No pain meds or referal to doctor

I am so frustrated and upset right now I don't know what to do. I have been having pain issues, and it is getting to the point where I can't function. I called my primary care doctor for a referral to a pain management doctor because of my flare up. They said they couldn't do it, that my GI should be the one referring me. So I called my GI doctor's office and asked for either something for the pain, or the referral. My doctor refused to do either. The nurse I talked to suggested I call my PCP office back. I am so angry. It took pretty much everything I had not to scream thanks for nothing into the phone. I am seriously thinking about quitting the healthcare system. The meds don't work for me and the doctors either won't do anything or don't care. Sorry for ranting, I'm just frustrated.

Hey Jellybean, It is okay to vent and you are safe here so vent away.  No one should have to suffer in pain and if your willing to go to a pain clinic I do not see the problem.
Which of your physician's usually prescribes the meds to control your pain? That should be the one to write the referral.  Your insurance won't let you go to the Pain Clinic on your own without a referral?
Call your Doctors back, don't give up, you are your own best advocate.
Take care and I hope you get some pain relief soon.

Can you try your insurance? Maybe they have an advocate. I know most of us hate the insurance companies cause they are always telling us we can't have what we want, but it might be worth a phone call. I would also try to pain clinics and ask them to call your PCP or GI or both for the referral.

I was having huge issues getting pain meds. They can't find a lot of active disease, but I have a lot of pain. SO since they can't find the cause, I must be imagining it. After being made to feel like a drug addict repeatedly, I finally asked for a referral and it was the best thing. They got me in right away and I don't have to worry about pain anymore.

Please don't give up. YOU DESERVE TO LIVE YOUR LIFE AS PAIN FREE AS POSSIBLE!!!! Make the doctors listen to you and make them help you, no matter what it takes!

Please keep us posted!

Something else that may help - set up an appointment with your PCP for the sole purpose of discussing pain management. Go in there armed with a "pain journal" describing what your pain is like on a daily basis, how it limits your functionality, what makes it worse/better, etc. Then, plain and simple, ask your doctor what he/she can do to help you manage your pain. If you ask him/her straight up, they have to do something about it. If you actually see the doc face-to-face and ask point-blank what they can do to help with your pain, they'll have to do something about it. If they recommend something, follow the instructions but make sure you schedule a follow-up appointment within a set period of time (say, a couple of weeks) to give them an update. At that point, if the pain isn't gone, they should certainly refer you to a physician who could better help manage the pain (i.e. a pain management doc). I know this sounds like a bunch of hoop-jumping, and it may be, but pain meds are very tricky and can be very dangerous, which is why many physicians are hesitant to even "go there." But there is a big push in medicine to get patients the pain relief they need. If you want to bring some documentation in (in the form of research from peer-reviewed journals), I could point you in the right direction about this. I just read an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association about pain management and if you bring in something like that, I'm sure that would get their attention.