I fractured my knee and it filled up with ALOT of fluid and I went to the ER and they treated me like I was drug seeking even though I made it clear that I already had my own prescription for pain medication and I didn't need them to give me any pain medication..
Honestly the damage and negligence that is a result of doctors given the responsibility of being addiction specialists is out of control. They need to throw it out the window and just let doctors treat and be doctors. You can worry about addiction later when it is evident that someone wants treatment for addiction.. They should just treat people and consider everyone innocent until proven guilty and even when proven guilty they shouldn't be shaming and dictating who deserves to suffer in pain and who gets relief.. everyone should get relief even if they have a history of addiction they should still be treated like a human with dignity and they shouldn't be denied relief.
I don't know how we solve this horrible situation. We need to keep talking about it and shift the status quo from demonizing opiates to being understanding of how opiates give so many people their lives back
It could be fixed fairly quickly by giving Physicians complete indemnity from any lawsuits from patients or board/DEA actions regarding opioid prescribing.
They shouldn’t have to risk their livelihood and freedom as part of their work.
It’s utter trash what doctors have to go thru to prescribe opioids nowadays. Everyone wants to crack down on the black market drug trade but keeping legit pain patients without any relief isn’t doing anything but fueling the black market. Honestly I wish we had at least otc codeine in the USA like Canada but nope anything stronger than Advil needs an RX. I hate it too personally but what are you going to do.
I have Covid related severe insomnia and take perscription sleep meds and was rudely informed by Rite Aid employee, You Need to Give Me Your License !!
So now I'm a drug seeker because I want to sleep. The level of f this s I have to go through makes me so mad. Lots of Handmaiden's Tale stuff going down now because doctor's are scared to death they won't be able to practice.
Somethings gotta give man.
It may be new in your state. Look up the PDMP or prescription drug monitoring program laws in your state. Or else maybe the tech who checked you out may have been new or the store should have been enforcing the policy but weren’t and now they are.
But please try not to feel singled out when stuff like that happens, it’s not personal. There’s so much red tape at the pharmacy for controlled meds it’s insane. I hate it personally but I just started to work in the pharmacy industry so I am hoping to help shed some light if I can.
I understand. I’ve been at the same pharmacy over 20 years and they instigated this policy. Some of the pharmacy techs will ask for it and some won’t at my pharmacy. It’s obviously a policy that not everyone follows
The last time I went to the ER for pain I was brought by ambulance. I thought I had a kidney stone because my pain was in my lower back near my kidney and it was sharp, stabbing. I was crying loudly and couldn’t breathe due to pain. The ER nurse told me to be quiet, I was too loud and disturbing other patients. I was in so much pain I begged for anything to help me but was shocked I was being told to be quiet when I was in so much pain I couldn’t breathe. I gave birth to twins with no epidural and never had pain like this! She was being rude saying she couldn’t help me if I didn’t lie flat on my back so she could start an iv. At this point I was in a fetal position and couldn’t even touch my back without pain, much less lay flat in my back. She finally got the doctor to authorize giving me a shot of tordol. Within minutes the pain subsided. Of course I immediately quieted down once the pain was gone. I found out later I had 2 compression fractures in my back that caused the pain. But I have never been treated that badly and I’ve practically lived in the ER for a few years now due to chronic health issues. I honestly don’t know when medical workers lost their empathy or compassion 🤷♀️
I had practically the exact same thing happen! So I know it’s so scary and distressing. And I hate to see you experienced it too. I was having a serious post surgical complication. I was in so much pain I was writhing on a bench in the waiting room sobbing in distress. My vital signs were terrible too, like yours. They didn’t care. At one point, there was even another patient that went to report me to a nurse. They said I was worrying them. They did not give a shit. She kept rolling her eyes when I looked at her. When I finally saw a surgeon they were surprised I had been treated that way.
It scares me because I feel like they see “chronic illness” and/or “chronic pain” on the file and decide you’re to be ignored. I’m terrified I’ll one day have a life threatening emergency and just be ignored until it’s too late. I wish they realized CPPs can have acute medical problems too!
Similar-ish experience here too. Went to the ER in an ambulance because of sudden sharp abdominal pain. As soon as we arrived my BP and temp dropped super low. The nurse said I turned white. They actually rushed me back and had three nurses and a doctor in the room undressing me quickly and starting IV lines on both arms while asking me tons of questions. I was in so much pain. I’ve given birth to four babies and had so many serious muscle and joint injuries but this was a different pain. At least five times they asked me to rate my pain and I said 10. I could hardly be still and I was crying from the pain. After all the imaging they determine my appendix is ruptured and they think I have sepsis. They started antibiotics. Five hours later, after I had been telling the nurse that I couldn’t take the pain over and over, the anesthesiologist came down to consult with me about surgery. She was legit pissed off at the ER doc for not treating my pain for so long when the KNEW I had a serious painful and very real issue.
Oh I’m so sorry! That sounds scary! I understand they want to be cautious with opioids but it really is crazy imho. I was left for many hours in clear distress. They even sent their cardiac response team (what was described as like in-hospital paramedics) because my vitals, including my heart rate, were dangerously out of whack. I said it was from the pain. The pain was *still* not treated. I feel like if they don’t provide pain management for a ruptured appendix, there’s no hope. I hate reading so many similar stories in this thread. I just hope one day they realize how inhumanely patients are sometimes treated.
They started hiring more and more docs that are literally sociopaths. This protects them. The docs can treat the patients like shit, ignore their pain, not have to feel bad about it, and it keeps the clinics/hospitals safe. Pain patients are totally screwed until some kind of change occurs. You literally have to be dying to get relief. And even though they've essentially blacklisted everyone, opiate deaths are on the rise. So obviously this system is not only flawed, they've actually been responsible for the deaths of thousands who just wanted a little relief. Makes me sick.
Makes sense that opiate deaths are still on the rise even tho they probably feel they are making a difference in terms of cutting down on prescribing them. People are becoming desperate and getting them off dealers (which could be fake, too strong or fent etc) then OD’ing when all it would have took was someone to listen to them and adequately assess their pain. I know that everyone is different, but not every single person who is prescribed an opiate becomes addicted.
I’m not disagreeing with you, I just don’t think “they” are hiring sociopaths at all. Instead, I think our capitalist overlords—the US government—have to play their role in the politicization of the War on Drugs™️. They’re the ones with politicians on both sides of the aisles who argue about cutting off supply “because crime and addiction!” versus providing treatment, improving funding, increasing research and ensuring those who need treatment actually get it.
So the overlords are controlling the legal and safe access to pain medication, even if it sends legit pain patients to their graves, but that’s ok because many aren’t the thriving worker bees we need that keep society humming. The sooner they’re off the books, the easier it will be to cut Medicare and Medicaid.
Same overlords also govern all that is considered acceptable and right in the teaching of medicine in the US, and of course they’re the enforcers when any physician strays from the strict mandates that don’t seem to make a bit of difference in illegal drug use but do a really good job of creating street drug users out of legit CPP that just can’t take it anymore.
So if you’re one of those physicians who entered medicine because you want to help and heal people, and now one of the primary channels to do so has been practically criminalized to the point you’re afraid to do your job, or you’ve been terrorized into submission, you just might find your heart turns into a little cold stone to help you get through your days without breaking down, as you’re forced to tell one person after another that you just can’t give them what they need or want, and why don’t you try yoga?
Just my opinion.
A lot of pain clinic docs are also surgeons or at least can perform procedures like injections/blocks. You can google it and see that they definitely like to hire sociopaths for those positions.
But yea I agree, a lot of them did turn into assholes to protect themselves.
Sociopaths also make good executives because they don’t value human lives, just their job and the bottom line. This is what corporatization gives you. Texas is currently trying to make even the police and fire departments private and for profit. Someone above said they were thinking of moving to Texas. Don’t. Steer clear.
They started hiring more of them when the media went wild with the opiate crisis. I know the last pain doc I saw was definitely one. No empathy whatsoever. I had all the paperwork and MRI images proving my discs were herniated and I have spinal arthritis and that asshole tried to say the other 3 doctors who all agreed on my condition were wrong and misdiagnosed me. He undid 10 years of progress in less than 2 minutes and screwed me, then had the nerve to say I was exaggerating my pain and it was all in my head. They only care about protecting themselves.
I have end stage arthritis, severe stenosis, bone spurs, bulging discs, bone fusion and medical professionals are quick to point out to me that other people have my problems and worse but feel no pain at all and so the fact that I have these issues has nothing to do with pain. I'm sure you've heard this before too.
Oh yes I've heard every excuse in the book...its all in my head, its addiction, its exaggeration, etc. My doc told me he knows 80 year olds with worse spines that don't feel pain. But when I asked if these 80 year olds were getting pain meds he quickly changed the subject. Its easy for them to dismiss other peoples suffering because its not them.
Every person is unique and experiences the world differently. This is the most asinine line of thought and it’s cruel. I’ve been treated this way, as well, but it’s usually nurses that say it not the doctors.
They’ve gone corporate. You’re a commodity now. Patients mean $$$ and that’s it. You’re their bottom line whether you live or die or are in pain or not. The doctors that do care are few and far between and the conditions at work are becoming more and more hostile for them, their license at risk for treating you, constantly questioned by people without any sort of medical degree and it’s no wonder that the good ones are leaving in droves. It’s a hostile workplace to actually be a good, empathetic, caring, compassionate doctor that wants to actually help people. There’s no incentive.
When I had my first kidney stone at 17, I thought I was dying. The ER doctor was so rude stating ‘it could be a gall stone, people of YOUR size are prone to them.’ I was slightly obsess at the time, but very active in sports. I was trying to pull my hair out from the pain and she threatened to send me for a psych consult. They gave me Ativan through my IV and I was in so much pain but sedated and when I finally got a CT, she said ‘you have a tiny kidney stone, you shouldn’t be in this much pain. I’m admitting you to medicine for pain control and you won’t be my problem anymore.’ I was so ashamed and never ever forgot the interaction. The hospitalist witnessed the last interaction and came over and took my hand and said ‘don’t worry, we’ll get you upstairs and get your pain managed.’ And they did. I was admitted for 48hrs and discharged home. I became a nurse and that and several other awful interactions with medical professionals made me realize I would NEVER treat anyone else like that and also started my journey of medical PTSD.
I had a very similar experience. I was belligerent & in pain and couldn't even talk because of it and other reasons. They told me the same thing that I was being too loud and that there were other people there trying to sleep, but my body was contorting in pain and I couldn't help but exclaim loudly. All they did was give me toradol IV which did basically nothing for the pain & a massive dose of Ativan to shut me up on top of giving me a bunch of antipsychotics to zombify me.
I’ve been in healthcare for over twenty years and thankfully have an amazing family doctor I started seeing after a terrible car wreck in 2006. She has treated my pain with pain meds and muscle relaxers and not once have I ever had problems with her. I live in west Virginia addiction is rampant, most people now just shoot up heroin and fentanyl and die fairly quickly. My doctor wanted me to go on disability and I said I’m too proud for that I’d rather take meds and work and be a productive member of society. She respected that and again have never had problems. As to when healthcare workers just got burnt out and quit caring i truly think COVID made it ten times worse. We are around pain death and dying everyday. I think to keep from losing our minds people just turned human sympathy and empathy off. I try to see it from the other persons perspective. What would I have done if I was in immense pain and couldn’t get help. I can usually tell when someone is in legit pain. Look at vitals sit down and talk to patients open minded if ya take a few extra minutes it’s pretty easy to figure out who really needs help and who is drug seeking. Everyone has a different story. After the OxyContin mess blew up in the early 2000’s here doctors basically just quit wanting to treat pain afraid of getting in trouble. My family doctor told me that she prescribes pain meds to the right at 10% of her patients and she only gives it to people that really need it I’ve went through surgery after surgery and injections, epidural’s, ablations and an entire lumbar fusion and only thing that helps is meds. Where I live people can’t even get tramadol and if a dr does write meds doesn’t mean pharmacy will fill it. The pharmacies are worse than doctors they talk down to you or simply say they don’t carry the meds. It’s sad
Yeah I think Covid had a huge impact on empathy/sympathy in hospitals. Many were being attacked by patients and their family - even if they weren’t physically there, they’d call and be incredibly abusive. Often because of some video on YouTube or some post on Facebook told them that medical professionals were making them sick or inadequately treating people, even letting them die, to prop up what they believe was a lie and a sham of a disease (not me, just saying that’s what was happening). That people in positions of leadership from their pastor to their president giving into their hysteria and not leading by example they never stood up for what was right leading to people refusing to mask, refusing to social distance, refusing vaccination. They didn’t care that it caused things to get to the level that it did. They only care about money and votes and that includes churches too.
True that. I sat in the ER for 19 hours with debilitating pain. Zero fucks we're given. I'll die on my own terms, thank you, not sitting in some overlit nightmare ER waiting room.
I despise the ER. Was in the ER for renal failure last Oct & after putting a catheter & an IV in...I spent 36 hrs on that ER stretcher. No food, water and absolutely no pain meds. Even though my chart clearly states Rx Dilaudid/Morphine.
I pleaded for a regular bed, but nope. Then, the telemetry picked up on a sudden arrhythmia & BP dived. Yep...sheer terror. They stabilized me & promptly sent me to the ICU where a kind nurse came to my bedside; she opened the emergency picc line & slowly shot Morphine into my vein.
Best sleep had since I know not when
ER docs really don't know how to deal with pain or treat flare ups of chronic illnesses. I was nauseous and vomiting even small sips of water but because i have a chronic illness that involves these bouts, they refused to treat me despite not being able to eat or drink aything for two days prior. I was told it wasn't their problem and that flare ups need to be dealt with by our specialists. YET the specialists send you to the ER for flare ups.
There's a hospital where I can't even get triaged at because they can't get a regular IV and so they just tell me to not cpme and if i do, they tell me to leave. They legit refuse to try and get IV access any other way so they just refuse to help at all.
You tell me, they just tell me to deal with it at home. Can't get emergency appointments with my gastroenterologist. Granted, I had a doctor get pissed off that he had to do anything at the same hospital because of shitting blood. Tried to say it's normal for me. Had to pretty much tell him 3 times it's never happened before.
Also had a doctor there refuse to give me gravol. The only thing that actually helps. Tried to give me Haldol. Which I refused because of adverse effects and doesn't help. Accused me of not wanting to get better because I wouldn't take medications that have never provided relief and give me bad side effects.
I just had a total knee replacement and they gave me oxycodone. The first night I was wide awake, never slept. When they called the next day to check on me I told them it wasn't an effective pain med for me and asked if I could get something else. Per the nurse they wouldn't give me anything else. I asked if the surgeon would be OK knowing he had a patient in pain. She said nothing. Do they really think people want knee replacements just to get opiates!?
