F
flutterbee
Guest
So, I've been rolling the visit around in my mind since yesterday. I had no sleep before I went.
I really like the doctor. She read my 8 1/2 page patient report before she even came in the room. She asked a lot of pointed questions and did a thorough physical exam.
She said I definitely have a serious case of fibromyalgia, but she doesn't think that's all I have going on. Namely, because I respond to steroids and fibro doesn't respond to steroids.
She was appalled that the eye doctor put me on restasis without doing a tear test. And she was appalled that an optometrist could write an rx. My regular eye doctor is an ophthalmologist, but he doesn't take my current insurance. So, I have an appointment with my regular eye doctor Thursday for a tear test - it measures tear production or something. She said she can tell by the numbers from that test whether I have Sjogren's Syndrome. She said a salivary gland biopsy is worthless, so I'm glad I haven't had that done already. That suprised me, too, because from what I've researched about Sjogren's (and from reputable sites - Mayo, Johns Hopkisn, Sjogren's website) is that a salivary gland biopsy is like the last step in the diagnosis process.
Re: the pain in my lower back and hip that I've had since childhood, she said it's chronic pain. I didn't think until later to ask what would cause the chronic pain. So, I need to talk to her about that.
She said she thinks the heart disease is genetic. I've had doctors tell me that and doctors tell me that I don't have enough of a family history for it to be genetic. She's basing it on family history - more of extended family, my grandfather and uncle - of heart disease. Now I, being the logical thinker that I am, don't know that I buy that. My grandfather had a quadruple bypass in his 60's (no heart attack) and he was a 4 pack a day smoker for 50 years. My uncle had a minor heart attack at 41 with one stent and he was a smoker, overweight, unhealthy diet, an alcoholic and a drug abuser. I think if they had that gene then they would have been sick sooner with more severe disease. Like me. So, I don't think I buy the genetic cause in my case. My grandfather and uncle had/have lifestyle reasons for their heart disease.
I'm on neurontin for fibro and neuropathic pain. Just started it last night and I slept 16 hours in one shot.
Next week it's 2 a day and the third week and thereafter it's 3 a day. I hope I get over the sedation from it. She told me she doesn't want me using NSAID's for first line defense because of my heart. Which is what I kept asking my doctors about in the first place.
In the meantime, I have nothing for acute pain. My doctor called in tramadol which did nothing and made me feel stoned. I threw them out. My insurance company won't pay for the lidocaine patches. They said it's used for neuropathic pain. Well, duh. That's what the neurontin was prescribed for. They will, however, pay for ER visits if I have to go because of extreme pain. Save a penny, spend a buck.
From being in the car most of the day yesterday and all the walking around, my pain level was easily at an 8 or better today. I finally called my doctor's office at 4:30 and told them I needed something. Anything. I didn't care what.
They called in toradol. An NSAID. Bad for my heart, high risk of serious GI bleed and makes me sleep. It amazes me that they'll rx something with those risks, but won't give me vicodin - with no side effects on me - when they said they knew I wasn't abusing it. Besides the risks with the toradol, it makes me sleep. Isn't the whole point of pain mgmt so that you can be functional?
So, that's frustrating. The toradol does help immensely after a few days. But, I'm really not functional at all while on it.
The doctor at the Cleveland Clinic said she was going to review all of my records and that if I don't hear from her by Friday next week, to call her secretary. I've never had that happen before. She said if she needs more tests I can have them done locally, rather than trekking up there all the time.
I do like the doctor. Just still have a lot of questions. I'm making a list of things I want to talk to her about further.
I really like the doctor. She read my 8 1/2 page patient report before she even came in the room. She asked a lot of pointed questions and did a thorough physical exam.
She said I definitely have a serious case of fibromyalgia, but she doesn't think that's all I have going on. Namely, because I respond to steroids and fibro doesn't respond to steroids.
She was appalled that the eye doctor put me on restasis without doing a tear test. And she was appalled that an optometrist could write an rx. My regular eye doctor is an ophthalmologist, but he doesn't take my current insurance. So, I have an appointment with my regular eye doctor Thursday for a tear test - it measures tear production or something. She said she can tell by the numbers from that test whether I have Sjogren's Syndrome. She said a salivary gland biopsy is worthless, so I'm glad I haven't had that done already. That suprised me, too, because from what I've researched about Sjogren's (and from reputable sites - Mayo, Johns Hopkisn, Sjogren's website) is that a salivary gland biopsy is like the last step in the diagnosis process.
Re: the pain in my lower back and hip that I've had since childhood, she said it's chronic pain. I didn't think until later to ask what would cause the chronic pain. So, I need to talk to her about that.
She said she thinks the heart disease is genetic. I've had doctors tell me that and doctors tell me that I don't have enough of a family history for it to be genetic. She's basing it on family history - more of extended family, my grandfather and uncle - of heart disease. Now I, being the logical thinker that I am, don't know that I buy that. My grandfather had a quadruple bypass in his 60's (no heart attack) and he was a 4 pack a day smoker for 50 years. My uncle had a minor heart attack at 41 with one stent and he was a smoker, overweight, unhealthy diet, an alcoholic and a drug abuser. I think if they had that gene then they would have been sick sooner with more severe disease. Like me. So, I don't think I buy the genetic cause in my case. My grandfather and uncle had/have lifestyle reasons for their heart disease.
I'm on neurontin for fibro and neuropathic pain. Just started it last night and I slept 16 hours in one shot.
Next week it's 2 a day and the third week and thereafter it's 3 a day. I hope I get over the sedation from it. She told me she doesn't want me using NSAID's for first line defense because of my heart. Which is what I kept asking my doctors about in the first place.In the meantime, I have nothing for acute pain. My doctor called in tramadol which did nothing and made me feel stoned. I threw them out. My insurance company won't pay for the lidocaine patches. They said it's used for neuropathic pain. Well, duh. That's what the neurontin was prescribed for. They will, however, pay for ER visits if I have to go because of extreme pain. Save a penny, spend a buck.
From being in the car most of the day yesterday and all the walking around, my pain level was easily at an 8 or better today. I finally called my doctor's office at 4:30 and told them I needed something. Anything. I didn't care what.
They called in toradol. An NSAID. Bad for my heart, high risk of serious GI bleed and makes me sleep. It amazes me that they'll rx something with those risks, but won't give me vicodin - with no side effects on me - when they said they knew I wasn't abusing it. Besides the risks with the toradol, it makes me sleep. Isn't the whole point of pain mgmt so that you can be functional?
So, that's frustrating. The toradol does help immensely after a few days. But, I'm really not functional at all while on it.
The doctor at the Cleveland Clinic said she was going to review all of my records and that if I don't hear from her by Friday next week, to call her secretary. I've never had that happen before. She said if she needs more tests I can have them done locally, rather than trekking up there all the time.
I do like the doctor. Just still have a lot of questions. I'm making a list of things I want to talk to her about further.
