I have posted several questions about pain and in this particular issue I have asked everyone I know and everyone I have spoken to since things got severe.
I have been diagnosed with “Fibromyalgia” but my doctor wants to run tests because he thinks that something else is wrong (other than the other conditions I have that cause pain like for example a bulging disc/pinched nerve in my back that I recently re-injured. No one will even that care of my pain caused by it). I have no insurance and no money so I have very very limited options, IE-I can only see the doctor I am seeing right now. Over 2 months ago my pain medication (Lortab) stopped working and my doctor refused to give me anything stronger. Because of this I lost my job, flunked out of school, I am getting evicted and having everything shut off. I had no choice but to see him in 2 months and after I told him all of this he obviously cared but still refused to give me anything for my pain.
It is now bad enough that I cant even BARELY move and get out of bed. I am pleading with whoever answers this that you please do not tell me crap about how I cant be in this much pain (I assure you, I am in a terrifyingly excruciating amount of pain, the worst I have ever experienced by far), or that I dont need medication or how I should try SSRIs or Lyrica. They dont work. He even gave me Ativan in favor of Percocet (after I told him it loops me out so that I dont even notice that I am awake and as much as I hate it I prefer it to dealing with the horrible pain with nothing helping me), which I personally find crazy since Ativan has a reputation for being much more addictive physically which is the main reason he didn’t want me to take the Percocet.
Until last night I had been awake the better part of 11 days and even the ER wouldn’t help me for that or for the migraine that I had at the time. **Just a caution for anyone just finding out they have Fibromyalgia, keep it quiet medically or it will sink you. In any normal situation I would have been given several medications right away but because my record said FMS I was immediately dismissed as either a drug addict, a liar or an attention seeker.** I know this because I have had migraines and a back injury before I had told doctors about my FMS (I had gotten the diagnosis for maybe 5 years but ignored it and never let any other doctor know. I had a kidney infection at one point but because of the FMS they wouldnt even give me motrin so maybe that will get my point across) and I know that they usually give you morphine or something similar as quickly as they can if you are in a huge amount of pain. The doctor this time–like almost every time before it since I moved from southern CA–was being negligent (he refused to give me anything for the sleep and never even spoke with me or poked his head in the door) but the nurses were very sweet, even when they acted like they were going to save me from my pain by giving me…drumroll please…TORODOL. I was surprised because I knew that they knew I was in pain and we were all aware that the Torodol would do nothing, they knew that I knew it too so why pretend it was going to help? The nurses made it very clear to me that it was my doctors job to treat my pain and my sleep deprivation. They kept asking me why he wasn’t doing his job. I wonder the same thing.
I get that this is an extreme long shot but I have no other options. Please keep in mind that I have no money or medical insurance and I have already emailed many doctors asking for help with my condition, not the pain itself. At this point I only care about stopping the pain.
Please do not just dismiss the amount of pain I am in. PLEASE. It has been exponentially worse for 8 years now and severe (meaning leaving me 90% bedridden) for 2 years and debilitating (meaning 99.999% bedridden and unable to barely walk) for 2+ months.
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5 comments ↓
********Please know you are not alone*********Wow, my heart really goes out to you. I don’t have FMS but I do have my own battle. I did have a wonderful friend who dealt with this and we often cried together b/c of what she went through. Please don’t give up, I can only imagine how tempting it might be fore you. Disability processes for assistance suck for both state and federal, however keep applying and re-applying. We had to do that for a little over a year (state) and almost two for social security. They literally test you to see “how bad you need/want it”. Disgusting, it really is.. For the pain, I send you a huge (but very soft) hug via the net to you. I know it seems weird but my friend found great relief in drink ginger tea (you can get ginger at the store bulk and it’s relatively cheap) and doing 3-5 ginger soaks a day, used Arnica Montana (homopathic med. that is relatively cheap) to atleast bring the aganising pain down a notch or two, ice packs until numb, mindfulnness meditations seem to really help her to cope and last of all when you get insurance see a natropath, that really helped my friend per diet, etc. seems silly but it really helped.
i know what you mean by docs dismissing you-
they think that because you claim to have FMS–that you must be faking any other condition–
i had mono–they said –your fine stay active
i had a serious head injury–they said–your fine stay active–you can drive (i couldn’t even see straight)–the doc coached me through the neuro exam when i couldn’t pass it–and declared me fine…..
and i wasn’t even asking for pain meds—–i can’t even get injuries properly treated–because the docs assume i am faking the pain–and they don’t even test to see if there is an actual injury…..
the only home remedies i’ve found that work for me–are ice packs until I’m numb and positioning with multiple pillows…..
There is only one brutally honest answer I can give, and that is to try to find a good lawyer to get your disability. If you are unable to work, there is no other option, well unless you can find a good man LOL only joking. But honestly, you need a lawyer, and fast.
i know where you’re coming from. i wish i could help. i was in your shoes and was divorced with two kids. i kept losing jobs, houses, no insurance, had to go live with family members, etc. the worse part was my kids had to go live with their father. i finally decided to get disability and yes, i did get it. also medicare. i don’t know how to help you. i just wish your doctor would help you out. i wish you could change doctors or something! i will pray for you. God bless you and may you have a miracle happen very soon.
I started having problems with severe back and neck pain, as well a numbness and paralysis of my hands and legs, back in 1995 after being attacked, beaten, pistol-whipped, and robbed (only $54) by some F%#*%ng gang members. One doctor after another (9 total) wouldn’t believe me that I was in such terrible pain, nor that the numbness/paraysis was real. In fact, 2 of them actually told me they thought I was faking it!! By 2000, I could no longer work @ my $60,000 per year job (nor anywhere else)anymore b/c I was spending more time laid up in bed than going to work. FINALLY, in 2004, I found a doc (a Neurosurgeon) who found the REAL problem…b/c he looked at my MRI films for himself, instead of diagnosing from the bogus radiology report (don’t trust radiology reports). I had (and will always have) permanent SPINAL CORD damage in my neck, as well as severe damage to my pelvic joint and Lumbar Central Spinal Canal. I recently had my 6th spinal surgery to slow down the degeneration of my spine and spinal cord. Due to to IGNORANCE and INCOMPETENCE of those 9 doctors, between 1995 and 2004, I’m now stuck living with paralysis and degenerative conditions of my spinal cord and lower spine. Had they listened and believed me (and looked at the films instead of going off some incompetent radiologist’s report), I might be able to still be working and making a decent living, instead of living WELL BELOW the poverty level on SSDI (which took almost 2 years, getting a lawyer, and going to court). Not to mention the constant severe chronic pain. It sucks!! Thankfully, I now have a doctor who believes and understands what kind of pain I have to live with. As much as I truly loathe having to take pain meds (& many neuro-meds), I’m glad my doc prescribes them. They’re my only option. Otherwise, I would feel like I’m being tortured. Still, I will NEVER give up hope that things will get better (sometimes a little “denial” is heathy, I guess). To those of you living with chronic pain, my heart goes out to you. Don’t give up. If you don’t, I won’t, ok?
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