has this happened to you?

Hello Wenmarie,

I'm not sure if it is the ER or the individual doctor.  I have an ER doc that will pretty much give me whatever I tell him helps me (I never take advantage of that because I appreciate it so much).  At the same hospital though, there is a doctor that refuses to give me narcotics.  He gives me Toradol and Phenergan and tells me that it should put me to sleep, then he sends me home.  It can get very frustrating, I feel for you.

*hugs*

~Liz

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Dx: Chronic Daily Migraines & Chronic Depression

PRN meds: Tylonal #3 and Tramadol

I need to rant a bit here too.

I hear you both... I suffer from frequent migraines but, oddly, will go through spurts of NOT having them or having ones for a short time (meaning only a few hours), but usually not so lucky and they are long lasting, vision blurring, hammer/knife to the head feeling, nausea inducing, head killers ... I worked in a hospital for 3 1/2 years and saw both the drug seekers and the genuine Migraine sufferers... and some that were hard for me to say which they were.

I catch grief from the people that don't understand migraines and other migraine sufferers as well. The people that don't understand migraines say things like "I get -headaches- too! Get over it!" and "You are not in pain, your just a druggie" (these are exact quotes I have gotten and many more like them... and it shows how little they know. I have not taken anything for a migraine in over 2 years because nothing I had tried worked. and THAT is where I catch grief from those with migraines because I'm told things like "if it was actually bad enough to affect your work/personal life you would be 'on' something" or "if you ACTUALLY had a migraine you wouldn't be here" (meaning work... and as my work record shows, obviously missing work for migraines isn't acceptable. It's better to show up and do a half-assed/piss poor job, or show up and actually TRY to work and succeed at getting nothing done, except make the migraine and other body problems worse)...

I have had some constant body pains since I was about 11 (about when the migraines also began and just became more and more frequent). most of them were either never diagnosed as anything other than 'body aches' or were told to me (at 11 or 12) that they were arthritis (which I noticed you also have wenmarie).

I have gone to doctors/the ER for so many different things relating to these issues and they can never help me out... it's always basically "we don't know whats wrong with you... here's some drugs, leave us alone

I am (barely) holding onto one job, and thats because it is more of a come in when you can (i.e. when your not laying down with things piled over your head and every door and window-shade closed) job...
I, obviously, need a better job. which remains out of reach... but that a whole different story...

I am basically trying to say I understand some of what you are going through and can't stand what happens when I go to the ER or a doctor...

I am just wondering one thing.  How do you decide to go to the hospital.  I mean, last week i got a really bad migraine while out on my boat (I think it was a combination of sun, bumping, and falling into the water).  I did not have access to any medication.  But it was so bad we where out on the gulf and I was falling asleep just to be woken up by a splash of water in my face.  As soon as I got on land, I took one ibuprofen that is all I had.  After the one hour trip home I took a frova, and again two hours later.  This did not help at all.  I later took a percocet, and this did not help.  I felt helpless because it was a saturday night, and all the 24 hour pharmacy could tell me was I took every thing to late.  I was debating hard and long about going to the hospital or not.  I finally fell asleep from the percocet.  Anyways it all started again the next day except I didn't have any frova left.  So I guess what I am saying is can the hospital really help even after you took so much stuff and is it worth the $500 and 5 hours waiting time to go.  I went when this first started and if I didn't make them call my primary they would have sent me home with nothing instead they gave me imitrex which didn't help.  They didn't even give me a room just a bed in the hall way.  And that time my doctor made me go right then and there I had no choice. 

somebodyhealme said...
It's actually better if the ER doc you see is knowledgable enough about migraine disease to not give you a narcotic as the front line approach.

I've had the experience of receiving a narcotic injection, which knocked me out and allowed me to sleep for a few hours. Then I woke up and the migraine returned to the same excruciating level, sending me back to the ER for help. :(

IVs of dexamethazone, magnesium, antinausea meds, etc. (usually a combo) can do a much more effective job of aborting the migraine.

It does suck to be treated like a drug seeker, but there are other reasons why they might prefer not to head straight to a narcotic for treatment.

This is true -- the combo treatments with phenerghan and magnesium and depokote work well treating my hemiplegic migraines in the ER.  I hate getting narcotics because any nausea I had before I got there is compounded by them  They usally want to start out giving you narcotics one if your heart rate is off the charts due to the headache.