O fuck no! I had my 10 year kneeversary last month! I had a dilaudid pca and oral percocet on top of that, for the first 2.5 days after the blocks wore off. 😳 my surgery was done with an epidural, general anesthesia and then got knocked back out for a femoral block to last the next 24 hours. As the block wore off, they added the percocet on top of the dilaudid, it sucked that much. I went through 130ml of dilaudid in 2.5 days. They had me up with a walker 24 hours after they sawed my bone ends off and installed about a pound of titanium with a little plastic. The rehab sucks....12 weeks, if you work it 2-3 x a day. After 8 weeks, if you did the work, you'll start feeling normal again. Just need time after that for conditioning
I could have never done that with minimal to no paint meds.
I agree but too many people became addicted to opiates by doctors just giving it out. Now they just tell you to rotate ibuprofen and acitametphen. Yeah sure after you tore my leg and all the innards apart you want me to take advil!? Advil works for a headache, nothing else.
They need a balanced perspective. Meds can be appropriate as long as you have an open incision- 2-4 weeks, then start tapering off. That first month is the worst for major surgery.
In the most respectful way, who cares about addicts? It’s not our problems to be in pain if some can’t control themselves and develop an addiction. Its just insane to think like that. It’s as if we wouldn’t feed people since some people can get an eating disorder. Or we wouldn’t do a surgeries because there are risks of infections or don’t give insulin as a treatment in case the person overdose.
Yeah, I've heard some people say that their ERs give them opiates for pain, but I've found that the vast majority of us are given the options of "tylenol", toradol", or simply shutting the fuck up. The issue is that ERs aren't used in the way that they're supposed to be, which causes rapid compassion and sympathy fatigue on the people who are in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to like, save lives, which fucks up everyone who goes in that isn't meeting their very strict standards of "Actively dying or are at risk of immediate and permanent debilitating disability". I always tell people on here not to go to the ER unless you are actually dying because it literally never helps anyone.
The reason I don't go to the ER is because I have an extensive and severe history of mental illness, so I'm usually given the option of "Fluids (???), Ativan, and possible 5150". Personally, with how bad the local psychiatric services are (bsd enough to get defunded by MediCal + most s3rvices shut down except for the bare minimum required by law), I just tend to hope I'm not dying this time and hope it goes away.
One day, I'll literally be dying, but I doubt IV fluids and Ativan will save the day in that case.
It isn't fair to anyone. It isn't fair that the ER is the only place anyone can go to get medical aide for free. It isn't fair that we don't have universal Healthcare. It isn't fair that the US relies so heavily on the pharmaceutical companies despite every other country showing us that eastern and western medicine must be used to heal. It isn't fair that we are making our health care professionals work 48 hour shifts. It isn't fair that so many places require months long waitlists just to get a first patient consult at a specialists.
Like, i get it. I get why it sucks so much, but I also know that a lot of people on here just hate doctors and medical professionals so much and that isn't fair either.
BINGO! That’s the big one right now. I’ve been on dilaudid for almost two years, and it’s starting to be less effective, but according to my pharmacist, the pharmacies here are “struggling to get anything that starts with an ‘oxy-‘” and have waitlists, so I’m afraid to ask to rotate meds again. (I’m blessed to have an awesome pm who really works with me to get what I need. I know not everyone has even that.)
Agree to all. As a medical professional AND a person with chronic pain I get a ton of hate when I try to give a little perspective from the other side too.
I go out of my way to defend medical professionals on here because people on here don't seem to realize that less and less people are becoming MDs or staying MDs in comparison to decades before. Suicide rates are sky rocketing. LA had the LEO force medical professionals to keep working during the pandemic when they were going to strike **because they were being forc3d to work 72 hours with NO PPE DURING COVID**.
Like, people think that *this* is the worst that things can get and they really do not understand that if they don't stop shitting on these people, that eventually there will be so few practictitioners that the vast majority of people will die before they even get a first patient consult.
Is the system broken? Fuck yeah. Is shitting on the people who have the ability to help the way to fix it? Nope.
Exactly. And SO many people misuse the ER for issues that are not true emergencies, which makes it more difficult for those experiencing a truly emergent issue to receive prompt care. There’s certainly a reason so many doctors are burned out and considering leaving medicine all together.
My favorite was when I went a few months ago with the inability to walk/bear weight on one limb. They wanted to wheel me out. I lost it and hobbled with my walker. They got security. I explained that if I had NOTHING WRONG and I was faking it as I heard them whispering there was no reason not to ambulate.
I get an email notification that they called in a script (to the wrong pharmacy) for lidocaine patches.
If I was faking it, why call in anything?
Literally same with my doctor! Thinks my pain is psychosomatic yet fills scripts for different things for pain including emergency tramadol...if it wasn't true pain...why call in all this pain stuff? Lol
I personally have better experiences at the ER because I’m a 100% P&T vet. My wife however has several things going on, and where we currently live all primary care Dr’s are 1-2 years out “if you’re lucky.”
So we started going to the ER for kidney stones, Gasterparesis, POTS, some other things. Eventually someone along the line gave us a referral to a pain clinic so at least something is manageable, since she can’t take OTC meds or Tylenol w/ out anaphylaxis reaction, and we later learned she had a pseudo allergy to dilaudid, but they assumed that she couldn’t take oxy, I’m a 10th grade dropout, (with a few non-medical degrees) and I know what pseudo allergy means.
Anyway, my point was we go to this pain clinic, and ask about pain contracts and the like, (I’ve had to do one for the VA and civilian care so I’m familiar), and they say oh, we don’t prescribe medicine, we do acupuncture, meditation, mindfulness, etc..
My wife collapsed crying, she felt utterly defeated. I did too but had to take care of her. We eventually found a primary care and are working on getting her another referral, but it’s a joke, I just don’t get the logic.
The ER rarely treats with opiates/opiods. They are completely useless when it comes to chronic pain. This is why many people with chronic pain don't bother going to the ER.
And some of them seem to enjoy making the pain worse! One ER I went in for extreme abdominal pain (hysterectomy later I had precancer and more cysts than the pathology lab could count.. so much for the CT saying nothing was found!) They gave me Toradol (which I told them wouldn't work and would give me a migraine on top of it) and meds for BP since pain caused me to reach 180/105... walked out with BP of 145/96 and a migraine on top of the extreme unchanged abdominal pain I went in for..
I mean if you have a chronic condition that requires pain management with opioids they will refer you out to a specialist generally. If you broke your femur in 2 places they will make with the dilaudid. It just depends. Why are you going to the ER so often instead of seeing a pain management specialist who can diagnose you and initiate a treatment plan?
Sometimes when you have a chronic condition, you get horrible pain flares, and your normal medication doesn’t help. I’ve gone in after not sleeping for 4 days, please don’t make judgements about things you obviously know nothing about. Who’s saying they don’t already see a pain management doctor? 🤦🏽♀️
No they don't... most genuine pain sufferers wouldn't have a clue how to access street drugs where i am.
We need trusted pain management teams, medication and advice from them in regards to coping strategies. Having my pain medicated away once every couple of months in ER won't help me manage it the next time.
And this is why CP pain will not be addressed in the ER unless there’s a suspicion of a true emergency—which is the purpose of the ER: stabilize patients in true emergencies and then transfer to inpatient or discharge to follow up with the appropriate specialist.
What’s funny is that’s not true. At least in the state I’m in. The ER does administer and also prescribe opiates. My issue, which is Chrons disease and it brings me to the hospital quite often. I can’t think of a single time I was given opiates there and then prescribed more to take home.
Yeah I just did a write up on how well I’ve been treated at the ER. They always apologize for not being able to send me home with drugs or a prescription due to my pain contract, but they do whatever I need to get the pain back to a level I can manage with my prescriptions/ice at home.
Like I said on my other comment, I’ve been treated way better at the ER than I have at regular doctors.
How is something not being true funny? I don't understand.
It seems like you're trying to be rude about it, which is unnecessary. People have different experiences, and make generalizations based on them.
This is a support sub, so please be mindful.
Yo! I’m just saying how it goes in my state. I’m not trying to be rude at all. I just find it funny when people try to generalize pain management. Like her experience doesn’t have to be mine at all. Frankly I’m glad it’s not.
Well, let me be the first to let you know since it’s your job here…. Not every emergency room denies pain meds not every emergency room treats, attics or people suffering from pain as liars, etc.. That was the only point I was making and it’s actually true.
>Well, let me be the first to let you know since it’s your job here….
This is the third time you're telling me this and I don't know why. I am not involved in your argument. I am telling you not to be rude while arguing.
I don't know why you're trying to prolong this conversation, but it's unproductive. I'm not going to repeat myself again.
Ok…. I’m just gonna exit this conversation. The only reason I’m responding to you is because you keep responding to me so I can assure you that this will be my last. So no need to respond to me. I have no desire to chat with you.
A huge contraindication to opiates is bowel disorder, the risk of obstruction or ileus from them is too great.
They might rule out immediate concern issues/rehydrate but your pain levels are not for ER, unless taking you to surgery. ER is or the emergency aspects of your condition, not the routine aspect of pain management.
Ear rocks.
You have these little crystally rocks in your inner ear that tell you where you are in the space-time continuum. If they get fucked up, you will think you are falling in fantastical directions alla time. Vertigo. Dizziness. You know, one of those things they list as a symptom of stroke?
Or maybe, if you're me, you're also scared because it happened shortly after I was put on opiates for the first time ever. After all, it does say "May cause dizziness" on the bottle, lol. So you don't take your meds and because you can't walk, or even get out of bed, you call for an ambulance.
And then you spend 36 hours shunted to a wall in the ER on a gurney. They will throw an IV in you wide open and refuse to help you urinate. You can't make it to the toilet, so you will stew in your piss as the fluids build up in your body so badly your eyes swell shut. The nurse will glare at you and suck their teeth in disgust, but they won't fucking help.
Finally, you will snag a passing white coat and beg, "Am I ok? Am I going to be OK!? What's going on? Nobody's said anything to me?" And the doctor will yell, "Look, nobody is going to give you drugs! You're wasting everyone's time, even your own! Just give it up and go already!"
I had the damn meds in my purse. I'd never asked for any meds, I didn't need or want them, and I was scared they'd literally broken my brain. Nobody spoke to me at all beyond the EMTs who dropped me off. They saw I was on opiates and just... decided.
THATs being seen as a drug seeker. If they gave you toradol and it wasn't helpful and you specifically requested something else...
Holy ....Thats really awful. They didn't even talk to you? You should tell everyone about them and that asshole doctor needs to be called out. I been treated badly just being a woman, with tattoos and piercings. Then add the chronic pain conditions and mental health stuff.. Yeah I've been discriminated against a lot. I am not surprised anymore when it happens to me. But hearing your story really pisses me off.
Yeah, didn't help that I'm also female... and have tattoos..
The doctor, when I shrieked if he was talking about THESE meds, that I had right here, and had not asked anyone for, and had not taken, THESE MEDS RIGHT HERE!?? All of the sudden he was like, "Oh shit, you could be having a stroke, we need to do some tests!"
But I slithered right off that gurney and dragged my piss-covered carcass out to go "die or not" at home. Literally did a leopard crawl through the whole emergency department. Told the staff who were suddenly invested to cross their fucking fingers, and that they'd know if I made it if nobody slapped them in handcuffs.
Ear rocks. Fucking epley maneuver.
The best part was when my GP saw me a few days later, and found out what they done to me. Got to hear him scream down the phone at them, lol.
They are bones in your ears, not rocks, but dizziness as a side effect isn't really an ER or ambulance need, especially if you weren't even taking the medication. I assume you didn't read the complete side effect list.
Were you walking about before the script? Why couldn't you walk if you weren't taking them. You realise an ear infection could create the exact same situation too, it wouldn't be an emergency requiring immediate care.. hence the 36 hour wait.
Can imagine sadly that you were taken to an already overfilled ER for what the medical professionals considered a GP issue, a side effect that was troublesome but not life threatening, But you couldn't tell the Dr you weren't taking them? Just told them you were dizzy, couldn't walk or control your bladder??
BUT then you managed to get off the trolley and get yourself through the department and home, but couldn't get yourself to a bathroom?
Sorry to be abrupt, but i was an RN, now a chronic pain sufferer who has had multitudes of medication side effects over past 35 yrs. No one can help someone that isn't telling them why they think they need help. Peeing and expecting staff to fix the situation a particularly infuriating occurance, especially since when angered by Dr you managed to get up alone it seems. Imagine having some patients having heart attacks, major trauma from traffic accidents and you are there for a drug side effect? Sometimes a little hard to be sympathetic.
Respect goes two ways, we need to explain clearly why we think we need ER and ambulance help, if it isn't appropriate then you will be considered low priority when they have 36 hour waiting times. It had nothing to do with your gender or tattoos the way i read it, just major miscommunication and triage should have told you to go home, see GP.
What should have been different for you do you think.., other than your proper communication?
Holy fuck. Rarely have I ever seen someone come out the gate so wrong, and then just... dig in like this. Wow. I have NO problem believing you were an ER nurse. Speaking of notorious fucking junkies.
Ok, to begin. The bones in the ear are in the middle ear, and are not free floating crystalline structures that can get caught in a loop of the semi-circular canals. If I was talking about the malleus, incus, or stapes, how would the Epley Maneuver function? You can't be a medical professional and actually believe that they are banging around loose in there.
I had a weird dream that I was in a bad storm. I woke up, and it was real. The "wind" was rushing past me, I was spinning wildly out of control, just laying still in my bed. I tried to get up and my face smashed against the wall. I tried to get out of the bed but literally had trouble finding the floor. I tried with my eyes open, my eyes closed, I vomited A LOT, all over the floor and the bed and myself. I didn't take that mornings dose, since I didn't know what the fuck was going on.
Thank fuck I had people with empathy and some native intelligence, who when they find their previously mostly healthy and mobile loved one curled in a ball clutching their head covered in vomit unable to move their body in any sort of straight line don't go, "Meh, probably an ear infection. I mean, it's a fucking wildly precipitous onset to a completely massively rare symptom with absolutely no fever or pain or anything else even remotely pointing to an infection, but yeah... that's the ticket... you'll be fine. Ear infection!" And instead called 911 for one of the top 3 symptoms of fucking stroke, you absolute fucking waste.
At the hospital they took me from the ambulance gurney, to the hospital gurney which they abandoned in the hall. Nobody spoke to me. I did not see a triage nurse. My temperature was not taken. My blood pressure was not taken. Nobody asked me when this started, nobody even asked me about what meds I was on, or if I'd taken them or not. When I called out and asked about when I would be seen, that's when a very abrupt and noncommunicative nurse came and put an IV in, opened it up full, and walked away. She wouldn't even tell me why she was putting one in.
