Pills? No thank you.

[Don Coyote]

Hey fuckhead LT.

Yes you.

I assume your barely college educated ass can see my medical records with the multitude of times I have been in for pain in my leg over the course of 4 years. So why the fuck are you giving pills? Motrin? Nope. Naproxen? Nope. Mobic? Still no. I'm sorry LT Fuckhead, but I don't want more pills that don't cut the edge. Either fucking figure out what is really wrong. And btw cuz there isn't any swelling probably means something else is fucked up, and that hard lump in my ankle is not supposed to be there no matter what you say.

Either give me the good shit or fucking get to the bottom of this.

Or die in a fire.

[navkat]

Chronic pain. Yeah, I've been here. Empathize.

MY rant on the subject:

The VA is doing this new thing where they assume everyone's pill-seeking now and they make everyone jump through hoops of ignited human feces (yours) just to get 30 Lortab. This is in contrast to the SOP just 3 years ago when they were dispensing Percoset like gumballs. They created this horde of opioid-dependent zombie-vets and then cut them all off cold turkey the way the government does best: with miles of red tape blocking the way. Hilarity ensues.

No one gave me the new playbook and I'd stopped going to the VA for years because I have private insurance. I have a legitimate chronic pain disorder. It is well-documented and I've been prescribed pain pills for years now without incident.I was in my hometown in NY this winter and away from my usual doctor so I decided to get all my stuff squared away at the VA which included getting my pain management needs on record over there as well.

I got treated like a laid-off employee who just asked for the root password. That is to say: I was barraged with a million questions (both medical AND personal) and condescended to over all of my answers by a doctor who from the very start always intended to tell me "Well I don't care what some doctor in Alabama told you you need, I'm not giving you narcotics" no matter what my answers were.

Assuming there must have been some mistake...she couldn't possibly think I was trying to BS her, I offered to bring in my pill bottles, records, labs and ultrasounds, etc. Her answer was to tell me not to bother that it was obvious what I was after and I would need to take all the tests again if she was even going to consider lending credence to my claims. Some of these tests are pretty invasive and by this point, I was flat-out insulted. She then asked me: "I don't understand why this doctor in Alabama didn't just give you Tramadol and Ibuprofen." Exasperated by this time, I told her.

"I can't take the Ibuprofen all the time because it tears up my stomach. I can't take the Tramadol at night because it keeps me up. She prescribed the Lortab to use at night and the Tramadol for the daytime because the Tram doesn't impede my functioning during the day and the Lortab doesn't mess with my sleep. Do you get it now?" I was visibly annoyed when I said this.

Then she said the most insulting thing a doctor has ever said to date. She looked down at the rest of my records and said with this contemptuous little smirk "Well I see that you're a patient over at Building 64 (Psych. Where I get my anti anxiety meds). If you need something to help you sleep, maybe you should go ask them."

I got up and walked out of her office.

Fucking Kill Me.

[Adios]

I can only dream about taking pain pills for relief. Even an Ultram lowers my blood pressure to dangerous levels.