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Migraines and stupid hospital ER Doctors.

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Migraine Headache
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Posted 2/18/2009 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
My doctor gave me a shot of Imatrex (spelling) .  He said if that didn't work I needed to go to the ER so they could give me a shot of something stronger.  I waited exactly one week with no relief at all.  I was so bad, I brought a blanket, and my eye mask.  I wore it 99% of the time to keep the light out and had to plug my ears when the baby cried six chairs away, or the woman way across the way coughed.  Every sound, every light was stabbing at my head.

I got to the hospital at 11 am.  I sat and waited and watched as people who came in way after I did came and left. medications in hand.  Around 3 PM I got a Cat scan which showed nothing.

I sat through the noses and crap until 9 PM or later before I was seen.  The Doctors told me that I was going to need a spinal tap to rule out a brain bleed.  Now I have been down this road before and I am no idiot and I know that a spinal tap is the most evasive way to find out and the least evasive is to do a CAT scan with and with out contrast dye.  Or wait until morning and do an MRI!  Around 10 or 11 PM I gave them permission to do the spinal tap.  I didn't know I was going to end up having 7 tries or more, and they couldn't get a drop because they said my bones are all wrong.  Now I have had 3 spinal taps and the neurologist never had a problem getting in.  My husband also saw these same two doctors and they did him the same way for different symptoms.  His was a vision problem.  Ok the Doctors then tell me they didn't know that they could do a CT scan with and with out contrast and that was the way we were going to go now.  No brain bleed it's a Migraine.  Big surprise.  They gave me an injection of Fioricet.  It did help for about 4 hours tops.  They sent me home with RX and told me to see my doctor.  Now I just saw my Doctor a week ago and they sent me to the ER, Now I head back to the doctor and He said Yep they are treating it the same way I would.  OK I didn't see my actual doctor but one of his associates.  I am in hell.  I still have the migraine it's the worst one I have ever had and it's going into three weeks with it.  I did put in a complaint about how my case was handled.  I don't know what else to do.  I am seeing my neurologist because now I have shooting pains down my legs.  I am at my wits end.

 

Posted 2/19/2009 10:54 AM (GMT 0)
Ok, hon, its probably a Rebound migraine. Go back to the ER, and make it sound worse in pain...when asking the pain scale, say 2 or 3 higher than it is (easier to fake and get treated a bit quicker). Do a doosy and vomit in front of the nurses and doctors. Wear sunglasses. And if you get the same doctors, say "I'm sorry, I do not think that is medically nessary. My head is killing me, its a darn migraine get the hell out of this room and get me a second opinion."

Ways to get thru er's quicker... Vomit in front of them, pass out in front of them, hand them your asthma inhaler and pass out in their arms, get so weak that you need a wheelchair and vomit, get diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that is rare and say "i have a surpressed immune system and i am on doctors orders to report to the er". works great for me... lol Yes CATs and MRIs can be done without die. I should know! Sorry, but I'm a walking medical case, I'm actually used to doctors asking me if they can bring in interns to observe!
Posted 2/22/2009 3:38 AM (GMT 0)

Unfortunately I can't vomit even if I need to.  Best I can do is not beable to swallow my salivia due to either one of two conditions, my gastric bypass, or this stroke I had a while back that caused a swallowing issue.  However I think that they should have treated me different based on the fact I was there on Doctors Orders (Ok my PA's orders as I when I called to see my Doctor I was told nothing open until end of April and I have appointment begining of May)  Since ER visit I saw the PA once again who could not do anything for me medically and here I sit at home barely able to run my own forum (Pets of all types and more as it actually has private forums to talk about things like depression, suicide oh and right now my favorite Murder as I feel Like I could kill a couple of Doctors)  haha  I am kidding for real don't go for the retraints or little white jackets and men in funny white suits and come to take me away ha ha ho ho.  Anyway still have the headache and I refuse to go to the ER.  I still have the back ache and it was so bad today I didn't want to get out of bed.  Mister *hubby* insisted I go back to ER and even said another one but I don't want to start over from scratch somewhere else or for them to think all I want is drugs.  I am not a druggy and would just like to get rid of this dang migraine.  I think it is a cluster migraine but I am not sure what that is.  It is just something that was mentioned in the ER to me.  I guess I need to do some research.  I have had migraines all my life, but this is the first time they couldn't give me my regular medication that knocks it out and is not even habit forming.  Motrin 800's x2.  Can't take any NSAIDS at all because of my gastric Bypass.  I wish I had thought about that before I had the surgery, but all I could think about was getting some help losing the weight and keeping it off.  Now I look back and I am not sure I would do it again.  I am never hungry, but I am not losing weight at the rate I should be, and on top of that I have so much pain, knee's acting up, back now, head oh and because I had to stop my qualiquin for my muscle pain that is back.  But at least  I am not bruised head to toe for no reason at all. 