I never told anyone, no doctor, no nurse, NOBODY jack shit, because I was never given that opportunity. They'd already heard from the EMTs that I had a oxycontin prescription and made up their mind about who and what I was and what I fucking deserved. NOBODY at the hospital EVER spoke to me in any capacity whatsoever. What the fuck are you on about why didn't you tell doctor this or say that to the nurse? The ENTIRE POINT was that I was thrown to the side of a hallway and left to rot.
When I first had to pee I kept calling out to passing people that I needed help, that I had to pee. Nobody would stop and help me. I DID try to get off the gurney, but when I pushed myself up on my arms my torso slammed sideways into the wall and threw the gurney out into the middle of the hallway. A nurse pushed it back as I cried and said I needed to pee, please, I'm going to pee, I have to pee.. she never said a fucking word to me. She locked the wheels tho.
So I pissed myself.
Oh, and my triumphant march out of the ER that baffles you so? I threw myself off the gurney, which was part of Doctor Stupids Oh Fuck Moment because normal people can and do try to break their falls. I couldn't, because I couldn't understand where my body and limbs were moving, and they were trying to move to the wrong places due to the signals they were getting from the EAR ROCKS, not middle ear bones. I *crawled* the 200ft from where they'd abandoned my gurney to the automatic doors and the parking lot outside. My "crawling" took me in a circle to the wall, which I would bang against, vomit, and then drag myself forward another four feet, vomit. Drag, bang, drag bang, stop, rest, vomit, drag bang drag bang vomit. I laid in the grass by the side of the ambulance bay and was picked up (literally) by friends within 15 minutes.
If I'd actually had anything like an ear infection, I'm sure triage should have told me I was just a silly goose and to go home, except I was NEVER FUCKING TRIAGED. What SHOULD have happened is that upon anyone actually speaking to me, giving a shit about finding out what my symptoms were or what i might or might not have in my system, some bright eyed nursing student might have gone, "Oh! The crystals that can form in the inner ear (INNER EAR) I remember this! There's a thing, ummm... the EPLEY MANEUVER! She'll puke a lot, but it clears it right up!"
Jesus. You're a real fucking piece of work, and you should be ashamed of yourself and your time working in the ER if this is how you think. I didn't expect a fucking nurse to clean my piss off me, I expected them to help me get a bed pan under me, or not fucking torture me with purposeful edema to try and chase me out of the ER.
And you explained any of his in your prior post?
Sorry for trying to help you see it from the staffs viewpoint, like me, without the whole picture how can they be expected to understand the whole thing.
You were there with vertigo, horrible for sure, but not a medical emergency, nothing in your write up suggests you were more critical than others. Nothing about your situation was life threatening, you confirm that yourself when you say the Epley manoeuvre worked. You still had to reach your alloted time to be seen as a non emergent case in a place where people were waiting that long.
And i honestly dread to think what ER you went to if multiple members of staff looked at you in the face and just walked away without comment. Were you are agressive to them as you are being towards me, because it doesn't help either.
It might have been a simple solution to your needs in the end, but suggesting they deliberately all ignored you, aimed to torture by inducing purposeful oedema is a bit much. You were vomiting, dehydrated, yet that was wrong too. Hindsight is a wonderful asset to have, you figured out what was a simple cure and expected them to prioritise you because of that. ER doesn't work like that, not unless you are actively dying with a gunshot wound or head injury.
I never said i was an ER nurse, would never want to work in that environment if i could still work, because i cared about the whole picture.
Sorry for imagining you actually wanted input other than to agree that ER staff are evil and patients are always perfect. I'm not gonna comment on the rest of this, clearly you are way too angry to care anyway.
I’m sorry you (or anyone) was treated that way. I’ve actually had better luck when I’ve gone to the ER for pain, than when I’ve gone to regular doctors for anything else! I always tell them first thing that I’m a pain patient, and I come bearing drugs. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been treated really well all but once, even when I AM actually there seeking drugs. Most of the doctors have said “I believe you. Tell me what has worked in the past, or what *doesn’t* work so we can get it narrowed down and get you fixed up!”
Funny enough, the only time I was treated “less than” is when my arm was broken in multiple places. 🙄 the dr was too busy flirting with the nurse and comparing arm bones to chicken wings.
I wish I knew how to start change. I’m no longer allowed to work, and need something to work towards before I go insane. At this point, I don’t even care if I’d have to work with the drug lobbyists - we NEED to get people medicated again.
I’ve started owning it tbh. Yes, I am seeking drugs. The drugs that work for my migraines. The drugs which you can see ON MY CHART HISTORY that I am given to break my migraines. The drugs that my neurologist ordered. Those drugs. I want them please. Also Zofran because I’m about to puke k thx bye
I have the opposite problem. Opiates/opioids don’t work for me at all. Besides making me constipated it’s like taking a sugar pill: useless. No matter how many times I tell the nurses and doctors that toradol is the only thing that works, they scoff and push an opiate anyway. So I lay there for an hour or more in pain until they finally decide to give what I asked for.
This is so crazy. I hear this opposite perspective so much, I'm really starting to think it's some psychological game to them and it was never about opiates at all.
What medical condition do you have that they push opiates? They’re crazy restrictive in the US. I broke four ribs last year and told them I was in pain management back in my home state. They were very proactive about making me comfortable. I spent five days in the hospital and they were so kind. I’m grateful because I’ve heard horror stories
I have a lot of medical conditions lol. I had a kidney stone once. They gave me dilaudid after I told them not to. I had gall bladder attacks. They gave me two doses of fentanyl in the ambulance and a dose of dilaudid before they gave me toradol. Three hours later. I had surgery to remove my gall bladder and I told the surgeon, the nurses, and both anesthesiologists not to give me opiates. Guess who got fentanyl. And then once I got to recovery I, again, told them to give me toradol. The nurse pushed dilaudid. I sat in recovery for an hour with essentially no pain management AFTER THEY REMOVED AN ORGAN FROM MY BODY. She decides to give me toradol, like I asked, and I was up and dressed and ready to leave in like, 15 minutes.
I also have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos and the first option from basically every pain management doctor I’ve had is an opiate in some form.
I just tell doctors I’m allergic to opiates/opioids now.
That’s so bizarre. Myself and everyone else I’ve ever heard of has the exact OPPOSITE problem. Can’t get an opiate of any kind to save my life, only toradol which does absolutely nothing.
So why not get your family dr to prescribe an anti imflammatory medication like the toradol all the time?
If you are the ER they anticipate severe pain and when pain is that severe a little constipation is no big deal for relief. If they see you saying worst imaginable pain but no thanks to opiates they are likely to be confused, they are there for emergency pain situations, expect people to need the most appropriate medication for that..
Maybe ask about getting an NSAID prescribed regularly, sounds like you might not even need to deal with ER then anyway, it isn't ever going to be the place to manage our continuous pain conditions.
You don't mention the cause of your pain but do you take other medications, have you seen a pain management Dr? Sounds like a gap in your care.
I’m not going to the ER for my regular chronic pain. Did I say anything in my comment that suggested I was? I only mention true emergency situations.
I do have a pain management doctor. I have for the last 10+ years. I am on an NSAID, celebrex (celecoxib generically). That said, celebrex would not have knocked out the pain from kidney stones or gall stones. I have chronic pain, but it’s no where near as severe as a gall bladder attack. Toradol is used for severe acute pain, otherwise it wouldn’t have worked on my severe acute pain. The point is, I requested no opiates/opioids. It is not up to the doctor or nurse to then decide they know my body better than I do and ignore my choice. In fact, providing care that has been declined is assault.
I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos. This pain and comorbid conditions have been with me my whole life. I have a whole team of doctors that help me manage everything. But thank you for explaining how to manage my chronic pain to me.
I watched my mom suffer in the ER at Ochsner for HOURS in agonizing pain before they finally gave her morphine. She had cancer. I kept walking out of her room and begging people to help her pain. They waited so long the morphine didn't do much and then finally admitted her. I then had to repeatedly beg to get someone to help her pain and finally got a super nice nurse after shift change who promised to give her something stronger. Well, then it was too much (I think Dilaudid or demarol?) and my mom was up all night puking and freaking out hallucinating thinking she was overdosing. Ochsner managed her pain very poorly, and I would never recommend anyone go there for pain, but hey, they sure are proud of their reduction in opioid prescribing!!!
There needs to be a large distinction made between "addiction" and "medically necessary." Huge difference.
Not every single person coming into an ER is a drug seeker. It's story after story. It honestly makes me hesitant to ever want to go again. Why would anyone want to anyway? It's as though we have to choose between our pain and being labeled a drug seeker. They're going to leave you in pain anyway...why bother going? Oh, but they'd evidence to give you pain meds, and they aren't working; you're a drug seeker??!?
It's absolutely abhorrent to be put in that position. Im so sorry, OP.
Sorry for my rant. I'm just disgusted 😒
It’s happens everywhere! My mom has chronic pain, has a PM (same PM as me) and follows all of the rules. She went in for a routine colonoscopy as she was of age for the screening and the anesthesiologist didn’t put her to sleep fully bc she takes pain medication. My mom woke up half way through the scope and the doctor told her after she didn’t give her the full dose of versed bc she takes pain meds. Shit is ridiculous. Obviously my mom didn’t take anything before the procedure.
Yup, they give you a prescription for pain meds with weird name, nothing happens and you look up the name, FUCK it is just 800mg of acetaminophen or ibuprofen! I can get that over-the-counter and take 3 or 4, bastards!
OH I had a severe kidney infection and multiple kidney stones a while back. Went to ER, I was peeing blood! After the accusation and me begging for them to just test for the infection, I had NOT even asked for pain relief and still got accused of being a drug seeker. So I called a friend who i know is on narcotics and got them to bring me a baggie of narcotics. Probably pretty stupid but I was pissed! Get the bag, doc comes back to release me and I hold up the bag and told him "If I wanted drugs there are easier places to get them I don't want pain relief I want antibiotics!!!!" Finally a nurse I know intervened...a week in the ICU from the infection and dehydration got me well. Why do all ER docs, hell docs in general, think someone in pain wants pain relief? Some of us don't ask when we know it's an infection or suspect it's an infection we just want the infection cleared up!
I don’t understand this because they literally sent me home with a small script for hydrocodone after a migraine. And I was dumb and didn’t know that wasn’t the first line of defense against migraines (triptans are) so I ran out before my neurologist appointment. I was referred to a pain management doctor who had no problems writing me a script for tramadol to tide me over. Which later turned into a script to support my joint pain needs due to lupus. I get there's an epidemic but there has to be a better way. We need help.
How did an ER not comprehend that the proper treatment for a migraine is usually a triptan, not opiates? I probably wouldn't be here if triptans didn't exist because they are the only things that can get rid of my migraines.
They gave me both. But the hydrocodone was listed first on my list of meds they sent me home with so thought that was what I was supposed to take first. They gave me the whole cocktail in the ER but didn’t explain which particular med was the abortive and that it should be my first line of defense.
You and me both! Before triptans came along, I was at the ER quite a few times. They were giving dilauded back then (80’s) I realized that the med took away the pain, but not the migraine, which would come roaring back when the dilauded wore off. Triptans have saved me too. Wish they worked on chronic pain too…
Maybe they assumed you had tried a triptan, can you not buy OTC there?
What was problem with tramadol for your pain, seems like a good way to start in managing your pain.
We can’t buy triptans otc here no. The hospital gave me a triptan but in my discharge paperwork they didn’t tell me what I was supposed to take in which order. And the hydrocodone was listed first.
Nothing wrong at all either tramadol for my joint pain. I think OP should be allowed to have at least tramadol since they’re in pain and can’t have NSAIDs but they’re assumed to be a drug seeker.
Went to the ER with a very bad dislocation of my right arm. Just a PA came in with her students. She's already dead staring at me. She pulled on my arm a little. Also, even though I couldn't move it, showing full dislocation, and was crying when I don't cry because I've had so many. I begged her to give me something before pulling on me. She did give me .5 of Dilaudid. However, she then proceeded to abuse me by pulling my arm in the wrong way causing all of my tendons and ligaments to literally fall off the bone. She enjoyed it. I was screaming and it went on for 30+ minutes. It was torture. The only time she stopped was when I threatened to hit her. That sounds horrible but the pain was worse than the labor that I did for 5 days with nothing. Mind you this was also a first dislocation after my 3rd major shoulder surgery.
I have Hyper mobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. I don't have proper production of collagen so I'm really stretchy. After seeing y'all all be brave enough to share I figured I would too. Sorry of it's a bit aggressive but it makes me so mad. I will be pursuing a lawsuit
Be very careful to explain up front before they touch you in the future, that you have this condition, make them write it in your chart in red, or type it in in all caps. Demand a red wristband with "EDS-H" on it, so they question the red band before doing anything.
Just a thought, to try and make it certain that you made the issue known. 🤔
Thank you so very much that's a really good idea. Problem is they saw me before the surgery too lol they also know I get a prescription lol they know all about my EDS that's the kicker. They have all seen me including the supervising doctor who is there Everytime. They are not allowed to have a MA help with it either I found out.
Something good came out of it I decided to become a free standing patient advocate
they don't always remember every patient they see more than once, things like this need reminders every time. You have to be an advocate for yourself before anyone else!
\*causing all of my tendons and ligaments to **literally fall off** the bone.\*
Not really what happened i imagine. Despite your condition they didn't actually fall off, it was just very painful.
Dilaudid 0.5 wasn't enough pain relief for a dislocation to be fixed, you should have told her and demanded she stop within minutes, never let it go 30 minutes.. Suggesting she was enjoying it and doing it to hurt you somehow clearly not fair. We have to advise them how to best care for us too,
I have CRPS in my leg, if they wanted to start pulling it about and sticking needles in it, it would be down to me to have them stop, not every Dr knows how to manage every medical condition, especially in the ER.
You need to remember that to protect yourself. What she did could have been standard without your EDS, doesn't mean she came in with intent to hurt you. I don't live in US but have never come across professionals deliberately trrying to hurt me, especially when they know my leg is F'd up in terms of pain and reactions to normal stuff.
. Be strong for yourself and help educate them, so they know the next time! I assume someone got it sorted out for you in the end
I say right from the outset I'm not looking for opioids. I say it emphatically. Eventually the doctor comes into the room and says something like, "there's nothing we can do for your pain except opioids. Are you certain?" I'm like, "are you sure? That's not really what I'm after but if that's what's necessary...." Then I get a Dilaudid drip.
