Well, the doom and gloom is starting already. This lovely holiday weekend is going to be painful and miserable and I am helpless to stop it. My big problem is that I have horrible chronic migraines, and my major trigger is bad weather, and the forecast is for thunderstorms on and off all weekend. My medication to abort my migraines is a narcotic nasal spray, and my PCP will only prescribe one bottle a month. It lasts less than a week most of the time. Of course, I'm out for another 2 1/2 weeks. Thus, I am a sitting duck, at the mercy of mother nature, and there's not a darn thing I can do about it.
Knowing the pain is going to inevitably come is pure tortue. I can't watch any regular television stations, cuz they will be running the continuous severe weather warnings every few minutes, probably most of the weekend. It's agony just thinking about it, and considering I have panic/anxiety disorder as well, trying to remain calm is a hurdle unto itself.
Once I get the migraine that will definitely come, my only option will be a trip to the Emergency Room, and that's going to be a total nightmare. Sitting in a room full of noisy, cranky people and bright flourescent lights for hours, wondering once I finally get to see a doctor, if I will be treated like a legitimate pain sufferer or as a phony drug seeker. I have a standing treatment order from my PCP, to be treated with a specific dose of dilaudid and phenergan, the only thing that will make the migraine go away.
The last time I went to the ER, some new doctor flat out refused to follow the treatment order, saying that she did not treat migraines with narcotics. After discussing my situation for several minutes, with my father doing a lot of the talking(I'm not very good at pleading my case in that condition), she said she would have to think about it, and just left my room. Needless to say, I was a bit distraught, and started crying, which didn't help the migraine at all. I'm lying there in agony, wondering if I'm going to get any help at all.
The doctor finally came back about 45 minutes later, telling me that she wasn't going to give me the prescribed injection, but she would give me a shot of Imitrex. I had previously explained to the doctor that Imitrex makes me violently ill, but it was basically a take it or leave it situation. My father requested to see another doctor, and was told that someone would be in when time allowed. Another 45 minutes later, a male nurse came in and said that none of the other doctors would see me, as they wouldn't second guess a collegue's position. Whatever happened to the second opinion? At this point, it's about 3am, and my Dad and I were just totally wrecked. The male nurse basically said that I wasn't going to get any treatment, so I might as well leave.
Needless to say, I'm absolutely terrified about falling into the same situation again. The doctors in Virginia are so paranoid about prescribing any kind of narcotic pain medication, many people I know with pain management issues are having to go out of state, just to be treated like human beings. Chronic pain or recurring pain make you feel less than human. The medical community doesn't have to reinforce that feeling by treating people like cattle.
Thanks for listning to my whining,
Leigh Ann 