Ok, posted a while back about pain issues, well I finally got insurance and prescription. Got tramadol which didn't do anything, said it didn't help and then got some Viks 5/500. Needless to say they don't help either with the pain and I need a higher mg or some perks. Anyone have experience with doctors and getting the pain meds you needs? Should I just say it still isn't helping with the pain? I don’t won’t to look like I’m abusing them, but I really need more for the pain. I guess I just need to ask. It was taking 15-30mg of roxi to handle the pain, but my Doc said that oxycodone would be to strong. I use to get roxi from a friend, and it got to be too expensive. The good thing it’s that the Viks are keeping WDs away (thank God) and I’m bringing my tolerance down.
depends on a few factors: what type of dr. is he?, what is the nature of your pain?, how long have you been documented as having chronic pain? It could even depend on the dr.'s personality. Sometimes it requires a lot of patience. As a general rule, I'd say that it's best to not mention specific drugs you think would help, but just stick with "these don't seem to get to the pain," or "it still hurts." Don't talk his ear off with any stories other than perhaps the pain prevents you from daily activites, but not activites you need to be alert for, like sleeping. Just try to show respect and also indifference to the method of treatment, as long as the treatment helps the pain. But all dr.s are different. most of them can see through the phonies so just let him make the decisions, and tell him whether or not it helps lessen the pain. That's what i mean when I say it might require patience. He might eventually refer you to a pain management specialists, who by the nature of their job tend to be more likely to write scrips. It's all about the medical history, and that's the reward for patience. try to avoid looking nervous; if you can it's best to appear to have a relaxed mind but an uncomfortable body
What is your condition? How long have you had this problem? Do you have X-Rays or an MRI? Let us know and I can give you a little advice.. But whatever you do don't ask for certain meds. Especially ones that you don't have documantion form previous scripts from previous Doctors.. At least he gave you some vic's. Also don't be asking for them early even if they're not working...(NOT GOOD) Let us know and I will fill ya in on what to do
I really just think it comes down to whether or not you have a condition that warrants the type of medication you want and whether or not your doctor is willing to prescribe these meds. You obviously won't know until you go for an appointment. I was just upfront with my doctor. I told him I had chronic pain from a past injury and he prescribed me Percocet. When that no longer worked he gave me Roxicodone. Over the past year or so I have been to an orthopaedist and pain management specialist. The orthopaedist wanted to give me Naproxen (an anti-inflammatory) which does nothing for me and the pain management doctor recommended Percocet. They all just have different approaches for treating pain.
I have had chronic shoulder pain for 8 years, finally got it looked at. Had MRIs and Xrays that have determined I have a torn rotator cuff, a torn tendon(rear of shoulder), and cartilage broken off the rear of my shoulder joint (outside rim of socket). I have only gone to my orthopedist. He has moved me from naproxen to tramadol to viks now. I would say I have come along well for just going to him. He wants me to see a sub-specialist since he said he hasn't seen a injury like this since he has been in practice (16yrs), and all he does is shoulder surgerys. He recommended rehab as a option but said surgery is probably the only way with this damage and pain. I mean the pain is literally debilitating sometimes. I had perks before from a rollover(whole other story, but a good one) so I played naive and wrote "oxycodone w/ APAP 5/325" on a piece of paper and said this is what I got prescribed one time and it helped. Thats how I got the Viks, he said that may be too strong and to try lortabs first, I only got 25 . I would really like to get into pain management before my surgery which will happen in a few months.
Burn, this is exactly how I act in my PM appointments. Showing deference for the doctor's decisions and not showing resistance to other forms of treatment goes a LONG way toward them being willing to write you scripts. I'm biding my time right now at a dose that is about 1/3 of what I legitimately need because I know that allowing my PM doc to decrease my dose for 4 months straight is the best way to gain credibility so that in another month when I ask her to increase it again, I won't seem like a fiending junkie. Its hard to deal with having to make pod tea all the time to deal with my pain since my script isn't enough. What I get from my doc is better than what I would get if I tried to force my doc to give me scripts when she wasn't comfortable with it. -V
V, how are you 22 with an oxy script!?!? how the fuck did you pull that one?!?!? I would love to know. or are u in real bad pain from what?