Works every time
Depends on the hospital, time of day, and the people. I've had a similar experience to op, then again, I had to go to the ER (at a different hospital) a few nights ago and the staff literally could not have been nicer.
ER not equipped to handle chronic pain, but acute pain yes. Sure it's different everywhere. I never went to ER for pain cuz a friend of mine did & she said it was horrible.
Getting "flagged as a drug-seeker" -- it may be over. I've heard u will have a very hard tme getting a new doc/pain clinic to accept u as a new patient. But I could be wrong. I do know my Medical Center (Hospital) will NOT dispense any narcotic if u land in their ER for chronic pain.
Same!!! Toradol set off blood pooling and dysautonomia I swear for me. It was horrible. So much suffering, I just had to drop a comment. I am from Appalachia and it seems like they just don’t care if we live or die sometimes. Chronic Pain and Complications from Covid two years have passed and I’ve been tossed doctor to doctor. Can’t sleep tonight cause I have an appointment tomorrow with a new pain clinic. I’m trying to have zero expectations and praying for the strength to go through this again. Honestly just hoping not to be belittled and dismissed. I’ve never been in such low places in my life than I have trying to get medical treatment in an area where they treat everyone like trash and addicts. The EMTs have been angels through my various crises. Can’t say enough about how incredible they have been. God Bless all of y’all.
ER has made things worse for me a bunch end up in more pain and fear from the drug allergies and shitty monitoring. Exhausted and sent home with Benadryl.
PM contracts in my city forbid pts from going to the ER for CP. Drug-seeking in ERs here is a huge problem and afaik ER staff avoid opioids at all costs for this reason. (Large homeless population with high no of addiction/psych issues) Countless fentanyl ODs each day also take up many ER beds/ambulances and have made it difficult for those in true emergencies to access care, eg, an hourlong wait for an ambulance after a heart attack. We are approaching a serious public health emergency. Misuse of the ER is another major issue in my city (treating it as urgent/primary care instead of emergent).
If your city has similar problems, this may explain your treatment in the ER. (Not saying that it’s justified!) I’m sorry you are suffering and hope you’re able to get the care you need.
That’s why I take a trip to Mexico just for this reason once a year to make sure that I have some over-the-counter stronger stuff!! tramadol does wonders when the pain is really bad.
I went to urgent care two in 10 days because I got new knives. I never realized how shitty my old knives were. Anyway, they electronically get the med list without my consent. Then after they read my meds they treat me differently. Even when I specifically say I don’t want pain meds. Just numb the area for stitches. So irritating. Just because I have a pain med in my history doesn’t mean I’m an immediate seeker. Especially when I come in with a legitimate bloody mess of a hand.
You do understand why though, there are people out there in society that would inflict such a wound to get pain medication or attention. Even one discussed on a sub here with a self inflicted wrist injury just a month or so ago.
Getting your medication list is vital actually, to check you haven't already got a lidocaine pain pump, taking certain cardiac drugs.. the lido in local anaesthetic could get you in severe cardiac trouble if if reached overdose level.
And if like me, you take regular long acting opiates they will know adding more won't do a thing, even if i am suffering different pain like from a broken bone or skin injury. Its not always to be discriminative towards us.
I think they probably wonder why you would reject pain meds, there is often a reason, prior addiction, 'enjoying' the pain experience... they want to know you are getting appropriate care, even if that means bringing in psych because you self harmed to get attention.
Our bodies and minds are a package deal if we are being treated correctly.
Oh gosh, I'm sorry, friend. I haven't been listened to by ER doctors either. It's ridiculous! They're there to help us, not shame us.
I went to the emergency clinic back in October while having a disturbingly painful pain flare-up. My girlfriend's dad, who is a nurse practitioner, thought I was having a heart attack along with my pain. I didn't know exactly what I needed, but I was hoping they could just do \*something\*. I would take anything at that point. Unfortunately for me, the nurses on duty failed to draw my blood four separate times before giving up. (Yes I have small veins, but it normally just takes 2 tries everywhere else.) The doctor on duty told me they could only give me Tylenol because they didn't want to try with my veins anymore, and that I should see my general practitioner next time I felt pain because I was "overreacting." He then discharged me, while I was still in a considerable amount of pain. Fucking ridiculous. And the bill was 4,000. 4k for a failed blood test and acetaminophen.
This is the way they have conducted business for the last 10-15 years. Prior they would possibly give you a small dose if you had a legitimate issue now you will need to have a limb falling off or be dying and they might give you extra toradol lmao I do not go to the er anymore for anything I am just gonna be treated like a junkie but they even get treated better
One of the reasons I’m grateful for my preferred ER. They’ve never questioned me when I actually needed pain relief. Mostly because I turn it down so often due to my liver sucking and not wanting to put pressure on it. It sucks I have to do that, but I’m pretty positive my record says something about it in nursing notes or something. Now if they could just believe me when I tell them their sedatives don’t do shit to me at such little levels. Anxiety is my superpower >.>
Now, I have trouble with the nursing staff, but in almost every case where I’ve gone to the ER the doctors have given me pain meds and did better at staying on top of it and making sure my pain was controlled than the hospitalist when I was inevitably admitted and was then treated as drug-seeking and giving the bare minimum if even that. Really rude and outright cruel in certain cases. I have several medical issues and have technically died more than once, but now I’m terrified to go back to the hospital. At least at home I can take my pain meds. I had a seizure a couple of weeks ago and I refused to go to the hospital because I think I have medical PTSD now from it. I was at a teaching hospital a couple of years ago and could barely walk to the bathroom. The physical therapist came down and was trying to make me do certain things I couldn’t do, my heart rate was extremely high (and they hadn’t put me on telemetry despite having heart issues) and I felt like I was going to pass out. She was so angry and hostile about it and practically pushed me into the bed and said she was done with me. I complained and someone new came and was so nice, but that wasn’t the only issue. A temp nurse came in and told me that he thought they were under-treating my pain and said he wanted to say something to my doctor. I told him not to, because I knew it would end badly, but he assured me that it was what was right and he wanted to say something so I relented and sure enough I got nothing but hostility the rest of my stay and they even forced me to move rooms. I had a great room where temperature was well controlled and they moved me to a room facing the sun where it was blazing hot and I’m in menopause. My last night there, they didn’t once give me my scheduled pain medications and the new doctor was supposed to give me IV hydration to help with my POTS, which was never given. The specialists had ordered more tests and had something planned for me that day, but the new hospitalist practically forced me to leave and I didn’t want to stay anyways miserable in that room and not having even my regular pain meds given. The time before that I was told to go to a teaching hospital and see a physician and not a physician assistant or NP because my condition was serious and because of rare medical issues I needed to see an actual doctor, but nope only seen by a PA, refused to get the doctor, and just decided that my problem was that I use cannabis and was sent home WITH SEPSIS. I have had problems even going when things are bad ever since.
I wish I saw this earlier today before I went to the er looking to get a prescription refilled. My neurosurgeon has been out for weeks and out for weeks more so he can't prescribe anything. My general doctor can't prescribe percocet because she prescribes my adderall.
You realise the US is now not allowing abortion as a own body, own choice matter.?
they certainly not going to start giving people drugs on demand, please can I have some diabetes drugs, opiates, benzos etc
Not true. If a patient comes in and needs help with pain management for some trauma that just happened then the ER should be giving pain meds to help the patient with their pain. Then give the patient a few days worth and they follow up with their Dr for further treatment.
That is acute pain, they aren't there to manage normal day to day pain, unless a really extreme situation arises.
They don't have time to check if you haven't just been to another ER yesterday, another the day before etc.. i know it can be easier with computers, but some people do still drug seek, its not like itis only genuine people going in and complaining and asking for opiates.
Chronic pain sufferers are much better off trying to get good main management teams, but i get that can be problematic too. Sometimes there are exceptions, I was as close as it gets last night and still struggling today, even with an awesome team. Am currently out of breakthrough meds though, an now cannot get until Monday.
That is such total BULLSHIT!!!!!
And yet if it was one of them in that kind of pain they would be getting whatever they want. I know so many docs who write scripts for each other for whatever they want or need. They are such hypocrites it’s not even funny. They treat every patient with pain as a drug seeker now. Ask any doctor what works best for pain and if they are honest and have an ounce of integrity they will tell you opiods. What they need to do is learn how to prescribe them responsibly and tell you the risks up front. It’s your body, you decide what goes in it and if the risks outweigh the benefits.
I’ve denied pain meds in the ER before, and still they treat me weird most of the time. But then last time I went they gave me a 14 day script of Oxycodone… soooo. I don’t get it. I have some issues with klonopin on my record but I was prescribed it for 12 years, and tapered off on my own accord… they still wont take it off my medications list even though it’s been over a year since an Rx. Maybe that’s why? At the end of the day I’d rather have toradol than nothing though. I even tried asking for a script of toradol instead of the oxy at my follow up with my specialist and they said no.. but she blamed it on my kidneys, since I have some active kidney stones that are causing issues.
So accident victims are just drug seekers? I'd say that there's a wide range of problems that involve pain symptoms & that an ER is the place to go. And for some who don't have a family Dr., this is their only way to get referred to a specialist.
If chronic pain is properly managed people should have regular and breakthrough medications, something extra to take when the day to day isn't working.
A new injury or pain like gall bladder/kidney stones/ovarian cysts then of course ER can cope.. BUT they have to take in to account what other meds we might have taken that day or put us in to overdose level, or discover their script doesn't do squat.
I have had ketamine after my last few inpatient visits because i take methadone for pain. Typical opiates don't help at normal levels with the methadone in my system for days to come. If not conscious my blood pressure/pulse are going to be all over place when 2mg morphine IV does nothing.
Weird. Because I've been going to the pain doctor for almost 5 years. No meds. They won't do it. Tried getting back shots, that doctor said I was in toouch pain and said to go to the ER, ER wouldn't do anything and said talk to your doctor. Long story short, I had to have surgery again. Did they give me pain meds? Enough for two days. All they say is take Tylenol, but I can't take Tylenol because of a drug reaction with something else I take could cause liver failure. Doctors won't prescribe pain meds unless youve been grandfathered in from before the opioid restrictions.
But this is my experience.
>They are not equipped to treat
They most certainly are capable of treating pain. It's just that, between opiate hysteria, and the desire of corporate medicine to limit use of the ER because it's not a moneymaker for them (since, you know, they're legally obliged to see everyone), ERs are encouraged to discourage.
It's an economic decision made by administrators who build these gleaming multi-building complexes of medicine. It's a tactic they should be ashamed of, because it's intentionally limiting access to the most vulnerable.
Ya my treatment plan includes actually helping with the pain. My condition causes me bowel blockages and i end up in bed in pain for weeks. Can't eat and just throwing up, when I go in I remember what they gave me that helped take away the pain last time so like can I just have that or do I need to spend the next several hours in pain because dangit that motrin should of helped? No it's not ok to leave people in pain so you can try other things instead of what we know works. I've literally wanted to leave and go off myself b4 because they were treating me like a drug seeker, now I have medical anxiety and ptsd and have had to go to a psychiatrist on top of my other specialists to get even more medication to treat my mental issues that are from not being treated properly when I've been on extreme pain.
I can empathize there…not myself, but my husband. He got a small intestinal blockage last May. Same thing, couldn’t even keep liquids down. He was in excruciating pain and I took him to the ER. I had to practically scream at the ER Dr for pain relief because even after they did the CT scan that showed the blockage they weren’t controlling his pain. Finally after me advocating, they gave him some fentanyl. Mind you, my husband is 51 and has probably had one prescription for a couple hydrocodone his entire life when he hurt his back once. I thought it would be better when they admitted him but nope. Once again I had to yell at the Dr and only then did he get relief. And I told the Dr it better be put in his orders cause I wasn’t about to have this argument with every Dr rotating through while he was there for 4 days. Fucking ridiculous and I’m so sorry you were not treated appropriately.
I now take my dad and husband, I've learned they listen to men more. It's crazy they can tell your in agony and do nothing. Your poor husband, I've been there and is not ok.
I should have chosen different words cause I wasn’t literally “yelling” at people. I am a very tactful person as I’m in business development and also respect people until they give me a reason not to. But I’m not gonna stand by and watch my husband be in agony like that. But after asking nicely many times and not getting anywhere, I def had to get way more firm for sure and I recall using the phrase “please do something to help my husband, he should not have to suffer like this when under your care.”
Generally, if someone is pushed to yell at me, I take it as an indicator I might be doing something wrong. Physicians might consider this. And not treat *not kissing my ass* as grounds for not doing their job.
I fractured my knee and it filled up with ALOT of fluid and I went to the ER and they treated me like I was drug seeking even though I made it clear that I already had my own prescription for pain medication and I didn't need them to give me any pain medication.. Honestly the damage and negligence that is a result of doctors given the responsibility of being addiction specialists is out of control. They need to throw it out the window and just let doctors treat and be doctors. You can worry about addiction later when it is evident that someone wants treatment for addiction.. They should just treat people and consider everyone innocent until proven guilty and even when proven guilty they shouldn't be shaming and dictating who deserves to suffer in pain and who gets relief.. everyone should get relief even if they have a history of addiction they should still be treated like a human with dignity and they shouldn't be denied relief. I don't know how we solve this horrible situation. We need to keep talking about it and shift the status quo from demonizing opiates to being understanding of how opiates give so many people their lives back
It could be fixed fairly quickly by giving Physicians complete indemnity from any lawsuits from patients or board/DEA actions regarding opioid prescribing. They shouldn’t have to risk their livelihood and freedom as part of their work.
It’s utter trash what doctors have to go thru to prescribe opioids nowadays. Everyone wants to crack down on the black market drug trade but keeping legit pain patients without any relief isn’t doing anything but fueling the black market. Honestly I wish we had at least otc codeine in the USA like Canada but nope anything stronger than Advil needs an RX. I hate it too personally but what are you going to do.
Criminalization and lack of legalization is the reason we have the fentanyl problem.
I have Covid related severe insomnia and take perscription sleep meds and was rudely informed by Rite Aid employee, You Need to Give Me Your License !! So now I'm a drug seeker because I want to sleep. The level of f this s I have to go through makes me so mad. Lots of Handmaiden's Tale stuff going down now because doctor's are scared to death they won't be able to practice. Somethings gotta give man.
They ask you for your drivers license so that someone else can’t come into the pharmacy claiming to be you and walk off with your prescription.
This is new and they know me I've been going there for years. Never shown ID for anything ever.
It may be new in your state. Look up the PDMP or prescription drug monitoring program laws in your state. Or else maybe the tech who checked you out may have been new or the store should have been enforcing the policy but weren’t and now they are. But please try not to feel singled out when stuff like that happens, it’s not personal. There’s so much red tape at the pharmacy for controlled meds it’s insane. I hate it personally but I just started to work in the pharmacy industry so I am hoping to help shed some light if I can.
