Help with pain...?!
Question: I had two bad accidents (cheerleading) and broke my neck when I was about 16 years old. I'm 25 now and constantly suffering from pain. Everyday my legs go numb when I sit or lay down and my arms and hands go numb anytime. I'm a make-up artist so sometimes it is embarassing because it looks like I'm clumsy but actually my hands are numb. I need to find a doctor who believes me that I'm in severe pain ALL the time and who will give me the right treatment and medications. So many doctors I've seen didn't believe me at first until they read my previous medical records and still won't give me good pain medications because they think I'm too young to have this pain or am just drug seeking. NOT TRUE! I don't know what to do...this is making me depressed and super frustrated there are many days that I would just rather die then get out of bed. I've been thinking about O.D. on sleeping pills because of the pain...I can't take it anymore. No one believes me...this is so hard. Anyone understand?
Answers: I had two bad accidents (cheerleading) and broke my neck when I was about 16 years old. I'm 25 now and constantly suffering from pain. Everyday my legs go numb when I sit or lay down and my arms and hands go numb anytime. I'm a make-up artist so sometimes it is embarassing because it looks like I'm clumsy but actually my hands are numb. I need to find a doctor who believes me that I'm in severe pain ALL the time and who will give me the right treatment and medications. So many doctors I've seen didn't believe me at first until they read my previous medical records and still won't give me good pain medications because they think I'm too young to have this pain or am just drug seeking. NOT TRUE! I don't know what to do...this is making me depressed and super frustrated there are many days that I would just rather die then get out of bed. I've been thinking about O.D. on sleeping pills because of the pain...I can't take it anymore. No one believes me...this is so hard. Anyone understand?
Hi, I believe you and I think this will help. I have other information too, I have a yahoo group, that does nothing but education for patients on "doctors" and "to help them get the treatment and medications they need."
This is a blurb I wrote back last year for some patients who could not get treated for their pain, hope it helps.
(my TC is in Pain Mgt. BTW).
Effective Pain Testimony
Although pain is subjective, meaning that each person experiences pain differently, Physicians do not recognize that chronic pain can create significant job limitations and everyday limitations. As you pursue your trust-patient-doctor relationship, keep the following points in mind about how Medical people use pain limitations when evaluating a patient, and a pain scale from 1-10, ten being the highest (never say 10, unless your ready to go to the ER, it is that bad.)
* you must describe your pain with accuracy and with specificity. Avoid comments like