Thanks for letting me vent.  If nothing else it takes a load of stress off!  I just hope the stress doesn't trigger another stroke or seizure.

Mikizinaniisii

Posted 5/17/2012 9:52 AM (GMT 0)
You can complain all you want. Your doctor can't deal with your migraine. So, in the ER while we are dealing with heart attacks, strokes, cardiopulmonary arrest...I am so sorry we seem incompetent regarding treating your life threatening migraine pain. If you come to the er for a headache we will treat it like a headache deserving of being emergent. With your immense drama 10 out of 10 pain...we are obligated to do a thorough work up. Otherwise, if something actually emergent was wrong with you, I am sure you will not hesitate to sue me.
In the future, I suggest you stop whining and stop taking up space in the ER that you obviously do not need, and that other role, instead of complaining would be happy to have their life threatening issues addressed. After all, isn't that what the ER is actually for.
Posted 5/17/2012 10:34 AM (GMT 0)
Please tell your hubby to take you anywhere else... Family practice, internal med, neurologist. Pain management. Then you can get consistent care, medication, and refills. The ER is not the place to manage chronic issues. I am so happy that you are refusing to go to the ER. I am confident that your regular doctor can provide pain meds for your headache, knee, back while I am focusing on doing CPR, intubation,handling actual strokes ,lung collapse, trauma and other emergent procedures. By the way, if you actually do have an Acute migraine, come in wait in the waiting room and do not ***** about every one going in ahead of you. We will treat you, most of the time with the the dilaudid, morphine, phenergan that I am sure quells your pain. You can get Motrin 800 over the counter. Unless you have ulcers or gi bleeding it is fine. ultram and fiorocet are also good. But you are probably allergic. Instead of wanting to kill the ER docs, respect them for what they are actually there for. You never know when you or your family might actually need them. If your husband, god forbid was having a heart attack, and some lady was occupYing a bed with her chronic headache and back pain.. Then you should feel like murdering the ER staff.
Posted 5/21/2012 5:13 AM (GMT 0)
It really sound like you could use a DHE drip, toradol, and oxygen for a day or more....ask about that. They usually don't turn down asking for non-narc treatments. You'd be amazed at what the O2 alone will do. Add the others, and it can help after a long running migraine.
Posted 5/21/2012 5:20 AM (GMT 0)
Zzen, things like that are what make us so frustrated dealing with chronic, but not "life threatning" conditions. Most of us would never walk into the ER on our own without being told by a PCP or some other doctor to go tot he ER. After days upon days of pain, we are at our wits end just wishing for the pain to go way. Some how, any way.
People that don't show compassion, just makes it worse.
We do not choose this!
Also, sometimes the ER is the only option for some people. thats why there is a fast tract, SA, and tramua units, so that people with life threatning stuff always have a place to go, and those who babies have the flu can get though too. Just try, for one second, to imagine the pain and frustration people go through, even though we may not be dieing by your machines definitions, it kills us inside.
Posted 5/24/2012 2:21 PM (GMT 0)
I've been suffering from a migraine since the begining of the month and refuse to go to th ER, To me the ER is for life threatening emergencies ( I have asthma and that is one of the times i have used the ER). It saddens me that Doctors today do very little to try an and all pain medications for our pain while they are giving us othe medications to prevent and in my case using prednisone to break this cycle. They don't realize that not treating our pain makes us feel worse and makes it harder for us to do our jobs and if we do loose our jobs due to absenses from work they loose a paying customer. I'm also miffed that they seem not to consult with others in their field (mt Neuro is at a hospital) or in their own pain management clinics to see what can be done to help us get through these rough stretches of migraines. 4 weeks was the longest now i'm at looking at breaking that record, I get the standard i've tried everything till i push and push and magically some new medication that has existed for years suddenly is something we can try, and now get the we tried stadol, Troadol, vicodin and percocet and there's nothing else. For the most part the Stadol is my best rescue med but when it didn't work this time and we tried percocet and still no help I'm left with the that's all there is and the standard pawn off to the ER docs as I don't want to have to work at being compationate and help you so go fill up the ER as they have nothing better to do type attitude. I have an appoitnent with a headache clinic in Sept but need to know I have something to fall back on when the Stadol doesn't work. And I will continue to refuse to waste the ER staff's time due to laziness of a doctor. I've been to the ER with my mother when she had cancer and they were very good taking care of her and very busy and took good care of her and she never once need to go there for pain as her doctor made sure she had adequate pain control so I guess if you have cancer you get proper pain tratment which is wrong and all true patients in pain should get equal treatment. I'll be glad to get to see this new doca she would rather you not have to go to the ER and if so she will have documents for you to bing with you for the Staff so they have an idea as to why you are there and who is treating you and what treatments work best for you.
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