This is unbelievable

Hi Sue,I can and do believe it.It is such a sham that people have to suffer because of people that abuse them and we have to pay that price because if this.I have Crohns and RA and OA and I go to a pain clinic.about five months ago I had gallbladder surgery and when I woke up I was in extreampain to say the least they gave me tylenol 3.I had told them I could not take this because I go to a pain clinic and I had my own pain meds with me.The point is I think about people that have surgery and they give them that to ease the pain yea right.

I think these drs need to undergo procedures w/no pain medication so they can see how badly they are treating their patients. The woman sent home with Tylenol after major surgery should file a complaint but mostly likely will not, otherwise she would have gone home with something decent for pain.

Its criminal what patients are subjected to by drs these days.....Susie

A week or so prior to having my back surgery, I seen my doctor who was dispensing my CP meds. She gave me my medication to take after surgery on top of a smaller prescription for my regular meds. However, while I was in the hospital I rreceived something much weaker than what my body was used to taking. I felt that I was in back labor for 3-4 days. I had one nurse advocating for me, but the doctor didn't budge, but added a muscle relaxer. They wanted to keep me longer in the hospital but I refused, I knew I had better medication at home, and sure enough, once going home and taking my med, the back labor pain went away.

I feel horrible for this patient sent home on Tylenol....I really hope she is able to contact the doctor for something better.

Sjkly - now THAT would be perfect, the patient getting to do surgery on the doctor!

On the flip side, I just typed a report where the patient had her ovaries removed laparoscopically and was not sure if hydrocodone or Percocet worked better for her, so the doctor sent her home with both. Right there is a different breed of doctor, the breed we CP patients are searching for. They are out there, I just wish they weren't the ones who are more difficult to find. It really should not be that way, but, unfortunately, the DEA has made many wary of all patients.

Shoot, if it weren't illegal, maybe the ovary patient could give the other half of medicine to the back surgery patient!!!!

gagabonnie - You make an excellent point. I actually think that some doctors believe that if the patient THINKS they are getting a pain medication then they have done their job, you know, the placebo effect. It is our responsibility as the patient to advocate for ourselves and educate ourselves....but at the same time that can be perceived as being pushy or, as mommyof1 found out, labeled as a drug seeker. It is a catch 22, but I think it is time doctors opened their eyes, too, got a backbone and stood up to the DEA or the powers that be and advocate more for their patients. I guess that is one of the items on my wish list for life.

Gramps, I know you are involved in advocating for patient's rights. I would be very interested to know how to get involved.

hey, all! what great thread!

it might just be my age, but since being rxed opiates i've had few problems getting them. only once did i have a problem. after my second back surgery my dr wouldn't rx any "real" pain meds. i found out that because he had rxed so many the dea pulled his certrificate for rxing narcotics. my gp rxed the pain meds i needed and couldn't really understand how the surgion couldn't rx narcotics. other than this "political" denial, my experience has been quite different from my fellow sufferers on this thread.

i wish everyone a pain-free night tonight and a pain free day tomorrow.

warren

helloow, again, fellow "junkies."  just a thought.  from 'the gospel according to warren, ch2v18 (or something like that) "there is no worse villany than an excess of good intentions."

in england during the 60's, some landlords were less than supportive of their tennants, evicting them for no apparent reason and raising their rents several times a year.  parliament, in it's infinite wisdom, passed tennants' rights laws so that it is all but impossible to get a tennent evicted.  consequence:  no more (or at least very little) rental property in england.

there is a drug epidemic in america (i'd actualy like to see audited statistics on this, though - i wonder if this is a real epidemic or a media frenzy).  in its infinite stupidity the american congress passes some very hardhitting legislation (a congressman can't be seen as being "soft" on drugs now, can he?).  Rather than protect our northern and southern borders, where the majority of the illegal drugs are coming from, threy attack what they can control:  docters and hospitals.

several years ago, the most renowned pm doctoer in the us was arrested, tried and convicted for over-prescribing narcotics to his "hopeless" pm patients.  the government didn't have to say a word.  every pm dr in the country got the message:  you may be next.

i know, i'm flogging a dead horse here.

warren

love it! keeep it coming.

warren

Two years ago this month I had to have Emergency surgery for an Ovarian Torsion.  (Where the ovary gets twisted and loses its' blood supply)  Since the ovary was swollen to the size of a grapefruit, they made a 4"-5" incision (using an old C-section scar).

When I came out of the Operating Room, they had me on a Dilauded PCA pump (the kind you control yourself...pushing the button when you have pain, the machine administers the medication through your IV).  The reason for Dilauded is due to the fact my regular chronic pain meds are the Fentanyl Patch and Morphine...so it was the only thing that touched the surgical pain.

When it came time for me to get discharged and go home I wasn't given any pain meds, even though I had surgery 36 hrs prior.  The doctor told me to take my Chronic Pain meds.  He wouldn't listen when I tried to explain that those meds didn't work for surgical pain.  Needless to say, I spent about a week at home on the couch miserable in tears because that doctor didn't know how to differentiate between different types of pain.

Sad to hear it happens so often.

TMarie

I've just had kind of a reverse version of this situation... I have had chronic undiagnosed intractable mid-back pain for 6 years and two weeks ago my low back went too landing me in the hospital for 10 days. For all of these years, docs have tried myriad meds but almost always one at a time - never in combination. Nothing really worked. When I was discharged from the hospital this time, they sent me home with a combination of prescriptions that actually worked for my pain! I was not pain free, but know better than to expect that. Still, the combo of meds they prescribed made the pain much more tolerable. In fact, I recovered much more quickly from this acute episode than ever before in the past. I was amazed and elated... finally, a solution! I thought if I could continue this blend of meds throughout PT (with a new and really good therapist) then maybe, just maybe, I could get to the point that I wouldn't really need any (or at least most) of the meds anymore and could return to a semi-normal lifestyle.

Then.... I went to see my pain doc for a follow-up. She did not like the blend of meds and immediately axed the BTP med and one of the muscle relaxants and then increased the dose of the stronger extended release med. ??? She actually wants me to take MORE & STRONGER narcotics when the lower dose combined with some weaker meds worked well. This after I joyfully told her how I finally felt semi-human on these prescriptions. I've followed her directions and made the changes. I felt completely drugged when I increased the extended release med and slept most of the day. But even worse, my pain was WAY up all day too. Every time I woke up, I was in tears because of the pain and wished I was permitted to take anything for the breakthrough pain. Unfortunately, my doc has forbidden me to take even OTC things like tylenol or ibuprofen because of the tylenol content in the prescribed meds. I have gone back to the lower dose of the extended release drug just so I can function, but I am still in a lot more pain b/c I cannot take anything for breakthrough pain. I just don't get it.