K, I have a genetic condition called Cystic Fibrosis, which, for me has caused some sort of damage to my joints, and thus severe pain in my back, neck, and hips. I also am (not to brag) very good at reading/understanding people, and so in the course of my treatment, instead of ending up with tramadol and diclofenac (an anti inflamatory) I got oxy and percs. I need them legitimately, or I would not have been able to get them as easily as I did, but I believe that anyone with some medical knowledge who is a good actor and seems innocent and has any sort of legit medical condition could do what I did and maximize the amount they are prescribed. -V
I agree with all of you that you should never be resistant to a course of treatment for pain from a doctor. But above all else (and this is the only reason I would ever recommend "doctor shopping") your doctor should be there for YOUR needs. You are the patient. If you are suffering and are too scared to talk with your dr. about different meds then i think you should look for new doctors. You know you've got the right one for you when you feel you can talk to he/she about anything anytime. After all, its YOUR life.
wHY DON'T YOU GET SURGERY?? Also does he have you do p.t. a couple of times a week. If you do you can tell him that the therapy is making it hurt wose,and the meds you prescribed just don't last that long. Tell him after being up and moving around for a couple of hours your shoulder really starts to hurt, and that you take 2 vics and about 40 minutes later, the pain calms down, but after 2 hours it starts hurting real bad again. Then I have to put ice on and can't do anything till I can take my next dose.. It just seem like doc, that the vics don't seem to work for more than a couple of hours.Its really getting aggravating and I don't know what to do to relieve the pain I'm in.. What do you recommend doc, should I do P.T., Should I get surgery doc, because the pain is getting to the point that I'm getting depressed. Also let him know that your waking up in the middle of the night, and have to take 1 and sometimes 2 vics to get back to sleep, and sometimes that dosen't even work.. I've had shoulder surgery with a torn rotator cuff.. I don't know why your not getting surgery. Thats the first thing my Doc recommended but I was L&I and had to do the P.T first.. Also I wouldn't expect to be getting anything more than 7.5 vics till you get your surgery, then you will get some per's for a few weeks.. I was getting 6 7.5 vics a day for 3 months till I surgery.. The docs don't give to much for that condition because it's not like your leg where you use it all the time. I had 2 docs just give me t3's till I saw my surgen then I got the vic's Well I hope this helps you out. Oh ya if your young your really going to have a hard time getting something due to your age Best of luck Ya pain management might help but becsause its short term pain you might not get much.. Because after surgery your shoulder will feel great after a month
Ya listen to Burn and V advise to and if he wants you to see a sub specialist do it I mean you should already have the appt. made. this way it looks like you are trying anyhting you can to help with this pain other than meds Also call him and tell him you want to try P.T LIKE i SAID IT WILL MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOUR WILLING TO TRY ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO HELP gOOD LUCK
To the OP: Everything Oxyrisin said in the last couple posts is super important. Showing your doc that you are interested in CURING the pain via surgery and PT is like saying "I dont care about pills, I just want this to stop" think about it: if you are really in a lot of pain and it really is preventing you from living your normal life, then you are going to want to take any steps necessary to fix it, and when doctors see that attitude, they are 10x more likely not just to give you the pain meds, but to be liberal with them, and give you as much, if not sometimes more than you need. Also, definately have your surgeon/primary care doc refer you to a PM doc. While they can be stingy, I've found that most PM docs are much better at prescribing the meds you need than other doctors who all assume it is one of your other doc's jobs to do it, and avoid it because they would rather not prescribe narcotics if they don't have to. do your best to be compliant and dont advertise that you know a lot about narcotics: ask questions like "are there any medications I could take that will help my shoulder stop hurting? something that will make it so that I can sleep through a night without waking up every 3 hours?" etc. but don't ask questions like "what kind of medications are best for my pain?" or "do you have a extended release pain killer?" etc good luck, -V
Yea Im doing some PT and have an apt for another doctor as well. Its just slow going because I haven't had insurance for a few years and waited till I did so bills wouldn't be so bad. Surgery will happen within a few months, but like some of you said yall needed something till the surgery. The viks just arnt doing the trick and I don't see the doctor that will be doing the surgery for a few weeks. My doc now said the vikes are "really strong" and he cant give me anything stronger. This is such bullshit, what the hell am I suppose to do. I'm graduating and getting a nice job and Im suppose to be happy, not pissed off because I have to bust my ass and suck up the pain just to try and appear like Im living a normal life. Thats hard to do on 2-5 hrs of sleep a night. I have tried to tell them that they are not helping what so ever, so they bumped the viks to 7.5s. How is that suppose to help? Should I even try and call them back in a week and say those are not any different? They are acting like a few viks is going to knock out pain that keeps me up all night and hinders me for any normal activities during the day. Guess I just need to wait till I see specialist in a few weeks.
You should be able to get percs at least. I just went through the same thing myself. Might be time for a second opinion.
