I think my MD just 'washed his hands' of me------WTH?

Well--he kept focusing on my "anxiety/depression" (even did a 'test' to see if I am Bi-polar)---and when we FINALLY talked about my recurring pain (never healed/fix itself WHATEVER) he pretty much told me one of three things:  1)  I can go and see a Rheumatologist (although my tests came back negative), 2)  Continue to see the Back/Sports Med MD (I have an appt. on 1/18) and see what he thinks---- 3)  gave me a script for Klonopin to use PRN---"just in case", AND (oh, yes...a #4)  come back and see me in THREE MONTHS!

UM---HELLO?!!!  I am still in pain here---aren't there ANY other tests we can do to see if there's anything else going on with me?    Those 4 things don't make my pain go away!  MY PAIN IS REAL---it's there---it limits me!  UM---HELLO!

Now, WTH do I do? 

he said I may have "chronic Regional Pain Syndrome"...........      WHAT IS THAT?

Laurel

Post Edited (hopeisreal) : 1/7/2008 11:34:09 AM (GMT-7)

Although she's right about an MRI being expensive. I think it's well worth it in your particular case. You say there's something just not right in your neck? It needs to be looked at so it can be treated or ruled out. It will always be a question of radicular pain unless the neck has been properly evaluated.

Hope you find your place of help soon!

Kiera

Do you get any relief if you reach behind your head/neck with the hand opposite of your painful side....same movement with same side hand as souce of pain? I only ask because once I was finally diagnosed correctly my wonderful neurosugeon laughed when I described that as the only way to get a moment of relief from the pain in my neck, back, legs, chest and arms....he had me look out into his waiting room where several patients would eventually resort to the same movement. Turns out I had a pretty severe case of stenosis throughout my c-spine amongst other spine problems. Once he gave the spinal chord and nerve roots some breathing room it was as if he performed a miracle...wish I could say the same for subsequent surgeries. I just wanted to encourage you to keep asking your doctor the specific questions and seek other medical providers if they don't take your case seriously and treat it with a sense of urgency. I've been posting here for a couple days and although I'm not very good at it one thing I can share with certainty is my advice not to be a timid or passive patient. I went through 45 years of unspeakable misery and a pretty crappy quality of life because I didn't realize that my doctors may not be taking my problem seriously. After a week in the ICU being treated as a heart attack victim because my body was shutting down, a doctor making the rounds one night asked a rhetorical question..."what seems to be the problem"....I told him I couldn't say but I could show him what I'd been dealing with since the age of 4 or 5.....I struggled to my feet and moved my head to one side and tilted it back......I let out an awful gutteral involutary groan and fell to the floor limp. Once he composed himself and got me back on the table he said don't do that again.... He said he'd seen that before and he thought he might know what was causing it. After a few films from the view through my open mouth he confirmed his suspicions and started a battery of tests.....My spinal chord was being severly smashed by narrowing of the column and nerve root openings...I have this and other back problems from brain stem to tail bone but the closer to the brain the more urgent. Until being hit from behind in a car wreck i was actually doing very well based on the surgery. I share this not only to serve as a mental release for me but as a genuine suggestion to you. Don't suffer silently. Don't make the same 45 year mistake i did and accept doctors telling you there is nothing wrong with you just because they don't see blood gushing out of you. Many sources of extreem pain are never going to show up on a MRI, Ct Scan, etc.....Be assertive and find a doctor that will commit to helping you find the cause of your pain and get you the best treatment possible....I was the worst informed, ignorant, overtrusting patient in the world and i got help after almost 50 years of "it's all in your head"...dag gone right it was... my brain stem that is. Best of luck to you.