Quote:
Originally Posted by cherrykix
Hi all,
Yesterday I went to see a spinal surgeon concerning the results of my most recent MRI. I've had back pain/nerve pain for over 8 years now, but it's been pretty bad lately so my regular pain specialist referred me to a surgeon to speak about possible treatments. Not only was I told that this year I have 4 herniated lumbar discs (I've had many of these before) I was told I also have Degenerative Disc Disorder.
The appointment was awful for many reasons, not just because of the diagnosis--the surgeon was rude, insensitive, unprofessional, condescending, inappropriate, and more. He was downright nasty at times. He made my mother cry, and repeatedly told me to "speak to the man upstairs" or "talk to the guy upstairs" (AKA GOD) about my pain and treatment for it--incredibly inappropriate, even though I am not religious, it was offensive. I sent in a complaint to the hospital.
But I have a few questions for people who have struggled with this disease.
1. How old were you when you were told of the disease? I'm not yet even in my mid-twenties, have been struggling with chronic back and leg pain since I was 15.
2. What sort of treatment have you gotten for it, how many, and what has been the most helpful?
3. Is there anything you can recommend, treatment-wise or just mental health-wise concerning the issue and it's effects on my other illnesses?
Thanks for reading
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1. The pain really started bothering me at 17. It's taken off from there. I'll be 25 on nov 6th. I have arthritis as well as a herniated disc that's bulging on both sides of my nerve. It's also dehydrating. I don't know what that means or even how that would happen.
2. Most doctors I've seen for pain act just like what you described. They want your money but don't want to get red flagged by the DEA, in fear of losing their license. I've only had oral meds. I was supposed to get back injections twice. The first, I couldn't give a UA to save my life. Even after a full bag of iv fluids. So he said catheter or reschedule. Of course I rescheduled. I was fired the next day for having thc in my in my system. That doctor refused everything my pcp tried to show him why it's testing positive. I take marinol. He made a copy of the original prescription and even office notes (which apparently they don't really share) ALONG with a hand written letter. But nope. Doctor number 2, I had to cancel on because of family and transportation issues. Now that winter is coming, I need to go to a doctor badly. I can't get through an entire day of school without being in agony when I get home.
3. What I do is not expect doctors to help easily. They'll want to injections and even surgery before narcotics. Or even tramadol or Tylenol #3 or #4 (I've never heard of anyone getting Tylenol #4). For people who can't take NSAIDs and normal Tylenol doesn't do anything, all I can do is go with whatever I can get at this point. I feel like being young hinders people greatly. They'll believe a 70 year old addict and give them whatever they want but if a 28 year old came in, that's just a waste of time. It's all about money and safety of not prescribing too much and stand out.
The pharmaceutical companies have doctors on puppet strings.