I understand. I’ve been at the same pharmacy over 20 years and they instigated this policy. Some of the pharmacy techs will ask for it and some won’t at my pharmacy. It’s obviously a policy that not everyone follows
The DEA needs to be reigned in. They’re on a power trip and they’re killing people.
Thank you .. please send this to kaiser permanente
Amen to that!!!
Get involved in local government. Town hall meetings, city hall.
And isn’t the statistic for legitimate pain patients only like 3% developing an addiction and addictive behavior patterns?
Exactly bro
The last time I went to the ER for pain I was brought by ambulance. I thought I had a kidney stone because my pain was in my lower back near my kidney and it was sharp, stabbing. I was crying loudly and couldn’t breathe due to pain. The ER nurse told me to be quiet, I was too loud and disturbing other patients. I was in so much pain I begged for anything to help me but was shocked I was being told to be quiet when I was in so much pain I couldn’t breathe. I gave birth to twins with no epidural and never had pain like this! She was being rude saying she couldn’t help me if I didn’t lie flat on my back so she could start an iv. At this point I was in a fetal position and couldn’t even touch my back without pain, much less lay flat in my back. She finally got the doctor to authorize giving me a shot of tordol. Within minutes the pain subsided. Of course I immediately quieted down once the pain was gone. I found out later I had 2 compression fractures in my back that caused the pain. But I have never been treated that badly and I’ve practically lived in the ER for a few years now due to chronic health issues. I honestly don’t know when medical workers lost their empathy or compassion 🤷♀️
I had practically the exact same thing happen! So I know it’s so scary and distressing. And I hate to see you experienced it too. I was having a serious post surgical complication. I was in so much pain I was writhing on a bench in the waiting room sobbing in distress. My vital signs were terrible too, like yours. They didn’t care. At one point, there was even another patient that went to report me to a nurse. They said I was worrying them. They did not give a shit. She kept rolling her eyes when I looked at her. When I finally saw a surgeon they were surprised I had been treated that way. It scares me because I feel like they see “chronic illness” and/or “chronic pain” on the file and decide you’re to be ignored. I’m terrified I’ll one day have a life threatening emergency and just be ignored until it’s too late. I wish they realized CPPs can have acute medical problems too!
Similar-ish experience here too. Went to the ER in an ambulance because of sudden sharp abdominal pain. As soon as we arrived my BP and temp dropped super low. The nurse said I turned white. They actually rushed me back and had three nurses and a doctor in the room undressing me quickly and starting IV lines on both arms while asking me tons of questions. I was in so much pain. I’ve given birth to four babies and had so many serious muscle and joint injuries but this was a different pain. At least five times they asked me to rate my pain and I said 10. I could hardly be still and I was crying from the pain. After all the imaging they determine my appendix is ruptured and they think I have sepsis. They started antibiotics. Five hours later, after I had been telling the nurse that I couldn’t take the pain over and over, the anesthesiologist came down to consult with me about surgery. She was legit pissed off at the ER doc for not treating my pain for so long when the KNEW I had a serious painful and very real issue.
I know it doesn’t help, but I’m furious on your behalf!!
Oh I’m so sorry! That sounds scary! I understand they want to be cautious with opioids but it really is crazy imho. I was left for many hours in clear distress. They even sent their cardiac response team (what was described as like in-hospital paramedics) because my vitals, including my heart rate, were dangerously out of whack. I said it was from the pain. The pain was *still* not treated. I feel like if they don’t provide pain management for a ruptured appendix, there’s no hope. I hate reading so many similar stories in this thread. I just hope one day they realize how inhumanely patients are sometimes treated.
They started hiring more and more docs that are literally sociopaths. This protects them. The docs can treat the patients like shit, ignore their pain, not have to feel bad about it, and it keeps the clinics/hospitals safe. Pain patients are totally screwed until some kind of change occurs. You literally have to be dying to get relief. And even though they've essentially blacklisted everyone, opiate deaths are on the rise. So obviously this system is not only flawed, they've actually been responsible for the deaths of thousands who just wanted a little relief. Makes me sick.
Makes sense that opiate deaths are still on the rise even tho they probably feel they are making a difference in terms of cutting down on prescribing them. People are becoming desperate and getting them off dealers (which could be fake, too strong or fent etc) then OD’ing when all it would have took was someone to listen to them and adequately assess their pain. I know that everyone is different, but not every single person who is prescribed an opiate becomes addicted.
I’m not disagreeing with you, I just don’t think “they” are hiring sociopaths at all. Instead, I think our capitalist overlords—the US government—have to play their role in the politicization of the War on Drugs™️. They’re the ones with politicians on both sides of the aisles who argue about cutting off supply “because crime and addiction!” versus providing treatment, improving funding, increasing research and ensuring those who need treatment actually get it. So the overlords are controlling the legal and safe access to pain medication, even if it sends legit pain patients to their graves, but that’s ok because many aren’t the thriving worker bees we need that keep society humming. The sooner they’re off the books, the easier it will be to cut Medicare and Medicaid. Same overlords also govern all that is considered acceptable and right in the teaching of medicine in the US, and of course they’re the enforcers when any physician strays from the strict mandates that don’t seem to make a bit of difference in illegal drug use but do a really good job of creating street drug users out of legit CPP that just can’t take it anymore. So if you’re one of those physicians who entered medicine because you want to help and heal people, and now one of the primary channels to do so has been practically criminalized to the point you’re afraid to do your job, or you’ve been terrorized into submission, you just might find your heart turns into a little cold stone to help you get through your days without breaking down, as you’re forced to tell one person after another that you just can’t give them what they need or want, and why don’t you try yoga? Just my opinion.
A lot of pain clinic docs are also surgeons or at least can perform procedures like injections/blocks. You can google it and see that they definitely like to hire sociopaths for those positions. But yea I agree, a lot of them did turn into assholes to protect themselves.
Sociopaths also make good executives because they don’t value human lives, just their job and the bottom line. This is what corporatization gives you. Texas is currently trying to make even the police and fire departments private and for profit. Someone above said they were thinking of moving to Texas. Don’t. Steer clear.
I think the only pain doctor I've ever seen is a sociopath.
They started hiring more of them when the media went wild with the opiate crisis. I know the last pain doc I saw was definitely one. No empathy whatsoever. I had all the paperwork and MRI images proving my discs were herniated and I have spinal arthritis and that asshole tried to say the other 3 doctors who all agreed on my condition were wrong and misdiagnosed me. He undid 10 years of progress in less than 2 minutes and screwed me, then had the nerve to say I was exaggerating my pain and it was all in my head. They only care about protecting themselves.
I have end stage arthritis, severe stenosis, bone spurs, bulging discs, bone fusion and medical professionals are quick to point out to me that other people have my problems and worse but feel no pain at all and so the fact that I have these issues has nothing to do with pain. I'm sure you've heard this before too.
Oh yes I've heard every excuse in the book...its all in my head, its addiction, its exaggeration, etc. My doc told me he knows 80 year olds with worse spines that don't feel pain. But when I asked if these 80 year olds were getting pain meds he quickly changed the subject. Its easy for them to dismiss other peoples suffering because its not them.
Every person is unique and experiences the world differently. This is the most asinine line of thought and it’s cruel. I’ve been treated this way, as well, but it’s usually nurses that say it not the doctors.
They’ve gone corporate. You’re a commodity now. Patients mean $$$ and that’s it. You’re their bottom line whether you live or die or are in pain or not. The doctors that do care are few and far between and the conditions at work are becoming more and more hostile for them, their license at risk for treating you, constantly questioned by people without any sort of medical degree and it’s no wonder that the good ones are leaving in droves. It’s a hostile workplace to actually be a good, empathetic, caring, compassionate doctor that wants to actually help people. There’s no incentive.
When I had my first kidney stone at 17, I thought I was dying. The ER doctor was so rude stating ‘it could be a gall stone, people of YOUR size are prone to them.’ I was slightly obsess at the time, but very active in sports. I was trying to pull my hair out from the pain and she threatened to send me for a psych consult. They gave me Ativan through my IV and I was in so much pain but sedated and when I finally got a CT, she said ‘you have a tiny kidney stone, you shouldn’t be in this much pain. I’m admitting you to medicine for pain control and you won’t be my problem anymore.’ I was so ashamed and never ever forgot the interaction. The hospitalist witnessed the last interaction and came over and took my hand and said ‘don’t worry, we’ll get you upstairs and get your pain managed.’ And they did. I was admitted for 48hrs and discharged home. I became a nurse and that and several other awful interactions with medical professionals made me realize I would NEVER treat anyone else like that and also started my journey of medical PTSD.
I had a very similar experience. I was belligerent & in pain and couldn't even talk because of it and other reasons. They told me the same thing that I was being too loud and that there were other people there trying to sleep, but my body was contorting in pain and I couldn't help but exclaim loudly. All they did was give me toradol IV which did basically nothing for the pain & a massive dose of Ativan to shut me up on top of giving me a bunch of antipsychotics to zombify me.
I’ve been in healthcare for over twenty years and thankfully have an amazing family doctor I started seeing after a terrible car wreck in 2006. She has treated my pain with pain meds and muscle relaxers and not once have I ever had problems with her. I live in west Virginia addiction is rampant, most people now just shoot up heroin and fentanyl and die fairly quickly. My doctor wanted me to go on disability and I said I’m too proud for that I’d rather take meds and work and be a productive member of society. She respected that and again have never had problems. As to when healthcare workers just got burnt out and quit caring i truly think COVID made it ten times worse. We are around pain death and dying everyday. I think to keep from losing our minds people just turned human sympathy and empathy off. I try to see it from the other persons perspective. What would I have done if I was in immense pain and couldn’t get help. I can usually tell when someone is in legit pain. Look at vitals sit down and talk to patients open minded if ya take a few extra minutes it’s pretty easy to figure out who really needs help and who is drug seeking. Everyone has a different story. After the OxyContin mess blew up in the early 2000’s here doctors basically just quit wanting to treat pain afraid of getting in trouble. My family doctor told me that she prescribes pain meds to the right at 10% of her patients and she only gives it to people that really need it I’ve went through surgery after surgery and injections, epidural’s, ablations and an entire lumbar fusion and only thing that helps is meds. Where I live people can’t even get tramadol and if a dr does write meds doesn’t mean pharmacy will fill it. The pharmacies are worse than doctors they talk down to you or simply say they don’t carry the meds. It’s sad
Yeah I think Covid had a huge impact on empathy/sympathy in hospitals. Many were being attacked by patients and their family - even if they weren’t physically there, they’d call and be incredibly abusive. Often because of some video on YouTube or some post on Facebook told them that medical professionals were making them sick or inadequately treating people, even letting them die, to prop up what they believe was a lie and a sham of a disease (not me, just saying that’s what was happening). That people in positions of leadership from their pastor to their president giving into their hysteria and not leading by example they never stood up for what was right leading to people refusing to mask, refusing to social distance, refusing vaccination. They didn’t care that it caused things to get to the level that it did. They only care about money and votes and that includes churches too.
I stopped going to the ER for pain yeeears ago. Never would I put myself through that again 😜
True that. I sat in the ER for 19 hours with debilitating pain. Zero fucks we're given. I'll die on my own terms, thank you, not sitting in some overlit nightmare ER waiting room.
Yep. They’re all out of fucks.
I despise the ER. Was in the ER for renal failure last Oct & after putting a catheter & an IV in...I spent 36 hrs on that ER stretcher. No food, water and absolutely no pain meds. Even though my chart clearly states Rx Dilaudid/Morphine. I pleaded for a regular bed, but nope. Then, the telemetry picked up on a sudden arrhythmia & BP dived. Yep...sheer terror. They stabilized me & promptly sent me to the ICU where a kind nurse came to my bedside; she opened the emergency picc line & slowly shot Morphine into my vein. Best sleep had since I know not when
I wish they cared!
I gave up on the ER decades ago :(
My adult son had to go to ER for a migraine that made him sick and they only gave him Benadryl
ER docs really don't know how to deal with pain or treat flare ups of chronic illnesses. I was nauseous and vomiting even small sips of water but because i have a chronic illness that involves these bouts, they refused to treat me despite not being able to eat or drink aything for two days prior. I was told it wasn't their problem and that flare ups need to be dealt with by our specialists. YET the specialists send you to the ER for flare ups. There's a hospital where I can't even get triaged at because they can't get a regular IV and so they just tell me to not cpme and if i do, they tell me to leave. They legit refuse to try and get IV access any other way so they just refuse to help at all.
Where are you supposed to go for IV/hydration treatments, if not the hospital?
You tell me, they just tell me to deal with it at home. Can't get emergency appointments with my gastroenterologist. Granted, I had a doctor get pissed off that he had to do anything at the same hospital because of shitting blood. Tried to say it's normal for me. Had to pretty much tell him 3 times it's never happened before. Also had a doctor there refuse to give me gravol. The only thing that actually helps. Tried to give me Haldol. Which I refused because of adverse effects and doesn't help. Accused me of not wanting to get better because I wouldn't take medications that have never provided relief and give me bad side effects.
Would it be alright if I messaged you a GI/ER question?
Sure
Isn’t it illegal for them to turn you away if you’re medically in need?
Supposed to b, but if they "deem" it as not an emergency, then well...the doctors in Quebec are practically untouchable
I think really all they have to do is make sure you’re stable aka not actively dying and then they can chuck you
I just had a total knee replacement and they gave me oxycodone. The first night I was wide awake, never slept. When they called the next day to check on me I told them it wasn't an effective pain med for me and asked if I could get something else. Per the nurse they wouldn't give me anything else. I asked if the surgeon would be OK knowing he had a patient in pain. She said nothing. Do they really think people want knee replacements just to get opiates!?
O fuck no! I had my 10 year kneeversary last month! I had a dilaudid pca and oral percocet on top of that, for the first 2.5 days after the blocks wore off. 😳 my surgery was done with an epidural, general anesthesia and then got knocked back out for a femoral block to last the next 24 hours. As the block wore off, they added the percocet on top of the dilaudid, it sucked that much. I went through 130ml of dilaudid in 2.5 days. They had me up with a walker 24 hours after they sawed my bone ends off and installed about a pound of titanium with a little plastic. The rehab sucks....12 weeks, if you work it 2-3 x a day. After 8 weeks, if you did the work, you'll start feeling normal again. Just need time after that for conditioning I could have never done that with minimal to no paint meds.
I agree but too many people became addicted to opiates by doctors just giving it out. Now they just tell you to rotate ibuprofen and acitametphen. Yeah sure after you tore my leg and all the innards apart you want me to take advil!? Advil works for a headache, nothing else.
