Posted 3/13/2020 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hi again everyone. Since I've been having more pain, I got motivated to make several doctor appointments. I don't know why those visits are so traumatic to me.
Last week I saw my TMJ doc. She was in a weird mood and treated me rudely, but her tech stayed after the doc went on to another patient, and was great at talking to me about the problem.
Then yesterday I saw my Internal med doc. He's very bright, but lacks much compassion. (Does any doc have compassion anymore?). I'm having excruciating upper thigh pain. At first the tramadol worked, but now it doesn't. At my appointment yesterday, I finally agree to take Cymbalta. But what concerns me is that for the several years I've seen this doc, he's never touched me. No matter what pain I might have, he immediately says it's my FMS.
I asked him if the generic Cymbalta that I'm just starting could actually help my horrendous thigh pain and he said Yes. Can an SSRI actually help what feels like intractable pain? He didn't bring up my prolapsing pelvic organs issue, or my back pain, etc. I want to believe he knows what he's doing, but just because I had an MRI of my back and pelvis a year ago, and my labs are normal, he just assumes it can't be anything else but Fibro.
I'm sure I can benefit in a number of ways (lots of diffuse pain elsewhere, depression, etc.), but can it help frank pain that could definitely have other causes? He said Cymbalta works best with an NSAID. I said I can no longer take that because my GI tract is so sensitive. Then he said, "well, I could put you on an H2 blocker so you could tolerate the NSAID more." I said no........been there, done that and it caused other problems (migraines, etc.). I think he thinks I'm kinda obstinate.
Does this sound like reasonable thinking on his part? I want to be objective......but at 70, I feel like I know my body pretty well. And is it acceptable for a doc to never touch you......but just "talk" about things? My GI doc did that the last time I saw him. He just sat in his chair and talked and never touched me (and I was having an issue that should have been addressed with a rectal exam.) And I just didn't want to beg him to give me one!! Am I expecting too much? Are docs just too overwhelmed?
I'm going to see my GYN next week and then a rheumatologist the next week. I may go see a doctor for my pelvic prolapse problem, if nothing else shows up. Does it make sense that all that pressure in my lower abdomen could be pressing on nerves and cause pain in my thighs?
Also......it feels like meralgia paristhetica.....bilaterally. I'm hoping the rheumatologist might at least consider that.
Having been a critical care nurse, I guess I try to figure things out, and when my docs don't, it really disappoints me.
Sorry to ramble so long!
Thanks for your input.