Find someone else to bend the rules

[Nunavut Pants]

Another factor is medical businesses that give the patient what they want, without considering what the actual issues are and how they can be addressed. If the patient wants <pill X>, write them a scrip and get to the next patient, chop chop!

I know at least one doctor who is getting out of the business due to that sort of mentality...

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I have ADD, for which I have been prescribed Adderall and Vyvanse at various times so I know much harder it's become to actually get those medications.

I don't blame the people behind the Pharmacy counter though.

What I do blame are a medical system that seems hyper-fixated on prescribing pills for everything that ails us instead of exploring other remedies and politicians who don't do enough to address our societys addiction problems.

[notalwaysright]

Women complain a lot that their illnesses are trivialized and ignored. Given that a lot of specialists are men and that they do not suffer the problems that affect women the worst, it seems that this explanation rings true to me.

A CW of mine ended up in the ER and was told by the doctor (male) that it was just cramps and that it was normal. I can't remember what the real problem was, I feel like it was some sort of ruptured cysts(??), anyway it wasn't cramps and it wasn't normal and my CW is an adult female who does know what normal cramps feel like. I know we're not supposed to condone violence, but let me just say that my CW hit the ER doc because he was not listening to her and she was in extreme pain and generally freaking out. He wouldn't "treat" her anymore and the replacement doctor was a woman who actually helped her.

[Mental_Mouse]

Every time he needed an injection of painkillers to stop the headaches the emergency room looked up his record and said: "Meh - addict after drugs - he can wait." With the result that he would wait in pain for up to 12 hours before they would give him an injection.

This is how all medical professionals react and it needs to stop.

It's because the idea of drug dependency has taken on moral dimension far beyond its actual burden on society. Seeing that the patient needs drugs, the Guardian's immediate response is to deny them, because he needs them.

Offhand, I can think of only two other examples where this logic is widely used in society; those would be Sex and Money, and in both cases it's all about the power relations....

[gerund]

And the only reason I got diagnosed properly was that I told the doctor that I was tired of living like this and if he didn't do *something*, I was going to kill myself.

Women complain a lot that their illnesses are trivialized and ignored. Given that a lot of specialists are men and that they do not suffer the problems that affect women the worst, it seems that this explanation rings true to me.

I sympathize with the way all humans suffer. The worst story I read about cluster headaches was an ex-addict who had cluster headaches as a result of his ex-addiction. Every time he needed an injection of painkillers to stop the headaches the emergency room looked up his record and said: "Meh - addict after drugs - he can wait." With the result that he would wait in pain for up to 12 hours before they would give him an injection.

This is how all medical professionals react and it needs to stop.

[EricKei]

When you take lots of pain meds, your body builds up a tolerance to them. Then when you are really in pain they don't work much.

I can vouch for that. When I was in HS (in particular), I got headaches all the time, so I went through a LOT of Tylenol (acetomenaphin/paracetomol (sp?)). To this day, Nothing less than an extra-strength one will have the slightest effect on me, and that's an improvement.



Back in the day, I needed two of those just to reduce (but not eliminate) the pain of a standard headache. To this day, I use them sparingly enough that it takes over a year for me to go through a small bottle. My issue being, I'm worried that I might eventually become resistant to Aleve (naproxen sodium) or Diclofenac (a prescription muscle relaxant/painkiller), which I take only when I reach the point of "I won't be able to walk If I don't"...so, hopefully, that level of usage will delay the onset of resistance.

[greek_jester]

When you take lots of pain meds, your body builds up a tolerance to them. Then when you are really in pain they don't work much. When you don't take them much, then when you really need them they work at their full potential.

Too right. Between the arthritis, the (past, now fixed) carpal tunnel and (past, now fixed) intracranial hypertension not many OTC painkillers work on me. I had no choice but to live on them at the time if I wanted to function, but now when I take ibuprofen, paracetamol or aspirin I have to take the maximum dose just to get any use out of them. Even then they're far less effective than they used to be.

[Terza]

When you take lots of pain meds, your body builds up a tolerance to them. Then when you are really in pain they don't work much. When you don't take them much, then when you really need them they work at their full potential.

So you are using them the right way.

The other side effect of taking lots of pills you don't really need is that your body just eliminates them and they end up in the environment. Not only are you wasting money, but the fish are turning female and can't breed and other pills are making some male animals sterile.

This is why I don't take even OTC medication very often - so that it will work quickly when I do!

[ladyjaneinmd]

Years ago I had cluster headaches. During these, I visited the Doctor a number of times and never got any help whatsoever. He seemed rather dismissive every time I raised the problem.

So I searched the (new) World Wide Web for some sort of solution because I was suffering depression from the ongoing effects. You can imagine what I thought when I found a medical article that stated they had no idea if cluster headaches lasted more than 5 years because every person who had cluster headaches committed suicide before the 5 year mark.

I did a quick search just now and could not find anything like that now, but perhaps things have improved since then. I know I am in remission for over 20 years now.

So for sure, pain can be life threatening.

I hear that! I had migraines from the age of 3(the first one I remember), to 30, when they were finally diagnosed and treated properly. And the only reason I got diagnosed properly was that I told the doctor that I was tired of living like this and if he didn't do *something*, I was going to kill myself.
It took a few years, but I am finally on a cheap med with few side effects, that keeps away 90% of the migraines. It's like my life began for the 2nd time in 1991.

[gerund]

My sweetie and I don't like to take pain meds. When given them for something, we only take them when we really need them.

When you take lots of pain meds, your body builds up a tolerance to them. Then when you are really in pain they don't work much. When you don't take them much, then when you really need them they work at their full potential.

So you are using them the right way.

The other side effect of taking lots of pills you don't really need is that your body just eliminates them and they end up in the environment. Not only are you wasting money, but the fish are turning female and can't breed and other pills are making some male animals sterile.

[Slave to the Phone]

My sweetie and I don't like to take pain meds. When given them for something, we only take them when we really need them.

About 10 years ago, my sweetie had a quad-bypass. The surgeon was very clear that he needed his pain pills as prescribed, even if that meant I had to wake him up to give him a pill.

This is because a body in pain tends to tense up, which delays healing. In order for someone who has just gone through extreme physical trauma to heal, they need to rest. In order to rest, they need to be relaxed and pain free.

I never imagined I'd ever be in a place where I was saying things like "Wake up, honey. You need to take your sleeping pill.", but there I was.

It seemed to work, my sweetie healed nicely and we are back to not bothering to fill pain med scripts or filling them, taking 1 dose and putting them in the medicine cabinet until they expire.

[dalesys]

... Australian cousins to out-do us... Ever heard of the Gympie-Gympie bush?

Then there are the sheep that placidly graze on it... PTerry forever!

[RealUnimportant]

For some serious pain, we can always rely on our Australian cousins to out-do us... Ever heard of the Gympie-Gympie bush?

[EricKei]

He seemed rather dismissive every time I raised the problem.

I can see his thoughts now: "It's never happened to me or to anyone I've met, so it's probably not real." x.x

[gerund]

Years ago I had cluster headaches. During these, I visited the Doctor a number of times and never got any help whatsoever. He seemed rather dismissive every time I raised the problem.

So I searched the (new) World Wide Web for some sort of solution because I was suffering depression from the ongoing effects. You can imagine what I thought when I found a medical article that stated they had no idea if cluster headaches lasted more than 5 years because every person who had cluster headaches committed suicide before the 5 year mark.

I did a quick search just now and could not find anything like that now, but perhaps things have improved since then. I know I am in remission for over 20 years now.

So for sure, pain can be life threatening.