Career, pain, and Irritating Dr's.

Hello all, I am new to this site but am so pleased to have found a place where people can actually relate to what I am feeling as I am the only person I know who has moderate to severe fibro and the myriad of other problems I have developed. I work as an Esthetician and a Massage Therapist and have worked on plenty of people with fibro but I am so sensitive that even doing light trigger point and a modified myofascial release is a struggle to do myself and I cannot afford to pay someone else unfortunately.

Anyway, I was recently in a car accident last Friday (rear ended hard enough for me to feel my lower back slip and my passenger to smack her head on the dash) and I went to the ER and of course they cant do anything for me because I am in pain management so they sent me home with the same ole speech of you know how accidents go the next five days will be the worst and I called my Pain care Dr as soon as I could this week and I have still not heard back from him about what my best course should be and if he will even refill my prescriptions early since I am taking more than usual since the accident has really exacerbated all my problems. I played phone tag with some rude nurses who just basically told me to quit calling and wait for them to call me, one who didn't even know what I was talking about so I had to re tell the entire story. lol

Do any of you have to deal with irritating medical staff that treat you like your pain and problems are not significant or worth their time?

I should mention I am 25 and was diagnosed with fibro and degenerative disc disease when I was 16. I am also uninsured so I cannot afford most medications and treatments that can truly benefit me, but because of this accident I can finally afford to get some help for what the accident triggered and possibly damaged but I can't get an MRI without a dr prescribing one, same for Physical Therapy. I know this is a bit of a rant for a first post but everyone else in my life who is close to me seems to think i can just "push through" or "ignore" or that I am just exaggerating my pain, fatigue, nerve pain, etc. lol

I found a lot of great suggestions from other posts about supplements and dietary changes that I am going to apply to my life. I also wonder if anyone also gets that feeling like, "maybe I am just crazy and I don't have all these crazy symptoms no one can explain" right before you then try to get out of bed and your hips are so stiff you can barely move and by the time you walk to the bathroom you are already so tired you feel like you just climbed a mountain. lol.

I just wanted to get a first post out there and to also see if there were any other people trying to work physically demanding jobs that you love and would never give up for something boring and awful because it might, and I stress might, lessen your pain at the end of the day. lol

I have been paying in cash to get the reduced payment but i make very little due to my inability to work for long periods. I am sure you know the vicious cycle of working hard and then you're laid up in pain so you have to work less so in the end you might as well work a moderate amount of time. lol I am currently researching some new treatments and medications to recommend so that I may eventually get off of the pain medications (Which my mother worries about non stop lol)

Hi Simply Sage:

Welcome. I am sorry to read about your car accident. I am in the same boat. My Husband and I had a car accident in August. I have DDD, which is not a disease but a condition, Osteoarthritis in Multiple Joints. My neck and the chronic daily headaches that go with it are the worst for me. I can walk but with pain.

I was injured by the seat belt in the accident. I have no fractures. I don't drive, it was my Husband driving. A person decided not to wait in the left turn lane and cut across oncoming traffic to try to get to a side street. I have had other accidents. I was rear ended once and had a front collision. A part of me shuts down when things like this happen. I can't remember the part where the car was right in front of us. When the impact occurred I became alert and saw the car coming at my side. It was parallel to my door and luckily did not crash too much into it. My Husband's air bag deployed but mine didn't.

I imagine there is whiplash. I am slowly trying to do some of the things I was able to before this accident. My Headache Doctor said I can improve again.

I already had a bad fall in the beginning of 2014 that has left me with burning pain around my right elbow. It had improved some.

My Fibro began in my late 40s and I am now 60. I had to stop working. I could not perform the duties of my job - 90% typing. I tried to work as long as I could. I envy people who can manage to keep working. I am not in the U.S. I am on Disability.

I now have to use a lot of ice and heat. I am not on pain medication. I have tried Fentanyl Patch and Oxycontin. One made me sick and one I could not cope with. I have tried Lyrica and Topamax. I was on Lyrica for a couple years but Topamax really caused more pain for me. I stopped Arthritis Tylenol but had to use it again when the pain gets really bad. I do get nerve blocks.

I have had Doctors who just brushed me off and yes sometimes Doctors staff can be very rude. Remind them who the customer is.

Do take care.

Loring

Osteoarthritis in Multiple Joints, Fibromyalgia, Neuralgia, Chronic Daily Headaches, I.B., Hard of Hearing...

Thank you everyone for the supportive replies. It has really improved my mood today.

Loring: I was actually in a very similar accident 4 years ago that set off the cascade of symptoms that has lead to the severity I experience now. before that everything was totally manageable with exercise and simple Tylenol. I was driving through a green light when a drunk driver turned left and smashed into the drivers side of my car, pushing me almost off the road into a nearby business. She then got out and insisted it was my fault that she had a green light, which I informed her was not the same as a green arrow and you could see it slowly dawn on her face. lol.
Well my airbags didn't deploy because I believe I only have front impact airbags as my car was very old at the time and the seat belt cut into my clavicle and I also got side to side whiplash damage and I have nerve pain and problems in my left shoulder still from it so I totally understand where you are coming from. i actually talked to one of the nurses finally in a very firm manner and explained everything to her and she was so gracious and helpful I was in shock. she apologized for the awfulness of her coworkers and had responses about all my questions to the Dr within minutes. She even called around to all the MRI places to inform them of my financial situation (as they make you pay up front and the car insurance wont return that money for months because it takes them forever to process and I don't want it to get interest charges on a card) and she worked out a deal and I am so grateful I think I am actually going to send her a thank you note with a gift certificate for a 30 min massage.

Ak Angel: I have been reading about the pain meds causing more pain (I can't recall the technical term because I still haven't had my fog lift lol) but it does scare me because I have been on them for so long with fairly beneficial results; and of course the withdrawal isn't a particular pleasant thing to look forward too either. I have had a lot of luck helping others with trigger point release and even some unconventional things, but I know we all will do just about anything if it helps :) I am in the process of applying for any assistance I can get but I am getting denied for just about anything lol. Although the upside of this accident is that it covers the care from the accident so I at least don't have to worry about that.

I am already impressed by the activity and support from this forum and I want to thank you all for your support and help, especially since I have no one in my life currently who I can talk to about this stuff with in detail. Also excuse my computer skills as they are incredibly simple for someone my age(call me old fashioned lol) but I don't know the etiquette of replying or if I should link the names etc etc.