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One I have asked myself many times over the 11 years I have been in constant pain. I've had doctors treat me like scum, label me as a drug addict, etc. Do they seriously think I choose to live in pain? Have they never experienced pain themselves?
One thing I learned early on is presentation is everything! One wrong word or look during an office visit can doom me to months of mistreatment or years of suspicion. Because pain cannot be measured or seen, doctors take their cues elsewhere. So, patient beware!
I am so grateful for sites like this where we can discuss these issues. Maybe some day our collective voice can be heard from here. I also belong to and support the American Pain Foundation who pursues legislation for chronic pain patients. May we find strength in numbers!
Christine
When your body has adjusted to a normal dose of pain ranging from 4 to 7 on a pain scale, then people don't even notice your discomfort or change in expression until it hits an 8. The most evil thing about chronic pain is the subjective nature of it and the fear of complaining because unless it is being experienced by a person, no one believes the body can tollerate that much pain every day. Even those that think they understand and truely try to understand, can't! It can only be known to the person living with it. The medical community says that pain is what the patient says it is but the disability people haven't caught up with the Medical accrediation board.
I just got off the phone with my PCP who has been treating me for severe pain in both my feet from being misdiagnosed from surgery, I have been on mrophine for 1 year June 3rd, I was up to 600mg a day, I took myself down to 400mg the past three weeks, this drug is no longer working and I can not get it thru her head, my pain is a 10 reguardless wether I take 600mg or 400mg a day, she took over my care from a great pain clinic I was going to, she said to me a year and a half ago, Janice I would like to take over your care, I was on fentanyl 150mcg x48 hrs and it worked but after a year it stops working....so she put me on morphine I thought I was cured I had no pain as time went on after 6 months like the fentanyl my pain started back up, I am on Drug called namenda which stops opid addiction, this has been my saver, I am able to function just like anyone else, I do not know what to do now, I am in the process of moving from Mass to Flordia and she said you need to go back to the pain clinic, so I had to make an appt to see another new Dr, in the mean time she will not change my medication, is there a law that can help people like me, I really am at my witts end, the pain is so bad I can barly walk, I need help NOW, I sent her copies of the e mails I get from here, my god how would she feel if I nailed her feet to the ground, I wish I could invent something she could put her feet in and feel what I am going thru, I am in tears and I am in need of help and I do not know what to do, she should of never asked me to take over my care because she is not taking care of me, these Dr's do not have a clue of what it is like to live in chronic pain, I would think with her back ground she would know that opids stop working on a person after so much time, is there anyone that can help me with this??? my appt with the new Dr id not until the end of May, and when I go on my first appt they do not change your meds been there done that!! there should be a law about this I am a human being SUFFERING SOMETHING AWFUL WHAT DOES ONE DO PLEASE ADVOSE....
Kindly, Janice
The reason there is such an epidemic of under treatment of severe chronic pain is threefold. 1. There are not easy ways to determine the amount of pain a person is suffering. 2. The fear drs. have of the government looking over their shoulders. 3. Drs are afraid of prescribing & then not having anywhere else to offer. In other words: runng out of options.
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Will,
Thank you so much for that amazing analysis and forward thinking about a very old quote. As a graphic designer, I can't tell you how many times I used that sentence in Latin--now I know what it says! If I onlyknew then how relevent it was toward my own life and struggle with pain. Appropriately, it was the work itself that aggravated my pain condition. Your contributions on this site are always insightful, and this one especially was a welcome philosophical breath of fresh air. Keep 'em coming.