Ended up having to go to ER this morning yay

After taking what steps I could to unclog myself with the constipation/impaction issue, I called a dial a nurse hotline and told them what was going on and if they thought it warranted a issue to the local er.  Now I prefer going to one doctor for pcp, one for cp, so on so forth.  This includes one hospital where they know my conditions, have my mri's, and my doctor oversees if I am ever to be admitted. 

Do you know how embarrassing for someone to go to the ER over opiod constipation.  It is downright horrible, but, when you are hurting that bad, you must suck it up and go.  So, as always I am honest, polite, and never have asked for pain medication, after all i'm a cp patient.  I went there a little before 9pm last night, and got back around 11 ish pm. 

Why are you here, I told them that I had recently changed ER pain meds, am going through terrible stress, have nothing under the christmas tree, my wife has to work, our bills our paid but no Santa coming down the chimney this year.  I said that so they would understand I dont have the money to go to walgreens and spend 20.00 on constipation meds etc.  When asked about my pain level I said it was a solid 9 and I live daily with a 7.  I also told them I hadn't number 2 since wednesday and it was almost monday morning.

Doctor came in, didn't give her name, asked me what was going on, told me she needed some bloodwork and she was gonna have some x rays so she could see the impaction and start me on a couple things.  Sounds fair, now if I tell you pain is a 9 it is a 9.  She saw my patch b/c it was on my tummy and I was changing into a gown, asked me what mcg which was 75.  I didnt ask for pain meds, I figured a couple percocets or an iv line would have been fair. 

I laid there in horrible agonizing pain for 3.5 hours, it was a room that had a partition so I was b and a was in there for ..... BACK PAIN.  Every 20 minutes a nurse came in there and asked him how he was and he whined and moaned on cue whenever he could or would think someone could hear it.  I know he had 3 shots of morphine, and as I laid there I thought.... "my goodness this isn't right, I have always been honest and brought my medicine with me to show them I wasnt out or brought my bottles so they could see that I am due. 

Long story short, I was never asked after my initial intake with the nurse how my pain was, treated like I had nothing better to do than to fake a serious constipation just to score a shot of morphine.  That made me cry, hey i'm a man but i have my limits.  When your stomach hurts it affects your back muscles, and your back is attached really good to your muscles that allow you to #2. 

So @ 3 a new nurse came in and asked me how my pain was, and I said it doesn't matter i've laid in here with horrible pain for 4 hours now would you call my wife please and have her bring me a patch and i'm ready.  No meds, nothing for my constipation, pain, honestly I was in disbelief.  He did as I asked and my wife was there w/in 10 minutes handed me my patch and the nurse was like you cannot take that here.  I told him that they had their chance, it was past my 48th hour and my doc told me I could put another patch on, he looked me in the eyes and knew he was barking up the wrong tree.

As soon as my wife came in they give me a bottle of something i can't remember and a suppository to hit it from both ends, and had the gall to ask me if i was going to stay. 

I have always been treated with the upmost respect at that hospital, was polite, didnt ask for pain meds, wasn't sassy or anything.  If you say you are @ a 9 on pain scale you will get something, anything to start with.

Oh yeah thanks to my wife we have excellent insurance, BCBS, so I wasn't burning the system or anything.  Yes I was there b/c dial a nurse told me that my fecal impaction was gonna get worse and if you have ever been through it, it is the about the most agonizing and helpless feeling one can ever feel.  Because it hurts so bad your body will not allow you to push when you sit down.

So all I know to do is wait a little longer this morning and call patient relations and file a formal complaint b/c I have a good history there with reasons I have went there.  Verified and stuff.  What would you do, oh yeah, this was Christmas eve as well ........................

Sorry to hear of your situation....I understand their part on not giving you anymore opiates since that was the reason you were there for constipation so that would have just made things worse...

It's really hard with the ER at times as they are there to just quickly assess whether someone is life or death and then if not, you get put the back burner until someone can see you. Then they will just give you instructions and send you on your way.

For occasional constipation because of my medication, I use Miralax a few times a week. I also keep around Senna tablets just in case. Neither one of these are harsh laxatives.

As well as I drink 12-14 glasses of water a day to stay hydrated. I also switched to eating all organic a few years ago and this has really made a difference as I found my body just has such a hard time digesting artifical ingredients or preservatives that make a food product withstand a nuclear blast! LOL And as others mentioned on another post, eating more fiber and some prunes each day is also very helpful.

Another thing for me is daily exercise. I walk 1.4 miles each day with my dog. If we miss even one day due to a rainstorm...I can tell the difference in both my pain levels (stiffness/muscle spasms) as well as digestion.

Hopefully you can save up the money (should be less than $5) or even borrow from a friend to go and buy a Fleet Enema bottle to have around in case of emergencies like this. It works easily and does the trick and saves a trip to the ER!

So, I know you said in your other thread that you don't intend to become a "health freak" but it is really important when taking opiates to take care of yourself in ways to keep chronic constipation at bay. It can at least keep things from getting as bad as they did this time.

Post Edited (Snowbunny21) : 12/24/2012 8:27:24 AM (GMT-7)

aawwww pooor you!! that sounds awefully painful. Constipation is horrible and im sure most everyone has faced some level of it sometime....Im glad you got the relief you needed and are feeling a little better. Im sorry the ER didnt give a better level of comfort!

I have severe constipation that the drs can not manage to treat. I use miralax daily with little success. The dr recently started me on Relistor, which is an injection made only for opiod induced constipation. This seems to work ok for me as long as I use it ever day. If I skip a day then I have to resort to other measures, such as suppositories and enemas in addition to the other daily things. After being in the hospital for 4 days with an obstruction a year ago I will never go back. They also stripped me of all my break thru pain meds, offering no substitution and they wouldnt replace my patch when it was due to be changed. I understand their desire to reduce the constipation from the opiods but leaving someone, that on a good day with the use of prescribed meds sits at a pain level of 6 or more, and alot higher to actually go to the ER, with nothing is just pure torture.

Hopefully, you wont need to go back for another episod. I hope you are doing much better today.

I have chronic shoulder dislocations and have to go to the ER every time, be put to sleep and have it relocated. it's getting to where they don't give any pain meds, just the sedation. after waiting hours in the waiting room, enduring spasms, and having them pull on my arm, they still don't want to give pain meds anymore. I just don't understand. I know if they were the one in my position they'd be begging for it, but out of fear of asking I just have to lay there in tears. I'm sorry u had to deal with that.
it's all just not fair.especially when the "migraine" patients playing on there phone, and back pain laughing and walking just fine for the hourly smoke break, walk out with script in hand and shot in butt. I just don't understand.