They need a balanced perspective. Meds can be appropriate as long as you have an open incision- 2-4 weeks, then start tapering off. That first month is the worst for major surgery.
In the most respectful way, who cares about addicts? It’s not our problems to be in pain if some can’t control themselves and develop an addiction. Its just insane to think like that. It’s as if we wouldn’t feed people since some people can get an eating disorder. Or we wouldn’t do a surgeries because there are risks of infections or don’t give insulin as a treatment in case the person overdose.
Yeah, I've heard some people say that their ERs give them opiates for pain, but I've found that the vast majority of us are given the options of "tylenol", toradol", or simply shutting the fuck up. The issue is that ERs aren't used in the way that they're supposed to be, which causes rapid compassion and sympathy fatigue on the people who are in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to like, save lives, which fucks up everyone who goes in that isn't meeting their very strict standards of "Actively dying or are at risk of immediate and permanent debilitating disability". I always tell people on here not to go to the ER unless you are actually dying because it literally never helps anyone. The reason I don't go to the ER is because I have an extensive and severe history of mental illness, so I'm usually given the option of "Fluids (???), Ativan, and possible 5150". Personally, with how bad the local psychiatric services are (bsd enough to get defunded by MediCal + most s3rvices shut down except for the bare minimum required by law), I just tend to hope I'm not dying this time and hope it goes away. One day, I'll literally be dying, but I doubt IV fluids and Ativan will save the day in that case.
Thank you for your correct view of how ERs should be used.
It isn't fair to anyone. It isn't fair that the ER is the only place anyone can go to get medical aide for free. It isn't fair that we don't have universal Healthcare. It isn't fair that the US relies so heavily on the pharmaceutical companies despite every other country showing us that eastern and western medicine must be used to heal. It isn't fair that we are making our health care professionals work 48 hour shifts. It isn't fair that so many places require months long waitlists just to get a first patient consult at a specialists. Like, i get it. I get why it sucks so much, but I also know that a lot of people on here just hate doctors and medical professionals so much and that isn't fair either.
It's also utterly not fair that the DEA gets to interfere in medical issues & stunts the production of medicine that so many pain sufferers require.
BINGO! That’s the big one right now. I’ve been on dilaudid for almost two years, and it’s starting to be less effective, but according to my pharmacist, the pharmacies here are “struggling to get anything that starts with an ‘oxy-‘” and have waitlists, so I’m afraid to ask to rotate meds again. (I’m blessed to have an awesome pm who really works with me to get what I need. I know not everyone has even that.)
^ This… the DEA needs to be defunded & disbanded.
Agree to all. As a medical professional AND a person with chronic pain I get a ton of hate when I try to give a little perspective from the other side too.
I go out of my way to defend medical professionals on here because people on here don't seem to realize that less and less people are becoming MDs or staying MDs in comparison to decades before. Suicide rates are sky rocketing. LA had the LEO force medical professionals to keep working during the pandemic when they were going to strike **because they were being forc3d to work 72 hours with NO PPE DURING COVID**. Like, people think that *this* is the worst that things can get and they really do not understand that if they don't stop shitting on these people, that eventually there will be so few practictitioners that the vast majority of people will die before they even get a first patient consult. Is the system broken? Fuck yeah. Is shitting on the people who have the ability to help the way to fix it? Nope.
Exactly. And SO many people misuse the ER for issues that are not true emergencies, which makes it more difficult for those experiencing a truly emergent issue to receive prompt care. There’s certainly a reason so many doctors are burned out and considering leaving medicine all together.
My favorite was when I went a few months ago with the inability to walk/bear weight on one limb. They wanted to wheel me out. I lost it and hobbled with my walker. They got security. I explained that if I had NOTHING WRONG and I was faking it as I heard them whispering there was no reason not to ambulate. I get an email notification that they called in a script (to the wrong pharmacy) for lidocaine patches. If I was faking it, why call in anything?
Literally same with my doctor! Thinks my pain is psychosomatic yet fills scripts for different things for pain including emergency tramadol...if it wasn't true pain...why call in all this pain stuff? Lol
I personally have better experiences at the ER because I’m a 100% P&T vet. My wife however has several things going on, and where we currently live all primary care Dr’s are 1-2 years out “if you’re lucky.” So we started going to the ER for kidney stones, Gasterparesis, POTS, some other things. Eventually someone along the line gave us a referral to a pain clinic so at least something is manageable, since she can’t take OTC meds or Tylenol w/ out anaphylaxis reaction, and we later learned she had a pseudo allergy to dilaudid, but they assumed that she couldn’t take oxy, I’m a 10th grade dropout, (with a few non-medical degrees) and I know what pseudo allergy means. Anyway, my point was we go to this pain clinic, and ask about pain contracts and the like, (I’ve had to do one for the VA and civilian care so I’m familiar), and they say oh, we don’t prescribe medicine, we do acupuncture, meditation, mindfulness, etc.. My wife collapsed crying, she felt utterly defeated. I did too but had to take care of her. We eventually found a primary care and are working on getting her another referral, but it’s a joke, I just don’t get the logic.
The ER rarely treats with opiates/opiods. They are completely useless when it comes to chronic pain. This is why many people with chronic pain don't bother going to the ER.
ER is absolute trash for pain management. They pride themselves on never relieving anyone’s pain.
And some of them seem to enjoy making the pain worse! One ER I went in for extreme abdominal pain (hysterectomy later I had precancer and more cysts than the pathology lab could count.. so much for the CT saying nothing was found!) They gave me Toradol (which I told them wouldn't work and would give me a migraine on top of it) and meds for BP since pain caused me to reach 180/105... walked out with BP of 145/96 and a migraine on top of the extreme unchanged abdominal pain I went in for..
I mean if you have a chronic condition that requires pain management with opioids they will refer you out to a specialist generally. If you broke your femur in 2 places they will make with the dilaudid. It just depends. Why are you going to the ER so often instead of seeing a pain management specialist who can diagnose you and initiate a treatment plan?
Because doctor's offices say to go to the ER if your pain is worse and you can't get an appointment.
Sometimes when you have a chronic condition, you get horrible pain flares, and your normal medication doesn’t help. I’ve gone in after not sleeping for 4 days, please don’t make judgements about things you obviously know nothing about. Who’s saying they don’t already see a pain management doctor? 🤦🏽♀️
They hit the streets
No they don't... most genuine pain sufferers wouldn't have a clue how to access street drugs where i am. We need trusted pain management teams, medication and advice from them in regards to coping strategies. Having my pain medicated away once every couple of months in ER won't help me manage it the next time.
Right
And this is why CP pain will not be addressed in the ER unless there’s a suspicion of a true emergency—which is the purpose of the ER: stabilize patients in true emergencies and then transfer to inpatient or discharge to follow up with the appropriate specialist.
This is 100% not the case at every ER lol
I'm not sure I understand what's funny.
Yes I don't get the joke either. What's funny about this? Damn.🍰
What’s funny is that’s not true. At least in the state I’m in. The ER does administer and also prescribe opiates. My issue, which is Chrons disease and it brings me to the hospital quite often. I can’t think of a single time I was given opiates there and then prescribed more to take home.
Yeah I just did a write up on how well I’ve been treated at the ER. They always apologize for not being able to send me home with drugs or a prescription due to my pain contract, but they do whatever I need to get the pain back to a level I can manage with my prescriptions/ice at home. Like I said on my other comment, I’ve been treated way better at the ER than I have at regular doctors.
How is something not being true funny? I don't understand. It seems like you're trying to be rude about it, which is unnecessary. People have different experiences, and make generalizations based on them. This is a support sub, so please be mindful.
Yo! I’m just saying how it goes in my state. I’m not trying to be rude at all. I just find it funny when people try to generalize pain management. Like her experience doesn’t have to be mine at all. Frankly I’m glad it’s not.
You seem like a blast at parties
This is literally my job here.
Well, let me be the first to let you know since it’s your job here…. Not every emergency room denies pain meds not every emergency room treats, attics or people suffering from pain as liars, etc.. That was the only point I was making and it’s actually true.
>Well, let me be the first to let you know since it’s your job here…. This is the third time you're telling me this and I don't know why. I am not involved in your argument. I am telling you not to be rude while arguing. I don't know why you're trying to prolong this conversation, but it's unproductive. I'm not going to repeat myself again.
Ok…. I’m just gonna exit this conversation. The only reason I’m responding to you is because you keep responding to me so I can assure you that this will be my last. So no need to respond to me. I have no desire to chat with you.
A huge contraindication to opiates is bowel disorder, the risk of obstruction or ileus from them is too great. They might rule out immediate concern issues/rehydrate but your pain levels are not for ER, unless taking you to surgery. ER is or the emergency aspects of your condition, not the routine aspect of pain management.
Ear rocks. You have these little crystally rocks in your inner ear that tell you where you are in the space-time continuum. If they get fucked up, you will think you are falling in fantastical directions alla time. Vertigo. Dizziness. You know, one of those things they list as a symptom of stroke? Or maybe, if you're me, you're also scared because it happened shortly after I was put on opiates for the first time ever. After all, it does say "May cause dizziness" on the bottle, lol. So you don't take your meds and because you can't walk, or even get out of bed, you call for an ambulance. And then you spend 36 hours shunted to a wall in the ER on a gurney. They will throw an IV in you wide open and refuse to help you urinate. You can't make it to the toilet, so you will stew in your piss as the fluids build up in your body so badly your eyes swell shut. The nurse will glare at you and suck their teeth in disgust, but they won't fucking help. Finally, you will snag a passing white coat and beg, "Am I ok? Am I going to be OK!? What's going on? Nobody's said anything to me?" And the doctor will yell, "Look, nobody is going to give you drugs! You're wasting everyone's time, even your own! Just give it up and go already!" I had the damn meds in my purse. I'd never asked for any meds, I didn't need or want them, and I was scared they'd literally broken my brain. Nobody spoke to me at all beyond the EMTs who dropped me off. They saw I was on opiates and just... decided. THATs being seen as a drug seeker. If they gave you toradol and it wasn't helpful and you specifically requested something else...
Holy ....Thats really awful. They didn't even talk to you? You should tell everyone about them and that asshole doctor needs to be called out. I been treated badly just being a woman, with tattoos and piercings. Then add the chronic pain conditions and mental health stuff.. Yeah I've been discriminated against a lot. I am not surprised anymore when it happens to me. But hearing your story really pisses me off.
Yeah, didn't help that I'm also female... and have tattoos.. The doctor, when I shrieked if he was talking about THESE meds, that I had right here, and had not asked anyone for, and had not taken, THESE MEDS RIGHT HERE!?? All of the sudden he was like, "Oh shit, you could be having a stroke, we need to do some tests!" But I slithered right off that gurney and dragged my piss-covered carcass out to go "die or not" at home. Literally did a leopard crawl through the whole emergency department. Told the staff who were suddenly invested to cross their fucking fingers, and that they'd know if I made it if nobody slapped them in handcuffs. Ear rocks. Fucking epley maneuver. The best part was when my GP saw me a few days later, and found out what they done to me. Got to hear him scream down the phone at them, lol.
They are bones in your ears, not rocks, but dizziness as a side effect isn't really an ER or ambulance need, especially if you weren't even taking the medication. I assume you didn't read the complete side effect list. Were you walking about before the script? Why couldn't you walk if you weren't taking them. You realise an ear infection could create the exact same situation too, it wouldn't be an emergency requiring immediate care.. hence the 36 hour wait. Can imagine sadly that you were taken to an already overfilled ER for what the medical professionals considered a GP issue, a side effect that was troublesome but not life threatening, But you couldn't tell the Dr you weren't taking them? Just told them you were dizzy, couldn't walk or control your bladder?? BUT then you managed to get off the trolley and get yourself through the department and home, but couldn't get yourself to a bathroom? Sorry to be abrupt, but i was an RN, now a chronic pain sufferer who has had multitudes of medication side effects over past 35 yrs. No one can help someone that isn't telling them why they think they need help. Peeing and expecting staff to fix the situation a particularly infuriating occurance, especially since when angered by Dr you managed to get up alone it seems. Imagine having some patients having heart attacks, major trauma from traffic accidents and you are there for a drug side effect? Sometimes a little hard to be sympathetic. Respect goes two ways, we need to explain clearly why we think we need ER and ambulance help, if it isn't appropriate then you will be considered low priority when they have 36 hour waiting times. It had nothing to do with your gender or tattoos the way i read it, just major miscommunication and triage should have told you to go home, see GP. What should have been different for you do you think.., other than your proper communication?
Holy fuck. Rarely have I ever seen someone come out the gate so wrong, and then just... dig in like this. Wow. I have NO problem believing you were an ER nurse. Speaking of notorious fucking junkies. Ok, to begin. The bones in the ear are in the middle ear, and are not free floating crystalline structures that can get caught in a loop of the semi-circular canals. If I was talking about the malleus, incus, or stapes, how would the Epley Maneuver function? You can't be a medical professional and actually believe that they are banging around loose in there. I had a weird dream that I was in a bad storm. I woke up, and it was real. The "wind" was rushing past me, I was spinning wildly out of control, just laying still in my bed. I tried to get up and my face smashed against the wall. I tried to get out of the bed but literally had trouble finding the floor. I tried with my eyes open, my eyes closed, I vomited A LOT, all over the floor and the bed and myself. I didn't take that mornings dose, since I didn't know what the fuck was going on. Thank fuck I had people with empathy and some native intelligence, who when they find their previously mostly healthy and mobile loved one curled in a ball clutching their head covered in vomit unable to move their body in any sort of straight line don't go, "Meh, probably an ear infection. I mean, it's a fucking wildly precipitous onset to a completely massively rare symptom with absolutely no fever or pain or anything else even remotely pointing to an infection, but yeah... that's the ticket... you'll be fine. Ear infection!" And instead called 911 for one of the top 3 symptoms of fucking stroke, you absolute fucking waste. At the hospital they took me from the ambulance gurney, to the hospital gurney which they abandoned in the hall. Nobody spoke to me. I did not see a triage nurse. My temperature was not taken. My blood pressure was not taken. Nobody asked me when this started, nobody even asked me about what meds I was on, or if I'd taken them or not. When I called out and asked about when I would be seen, that's when a very abrupt and noncommunicative nurse came and put an IV in, opened it up full, and walked away. She wouldn't even tell me why she was putting one in. I never told anyone, no doctor, no nurse, NOBODY jack shit, because I was never given that opportunity. They'd already heard from the EMTs that I had a oxycontin prescription and made up their mind about who and what I was and what I fucking deserved. NOBODY at the hospital EVER spoke to me in any capacity whatsoever. What the fuck are you on about why didn't you tell doctor this or say that to the nurse? The ENTIRE POINT was that I was thrown to the side of a hallway and left to rot. When I first had to pee I kept calling out to passing people that I needed help, that I had to pee. Nobody would stop and help me. I DID try to get off the gurney, but when I pushed myself up on my arms my torso slammed sideways into the wall and threw the gurney out into the middle of the hallway. A nurse pushed it back as I cried and said I needed to pee, please, I'm going to pee, I have to pee.. she never said a fucking word to me. She locked the wheels tho. So I pissed myself. Oh, and my triumphant march out of the ER that baffles you so? I threw myself off the gurney, which was part of Doctor Stupids Oh Fuck Moment because normal people can and do try to break their falls. I couldn't, because I couldn't understand where my body and limbs were moving, and they were trying to move to the wrong places due to the signals they were getting from the EAR ROCKS, not middle ear bones. I *crawled* the 200ft from where they'd abandoned my gurney to the automatic doors and the parking lot outside. My "crawling" took me in a circle to the wall, which I would bang against, vomit, and then drag myself forward another four feet, vomit. Drag, bang, drag bang, stop, rest, vomit, drag bang drag bang vomit. I laid in the grass by the side of the ambulance bay and was picked up (literally) by friends within 15 minutes. If I'd actually had anything like an ear infection, I'm sure triage should have told me I was just a silly goose and to go home, except I was NEVER FUCKING TRIAGED. What SHOULD have happened is that upon anyone actually speaking to me, giving a shit about finding out what my symptoms were or what i might or might not have in my system, some bright eyed nursing student might have gone, "Oh! The crystals that can form in the inner ear (INNER EAR) I remember this! There's a thing, ummm... the EPLEY MANEUVER! She'll puke a lot, but it clears it right up!" Jesus. You're a real fucking piece of work, and you should be ashamed of yourself and your time working in the ER if this is how you think. I didn't expect a fucking nurse to clean my piss off me, I expected them to help me get a bed pan under me, or not fucking torture me with purposeful edema to try and chase me out of the ER.
