Kati
Patient in training
- Messages
- 5,497
Hi @bspg i just wanted to say that I have read your post and i am very sorry you are going through this.Rebooting this thread as I'm looking for advice on how to actually get a doctor to write a script for pain meds?
I've been eating anywhere from 3-9 ibuprofen daily for pain, for several months now. For 27/30 days of each month, this is fine. I still have pain everyday but it's mostly minimal and I can tolerate it.
Unfortunately, the other 3 days of the month (they're random, not consecutive) my pain is so severe that I can't even move without screaming. My GP refuses to prescribe opioids for anyone (thanks to the scare tactics of the DEA and CDC), so anyone needing more than ibuprofen for pain, he refers to a pain management clinic.
I'm ready to ask for a referral but because I have a diagnosis of fibro and depression (in addition to CFS), I know they're going to want me to take tricyclics, cymbalta, gabapentin, or lyrica before giving me anything else (IF they even offer anything else).
All of this would be fine except that I've already tried literaly every one of the above drugs with a different doctor and they didn't help me. The side effects were horrible and all of them made me worse. Plus, I really only need the extra pain relief a few days each month.
I don't know how to express all this to the pain doctor and have them listen to me, especially as a new patient. Maybe I'm just thinking it'll be worse than it is but my mom has been in pain management for years (in this same geographic area) and has been treated horribly. She has multiple, severe back problems and suffers in pain constantly. Opioids are the only thing that provide even a small bit of relief for her and the doctors are trying to take her off them. She's scared and suffering. It's really awful.
I've been holding off on pain management because of all this nonsense but it's getting harder and harder for me to manage my pain. I really do not want to go through all those drugs again just to "prove" to the doctor that they don't work. But with the current crackdown on opioids, I don't see another way.
Does anyone have advice on this? Has anyone actually been able to get a script using the diagnosis of ME/CFS or fibro and not another disorder/injury?
I will not bore you with 'have you tried x,y,z alternative?' I am very sure you tried everything. It is a tough situation, especially with the crack down and supposed evidence against opioid drugs.
In the eventuality you meet a new doctor for your pain, i would suggest you write a description of your pain, what kind of pain and where, when does it start, for how long, what you have tried (list everything you tried for that particular entry) what works, and what doesn't. It may be helpful to hold a daily pain journal with level of pain (0-10 scale) and the impact on your life so the doctor can have a clear overview of what is happening. Your current GP would also benefit from your pain journal and write up.
I would not mention ME/CFS as a reason to get pain medicine. I do not know about fibro but i would not think it would be favorable either, unfortunately.
Best wishes