a panic. I blew up the pain docs phone calling so the script would be ready when I got home. Sometimes I get so sick of these meds I could scream. Can you speak to your pain doc about your b/r meds during your next appt? I dont think she gives you enough! I hope the surgery went well.
Love Sarah

[Sarojini]

Hey guys...

Sandy-- I hope you have recovered from your crazy pain appt. yesterday!! Have you noticed a difference yet with your new medication regime? If not, sometimes it can take a couple of days. Back when I took MS-Contin I took it 3x a day too.

As for me, I found that a call from Angry Hubby to the pain clinic, even though it was after hours, does much more than 10 calls from me personally! Last evening, I called down to hubby's office, a mess due to some horribly mean things that are happening here at work and because I couldn't get the clinic to call me back. Hubby got that kind of silent, super-calm type of angry he gets when he is REALLY mad and said he was calling the pain clinic himself. I said, "But it's after hours..." And he said, "You just let ME worry about that."

Because he was in his office, and I was in mine, I didn't hear what he said... but about five minutes later a doctor from the pain clinic called! I couldn't believe it. It wasn't my doctor, but it was a pretty sympathetic coworker of hers... he listened to my story, and had a prescription for more pills ready for me to pick up this morning. He was angry that (1) my doctor didn't prescribe more breakthrough meds in general, AND especially since she didn't do it before a known surgery, and (2) I hadn't been called back even though I'd left three messages on their stupid machine.

Guess I should bring out Angry Hubby more often....

I still want to know what he said to them :) but he won't tell me... LOL :lmao:

[DaniBelle]

I'm so sorry you had to go through such an unnecessary ordeal today. I can't believe they put you through all that mess! If he was that sick, and couldn't perform his job, he should have had another partner fill in for him. He could have made some awful mistakes, i.e., double-dosing someone, writing the wrong medication, etc.. You deserve an apology for all you were put through and then on top of that being treated like you're trying to 'put one over' on them. I hate it!!!!!!! Once, my Gastro dr. wrote a script and accidently wrote the wrong date. He crossed it out then wrote the correct one. It was obviously his writing, but when the pharmacist saw it, he gave me one of those beady-eyed looks and asked me when and where I got the script. He ended up calling the doctors office and after quite a while, he got a confirmation and filled it. He made me feel like some criminal! He apologized to me profusely (the pharmacist), but I gave HIM the beady-eye, didn't say anything and drove away. I stopped going there for a while because he made me sooo mad. My soon to be ex pain dr. said I have to do a pee test next appt. and I don't care except for the fifty dollars. The doctor is only doing it because I caught a mistake the doctor made and let him know about it. That's when he said "I think we need to do a urine test on you...it's time". They have to know we'd rather be running around in a field of flowers playing with our children rather than being in their stinking offices! What nerve that guard had telling you his opinion about the mistake on your script. I would have said (maybe) "Are you a doctor too?". Anyway...sooo mad for you! What an ordeal they put you through. Call your doctor next week and tell him what problems you went through. He needs to know you don't deserve to be stressed out on top of being in pain!!

[IC SARAH-CPP]

Wow, I am SOOO happy to hear this Jen!! Sometimes you have to get really pushy and although it usually makes me feel weird, it usually works.
So I hope this means you can speak to your doc about your b/r meds at your next appt. I have always been a little suprised at how little b/r meds your doc does give you. I guess some are better than none, but still. Are you feeling a tad bit better since you took the meds? I hope so.
Love Sarah

[marsi4]

It breaks my heart to read about such things and I deeply sympathize with you guys and know very well how much we suffer and the hell we have to go through just to survive. Why can't people be more empathetic and kind toward the sick? It is so exhausting just trying to get our meds. We have to beg and plead our doctor to give us an RX and then have to deal with secretaries, pharmacists, employers and everyone else who doesn't understand what it's like to live with this disease. We truly are the bravest and strongest of women, but we need to be treated with more compassion and respect. It makes me very sad, but we need to stay strong and keep fighting to stay alive, but I know how run down and worn out we areto say the least.

Reading about others pain and suffering reminds me that I am not alone, and that is comforting somehow. Get some needed rest and focus on getting through this day. I pray that your strength will be restored to get through tomorrow. Take it one day at a time. LOL,

Marsi4

[SandyRN]

Thanks everyone. You know, I really was offended when this secretary that I had never met before (she's new) looked at me cockeyed and said that to me about being sure he didn't write the wrong date. She doesn't know me, and she's got no clue what had just gone on in the appointment. She didnt even know I'd JUST been there either. The more I think about it, the more I think I am going to report her. They had recently fired all the staff that REALLY irked me, and then replaced them with the nicest, sweetest people, except for this one woman.

