stupid doctors!<ranty caused by pain>

[BlaqueKatt]

ok so about a year ago I tore the cartilage in my knee, had the knee immobilizer for a couple weeks, it finally stopped hurting around august or september. Guess what I did it again, went in december 20th was told possibly just bruised the cartilage if it got worse come back. Went back in today as the pain has been getting steadily worse for the past month-I finally broke down and went in again(I don't like doctors they usually take one look at me and think "drug seeker".When and if I ask for anything it's usually higher doses of ibuprofin so I don't have to take a damn handfull of pills)the pain was bad enough that I was in tears.

Go in explain to doc what's up have been taking enough ibuprofen to cause both severe nausea and daily headaches for two weeks and the pain is getting worse, my knee is buckling, locking up, and the pain isn't even lessened by 800mg ibuprofen and 1000mg Tylenol(taken an hour apart under previous drs recommendation), What am I told while in tears from the pain-

keep taking the ibuprofen, use ice a full month after the original injury, and work on range of motion and strengthen my quad muscles(I'm a runner my quads are solid, I can dead lift over 200 pounds with my legs-I don't think it's possible to strengthen them further without steroids), and using an immobilizer would be bad, she was going to give me a neoprene "knee sleeve" until I reminded her that my chart CLEARLY states allergic to LATEX AND NEOPRENE. at that point she was like"well we can give you crutches"-um lady notice the figure 8 collarbone brace I have on, any pressure on my shoulder and my collarbone will painfully dislocate AGAIN-how about not.

I'm just wondering how I'm supposed to do "range of motion" when every time I bend my knee even a little it feels like someone's taking a machete to my knee joint-if it doesn't lock up. All I want is something non-narcotic to make the damn pain stop(I won't take anything stronger than tylenol 3 and I normally cut them in half), you'd think I was asking for heroin and needles.

plus how often will a drug seeker wait a month in pain before returning to the doctor. And does someone in pain really need to be told to suck it up it isn't that bad.

so let's recap-severe knee pain-check, severe shoulder/collarbone pain-check, cramps-check, anything to subdue the pain and let me eat or sleep-nope-I HATE DOCTORS!!!!!

BlaqueKatt-pain sucks, and I can't take anything for another 7 hours...

[NightAngel]

I'm sorry you're in pain. :(

Is this something they should be operating on? Or something that just has to heal on it's own? Have you considered a second opinion?

Perhaps you've built up a tolerance to Ibuprophen and Acetaminophen? Maybe you should try Naproxyn (Aleve) or one of the other over the counter pain medicines?

There's also the IcyHot patches or maybe something like Tiger Balm.

Talk to a pharmacist while you're in the store. Sometimes they have extremely helpful suggestions.

[MystyGlyttyr]

My knees are shredded, but I took glucosimine (sp?) that helped with the cartiledge in them, and after a couple months I really did notice a difference.

Heat is really good...LOTS of hot baths and stuff like that. IcyHot I'm not so fond of but that's my personal opinion on it...that smell just gets to me. If you need a good knee brace, an orthepedic doctor should be able to contruct one out of stainless steel or something like that, that will allow your knee to bend but not twist...a fair number of wrestlers use them and wrestle in them so they're probably good for walking around. At the very least, they should be able to wrap it in something to shield your bare skin from any allergins.

Midol, interestingly enough, has done me wonders for knee pains.

And if you need to keep mobile, sign up at a pool...lots of them have times when you can come and just exercise or rehab without having to worry about shrieking kids or irate parents.

I'd definitely get a second opinion, after you bash your doctor's head in with a pole and tell him/her "That pain's not so bad, now suck it up!" But don't go begging for drugs or they'll label you as a junkie jumper.

[NightAngel]

Midol, interestingly enough, has done me wonders for knee pains.


I didn't suggest Midol because it's main ingredient is Acetaminophen (Tylenol). If she's taken a lot of it for some time she may have a tolerance to it now.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

You need a new doctor. If you have a piece of cartilege flapping around in there, and it sounds like you do, it will only heal so much.

First off, you don't need crutches. Crutches will make your leg atrophy in a very, very short time. This will make your problem WORSE, not better. Knee injury like that REALLY causes muscle atrophy almost immediatly.

I tore a meniscus in my knee a couple years ago. I had a month of physical therapy, surgery, and then about a month more of physical therapy. Literally good as new. My doctor was a sport orthapedic guy. He had a lot of football players in PT with me, so I asked them would it be worth it to get the surgery, as I was feeling pretty good after a month of PT. They said absolutely get the surgery. So I did. That leg now works better than my uninjured leg.

This guy you have now I don't believe is taking you seriously. Get a guy who specializes in this sort of injury.

[BlaqueKatt]

well I have an appointment tomorrow<crosses fingers>, the nurse suggested naproxin as well, helps a little, but it locked up for 8 hours today. As far as surgery goes-I have problems with anesthesia-two surgeries two almost bad outcomes-I'm too scared to have voluntary surgery ever again.


BlaqueKatt-still in pain, but hopeful

[Tanasi]

Good luck BK,
Another nsaid that might work for you is ketoprofen. That's what I take when I have the gout and/or joint pain. I developed a tollerance for Acetaminophen years ago and I can take alot and it will never touch the pain, however 50mg of Keto and I'm more comfortable.
On the surgery I understand your fear the last time they put me out the gas-passer nearly let me die. So when I had some shrapnel removed a few years ago I went with a local (actually several locals) and my wife's hand to hold. I'm due to have both a hip and knee replaced this year and I'm not looking forward to it either.

[BlaqueKatt]

I was given two options-
1-physical therapy with pieces of something still loose in my knee
2-consult with orthopedic surgeon


After discussion with my new (awesome) doctor:wave: *....I chose 2-I'm scared

*she's had the surgery herself, and told me she was scared too, but she said she was hoping I'd choose that because it would save me a lifetime of pain. She also asked if I was a professional or semi professional athlete:eek: due to my body size and weight not quite matching up( I'm 5'4" 147 pounds and wear a size 6{28 in mens}a lot of muscle so I'm heavier than I look), but no I just walk everywhere during the summer, run 2-3 times a week in the summer, or ride my bike.


BlaqueKatt-I'm not an athlete, but I have stayed at several Holiday inn expresses:D

[NightAngel]

Good. I'm glad you found a doctor willing to actually DO something about your problem.

:D

[BlaqueKatt]

made the appointment for the orthopedic consult today.....it's the same Doctor I had when I broke my ankle in first grade!!!! Yay! now I know I'll be fine-he was the best in the state when I was 6 :D - I'm going to see if he remembers me-I had an unusual case* so he might-I know he remembered me when I badly sprained my ankle at age 16(he thought it was cool to see my ankle again after 10 years and see how it healed-he kept the x-rays for teaching purposes with my parents permission), and yep same leg!


*break two centimeters above the ankle joint and one centimeter below the "growth plate" both Tibia and Fibula and he managed to set it without surgery-which is what my parents had been told I'd need due to the location and severity of the break. The break was caused by getting my leg caught under a moving merry-go-round and it was bad enough that the ER doctor only splinted it due to the thought that I'd need surgery, or that I'd lose the foot completely.