Fibromyalgia Support Group

Last week I went to the ER with tremendous pain. The ER nurse did not call my dr., she called the on on call. I got a shot of tordol, which for me is like giving me water. The nurse also decided to put her 2 cents in and procede to tell me FM is nothing its just a word when they cant figure out whats wrong. I told her I would be back because tordol doesnt work for me I usually get morphine. By this time I had been there an hour in the ER. After I left, I tried to lay down at home but just could not manage any relief I called the ER back and asked them to call my doctor to have him order the morphine. Some nurse called me back and said neither dr would order me the morphine. I am crying on the phone asking what should I do and all she could say we cant give you morphine as you want and hung up on me. I am trying to decide If i should keep him as a doctor because I have asked numerous times to even up my Lortab 5 or order me something stronger and he has refused. I have been in the ER numerous times for a shot. My thinking is why not give me something stronger so I can avoid the many ER trips? I like this dr. and so do my kids. What do I do?

I would get a new doctor that is experienced with fibromyalgia. I have personally never heard of anyone getting relief at an ER because they do tend to get a lot of drug seekers and therefore think everyone is. In the future I would call your doctor directly rather then going through an ER. If your doctor does not believe in Fibro he is not going to give your the relief you need. You are wasting time and money and suffering unnecessarily. You absolutely have to have a doctor who not only believes in fibro but keeps up on it. I hope this helps you. It took me over 10 years to find the right doctor.

I thought of one more thing the more you go to the ER requesting morphine the more you look like a drug seeker. They can red flag you with the DEA and make it difficult to get any pain medication. This is not a wives tale as it happened to me years a go. Ihad to fight tooth and nail to get beyond this and prove I truly was sick.

Thanks that definately answered my question. I feeling guilty about switching and the problem is that I live in a small town and all the doctors practice in the same clinic so I am running out of options. I have an appointment on the 17th with a dr. who treats my dad who is in chronic pain. Not really sure he understands FM, but I know he understands pain. I am going to ask that he send me to a specialist and if necessary I will have the specialist write the orders and have them sent here. But because of good ol insurance I have to wait til April 1st (jokes on me huh!) to see any one.

I would talk to the Dr. first and verify that they did call him and he did say no and why. Have they ever given you the morphine after the tordol before? Maybe they can't and if so you need to know so you can make sure they don't give it too you in the future.

I'm so sorry. No one should have to deal with that. You walk into the ER around here with unexplained pain and they automatically think you are just there for drugs. Why would we go and sit in the ER for hours if all we wanted was drugs? It would be so much easier to buy them off the street I would think. The DEA needs to go find someone else to pick on. We don't need this crap.

I'm in a similar situation. My doctor doesn't want to prescribe me anything stronger than tramadol. I need to find a new one but I really like him. Maybe I just need to be a little more assertive with him.?

Whenever I have to see a new doctor I question them regarding how they feel about fibromyalgia. If they do not believe in it I know that chances are great that I am not going to change their minds. If they believe in it and are willing to treat it, I ask them questions regarding their feelings on how it should be treated. Even many doctors who believe in it are under the impresion that pain pills do nothing for it. Since so far they are the only thing that has given me any kind of relief I do not go to them unless they are open to this idea. We are still very much fighting an uphill battle, but I am hopeful that that will change. Until they day comes it is up to us to fight for the treatment we need. We know our bodies better then any doctor ever will and not having a doctor who understands that can cause us to deal with more pain then we have to. I do believe a strong medical team is very important. We have an illness that requires constant care and monitering.

I havent seen my doctor since this happened. But I have called numerous times and asked to even give me a higher dose of lortab or give me Oxy IR and he refuses to do that. I feel really guilty about switching but I have no option. Just between all of you and me.. I am taking my dads meds.. its the only way I can make it through the day. He is in chronic pain from degenerative disk disease. I used to take morphine 90 mg before I moved back home but now I cant find a doctor like I had who cared

The other option would be ask him to refer you to a reumatologist to treat the fibro. My previous Dr. said he did not like to deal with the pain med and would prefer that. That worked very well. I saw her every three months and she proscribed my pain meds.

pkayjo I can't believe they treated you like that in the ER! I had an experience similar to that in the ER in Sept. They gave me a baby dose of tylenol or something and sent me home 4 hours later saying there was nothing they could do. amommy02, I'm also in a sort of a struggle with my current pain management doctor. She seems to be familiar with fibromyalgia but I've been going to her almost every week in pain now asking if there is anything stronger than tramadol she could give me since it isn't doing much. I'm now waiting for her to order samples of lyrica since sadly I can't afford the prescription right now. I'm praying it will actually work.

I say if you have the choice to find another doctor willing to sincerely listen to you and understands pain at least try seeing them once. I fully agree that finding a strong medical team is crucial to battling this. Hopefully more doctors will come around to learning, understanding, and respecting FM as a real illness instead of dismissing it and playing guessing games.