I'm sure she hears every excuse in the book every single day, but that still doesn't give her the right to look at me accusingly, even AFTER he fixed the RX for me.

The MSContin is helping with that extra dose and I've barely had to touch my breakthru meds. ::knocking on some large piece of wood::

Hugs, Sandy

[Sarojini]

Sandy, you're probably right. They may not fire her after this one offense (although who knows who else is going to report her after this... she probably did it to all your doc's patients that day, since I'm sure that you weren't his only mistake that day if he was so ill). BUT, it will go on her record, and she will probably at least be spoken to about it. Sometimes that's all they need to set them straight... and if not, it's on her record so it'll take one less strike later on if they need to let her go!!

Sarah, thanks for the empathy/sympathy. You are right. The breakthrough issue has been a problem with this pain doc from day 1. Sometimes, what she precsribes IS enough; but sometimes it ISN'T. It's just the nature of IC. One month it can be better, and the next much worse. Lately though, with my sucky job and surgeries, I have needed more breakthrough, and I just can't get used to the fact that this doc prescribes at least 30 fewer than my doc in Tennessee used to per month. *sigh*

Anyway, maybe, just maybe, this other doctor said something to her about this. I do know that I was expecting maybe 10-15 extra pills from him today, and he prescribed 30.... so I think he felt sorry for me....

[Berkshire Road]

Oh, good, Jen, I'm glad at least you got a good resolution. Maybe you won't need all 30 of those pills, and you can keep them aside for the next time something like this happens. Or, even better, maybe it'll never happen again.

I am the luckiest patient of all because the doctor who handles my pain management has IC, so she totally gets it. And she trusts me, so she usually prescribes a few more than we think I'll need each month, "just in case."

I just don't understand doctors who are so reluctant to give out pain meds to patients in pain. What, is it medically better for us to lie curled up on our couches, crying? Grrr.

[waterflow]

Sandy, just driving back and forth would be enough for anyone. Even someone well. Am glad they gave you your meds. How come peeing in a cup? Is that what all pain clinics do? Uro doesn't have me do that with my pain meds.

[DaniBelle]

Sandy...hope all is 'settled' down for you and your new med. dosage is helping you much better. I still can't believe what an ordeal you had to go through and to be treated so badly by those who are supposed to be 'healers and helpers'. I absolutely know from experience that some doctors, pharmacists have love to show their 'authority' and maybe have a 'god complex'. I can spot one just by the look in their eyes. I'm dealing with one right now. I'm in the process of writing a 'termination of treatment' to my current pain mgt. doctor, but I've had 3 people telling me what to write and what not to write. I know the letter needs to be short, respectful, and to the point, but I am scared I will not write enough, or too little. I guess what I'm afraid of is knowing that this doctor hasn't listened to me in the past and doesn't seem to understand the conditions I have (especially the I.C.)..what makes me think the doctor is even going to read my letter! I've been advised to send it through certified mail and send a copy to the office manager. I want to change to a doctor who treats I.C. pain (I know who he is), so I have to send him a letter to request that he begin treating me. It shouldn't be so complicated, but it is. Oh, someone in an earlier post asked about the pee test. All pain mgt. centers have the right to do random urine tests while you are in their care. The first reason they do the test is (although they may say it's not) 1. To see if you are taking too much medicine, additional medicine not authorized by them (i.e., like a street drug or even alcohol), if you have no pain med. in your system, which could indicate you are taking it and selling it! Crazy! 2. The good reason: to see if the levels of pain meds in your system are even? I guess to indicate if your body is tolerating the meds well. I don't know. Anyway, the test is not covered by insurance and you have to have it done when they request it or you won't get your medication. I was told at my last appt. that they needed to do the urine test on me soon...it was time. I am positive the reason my current doctor blurted this 'notice' out was because I had just finished telling her I knew the last pain medication I had been given had caused severe respiratory problems. I was forced to go to the ER, because my doctor wouldn't get me worked in with a pulmonologist. The doctor said the medication would not cause such problems and never took my BP, listened to my heart...anything. Anyway, I think the doctor was 'biting' back at me for letting her (politely) know she had made a mistake. As soon as the med. was out of my system..all negative side effects disappeared and my breathing returned to normal. The doctor obviously couldn't accept that a mistake had been made (at my expense). I know I've written to a few of you about this situation, so excuse me if you've had to read it again. My husband is still shaking mad about it all. He can't stand doctors because of the 2 bad experiences I've had in the last couple of years. Now I know why there are so many horror stories about people going into the ER for a broken finger and leaving a day later in a hearse. A co-worker of my hubby's went into a hosp. (not in Atlanta) for a bad break of his hand. The ER staff accidently overdosed him with morphine and he died the a few hours after he arrived. His family sued the hospital, but they'll never get over how something like this could happen. Hey, if anyone has some suggestions on how to write my letter to change dr's, please write me.