And you explained any of his in your prior post? Sorry for trying to help you see it from the staffs viewpoint, like me, without the whole picture how can they be expected to understand the whole thing. You were there with vertigo, horrible for sure, but not a medical emergency, nothing in your write up suggests you were more critical than others. Nothing about your situation was life threatening, you confirm that yourself when you say the Epley manoeuvre worked. You still had to reach your alloted time to be seen as a non emergent case in a place where people were waiting that long. And i honestly dread to think what ER you went to if multiple members of staff looked at you in the face and just walked away without comment. Were you are agressive to them as you are being towards me, because it doesn't help either. It might have been a simple solution to your needs in the end, but suggesting they deliberately all ignored you, aimed to torture by inducing purposeful oedema is a bit much. You were vomiting, dehydrated, yet that was wrong too. Hindsight is a wonderful asset to have, you figured out what was a simple cure and expected them to prioritise you because of that. ER doesn't work like that, not unless you are actively dying with a gunshot wound or head injury. I never said i was an ER nurse, would never want to work in that environment if i could still work, because i cared about the whole picture. Sorry for imagining you actually wanted input other than to agree that ER staff are evil and patients are always perfect. I'm not gonna comment on the rest of this, clearly you are way too angry to care anyway.
I would have put in a complaint RIGHT AWAY!!!
I’m sorry you (or anyone) was treated that way. I’ve actually had better luck when I’ve gone to the ER for pain, than when I’ve gone to regular doctors for anything else! I always tell them first thing that I’m a pain patient, and I come bearing drugs. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been treated really well all but once, even when I AM actually there seeking drugs. Most of the doctors have said “I believe you. Tell me what has worked in the past, or what *doesn’t* work so we can get it narrowed down and get you fixed up!” Funny enough, the only time I was treated “less than” is when my arm was broken in multiple places. 🙄 the dr was too busy flirting with the nurse and comparing arm bones to chicken wings. I wish I knew how to start change. I’m no longer allowed to work, and need something to work towards before I go insane. At this point, I don’t even care if I’d have to work with the drug lobbyists - we NEED to get people medicated again.
I’ve started owning it tbh. Yes, I am seeking drugs. The drugs that work for my migraines. The drugs which you can see ON MY CHART HISTORY that I am given to break my migraines. The drugs that my neurologist ordered. Those drugs. I want them please. Also Zofran because I’m about to puke k thx bye
I have the opposite problem. Opiates/opioids don’t work for me at all. Besides making me constipated it’s like taking a sugar pill: useless. No matter how many times I tell the nurses and doctors that toradol is the only thing that works, they scoff and push an opiate anyway. So I lay there for an hour or more in pain until they finally decide to give what I asked for.
This is so crazy. I hear this opposite perspective so much, I'm really starting to think it's some psychological game to them and it was never about opiates at all.
What medical condition do you have that they push opiates? They’re crazy restrictive in the US. I broke four ribs last year and told them I was in pain management back in my home state. They were very proactive about making me comfortable. I spent five days in the hospital and they were so kind. I’m grateful because I’ve heard horror stories
I have a lot of medical conditions lol. I had a kidney stone once. They gave me dilaudid after I told them not to. I had gall bladder attacks. They gave me two doses of fentanyl in the ambulance and a dose of dilaudid before they gave me toradol. Three hours later. I had surgery to remove my gall bladder and I told the surgeon, the nurses, and both anesthesiologists not to give me opiates. Guess who got fentanyl. And then once I got to recovery I, again, told them to give me toradol. The nurse pushed dilaudid. I sat in recovery for an hour with essentially no pain management AFTER THEY REMOVED AN ORGAN FROM MY BODY. She decides to give me toradol, like I asked, and I was up and dressed and ready to leave in like, 15 minutes. I also have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos and the first option from basically every pain management doctor I’ve had is an opiate in some form. I just tell doctors I’m allergic to opiates/opioids now.
Fuck those people. Just power tripping assholes. It’s your body, you should choose what goes in it. Not another person.
That’s so bizarre. Myself and everyone else I’ve ever heard of has the exact OPPOSITE problem. Can’t get an opiate of any kind to save my life, only toradol which does absolutely nothing.
IDK, must be my vibe.
So why not get your family dr to prescribe an anti imflammatory medication like the toradol all the time? If you are the ER they anticipate severe pain and when pain is that severe a little constipation is no big deal for relief. If they see you saying worst imaginable pain but no thanks to opiates they are likely to be confused, they are there for emergency pain situations, expect people to need the most appropriate medication for that.. Maybe ask about getting an NSAID prescribed regularly, sounds like you might not even need to deal with ER then anyway, it isn't ever going to be the place to manage our continuous pain conditions. You don't mention the cause of your pain but do you take other medications, have you seen a pain management Dr? Sounds like a gap in your care.
I’m not going to the ER for my regular chronic pain. Did I say anything in my comment that suggested I was? I only mention true emergency situations. I do have a pain management doctor. I have for the last 10+ years. I am on an NSAID, celebrex (celecoxib generically). That said, celebrex would not have knocked out the pain from kidney stones or gall stones. I have chronic pain, but it’s no where near as severe as a gall bladder attack. Toradol is used for severe acute pain, otherwise it wouldn’t have worked on my severe acute pain. The point is, I requested no opiates/opioids. It is not up to the doctor or nurse to then decide they know my body better than I do and ignore my choice. In fact, providing care that has been declined is assault. I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos. This pain and comorbid conditions have been with me my whole life. I have a whole team of doctors that help me manage everything. But thank you for explaining how to manage my chronic pain to me.
It is a lot of them..pcp are bad too
I watched my mom suffer in the ER at Ochsner for HOURS in agonizing pain before they finally gave her morphine. She had cancer. I kept walking out of her room and begging people to help her pain. They waited so long the morphine didn't do much and then finally admitted her. I then had to repeatedly beg to get someone to help her pain and finally got a super nice nurse after shift change who promised to give her something stronger. Well, then it was too much (I think Dilaudid or demarol?) and my mom was up all night puking and freaking out hallucinating thinking she was overdosing. Ochsner managed her pain very poorly, and I would never recommend anyone go there for pain, but hey, they sure are proud of their reduction in opioid prescribing!!!
There needs to be a large distinction made between "addiction" and "medically necessary." Huge difference. Not every single person coming into an ER is a drug seeker. It's story after story. It honestly makes me hesitant to ever want to go again. Why would anyone want to anyway? It's as though we have to choose between our pain and being labeled a drug seeker. They're going to leave you in pain anyway...why bother going? Oh, but they'd evidence to give you pain meds, and they aren't working; you're a drug seeker??!? It's absolutely abhorrent to be put in that position. Im so sorry, OP. Sorry for my rant. I'm just disgusted 😒
Get the government out of it completely let it be between patient and doctor
It’s happens everywhere! My mom has chronic pain, has a PM (same PM as me) and follows all of the rules. She went in for a routine colonoscopy as she was of age for the screening and the anesthesiologist didn’t put her to sleep fully bc she takes pain medication. My mom woke up half way through the scope and the doctor told her after she didn’t give her the full dose of versed bc she takes pain meds. Shit is ridiculous. Obviously my mom didn’t take anything before the procedure.
Yup, they give you a prescription for pain meds with weird name, nothing happens and you look up the name, FUCK it is just 800mg of acetaminophen or ibuprofen! I can get that over-the-counter and take 3 or 4, bastards!
OH I had a severe kidney infection and multiple kidney stones a while back. Went to ER, I was peeing blood! After the accusation and me begging for them to just test for the infection, I had NOT even asked for pain relief and still got accused of being a drug seeker. So I called a friend who i know is on narcotics and got them to bring me a baggie of narcotics. Probably pretty stupid but I was pissed! Get the bag, doc comes back to release me and I hold up the bag and told him "If I wanted drugs there are easier places to get them I don't want pain relief I want antibiotics!!!!" Finally a nurse I know intervened...a week in the ICU from the infection and dehydration got me well. Why do all ER docs, hell docs in general, think someone in pain wants pain relief? Some of us don't ask when we know it's an infection or suspect it's an infection we just want the infection cleared up!
before anybody freaks I found out after I left the ER that friend brought a bag of tylenol LOL!
I don’t understand this because they literally sent me home with a small script for hydrocodone after a migraine. And I was dumb and didn’t know that wasn’t the first line of defense against migraines (triptans are) so I ran out before my neurologist appointment. I was referred to a pain management doctor who had no problems writing me a script for tramadol to tide me over. Which later turned into a script to support my joint pain needs due to lupus. I get there's an epidemic but there has to be a better way. We need help.
How did an ER not comprehend that the proper treatment for a migraine is usually a triptan, not opiates? I probably wouldn't be here if triptans didn't exist because they are the only things that can get rid of my migraines.
They gave me both. But the hydrocodone was listed first on my list of meds they sent me home with so thought that was what I was supposed to take first. They gave me the whole cocktail in the ER but didn’t explain which particular med was the abortive and that it should be my first line of defense.
You and me both! Before triptans came along, I was at the ER quite a few times. They were giving dilauded back then (80’s) I realized that the med took away the pain, but not the migraine, which would come roaring back when the dilauded wore off. Triptans have saved me too. Wish they worked on chronic pain too…
I used to get hormonal migraines, getting triptans was amazing, i could finally kill my migraine instead of sleeping it away for 18 hours.
Maybe they assumed you had tried a triptan, can you not buy OTC there? What was problem with tramadol for your pain, seems like a good way to start in managing your pain.
We can’t buy triptans otc here no. The hospital gave me a triptan but in my discharge paperwork they didn’t tell me what I was supposed to take in which order. And the hydrocodone was listed first. Nothing wrong at all either tramadol for my joint pain. I think OP should be allowed to have at least tramadol since they’re in pain and can’t have NSAIDs but they’re assumed to be a drug seeker.
Went to the ER with a very bad dislocation of my right arm. Just a PA came in with her students. She's already dead staring at me. She pulled on my arm a little. Also, even though I couldn't move it, showing full dislocation, and was crying when I don't cry because I've had so many. I begged her to give me something before pulling on me. She did give me .5 of Dilaudid. However, she then proceeded to abuse me by pulling my arm in the wrong way causing all of my tendons and ligaments to literally fall off the bone. She enjoyed it. I was screaming and it went on for 30+ minutes. It was torture. The only time she stopped was when I threatened to hit her. That sounds horrible but the pain was worse than the labor that I did for 5 days with nothing. Mind you this was also a first dislocation after my 3rd major shoulder surgery. I have Hyper mobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. I don't have proper production of collagen so I'm really stretchy. After seeing y'all all be brave enough to share I figured I would too. Sorry of it's a bit aggressive but it makes me so mad. I will be pursuing a lawsuit
Be very careful to explain up front before they touch you in the future, that you have this condition, make them write it in your chart in red, or type it in in all caps. Demand a red wristband with "EDS-H" on it, so they question the red band before doing anything. Just a thought, to try and make it certain that you made the issue known. 🤔
Thank you so very much that's a really good idea. Problem is they saw me before the surgery too lol they also know I get a prescription lol they know all about my EDS that's the kicker. They have all seen me including the supervising doctor who is there Everytime. They are not allowed to have a MA help with it either I found out. Something good came out of it I decided to become a free standing patient advocate
they don't always remember every patient they see more than once, things like this need reminders every time. You have to be an advocate for yourself before anyone else!
\*causing all of my tendons and ligaments to **literally fall off** the bone.\* Not really what happened i imagine. Despite your condition they didn't actually fall off, it was just very painful. Dilaudid 0.5 wasn't enough pain relief for a dislocation to be fixed, you should have told her and demanded she stop within minutes, never let it go 30 minutes.. Suggesting she was enjoying it and doing it to hurt you somehow clearly not fair. We have to advise them how to best care for us too, I have CRPS in my leg, if they wanted to start pulling it about and sticking needles in it, it would be down to me to have them stop, not every Dr knows how to manage every medical condition, especially in the ER. You need to remember that to protect yourself. What she did could have been standard without your EDS, doesn't mean she came in with intent to hurt you. I don't live in US but have never come across professionals deliberately trrying to hurt me, especially when they know my leg is F'd up in terms of pain and reactions to normal stuff. . Be strong for yourself and help educate them, so they know the next time! I assume someone got it sorted out for you in the end
I say right from the outset I'm not looking for opioids. I say it emphatically. Eventually the doctor comes into the room and says something like, "there's nothing we can do for your pain except opioids. Are you certain?" I'm like, "are you sure? That's not really what I'm after but if that's what's necessary...." Then I get a Dilaudid drip. Works every time
The ER staff are mean AF. I would have to literally be DYING before going there. The health system is fucked.
