i have had moderate to severe chronic back pain for several months and recently went to the doctor. after an exam in her office she she prescribed muscle relaxers,prednisone,and percocet. then sent me for an mri. about a week later she called me into her office to review the mri results. she told me that i had minor bulging of my discs but nothing that should cause as much pain as i say i have.she also told me that she saw nothing to explain the leg weakness i have. she refused to refill my prescriptions,and she sent me to a physiatrist who performed an emg. he said that the emg was fairly normal with the exception of a few abnormal nerve impulses. he diagnosed me with myofascial pain,and an inflamed sacrum due to a misalignment. he set me up with physical therapy,but also refused to treat my pain symptoms.
my question is whether or not doctors can toss you around for months and months while you are suffering or do they have to do whatever gives you relief in a timely fashion?
2007-01-21 05:59:51 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Pain & Pain Management
Percocet is a strong and highly addictive drug and that's probably why no one wants to keep prescribing it for you.I've worked with doctors for years and yes they will keep referring you on to someone else if they see that they cannot help you. I would try to get referred to a pain management center where they may give you injections in the pain site or put you on a milder medication.
2007-01-21 06:15:04 · answer #1 · answered by gabeymac♥ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are not required to give you anything! I would say the doctor probably over prescribed before you went for your MRI, then found out that it is a small bulge(not truely herniated) and therefore should not be causing the pain you claimed. She went further and sent you to get an EMG, which is a nerve conduction test, you say was pretty normal. If you had a herniation that caused nerve issues you would have likely been referred to a neurologist, and the outcome would most likely be surgery to repair, but that is not the case with you. It sounds like you may be shopping for answers on ways to get stronger pain meds when in fact there are many over the counter meds that will do just as good as what the dr. ordered. Ibuprofen will help with inflammation and pain. Apply heat to your back, or make a rice sock and place that against your back(get a pair of socks, pour rice into the sock, nuke it for 2-3 minutes, will be very hot). Doctors tend to be cautious about ordering narcotics, if you can't prove that you have that much pain, you will likely be sent walking.
2007-01-21 07:51:14 · answer #2 · answered by fisherwoman 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
While dr's are supposed to treat pain they often do not. Since you literally cannot prove your in pain or how bad it is your dr can do what he/she wants. Yes your dr can drag you along for months even years wihthout helping the pain. There is very little you can do about this other than find another dr.
My best advice is suffer through the physical therapy and then tell them if it dosent get better. Also ask about injections to kill the nerves. Injections are often done if PT dosent work. Your dr will be much more likely to do injections that give you pain relievers since the injections last for months and sometimes are permanent. With meds you could be on them for life and should only be done in severe cases.
2007-01-21 10:05:39 · answer #3 · answered by FX_Make-upArtist 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't really see that anyone has refused to treat you. The one doctor referred you to another (the physiatrist) who then referred you to a physical therapist. In addition to the things the docs have done the PT would examine you and see if they could find the cause of your symptoms and then treat you accordingly helping you to reduce pain and improve function.
2007-01-22 16:03:54 · answer #4 · answered by Dan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most doctors do whatever they can to help relieve their patients of pain. However, when dealing with chronic pain and treating it with very addictive opiates (Percocet), they have to be very careful not to allow their patients to become addicted to pain meds. I also suggest asking for a referral to a pain management clinic. There are other medications and treatments that may work for you and not cause you to become addicted.
2007-01-21 06:15:08 · answer #5 · answered by Ruby Rose 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there isn't an obvious reason for your pain, then there may be a slight concern you're just trying to get the drugs, I mean if every guy walking in there who complained of back pain had drugs thrown at them, it wouldn't be very safe.
2007-01-21 06:32:19 · answer #6 · answered by Simon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Usually most doctors will address any pain concerns. However, there are also pain specialists if your immediate doctors help is insufficient. There are several pain clinics available in the USA. Good luck. Jef
2007-01-21 06:04:41 · answer #7 · answered by Jef Gazley, LMFT 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Refused to treat your pain symptoms? The physical therapy should help with this! Please don't feel they are tossing your around...if this is what they truly believe is causing your pain, then they are sending you to the right people! Best wishes.
2007-01-22 09:59:03 · answer #8 · answered by mistify 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