Pain, Pain, Pain & more pain...

sunnyhours

Hi everyone,
I'm really feeling down today as I waited 6 hours at the clinic to be told that the doctor can't give me anything for the pain...she said that if I had an accident which caused the pain she would of been happy to prescribe me something but since it's chronic everyday pain it's not the right treatment...
I don't get it? So since I've been suffering for a while, it's alright to make me suffer some more? But someone who had an accident is NOT allowed to suffer, they get all they need not to be in pain...
Did I get that right?
She even told me that since I'm young I should enjoy life and my youth...yeah right :roll: Try enjoying life when it feels like your spine is made out of Bamboo and it's about to snap :evil

tjt6768

That is a bad attitude for them to have, I have experienced similar though when I was younger.... See another GP, is that possible??
It's arrogant attitudes like that that wind me up.. :x
Oh, you can't possibly be in that much pain!! Oh, yeah, wanna swap??

Sorry, had a bit of a rant then..

You should not be left to suffer like that, I mean, for me, not many of the painkillers are strong enough now but your GP should be willing to go through some options with you...

I'm off to sleep before burst an artery

Be well

sunnyhours

Yeah I'm going to see the GP I like, but she's only there on Friday and she was full today so I'll wait for next Friday :shock:
No problem, I totally agree with you! At least I know I'm not the only one thinking that way...
Hopefully she'll listen more...
At least now I have X-rays to take lol I guess I have to look at the bright side of things, even when everything appears black...gotta get myself some night vision goggle

dreamdaisy

I think I am right in saying that chronic pain is a different kettle of fish to those pains that will eventually clear. If you break summat then yes, it really hurts initially, but once the bone is healed the chances are it won't hurt (I've never broken anything so I don't really know!) Our pain is a different beast, and reliance on pain dullers is not a good thing. Distraction techniques, visualisation techniques, relaxation techniques etc are all valuable skills to develop and utilise. DD

woodbon

Hello, I agree with DD that it is not a good idea to take a lot of painkillers for something that is a daily pain 365 days a year. Your body gets used to the drug and then it stops working. However the other techniques are hard to learn, especially when you are in pain and you might need pain killers to dull things down when you start. I'm not an expert in the treatment of pain and personally, I do try other methods, but pass the tramadol!
If your doctor feels that you need help with the pain, has she offered you a pain clinic appointment? They do all sorts of things and it would be worthwhile asking her about referring you. Its not good to offer someone in pain nothing! :shock: Take care. Love Suexxx

dorcas

Hi sunnyhours,

I read and re-read your post. I can hardly believe the unsympathetic and dismissive attitude of that doc. :shock: :!:

I'm glad you are able to see another doc in the practice and as others have said chat through what med/ other options there are that might help alleviate your pain! Have you tried acupuncture? what about physio? and a referral to a pain clinic sounds a good idea! (if available)

What does your rheummy say? they are usually good at deciding on effective pain relief and GPs go on what they recommend.

Perhaps you should keep a pain diary between now and when you see your doc? (type of pain, which joints, how long it lasted, time of day/ night) It can help show patterns and is a useful way of evidencing how you have been feeling and what you've been taking that helps/ doesn't help?

good luck sunny.. and please let us know how you get on.

Iris xxx

sunnyhours

Well, it's not just that doc...my family doctor, one doctor in a practice close to my house (relatively, I'm in the middle of nowhere )
I'm happy that at least seeing a doctor is Free in Canada...Physio isn't so even though she did offer it, I can't go until I find a job (and get the insurance).
I don't have a Rheumy since my blood tests are negative and my family doctor doesn't think my pain is real...
Pain clinics are not readily available, you have to be on a list for around a year...
I was actually hoping that the doctor would give me Tramadol as I've tried it and it does work rather well.
She gave me back exercises although she told me I should see the Physio before doing those exercises.

tjt6768

Surely it isn't a GP's place to give you excerises to do..?? I really would hold off on them until you get some more advice, you could end up doing more harm than good. For the time being stick to gentle excersises that you can manage, maybe swimming if that is an option...

Good luck

sunnyhours

I'm not sure but I truly believe that if I would have a diagnostic, maybe then they'd prescribe something for the pain...just getting a diagnostic would help the pain I think. Cuz right now I'm not doing any activity because of the back pain since I don't know what I have and I don't wanna make it worse as it's already bad enough as it is...
What I'm gonna say might sound weird but I hope something wrong shows up on my x-rays, that way I'll be set and I'll be told what I can do to make it better and what not to do...
Thanks everyone for the responses

tjt6768

doesn't sound weird at all, I'd be the same, at least then you would know what you are dealing with and treatment could possibly start for you... Hoping things ease for you soon, keep us up to date.

dorcas

I can understand where you're coming from sunny... having a diagnosis does make a difference. As you say, you would then fall into a recognisable treatment regime.

It's tough not knowing but even tougher feeling that your doc thinks you're imagining your illness! how insulting. :x

Not every arther shows up in bloods . For example PA (psoriatic arthritis) which I have, comes under the umbrella of 'sero-negative arthropathies' which don't test positive for RF (rheumatoid factor).

RF is the first thing they look for in blood results and helps them diagnose RA....so if you are sero-negative and don't have a positive RF it can take some time for a diagnoses to be made.

Don't get disheartened... stick to your guns and insist that they take you seriously and refer you on to a specialist.

good luck

Iris xxx