Hi, I'm petal and I'm starting this discussion to find out if there are any other chronic pain sufferers who get the same flack from drs that I do. To begin with, my pain started about 8 years ago, in my ribs,and it gradually spread to my back, shoulders, neck and hips. No dr has ever given it a name so I'm left wondering what it is, fibro? arthritis? Anyway, at first my doc of 15 years refused to help me and said I would get addicted to pain killers. I was immobilized with pain and gained over 100lbs. I asked my dr for a breast reduction(I was a 42 I) and he refused and said lose weight. I found a new dr who had just moved into the small town I lived in. Over the months he helped me a lot. I got my breast reduction and he put me on codeine-contin and Emtec (codeine with acetaminophen). For about a year and a half I was doing much better and lost 70lbs because I could move around with less pain.
At the same time my life turned upside down, my hubby had cancer, we went bankrupt. He bought a new 5ton truck for work and he wasn't making $ just lots of mistakes from chemo brain. The Nov before last a huge tree (180' fir) smashed into our home and even though we had insurance we could not make ends meet and lost his truck, my van and our home of 18 years. We were robbed from our old home and at our rented home. All the stress triggered my ibs which had been in remission for 12 yrs.
I think my dr thought my pain and ibs were stress related but the pain started about 6 months after we adopted our sweet little boy. I was over the moon happy.
When I had to go to the hospital for ibs attacks, the dr and nurses all treated me like a drug-seeking addict. After moving to a larger area, the treatment at the hospital just got worse. In the meantime my dr moved away because of the serious drug addiction problem in this area and we adopted our son's biological baby sister who was born cocaine addicted.
Now I found another dr but she has reduced my meds nearly 50% and her colleague mistreats when she's away giving me 1/8 of my scrip for Emtec and changing all my meds without telling me.
I am terrified to have another ibs attack because the nurses tell me to shut up and the drs treat me like a drug-seeker. They send me home to ride out the episodes which can last for days.
I am afraid to tell my new dr that the decrease in meds is killing me. I've already gained 10lbs from immobility. They give me high doses of nsaids which irritate my ibs and continue to decrease my codeine.
I have no ideas about how to deal with this or how to find a better dr. I am becoming depressed but am already on Elevil and Paxil.
I know there are many chronic pain sufferers in here and I am positive we are all valid sufferers. What can I do about this? The drug problem in this area is profound and is at epidemic heights. I have 4 kids, one is handicapped and 2 are special needs adopted since birth. I eat natural food and have never used drugs except I used marijuana in my youth and also tried it for the ibs. It helped but the stress of using an illegal drug made it not worth it so I only use my scrips.
I am sick of being in horrible pain and I am angry at being treated like a drug-seeking addict whenever I see a dr. My new dr complained that I am on more meds than any other patient she has....is that my fault? I clearly did not prescribe them to myself. I told her I don't mind if she changes my meds and gets rid of the codeine as long as I can manage the pain and sleep at night. I wish I could find a better dr. My new dr referred me to a pain clinic last Nov and still no word from them. I am so angry at how I'm treated. What can I do??? sorry this is soo long. any input is appr4eciated, petal