Have the pain pill junkies ruined it for the rest of us?

Question

Yesterday morning I went to the ER for wisdom tooth pain, a nerve is exposed and my pain is through the roof. I was given 800mg ibuprofen. I was happy that I was going to get some pain relief. I took the Ibuprofen and nothing, for the rest of the day my tooth pain was cutting right through the IB.

I called the hospital and asked for a script of something stronger or even Tylenol 3. and was told that the Ibuprofen that was perscribed was enough to handle the pain. BUT IT WASN'T.

So what is the deal, did the hospitals adopt a blanket mentality that everyone is an addict. I'm sure my expirence is not unique and there are probably more people that walk out of ER rooms not having their pain managed correctly.

BTW. I don't have a history of hanging out in ER rooms. the last time I was there was over 2 years ago for a sprained ancle.

Answer 1

Yes use oil of clove

other info

Much pain is from muscles below is an example of what may help (based on headaches).
Begin with a couple swigs of molasses or a couple of bananas daily - magnesium (which regulates many things in the body) and potassium (a needed building block for muscles).
Drink at least 1/2 gallons of water per day. Running a body low on water is like running a car low on oil is the analogy the head of neurology at UCDavis told my husband about 10 years ago.

Now to the cause - muscles - your back, neck shoulders and head have tender spots. They are knots in the fibers of the muscles called trigger points. It makes the muscles tight which makes them press on nerves and other things causing the pain.

The cure - start with a professional massage, you will also want to go back over any place you can get to 6-12 times per session up to 6 times per day rubbing (or lightly scratching on your head) every where that is tender until the knots go away. The place where the skull connects to the spine press up under the edge of the skull (to get to those muscles).

For more information read The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Davies. It teaches what to do and where the pain comes from.

Answer 2

Tooth pain is one of the main things the drug seekers go to the ER for. But CYP450 is right, if you had gone back to the ER and gotten reassessed in person, you would have at the very least gotten a shot of Lidocaine in the area around the tooth that would have gotten you through until Monday. The ER is not like a regular doctor's office where they know you and you can just call and let them know what they gave you isn't working. The same doctor that you saw was likely not even there, and no doctor is going to prescribe anything for a patient they haven't seen.

Drug seekers have made it difficult for people to get neccessary pain relief. As a chronic pain patient, I curse them every time I get a sideways look from a pharmacist for filling a script of 100 Oxy IR and 60 Oxycontin. Fortunately, I'm known at my pharmacy since I'm there every month, but if there's ever a new pharmacist, it can be a problem. For example, a new pharmacist was there last month. I can get my script refilled when 70% of the previous one is gone. I had gotten my last script on the 11th and this was the 2nd of the next month. I had my pain clinic appointment a week early because I was going out of town. The pharmacist refused to fill my script until the 11th. When I said I thought I could refill it when it was 70% gone, he said, "For the insurance, you can, but it's up to me if you get it and I'm not giving it to you until the 11th." I can't fill a narcotic prescription out of state because my doctor isn't liscensed in the state I was going to! Even when I explained this, he still refused. I went back the next day and my regular pharmacist was there. I told her everything and she was really pissed! She filled my scrip no sweat. Anybody out there who scams docs and takes pills to get high should stop and think about those of us that genuinely need meds to function. What if it was your mother or sister or father or grandfather that couldn't get any pain relief because of drug seekers making doctors wary of prescribing narcotics. They are the oldest and safest form of pain relief, but jack offs who abuse them are screwing the rest of us.

Answer 3

Go back in! Demand pain relief, it's no skin off their backs to prescribe you meds when needed for situations like this. Even if they gave you 5, until you seen a dentist.
I am currently in severe knee pain and awaiting seeing a surgeon. My Dr. though vigilant on only precribing 15 meds at a time, will reaccess the pain level I am at and call in a new prescription. I don't like pills, I can tolerate a lot of pain, but once your body can't produce enough endorphines to reduce the pain itself, there is stronger medication that is needed. And more often than not, when in severe pain, it takes a lot to get rid of it, or at least subside the pain to a tolerable level. So go back in and get in to your dentist asap!

Answer 4

Narcotic prescriptions cannot be called in. It's against the law (US Federal).
IF you had gone back in to have your pain re-assessed in person, you would most likely have gotten a stronger prescription, but the one you were given was an apporpriate anaglesic for new onset pain.
You have to go in person to get evaluated. And only in person can you be given an Rx for a narcotic.
Ibuprofen is a powerful anti-inflammatory AND analgesic (pain reliever) so it will dimish the pain and reduce the inflammation that is causing the worst of your pain.
The hospitals did not adopt a mentality- there are specific pain management treatment guidelines, and all of them involve frequent assessments of the patient (in chronic pain). Also, pain prescriptions are monitored by the DEA, and doctors who write a lot of pains prescriptions get monitored. While most ER docs by nature of their work appropriately write for pain, every hospital WILL have a policy on how pain will be assessed and treated; NOT to deny a patient, but to protect themselves, and ensure that patients get good care. They are required to in order to get any government funding.
Go back in. Get re-assessed. And first thing tomorrow, make an emergency dental appointment and get them wisdom teeth taken care of.
Good luck- hope you feel better.

Answer 5

you see thats the problem with government they force us to break laws in order to get what we need on a person to person basis...like for example if i had tylenl 3 or even something stronger and i offered it to you illegaly would you have bought it...im assuming the answer is yes...so whos the bad person you for buying illegal prescriptions or the government for profiling you as a pill junkie just looking for a high and no helping you out even though you spent yout money going to see if they could help you and yet they turn you away...

Answer 6

You are right on target! I can go to the ER passing a kidney stone the size of a pearl, and they send me home with motrin... I know a man who can go to the doctor with the sniffles and walk out with 50 vicodin... They treat us like we're the druggies at the pharmacy in the middle of the night cuz we're doubled over in pain. the pharmacists are worse than the doctors, alot of them have the GOD complex, they are in control of what you take... even when your doctor prescribes it for you.