Just gimme a hacksaw already

[MoonCat]

I just need to vent.

Somehow, I managed to injure my upper arm/shoulder area. Happened gradually, starting in late Feb.-early March. My regular doc thinks it's a torn rotator cuff; I suspect pinched nerve, or both. I had to wait a month to get in to see her and she wants me to see a specialist.

He can't see me until MID-SEPTEMBER.

I can't sleep more than 2-3 hrs at a time, my arm hurts ALL. THE. TIME. and I have lost probably 50% or more of my range of motion on that side? Nothing helps: heat packs or ice packs, ibuprofen, meloxicam, an herbal thing (vinoprin). None of it. She gave me a sling to wear in bed to limit motion but it's hideously uncomfortable.

My choices suck. Wait; find an urgent care place & spend half a day sitting around while they see more important stuff (it's not killing me, after all) just to get an x-ray, and even then I'll still need to see a specialist afterward; call every orthopedist in the area and see if anyone has an appt. before Sept. 16; aaaand that's about it.

I'm tired. This sucks. It fucking HURTS. I'm so frustrated I'm ready to scream. My sister jokingly suggested medical MJ and if I had ever smoked anything in my life, I'd be tempted to go knock on the neighbors' door. If they didn't have any I'm sure they could point me in the right direction.

[CoffeeMonkey]

I feel your pain. In an almost literal way.

When I was effectively crippled with back pain and sciatica, I waited a long time to see the doctor (no insurance) and was trying to treat it with rest, chiropractor and massage. Well, that didn't work. I went to my doctor for meds and the chiropractor sent me for an MRI at about the same time. Got the meds from the doc, and when the MRI came back it showed a blown disc. Time to call a neurosurgeon! It took over THREE MONTHS from the first time I called the office til my appointment. I only survived because I was on a nice cocktail of pharmaceuticals from my GP.

For me personally, the meds worked great. They almost completely alleviated my pain, and after I got used to them, the drowsiness wasn't too bad. I could finally sleep. It was amazing. I also did not have any problems weaning myself off after I recovered from surgery. Everyone's reaction is different, of course.

Hopefully your doctor can prescribe you something to keep you going til you can get fixed, whether medicine or other.

[Elspeth]

Have you tired sleeping slanted? My mom had rotor cuff surgery and that is how she had to sleep, only why she could. Amazon has a pillow that puts you at a 45 degree angle

similar to this
http://www.amazon.com/Contour-10-Fli...s=wedge+pillow

good luck!

[MoonCat]

Have you tired sleeping slanted? My mom had rotor cuff surgery and that is how she had to sleep, only why she could. Amazon has a pillow that puts you at a 45 degree angle

similar to this
http://www.amazon.com/Contour-10-Fli...s=wedge+pillow

good luck!

Thanks

I don't have one of those but I have tried sleeping sitting up (this actually helped early in the year when I had a bout of vertigo for a while and was afraid to lie down)...and also propped up on two large pillows. I have to get the angle just so, otherwise my back hurts. It helps a little to put a pillow under the arm, too. Otherwise my shoulder sort of falls back and omgthathurtslikehell. If it turns out I need surgery, which I'm suspecting more and more, I might get one of those wedges, so thank you for the link.

[42_42_42]

Call your GP and let him/her know that the pain medication is not working. S/he should call you in a script for something stronger. If that doesn't work, let the doctor know. Repeat until your pain is alleviated.

[Gerrinson]

Mooncat, I had a similar problem with my shoulder (still do, to a point). It turns out the pain that started in October/November 2012 was due to a bone spur on my collar bone due to an injury to my arm in early August 2012.

Find a good surgeon, my 1st one was retiring before he could schedule me in, so he referred me to his partner. The 2nd guy sucks. It's now August 2013 and I 'don't need surgery for a pain level that is only 5 or 6 all day'.

[mathnerd]

Back when I hurt my foot I took that last option: calling every appropriate specialist in my county and the next county north to find somebody who had an appointment available. I wound up with a doctor I actually really like and he's only a 30 minute drive from me (I live in out in the most "country" area my county has, and it takes 15 minutes just to get to the nearest area where anything is, so 30 isn't so bad). He was actually able to see me the same day I called. It was worth the couple of hours I spent calling around finding him. If things get really bad, you might want to consider that option. Sometimes it actually works out well.

