In some pain here and not sure what to do.
 

Hi everyone,

I just had surgery today (a colonoscopy and hemorrhoid removal, it was all good and all good news) and got a prescription for Codeine, if I needed it. I certainly do, waited the 6 hours before driving to fill the prescription and they wouldn't fill it. He told me that the "rules" changed just recently and more info on the little form I brought in was necessary. They couldn't call anyone, had no idea how to help me and I can't get ahold of anyone, either doctor or staff, it's after hours. Ibuprofen is not helping much.

Any thoughts? I could use some help.


Turtle

A local ER or Urgent Care Clinic should have an advice nurse you can talk with (over the phone) about your situation. Ask what the high dose limit is for ibuprofen (and if that's the NSAID recommended for you.) A generally healthy person can take more than the bottle says for a few days to a week unless you have other health issues that would suggest it's not a good idea. Not to be too graphic on a public forum but just know that a common side effect of the narcotic is constipation. Draw your own conclusions there!

I would get to an ER if you're in a lot of pain and can't wait till morning.
Ask to see a doctor.
That's my best advice. Good luck.

Thank you for the responses! Very kind of you.

To be honest, I couldn't wait for a response. I couldn't see calling 911, but drove to the ER. They were very sympathetic, a nurse got on the phone, looked at records, did some research and eventually, wrote the info they seemed to be missing on my prescription, and called the pharmacy. She told me they might and they might not fill it. They filled it. The ER didn't even charge me for all that ..... I was impressed.

So ...... a happy ENDING, so to speak. The surgery was a breeze compared to filling a $7.15 prescription. What an ordeal!

Thanks again, guys.



Turtle

A veteran of various surgeries, I have never understood, nor will I ever, why I was sent home from more than a few outpatient procedures with a paper prescription in hand - INSTEAD OF THE ACTUAL MEDS!!! Meaning I had to wait around, bored and uncomfortable, in cheap plastic waiting-room furniture for a long time to get my drugs. Seriously... am I their first patient??? Would they handle things the same way for their own family members?

And two other things (that you should certainly ask your doctor about - don't just take my word for it):

Opiate painkillers can cause serious constipation, so laxatives and stool softeners can be your best new friends. Especially following procedures involving the abdominal area or points south.

And some painkillers can cause miserable nausea. There are meds available to help you avoid 2-3 days of "yodeling in the bowl." Which is also a real pain (literally) depending on what you had done.

I've learned (the hard way) to address these concerns very specifically with my docs - before cutting day.

Hope you get some fast relief.

Tinnitus,

I hear you. A lot of things that happen in the health care industry are real head scratchers to me. It sure isn't knocking the pain down as far as I thought it would. I think I'm in for a rough week.

I'll be alright, by maybe not real happy. Great news on the results though, and I was nervous about that. Good for another 10 years. Wup Wup.



Turtle

I'm glad it all worked out, and yay for ER staff (my wife is an ER nurse). On Father's Day, I had to have an emergency gall bladder removal, which caused me to be hospitalized for a few days. The surgeon and hospital staff were all great, but when it came time for discharge, they failed to issue a prescription for pain management, saying that I should have a couple of pills leftover from the ER visit the previous week. After some back and forth, the person onsite refused to get the on-call doctor to issue the script. Thankfully, my wife knew him and messaged him directly to get it for us. But if we didn't have her connection, I would have been sent home with just two pain pills for an undetermined amount of time.

Bottom line: it's usually not the medical staff, but rather the insurance and management, that gets in the way of common sense care.

Yes, the ER nurse was amazing. And, the place was pretty busy. She really saved me. It was so painful that if the pharmacy had again refused to fill the prescription, I would most likely have gone back to the ER and checked in.

I think your bottom line is right on the button. The Doctor and his entire staff were great, the problem was probably an industry failure, like getting the memos and brand new laws out to all the people who need it, in a timely manner. That new law was only instituted in the last couple of weeks.

All in all .... a painful day but a good day.



Turtle

doctors and pharmacies really dont want to give narcotics to people anymore because of the abuse,death and billions in lawsuits.pharmacies were found responsible for the opiod epidemic for just filling prescriptions doctors wrote. so pharmacies wont give you what your doctor prescribed unless they feel like it?

Welcome to the new world of doctors and medicine. You have to be your own advocate. Unfortunately, you have to be able to fight for yourself when you do not feel well. If you don't you suffer.

In the US, I struggle with insurance companies, pharmacists and patients all trying to override my professional judgment as an experienced physician.

I have occasionally written letters assigning medical liability to agents that supersede my licensed practice when they have never actually seen the patient, and often aren’t physicians, certainly not neurologists.

It may get what my patient needs, but I shouldn’t have to resort to that.

Getting tougher by the minute to be a good physician. I see why doctors retire early. Unfortunately I can’t and have no alternatives that would provide as well as this for my family. I am not unhappy, just frustrated and a little burnt out by it.

It is not going in the right direction.

I hear you. everybody between a doctor and his patients seems to have a say in your health care.

The sage continues. After my last post last night and about 3 hours after taking the first (actually it's Hydrocodone) pill, my pain went from really really bad to extreme. Another pill didn't seem to do anything. I couldn't sleep or sit comfortably and frankly, I just couldn't stand it.

At 2:30 in the morning, I drove to the ER and checked in so that I could see a doctor. Just being there and talking and going through little things was distracting enough to help with all the pain. He checked out my story, checked me out and the end result was, the surgery looked fine, and it's just one of those things (the hemorrhoid removal) that can sometimes be really painful.

Another type of painkiller was tried, some sopository (sorry for the details), and it also did nothing to help the pain. They sent me home in a cab and I'm waiting for my surgeon's office to open so I can call them. Part of the issue here, and this is on me, is that after the surgery, my doctor came in and talked to me about it all. Or, so they tell me. I don't remember any of that, and so I really have no idea what he said. I should have stayed there and made sure that I knew what he'd said.

Actually, I feel better right now than any time in the night, got an hour or so of sleep, after taking 4 ibuprofen. Maybe that's a better route for me than the opioid. You guys are right, this new law is a result of opioid deaths. It's probably a very good thing. Not sure the industry handled the information about it well.

I'm still hanging in there, and playing my guitar has been just about the most helpful thing to distract me from the pain.



Turtle

Hi Turtle,

I'm so sorry you are in pain. I know that particular surgery is no fun and tough to recover from. I hope you feel better soon. Sometimes it's just a waiting game.

For what it's worth, my own experience with oxycodone has not been very good; for me, it doesn't seem to work well. All it does is make me drowsy and nauseated and seems to do nothing for the pain. I, too, have had better luck with ibuprofen, but ibuprofen can cause stomach troubles and can't always be taken, depending on the surgery and what else is going on in a person's body. I've had two replacement hip joint surgeries and was told not to take ibuprofen. The oxycodone made me feel so weird I stopped taking it after the first pill and ended up taking no pain medication at all.

It's tough getting old. I hope this pain passes soon for you very soon. :)

- Glenn

Amen, brother. Thanks for the input. That's my main focus when talking with the surgeon; a better strategy for pain, probably, hopefully, ibuprofen. Maybe the worst is over.

I'm recommending that they put "Guitar Playing" on the official list of painkillers. :)



Turtle