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toe
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/09/02
Posts: 1422
Loc: MidWest USA
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I've just recently become a Medicaid only patient. Before that I was "underinsured" (mainf due to to the cost of my meds), considered disabled by the state, and therefor eligible for Medicaid while I still had student health insurance. After 21.5years of PT, NSAIDS (one that's very popular now OTC and gave me anaphylaxis) muscle relaxers. we get an MRI.
Well isn't that bloody something. 3 herniated discs. I see a back doctor who writes some scripts for PT, Skelaxin (which makes my stomach feel as if I've eaten whole, unroasted penanuts dribbled with Ol Hollar's 5 Alarm Chili Sauce.
I didn't go to the PT. First, our student center's PT lab didn't have the facilities and and 45 extra dollars a week is an enormous amount of money to a grad student (this was pre-medicaid.
It was only after I busted something nobody knows what, to this day) in April 2003 that I took my PT scripts and went to the facility. Of course, these scripts had been written with no precognition of a lower-thoracic injury in mind. I told my PT immediately that the exercises were causing ym mid-back pain, and we went back to Lumber 101. After about 2 weeks a Lumbar 101, she granted me permission to attempt a run. When I ran, I felt all the vertabrae along the damaged area clanking against each other every time a foot would hit the ground. Drs. aren't too concerned about getting us back so we can run, so no sympathy there.
A few months later I finally did the "lumbar traction", which is much like midevil torture except you are attached to only 2 pieces, not 4 horses. The twit haltered me up a couple of times really needs to be better supervised. When your patient's sessions are ended NOT by the beep of the timer but "I CAN"T BREATHE" (she could find my rib bones.) "This is hurting me me, this is really hurting me, NO, stop THIS is HURTING (I guess because my thoracic injuty is right at the bottom of the ribcage originating from the spine))
At any rate, when I saw my doctor in JUne, he through up he hands and said "time for long acting opiate analgesics" And as long as I was student insurance and could use the student health faciliaty, that was fine. Sure, the back doctor will only recommend not prescribe, but threr's a doc at student health I've been working with on orthopedic stuff for yeasrs.. Now, we had both kind of hoped that the "Pin Center" would take that responsibilty off the hands of the regular uni doc. But they have the same policy. Nobody prescribes. They'll recommend you're PCP that you get xxxxmg of something or ##drug. But see, I'M ON MEDICAID. I'F I'M At A CLINIC AND YOU HAVE A STETHESCOPE, YOU'RE MY PCP
I spent 7 hours today trying to find a clinic and then going to urgent care across the street from my house, hoping maybe I would get something, somethingfor this spreading, angry pain. I just wrote to my father that I was about either go looking for heroin or use one of the "crazy" online internet pharmacies.
I've been off morphine for a week and half, but the pain doc who doesn't prescribed was kind enough to prescibed me the "colon blow" version of detox 1) Switch me to a drug10,000 times more physically addictive than any other opiate. 10,000 may be an exagerration.. 2)Best if this drug be one that makes me look high without feeling high. 3)Instead of detoxing 1 mg/week, as indicated by folks I know who are on methadone for the traditional reason.
At any rate, I have decided, in this detox, that I don't like methadone. It makes people comment, several times a day, about how I look "high." I was cut off after one drink by the bartender (I went up to smoke) for appearance only. The doc in urgent care, where I went for my hip, defended his scripts (yes, he did defend them, because if another person had come in the amount of pain I did, they would not have left with scripts for 20 tramadol and toradol apiece.
He was a D.O.
Come to think of it, I think the Doc at the clinic was a D.O., too. and I know the one I'm being referred to is a D.O. AND a woman. I don't to be a BIKOTHB, but most female doctors have no compassion for pain.
There are are other leads I can follow, it's just that I only get 25 office visits per year and I used two of them today! I can't axactuall request an interview and inquire, "first of all, do you believe in narcotics?" But I suppose I could put "refill my monthly pain medication" in with other specific needs I have.
I don't know. I don't I don't. If I'm gonna write a list, it had better be soon!
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"It's the end of the World as We Know it. . ."
-REM "and I'm seeking asylum in Canada"-toe
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domain
Journeyman
Reged: 07/17/03
Posts: 55
Loc: Iowa
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Toe - I don't think that DO's as a group prefer to stay away from narcotics. My PCP is a DO and I have a 12 year relationship with him. I asked him about his belief and practice when it comes to meds one time and he was happy to explain. First off DO's like to treat the whole person and he starts with the least amount & type of med and work his way up to stronger meds if needed. He tells me that people show certain physical symptoms if pain is present. A couple of signals that show up in connection with pain are elevated blood pressure and a high pulse rate.
He also told me that when it gets to the point where stronger pain meds are needed then he will refer the patient to a specialist for further treatment. He doesn't do this to "pass" the person along to someone else so he won't have to deal with it, he refers them out because they are having problems that are outside of his speciality and experience. My wife ruptured a disc last year and I took her to the doctor. He had an MRI done that day and referred her to a back specialist. During the wait time to get in to see the back guy my doctor gave her percodan, but just enough to cover the 10 days until her appointment.
DO's as a group are compassionate and caring and like all of them (MD's & DO's) there are some bad apples who either don't care or want to keep everything in the middle of the road and stay out of the governments radar. 
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