I hope you feel better soon!

[Primer]

I think a lot of folks may remember that in '06 I got run over by an 18-wheeler. I'm alive only thanks to Dodge engineering. The first surgery I had to have was to my back, and after that they were able to address my shoulder (June '07). The first shoulder surgeon sucked, and when it retore the following Feb, he refused to believe me until I finally insisted long and loud enough for another MRI. In May, I finally got the MRI. He did not call me back with the results until July. Needless to say, I found another surgeon. I was also squeezing in hip replacement surgeries, and it wasn't till '09 that the shoulder could be worked on again. Early last fall, the pain became unbearable again. I'd had neck surgery in June, and Pain Management wasn't sure if the pain was originating in the neck or in the shoulder and requested an MRI of the neck and shoulder. Insurance ok'd the neck--declined the shoulder. I saw my spine surgeon to go over the neck MRI. HE requested a shoulder MRI. Insurance declined. Spine surgeon referred me back to the shoulder surgeon--HE requested an MRI. AGAIN, insurance declined. I have had three different doctors request a shoulder MRI and been refused three times. Insurance wants me to go through injections and physical therapy first. In the meantime, I can barely move my arm due to the pain, and I cannot lift it long enough to write anything on a board--umm--that's my JOB.

TLDR: My shoulder has had me in agony for almost a year, because the INSURANCE company refuses diagnostics that have been requested by three different doctors. I'm ready to see if I can somehow finance it out of pocket!

[MoonCat]

Primer, that is horrible! I know people have worse pain than I do...back pain, injuries from military service, etc. And honestly I don't know how they deal with it. I was up at 5 this morning walking around, trying different positions sitting or lying down, just to try for more sleep, and if I find this difficult, I can't even imagine what some other people put up with. It's disgusting that insurance companies can make those decisions, especially after several doctors have requested the MRI.

What the hell is wrong with people, doctors or otherwise, who think nothing needs to be done for pain?

[crazylegs]

What the hell is wrong with people, doctors or otherwise, who think nothing needs to be done for pain?

God only knows. A pain score forms part of basic, baseline, obs - any medical staff should aim to have pain attacked as vigorously as their training and skills allow. Very often I can't cure my patient, but I make damned sure I do everything in my power to make sure they're as comfortable as possible before I handover.

[MoonCat]

So I had a lousy night (I stretched, and it felt like my arm was being ripped off)....today I called a local university orthopedic office and was able to get an appt. for this Thursday. My supervisor is not too happy as I'll have to leave around noon and we're short staffed this week. Can't be helped. If I can, I'll go back to work after I've seen the doc.

[mathnerd]

I'm so glad you were able to get an appointment so soon! Hopefully they'll be able to get things moving so you can get the treatment you need right away.

[MoonCat]

So, update: They did X-rays (kinda painful to move the way they wanted, but I expected that) and saw the doc. He wants me to try physical therapy first, didn't see any major problems in the shoulder/arm area. Says it's most likely "frozen shoulder" and the P/T should help. He also told me I could take acetominophen along with the meloxicam because they work differently so it's ok to take them together. Worth a try. It's going to mess up my schedule at work for a while, so I might start working 8-4. That's what seniority's for, folks.

Now everybody at work's going to want to know what happened. I'm torn between telling them I fell off the pole at the Kit-Kat Club and telling them it's a crossbow injury

[Rock Lobster]

I had severe screaming shoulder blade pain for months. The chiropractor wasn't helping so I went to my PCP. After taking some Prednisone (steroids) for a few weeks the pain finally went away. Don't know if this is an option for you or not. Sorry you are in such pain.

[MoonCat]

I had severe screaming shoulder blade pain for months. The chiropractor wasn't helping so I went to my PCP. After taking some Prednisone (steroids) for a few weeks the pain finally went away. Don't know if this is an option for you or not. Sorry you are in such pain.

Well this part is embarrassing but...I have some skin problems on that arm and the doc didn't want to stick a needle in there until it's cleared up (due to bacteria possibly being present). It's actually nearly gone but I guess not quite enough to suit him.

The combo of acetominophen and meloxicam is actually working, yay! There's still pain but not as bad and I can sleep a little better.