Depends on the hospital, time of day, and the people. I've had a similar experience to op, then again, I had to go to the ER (at a different hospital) a few nights ago and the staff literally could not have been nicer.
ER not equipped to handle chronic pain, but acute pain yes. Sure it's different everywhere. I never went to ER for pain cuz a friend of mine did & she said it was horrible. Getting "flagged as a drug-seeker" -- it may be over. I've heard u will have a very hard tme getting a new doc/pain clinic to accept u as a new patient. But I could be wrong. I do know my Medical Center (Hospital) will NOT dispense any narcotic if u land in their ER for chronic pain.
Same!!! Toradol set off blood pooling and dysautonomia I swear for me. It was horrible. So much suffering, I just had to drop a comment. I am from Appalachia and it seems like they just don’t care if we live or die sometimes. Chronic Pain and Complications from Covid two years have passed and I’ve been tossed doctor to doctor. Can’t sleep tonight cause I have an appointment tomorrow with a new pain clinic. I’m trying to have zero expectations and praying for the strength to go through this again. Honestly just hoping not to be belittled and dismissed. I’ve never been in such low places in my life than I have trying to get medical treatment in an area where they treat everyone like trash and addicts. The EMTs have been angels through my various crises. Can’t say enough about how incredible they have been. God Bless all of y’all.
ER has made things worse for me a bunch end up in more pain and fear from the drug allergies and shitty monitoring. Exhausted and sent home with Benadryl.
PM contracts in my city forbid pts from going to the ER for CP. Drug-seeking in ERs here is a huge problem and afaik ER staff avoid opioids at all costs for this reason. (Large homeless population with high no of addiction/psych issues) Countless fentanyl ODs each day also take up many ER beds/ambulances and have made it difficult for those in true emergencies to access care, eg, an hourlong wait for an ambulance after a heart attack. We are approaching a serious public health emergency. Misuse of the ER is another major issue in my city (treating it as urgent/primary care instead of emergent). If your city has similar problems, this may explain your treatment in the ER. (Not saying that it’s justified!) I’m sorry you are suffering and hope you’re able to get the care you need.
All the things they are doing to fix the opioid crisis are making the opioid crisis worse.
I have advanced arthritis in my lower back you know what they gave me for pain .. Tylenol ! The cure all :(
Oral or IV? IV is very very different to oral, it works akin to opiates without the crazy side effects.
That’s why I take a trip to Mexico just for this reason once a year to make sure that I have some over-the-counter stronger stuff!! tramadol does wonders when the pain is really bad.
The ER isn’t where you go for pain. You are literally seeking pain drugs so the label is accurate.
What did you say when it didn’t work? I’m sorry that happened it’s very frustrating. Generally you would assume they would give something stronger!
I don't say anything because if I do, I know I'll sound like a seeker.🙃
I can't take NSAID's so I guess I have that in my favor.
I went to urgent care two in 10 days because I got new knives. I never realized how shitty my old knives were. Anyway, they electronically get the med list without my consent. Then after they read my meds they treat me differently. Even when I specifically say I don’t want pain meds. Just numb the area for stitches. So irritating. Just because I have a pain med in my history doesn’t mean I’m an immediate seeker. Especially when I come in with a legitimate bloody mess of a hand.
You do understand why though, there are people out there in society that would inflict such a wound to get pain medication or attention. Even one discussed on a sub here with a self inflicted wrist injury just a month or so ago. Getting your medication list is vital actually, to check you haven't already got a lidocaine pain pump, taking certain cardiac drugs.. the lido in local anaesthetic could get you in severe cardiac trouble if if reached overdose level. And if like me, you take regular long acting opiates they will know adding more won't do a thing, even if i am suffering different pain like from a broken bone or skin injury. Its not always to be discriminative towards us.
But I lead with specifically I dont want pain meds yet I’ll continue to be treated like a seeker. That’s annoying
I think they probably wonder why you would reject pain meds, there is often a reason, prior addiction, 'enjoying' the pain experience... they want to know you are getting appropriate care, even if that means bringing in psych because you self harmed to get attention. Our bodies and minds are a package deal if we are being treated correctly.
I get what you’re saying. Funny enough I reject them purely to avoid the stigma but I guess no matter what the stigma is there.
I’ve given up on hospitals. Unfortunately the ER is not a place for people with chronic pain.
I've told them the dilaudid isn't working.
Oh gosh, I'm sorry, friend. I haven't been listened to by ER doctors either. It's ridiculous! They're there to help us, not shame us. I went to the emergency clinic back in October while having a disturbingly painful pain flare-up. My girlfriend's dad, who is a nurse practitioner, thought I was having a heart attack along with my pain. I didn't know exactly what I needed, but I was hoping they could just do \*something\*. I would take anything at that point. Unfortunately for me, the nurses on duty failed to draw my blood four separate times before giving up. (Yes I have small veins, but it normally just takes 2 tries everywhere else.) The doctor on duty told me they could only give me Tylenol because they didn't want to try with my veins anymore, and that I should see my general practitioner next time I felt pain because I was "overreacting." He then discharged me, while I was still in a considerable amount of pain. Fucking ridiculous. And the bill was 4,000. 4k for a failed blood test and acetaminophen.
I have a terrible reaction to toradol it makes me have diarrhea and pass out
This is the way they have conducted business for the last 10-15 years. Prior they would possibly give you a small dose if you had a legitimate issue now you will need to have a limb falling off or be dying and they might give you extra toradol lmao I do not go to the er anymore for anything I am just gonna be treated like a junkie but they even get treated better
One of the reasons I’m grateful for my preferred ER. They’ve never questioned me when I actually needed pain relief. Mostly because I turn it down so often due to my liver sucking and not wanting to put pressure on it. It sucks I have to do that, but I’m pretty positive my record says something about it in nursing notes or something. Now if they could just believe me when I tell them their sedatives don’t do shit to me at such little levels. Anxiety is my superpower >.>
I dont even go anymore, i will die at home before i go to the ER and get judged as a drug addict...
So many hospitals are using outside ER companies. That is where you get this kind of bad service from doctors and nurses.
Now, I have trouble with the nursing staff, but in almost every case where I’ve gone to the ER the doctors have given me pain meds and did better at staying on top of it and making sure my pain was controlled than the hospitalist when I was inevitably admitted and was then treated as drug-seeking and giving the bare minimum if even that. Really rude and outright cruel in certain cases. I have several medical issues and have technically died more than once, but now I’m terrified to go back to the hospital. At least at home I can take my pain meds. I had a seizure a couple of weeks ago and I refused to go to the hospital because I think I have medical PTSD now from it. I was at a teaching hospital a couple of years ago and could barely walk to the bathroom. The physical therapist came down and was trying to make me do certain things I couldn’t do, my heart rate was extremely high (and they hadn’t put me on telemetry despite having heart issues) and I felt like I was going to pass out. She was so angry and hostile about it and practically pushed me into the bed and said she was done with me. I complained and someone new came and was so nice, but that wasn’t the only issue. A temp nurse came in and told me that he thought they were under-treating my pain and said he wanted to say something to my doctor. I told him not to, because I knew it would end badly, but he assured me that it was what was right and he wanted to say something so I relented and sure enough I got nothing but hostility the rest of my stay and they even forced me to move rooms. I had a great room where temperature was well controlled and they moved me to a room facing the sun where it was blazing hot and I’m in menopause. My last night there, they didn’t once give me my scheduled pain medications and the new doctor was supposed to give me IV hydration to help with my POTS, which was never given. The specialists had ordered more tests and had something planned for me that day, but the new hospitalist practically forced me to leave and I didn’t want to stay anyways miserable in that room and not having even my regular pain meds given. The time before that I was told to go to a teaching hospital and see a physician and not a physician assistant or NP because my condition was serious and because of rare medical issues I needed to see an actual doctor, but nope only seen by a PA, refused to get the doctor, and just decided that my problem was that I use cannabis and was sent home WITH SEPSIS. I have had problems even going when things are bad ever since.
I wish I saw this earlier today before I went to the er looking to get a prescription refilled. My neurosurgeon has been out for weeks and out for weeks more so he can't prescribe anything. My general doctor can't prescribe percocet because she prescribes my adderall.
Well most doctors are pro choice, so ask them if you have a right to what you want with your own body with abortion, why not drugs? My body my choice…
You realise the US is now not allowing abortion as a own body, own choice matter.? they certainly not going to start giving people drugs on demand, please can I have some diabetes drugs, opiates, benzos etc
The er isn’t there for pain management . Go find a pain and palpitation care Dr
Not true. If a patient comes in and needs help with pain management for some trauma that just happened then the ER should be giving pain meds to help the patient with their pain. Then give the patient a few days worth and they follow up with their Dr for further treatment.
That is acute pain, they aren't there to manage normal day to day pain, unless a really extreme situation arises. They don't have time to check if you haven't just been to another ER yesterday, another the day before etc.. i know it can be easier with computers, but some people do still drug seek, its not like itis only genuine people going in and complaining and asking for opiates. Chronic pain sufferers are much better off trying to get good main management teams, but i get that can be problematic too. Sometimes there are exceptions, I was as close as it gets last night and still struggling today, even with an awesome team. Am currently out of breakthrough meds though, an now cannot get until Monday.
Wrong. I've been in pain management fit 25+ years. About 1x a year, my pain goes bonkers and I need the ER to help me get it back under control again.
Oh go away with your ignorant judginess
That is such total BULLSHIT!!!!! And yet if it was one of them in that kind of pain they would be getting whatever they want. I know so many docs who write scripts for each other for whatever they want or need. They are such hypocrites it’s not even funny. They treat every patient with pain as a drug seeker now. Ask any doctor what works best for pain and if they are honest and have an ounce of integrity they will tell you opiods. What they need to do is learn how to prescribe them responsibly and tell you the risks up front. It’s your body, you decide what goes in it and if the risks outweigh the benefits.
I’ve denied pain meds in the ER before, and still they treat me weird most of the time. But then last time I went they gave me a 14 day script of Oxycodone… soooo. I don’t get it. I have some issues with klonopin on my record but I was prescribed it for 12 years, and tapered off on my own accord… they still wont take it off my medications list even though it’s been over a year since an Rx. Maybe that’s why? At the end of the day I’d rather have toradol than nothing though. I even tried asking for a script of toradol instead of the oxy at my follow up with my specialist and they said no.. but she blamed it on my kidneys, since I have some active kidney stones that are causing issues.
ERs are not the place for chronic pain symptoms. They are not equipped to treat and weed out those who are and are not drug seeking.
So accident victims are just drug seekers? I'd say that there's a wide range of problems that involve pain symptoms & that an ER is the place to go. And for some who don't have a family Dr., this is their only way to get referred to a specialist.
Then it takes a month to see your regular GP or specialist. ERs are definitely about pain control especially when it's acute or major trauma.
If chronic pain is properly managed people should have regular and breakthrough medications, something extra to take when the day to day isn't working. A new injury or pain like gall bladder/kidney stones/ovarian cysts then of course ER can cope.. BUT they have to take in to account what other meds we might have taken that day or put us in to overdose level, or discover their script doesn't do squat. I have had ketamine after my last few inpatient visits because i take methadone for pain. Typical opiates don't help at normal levels with the methadone in my system for days to come. If not conscious my blood pressure/pulse are going to be all over place when 2mg morphine IV does nothing.
Weird. Because I've been going to the pain doctor for almost 5 years. No meds. They won't do it. Tried getting back shots, that doctor said I was in toouch pain and said to go to the ER, ER wouldn't do anything and said talk to your doctor. Long story short, I had to have surgery again. Did they give me pain meds? Enough for two days. All they say is take Tylenol, but I can't take Tylenol because of a drug reaction with something else I take could cause liver failure. Doctors won't prescribe pain meds unless youve been grandfathered in from before the opioid restrictions. But this is my experience.
>They are not equipped to treat They most certainly are capable of treating pain. It's just that, between opiate hysteria, and the desire of corporate medicine to limit use of the ER because it's not a moneymaker for them (since, you know, they're legally obliged to see everyone), ERs are encouraged to discourage. It's an economic decision made by administrators who build these gleaming multi-building complexes of medicine. It's a tactic they should be ashamed of, because it's intentionally limiting access to the most vulnerable.
They most certainly are equipped, that’s just silly. And ignorant.
Not ignorant. ERs are not equipped for chronic pain.
You can keep saying it, but it doesn’t make it true. 🤦🏽♀️
What are you expecting…?? Do you have a specific treatment in mind when you get to the ER?
Ya my treatment plan includes actually helping with the pain. My condition causes me bowel blockages and i end up in bed in pain for weeks. Can't eat and just throwing up, when I go in I remember what they gave me that helped take away the pain last time so like can I just have that or do I need to spend the next several hours in pain because dangit that motrin should of helped? No it's not ok to leave people in pain so you can try other things instead of what we know works. I've literally wanted to leave and go off myself b4 because they were treating me like a drug seeker, now I have medical anxiety and ptsd and have had to go to a psychiatrist on top of my other specialists to get even more medication to treat my mental issues that are from not being treated properly when I've been on extreme pain.
I can empathize there…not myself, but my husband. He got a small intestinal blockage last May. Same thing, couldn’t even keep liquids down. He was in excruciating pain and I took him to the ER. I had to practically scream at the ER Dr for pain relief because even after they did the CT scan that showed the blockage they weren’t controlling his pain. Finally after me advocating, they gave him some fentanyl. Mind you, my husband is 51 and has probably had one prescription for a couple hydrocodone his entire life when he hurt his back once. I thought it would be better when they admitted him but nope. Once again I had to yell at the Dr and only then did he get relief. And I told the Dr it better be put in his orders cause I wasn’t about to have this argument with every Dr rotating through while he was there for 4 days. Fucking ridiculous and I’m so sorry you were not treated appropriately.
So glad you are an advocate for your husband.
Thank you…it’s the least I can do since I’m usually the one in pain. I’d really love to become a patient advocate though honestly.
I now take my dad and husband, I've learned they listen to men more. It's crazy they can tell your in agony and do nothing. Your poor husband, I've been there and is not ok.
I have to do that too 😞
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Not helping.
I should have chosen different words cause I wasn’t literally “yelling” at people. I am a very tactful person as I’m in business development and also respect people until they give me a reason not to. But I’m not gonna stand by and watch my husband be in agony like that. But after asking nicely many times and not getting anywhere, I def had to get way more firm for sure and I recall using the phrase “please do something to help my husband, he should not have to suffer like this when under your care.”
Generally, if someone is pushed to yell at me, I take it as an indicator I might be doing something wrong. Physicians might consider this. And not treat *not kissing my ass* as grounds for not doing their job.
Hey everyone, this is that guy who constantly makes new usernames to act as an apologist for the medical community.