Jen I too have been very fortunate in pain mgt. When my pain went out of control on me it was a PCP that put me on the low dose Fentanyl Pain Patch. I had treated with that clinic for over 10 yrs and there was just one other episode of me needing something for back pain in my chart. We tried some other meds but they did not work at all on me so he gave me the patch. I admit I was shocked. But, he trusted me and knew when I said in was in serious pain I truly was. Prior to this I had been under the care of various specialists and a pain mgt dr and they all took very good care of me. Unfortunately, my pain mgt dr died.
It was my gastro that sent me to a pain mgt dr that he knew of and trusted his patients with, several years ago. He was a true angel, so good with his patients and very caring. It took quite a while to get an appt with him too. The bad news is he informed me in Nov. on my last appt that he was quitting pain mgt and going back into what he went to school for in the first place, anesthesiology. He told me the reason he was quitting was because of all the extra crap that gets put on pain drs and he was just tired of it all. I was devastated. I have a pain pump and he found another dr to take over his patients that have the pumps. I do not know this dr personally and will see her next week for a meet & greet. The one thing I do know about the new dr, she is a neurosurgeon and pretty much retired from that and began pain mgt 5 yrs and pumps are her thing. I know her patients were all very loyal to her and that says alot.
Finding a good pain mgt dr can really be a task. If your dr is not willing to work with you and find medications that will cover your pain, then you need to scout out a new dr. It takes alot of hard work, but there are many resources available to find a good one. It is never easy finding a new dr but it can be done. I don't think I would care for the "pain clinic" setting that Pam wrote about at all.Susie