Chronic Pain Support Group
Physicians and professionalsdefine pain as chronic if it lasts longer than three to six months and is persistent. It's distinct from acute pain that is a direct result of injury or trauma. This support group is dedicated to those suffering from chronic pain. Discuss treatments that have worked for you, find advice for your specific experience, and find support. You're not...
Yea, so get this. ( And I started to write the whole story, but I will spare you the long rant and get to the point ) Basically, it took a long time for my PA at the pain clinic to find a long acting drug that is covered by my insurance. ( we will get to why ) Come to find out that this drug is being discontinued. GREAT! So I call call the pain clinic and spoke with Heather,( a nurse ) she tells me they are already aware. I ask what to do and she says I need to find a comparable drug that is covered by my insurance and then call them 2 days before my Rx runs out and let them know what I come up with. WTF?! ( I have been through this with her before.) OK. So I call my insurance and they ( once again ) gave me the providers service phone number and tell me that the pain clinic needs to take care of this. ( DUH! ) So I call Heather back and tell her this and she ( in a very impatient tone ) tells me that they don't have time to be calling insurances. WTF?!! I then talk with my GP she tells me to talk to my pharmacist and Stacey from the pharmacy tells me to call the pain clinic and speak with "Heather", the one I've been dealing with this whole time. OK. So just to double check, I call my insurance again, I explain, THEY are like , "WTF?!!!" So I call the pain clinic once again and guess who answers the phone? RIGHT! Heather! I tell her that Stacey from Walgreens and June from my insurance said THEY need to call the service providers # and that it's THEIR job to find a replacement! Heather, with a BIG sigh asks me for the # and my insurance ID.
I'm sorry Heather for putting you out!! I didn't realize that you just let the patients choose their own NARCOTIC prescriptions!!! And you know if I would have done that, they would've probably held it against me in the future!! Can you believe this! Has this ever happened to anyone else? Even close to this?
As to what I think as to "why", ... LAZINESS!!! That's all I can come up with! Is there any other reason why they ( or maybe just Heather ) would say it's too much work for them to do THEIR JOB!!!?? The last time this happened to me, I happen to complain to my pain psychologist about it ( only because it was stressing me out and actually causing pain ) and next thing I know, he is out of the office, comes back and the next day they found this long acting drug covered by my insurance. I really didn't mean to "narc", I just was talking during my psychology session. He! He!
Thanks for reading!
I'm sorry Heather for putting you out!! I didn't realize that you just let the patients choose their own NARCOTIC prescriptions!!! And you know if I would have done that, they would've probably held it against me in the future!! Can you believe this! Has this ever happened to anyone else? Even close to this?
As to what I think as to "why", ... LAZINESS!!! That's all I can come up with! Is there any other reason why they ( or maybe just Heather ) would say it's too much work for them to do THEIR JOB!!!?? The last time this happened to me, I happen to complain to my pain psychologist about it ( only because it was stressing me out and actually causing pain ) and next thing I know, he is out of the office, comes back and the next day they found this long acting drug covered by my insurance. I really didn't mean to "narc", I just was talking during my psychology session. He! He!
Thanks for reading!
You have every right to complain. You are just the patient, you are not in charge of finding your own medication, and like you said, if you did they would have pegged you as a drug seeker. It is just pure laziness on Heather's part. She didn't want to take the time to pick the phone up and actually talk to someone on your behalf, and this is nuts, that's her job. You have every right to "narc", this just causes you more stress, which leads to more pain and puts you back in managing your pain. What the hell is wrong with her, she needs to have her butt fired and find a job where she can get paid to do nothing. When I went into see my pain psychologist again I would tell him the same thing happened again and once again it caused you undo pain. Get her butt in trouble, what's the worst she will do, not make the phone calls she is paid to make, well she already does that.
What a nightmare for you. I think Heather needs to make one more phone call and find herself a different job...maybe McDonalds won't be as stressful for her!
I think you did everything right and I would not worry about Narc'ing on anyone. I definately think that you should have a say in drugs and affordability etc...but when it comes to finding things that will work for you and working it through the insurance company...that is up to the MD and the MD staff.
Good on YA!
I am assuming most PMs would hit the roof over something like this.
I was told to call my insurance by my PM to see if I could get coverage for one of the pain meds I was on after the request they sent in was declined. In this case I think it was more about exhausting all attempts.
When making a transaction to a LA med I had some problems.
I had been with my pharmacy for years so I explained what was happening & asked what LA they would recommend. I told my PM that I spoke with the pharmacist & what they suggested & after finding the proper dosage I did great. Shortly after my husbands employer dropped Blue Cross & we had new insurance that does not cover much of anything when it comes to pain meds.
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I did some calling myself because the circumstances where as such but my PMs office did their best to try to get my old meds covered.
This Heather is pushing a job duty that she dislikes off onto the patient & that should be a huge no no. This is why she gets a pay check at the end of the week.
I can imagine this must have been pretty frustrating. Making transactions from one med to another is stressful enough as the patient you should never been put through this. Sammy
I've been there too. How frustrating!
Though I must say, picking your own med can lead to lower cost choices. My pharmacist recommended Oramorph when I could no longer afford my Opana ER. Generic morphine and methadone are cheap drugs. It also leads to the possibility of getting something "better."
Still I understand your frustration!
Sorry for your frustration little sister! But, Tipper's comment would have been quite the bite Heather deserved!!!
Superduck...Heather would actually have to DO something at McD's LOL
Hugs Sis,
Eva
Doctors treat patients, to me the nurses and staff are in the customer service business, now if only they treated it that way.
Add the fact so many people even those who work for pain doctors hate themselves and treat us with disdain too. To them it isn't like we are sick at all.
All of you have some good points and some good advice. It would be a good opportunity to find something better with the possibility of having less side effects. captain33, I would have been okay with given a list of drugs and discover on my own what is covered. My main problem with this is I don't know what is what and "Heather" is trained in this field. The whole idea of me finding my own drug to treat my pain felt extremely overwhelming. I felt like I was walking into a trap. I could very easily come here and ask for advice on what I should be taking and go from there but it didn't seem right. What would a doctor do if I went in with my own diagnosis!?
At this point, I haven't heard anything back so I'm waiting for that. We will see come late next week, maybe Thursday or Friday.
Thanks for you support and advice everyone and I will keep you posted!
Did not come up with anything to compare & my PMs were frustrated as much as I was. Ive leared to adapt some & cut my acitivity level way down. I also pay cash for one script. My wish is that my husbands employer chooses to go with a new insurance plan.
You may want to attempt to get the list & take it in with you.
I so hope you have more options then I do.
Good luck & looking forward to hearing how it goes. Sammy