s/o Anyone else fed up with doctors thinking everyone is a junkie?

[Anonymous]

I have chronic pancreatitis which has an unknown cause. I did nothing wrong or unhealthy to cause this condition. Sometimes I have to go to the ER for fluids, anti nausea meds and pain meds. Tonight I turned down morphine because it makes me very ill. I was then told I couldn't get a different opioid as a substitute. I politely asked a second time and heard no. Then I told them I was offended that they were implying I was a junkie because I requested a specific opiod that wouldn't make me sick. Only then did they give me the pain killer I needed.

I completely understand there is a serious heroin epidemic I this country and my heart goes out to those who struggle but doctors need to treat those of us with legitimate needs. I'm tired of being treated like an addict. Having a chronic condition is stressful as it is. I feel so betrayed when I ask for help and am treated like a liar.

[Anonymous]

I once had a doctor treat me that way, like I was a drug seeker.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I don't even drink caffeine!

Yet my cousin who is truly a drug addict manages to go to ers and get opioids!

[Anonymous]

Let me guess - did you say the only thing that really works is Dilaudid?

[Anonymous]

No it was Percocet. Is dilaudid what junkies are usually after? I told them morphine made me feel horrible and the nurse said I could ask for something else. I said Percocet works fine.

[Anonymous]

You may have been turned down because they were worried about your liver, or you already took tylenol. Percocet is a combination of tylenol and oxycodone.

I have never been accused of being a junky. And I have been to the ER for issues relating to pain 10 times in the last three years.

[Anonymous]

That sucks but Drs do have a professional and moral obligation to do what they can to avoid causing/worsening their patients' opiate problems (not that many don't fail miserably at that.) So though your need is legitimate possibly 19/20 times it would not be. But I of course agree that you shouldn't have to suffer. Do you have a PCP or pain specialist who could coordinate care with ER? That would help a lot.

[Anonymous]

I have been fortunate to not have chronic pain (yet) so haven't dealt with that, but I am sick of doctors and nurses treating people like idiots right off the bat. I know they deal with all sorts so they have to assume the worst, but it's like they don't even take a second to assess if you seem like a reasonable person.

I recently had a mammogram and it tore/created abrasions on the skin under my breasts. Very painful, and I kept antibiotic and guaze on the sores for 3 days with a sports bra. I went back in for a follow up and they took a look... "Oh, hon, it looks like that's caused by your bra." BITCH, do I look or soind like someone who walks around wearing a bra that rubs her skin raw and painful? Did you not hear me say I've been wearing a sports bra for 3 days because of it? Do you not believe me that it immediately burned and hurt after the mammogram? I was extremely frustrated.

[Anonymous]

agree with OP and PPs about how we are treated. I really needed antibiotics, and I can understand they don't want to hand them out willy nilly, but I only go to the doc for something like this about every 5 years so they can see I'm not a hypochondriac. Had to wait for a culture. 3 days later, guess what, OK, I can prescribe them for you. Thanks dude; I have been suffering for 3 extra days to kick this thing out of my system.

As for the above, the doctors should suggest just oxycodone, and not the tylenol+oxycodone. Why are they not being proactive about solutions for patients? Sometimes I think they just don't want to do anything or prescribe anything ever.

[Anonymous]

My DH has gone through the same thing with his RA. He was on a crappy school health plan when he had his last flare, the latest in about 12 years of coping with RA, and couldn't go to his rheumatologist. He had to go to a PCP in plan. Well, after hours of x-rays and whatnot to confirm he hadn't hurt a joint (no, he has RA, that's what's causing his joint pain, he knows what a flare feels like) they informed him they categorically do not prescribe pain meds so he should go home, rest, and take tylenol and advil. The man could barely walk and had been in awful pain for days and days, did they think he hadn't tried tylenol and advil?!

Thank god his rheumatologist was willing to prescribe pain meds and steroids for him without an appointment. At least specialists seem to understand chronic illnesses and not treat their patients like junkies. And of course, about one month later when the flare was under control, my husband was right off the pain meds and steroids because he has RA, not an addiction.

[Anonymous]

We know someone whose pancreas ruptured and his life has been fine without it. Why not have it removed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We know someone whose pancreas ruptured and his life has been fine without it. Why not have it removed?

Are you sure it wasn't his appendix?

[Anonymous]

OP, that sucks but I can assure you that at the ER today 99% of people who say: "oh no that IV pain drug won't work for me but the pills (which I can take home to abuse/sell) will" is a drug seeker. That is just how society is at the moment. The pressure had really come down on the entire medical community because of the abuse of prescription drugs. Once upon a time you could tell a drug seeker but now they happen to be almost everyone who comes into the ER.

[Anonymous]

This happens all the time. Some drugs can cause extreme itching, but of course that's the one they always want to prescribe.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry you are going through this, OP.

Next time ask point-blank why they are refusing something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We know someone whose pancreas ruptured and his life has been fine without it. Why not have it removed?

Um your life is most certainly not fine without a pancreas. You would immediately become a type 1 diabetic and wouldn't ever be able to eat anything again without calculating how much insulin your body would need to compensate for it.