Karen Brison

By K Brison Friday, January 29, 2010

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I just read the post on the dr. saying pain meds are a cover up! And I understand her frustration. Ive been diagnosed for 2 years.My Dr. gives me a very small amount of pain meds and not strong enough for the lightest pain days,so on the bad days,I suffer! Iam trying to find a reumatologist that takes my Medicade. (not easy)That will understand how painfull it can be!My family thinks Iam just trying to get high,LOL if they could be in my shoes for one day,they would see its even hard putting on my shoes.I am told to get up &move around,deal with it ,it cant be that bad. Iam tired of trying to mask my pain for the comfort of others.Or so I dont have to deal with what they say.Mostly I lock myself in the bathroom & cry when Iam in alot of pain.My Dr. says to take an extra pill on my bad days but shes dont give me enough to last the month so if I take extra I run out early & suffer! It would be nice to talk to other people who understand that its not (all in my head). So thanks for having this web sight.

Comments (6) | Add comment

Hope

1/29/10 4:20pm

What else are you taking for your RA? You should be on more than pain meds and they should help with pain.

Laurie

1/29/10 8:03pm

I am in the same boat, minus the full diagnosis. I am only rheumatoid factor positive. MRI results next Wed, so pain meds is all I've got for now. People keep blaming me for being lazy, too tired, can't be that painful, how come now the pain has moved, maybe you should quit eating dairy, start exersizing every day (I do when I feel up to it, don't when I don't). There is so much guilt and blame here and I don't even have a diagnosis yet! I have not been myself since last May while we keep treating symptoms. I cannot wait to atleast get my latest tendinitis treated with cortisone, so far that is one thing that helps. For a while. Everyone keeps asking where my "spark" has gone, must be my fault somehow...Rheumatologist says my "story does not fit what he's used to". That is my fault too?

Anonymous

1/29/10 10:12pm

Hey Karen..can you go to a pain clinic where you live? Most dr's will not prescribe pain pills or if they do they will not give you much. They are afraid of getting sued for a number of things and also the government scares them. Pain clinics are the place to go..they are watched by the government and are liscenced to prescribe. Many of them are required to get a urine test from you every 3 to 6 months. Dont be offended they have to to continue to prescribe them for you. Theres always a few bad apples in the bunch and this way they are able to catch the ones who dont take their meds as prescribed or who are selling them for money. It took me a while to get over the fact that I was being treated that way but now i totally underrstand. Pain meds have given me days where I can do normal things...of course I still need to lay down most days and rest but hey its better than being bedridden or having horrific pain. I do have bad days but the good days outnumber them. Good Luck!

Love and Peace Lorial

Karen

2/ 6/10 3:50pm

Thanks for replying to my note its really hard to go threw all tis by myself.There is little understanding from everyone in the house & I am made to feel like I am faking my pain. And it is very real,My husbands family are some of those bad apples! They always have been, so its hard for him to see that Iam not getting high,I dont even feel my pain meds ,I can function.thats all!Iam on all the other meds too! He has seen myMris my paperwork,talked to my Dr. But he just dont get it.Most days I cant even brush my own hair or take my own shirt off over my head. He thinks Iam being a baby, so if its one of those bad days I just sleep in my clothes rather then ask for help.Its been very hard,hes been layed off for 7 months & Iam the only one workingfor 8 $ an hour. And sometimes my little job causes me so much pain I can barely get out of the car when I get home.My Dr. finially found me a rehumatologist! Thank God a real DR!!!! Hopefully I can get relif,& alittle information Ive been needing soooo much.Is this normal? To feel like this all the time? Tired,&in lots of pain all over?I can barely walk when I get up in the morning, & my pain wakes me up allnight. Is this what this is sapposed to be like Imean do all of u do this &am I gonna get worse as I go?

Sally

2/ 1/10 11:03am

It is crucial to get your RA under control with DMARDS (medications that treat the inflammation causing damage to your joints). Unless you start treating the RA rather than just the pain, joint damage will continue- resulting in increased pain and limited mobility of the joints.

Lene Andersen, Health Guide

2/ 4/10 1:20pm

The other commenters gave some very good advice, so I'm just going to add a few things in terms of helping to educate the people around you. Try printing out my post called Better Living through Chemistry, as well as our Chronic Pain expert Karen Lee Richards letter to family and friends about what it's like living with chronic pain.

Come to think of it, if you feel like advocating for yourself with your rheumatologist, you may also want to print out the following posts: dependence versus addiction, opiates for relief carry little addiction risk and a post about how pain management suffers because of the fear of addiction.

Karen Brison

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