Thanks....everyone have a nice day...hope it doesn't get too cold everywhere.

Dani

[SandyRN]

Dani, If you want to send me a pm'd copy of your letter I'd like to read it. You've told me about this awful pain mgmt doctor and I'd be glad to help you out if you want.

I usually have to pee in the cup once a year. They're very random tests and I never know when they're going to do it, but my doctor recently clamped down on these tests. I'd been seeing him for about 4 1/2 years and up until last year he'd NEVER checked my urine. They can also call you in any time they want to and do a pill count to make sure you're actually taking your pills and not selling them.

[Sarojini]

My pain clinic also reserves the right to do random urine drug screens for the reasons outlined above (to make sure you have their drugs, and only their drugs, in your system, etc). I have not had to do one yet, but I don't mind that it could happen at any time. I don't take anything other than what is prescribed.

They also can do pill counts -- they say to bring your med bottles to every appointment, which I do every single time, but they only counted my pills for my first 3 visits or so. However, they could start at any time again if they chose.

Most of us have signed pain contracts with our clinics, and when we did that, we agreed to these rules. They are very common.

[Moonheart]

HUGS to Sandy...so glad it worked out!

Jen...after my hydrocystodistention my uro wrote out a script for 30 percocet for pain after the procedure. The script had been sitting on the table the whole time I was recovering, and just as I was picking it up and getting ready to leave, the nurse gets a phone call. She takes it, walks over to me and takes the script, and tears it up! OMG! I almost had a stroke! I just had surgery for crimeny's sake! She said the doc said to use my normal meds! CRAP! Well, excuse me, fine I will use my normal meds. Just expect me to be out in the middle of the month! :(

Then after agreeing that taking two 30mg of MS Contin 2x a day worked better for me than one 30mg MS Contin three times a day, AND putting it in my chart, he still only wrote my script for three times a day, and because he was hoping I'd get into the pain clinic he only wrote it for ten days! Aaack!

I did get that straightened out, but only for the 3x a day. :(

Sometimes I wonder about these people.....

[DaniBelle]

If a doctor was so 'matter of fact' with a heart patient and wrote conflicting scripts for medication that doctor would be held liable EVEN IF NOTHING BAD HAPPENED to the patient. So many have suffered because of doctors' lack of compassion, understanding of this disease and just plain stupidity. No, I.C. probably won't kill you like a heart problem, but not treating it correctly and giving the patient the treatment and medications needed to ease the physical and emotional pain is as damaging to the sufferer. I am at a point now where if I was treated with respect and not told and I quote "It's not cancer, you won't die from it" and "IC isn't so bad that you can't just deal with it (the pain)". I was in shock at these comments by my pain mgt. dr.. I am changing to another doctor. My UroGyno was so mad when he heard of these comments by my pain dr.. The majority of doctors out there don't understand, don't want to understand, and I believe don't care. I've experienced this first hand. I never have been depressed, but because of having to deal with only being given 60 percent pain control, I am contemplating having to take something. This disease is terrible, but the lack of proper treatment and understanding from my 'pain management physician' has made feel so much worse. I am on the couch 90 percent of the day, my husband doesn't talk to me much anymore, I can't take my boys anywhere and I feel completely worthless. In closing, my UroGyno has been wonderful in treating my IC. I couldn't have found a more wonderful nurse who is so caring and actually sits and cries with me. The problem is the other doctors who I believe are too proud to admit they don't understand this disease. They need to be educated SOON. To deny a person pain control in such a uncompassionate way after a hospital procedure is malpractice. These people have forgotten their oath "Do no harm". They have done more harm than they can imagine.