Are doctors closet sadists?

[fireflights]

Okay, with the fact that my sister is still recovering from being ran over by a car and having her foot smashed so badly she had to have them reconstruct her foot, they had to put in a metal plate and seven pins to keep her foot together. The accident was on 3/27 in the morning, now here we are 7/15 and she is going through rehabilitation and her foot isn't even remotely near healed but they have decided she can handle the pain without pain meds, considering she can't even put pressure on her foot other then when in the pool while doing her therapy. So the question is this, are these docs some sort of closet sadists who like to see people in pain? I mean come on, I could see if her pain was manageable with Tylenol or something like that, but it isn't even close to that point and yet they took her off pain killers.....good grief people!

[Enmuro]

Did the docs say why they're taking her off the pain meds? Doctors developing a sort of hardened approach with less empathy and communication with patients is unfortunate and is a trend a lot of organizations try to reverse. It's tough, they are dealing with people constantly who are going through the toughest times of their lives.

Best bet to beat the sadism is open communication. Doctors usually make that effort if you push because most malpractice suits are correlated with bad bedside manner and lack of communication.

[fireflights]

They told her that it was because she was only alloted a certain ammount and she is now past that, regardless of if she is still in pain which she has told them specifically. She even asked them if they would give her a reccommendation to the pain clinic and they are refusing that as well. They told her the pain was a normal part of her healing and that it should happen. Which we are not debating, it's the ammount of pain she is in that we are debating. She went through withdrawls on the percocet they gave her so she even asked them for lower dosed meds and I think this may be why because they think she might have less pain but she even told them why she wanted the lower dose, it had nothing to do with her pain level.

[Enmuro]

It's just as likely they stopped the meds for any of the reasons given in this article than wanting less side effects  :

http://www.healthsearchonline.com/doctors-prescribing-pain-medication/

I had a relative undergo foot reconstruction in march as well and they took her off meds a while back  although there is still certainly a quality of life impacting pain. That's not to say I wouldn't keep up trying to convince the docs that you all need to work together to do something.

Good luck !

[Oniya]

Considering that it's a foot injury - have they run any tests to see what is causing the pain?  i.e., is it bones moving where they shouldn't, or things impinging on nerves, or ligaments that aren't holding together the right way?

[fireflights]

Well she has extensive nerve damage too, they put her on Lyrica for that but it only turns off the nerve sensors, doesn't fully stop the pain. They just gave her tramadol today though which is not a narcotic but still habit forming so we shall see how that helps her.

[Oniya]

*nods*  Sounds a lot like the symptoms that my roommate had/continues to have after her ankle injury.  In her case, there's the possibility of nerve entrapment.  They had her on Lyrica for a while, but she's been off due to Workman's Comp denying her neuropathy.

[fireflights]

Well with my sister, the guy who ran her over did it intentionally so his insurance is paying for everything, plus we have to go to court when it is time and face the creep and hope he gets the max 15 years for his attack on my sister. But she is also going for restitution once this is all said and done.

[Oniya]

The lawyers are going to love the 'pain and suffering' bit, then.  Soak the bastard for all he's worth and then some.   

[fireflights]

Don't worry, we will. He deserves it.

[Chris Brady]

Nah, Dentists are the closet sadists.  I mean, why else do we have to pay for being drugged and tortured?

[fireflights]

lmao soooo true

[Oniya]

Nah, Dentists are the closet sadists.  I mean, why else do we have to pay for being drugged and tortured?

Dentists aren't closeted, though.  Just ask Steve Martin. 

[fireflights]

Oh yes! I love Little shop of horrors!

[Chris Brady]

Oh yes! I love Little shop of horrors!

Fair point.  Conceded.

[Bayushi]

Unfortunately, doctors in general all over the US are loathe to prescribe controlled substance pain killers.

I myself have had severe foot problems over the past two years, mostly dealing with fallen arches and changes in air pressure, etc. It gets to a point where my foot has doubled in size (swollen) and so painful that I can't lay down in bed without being in severe pain. Much less walk. Yet the doctors just do not want to prescribe anything stronger than 600mg Ibuprofen.

IBUPROFEN.

I understand their concerns, but their concerns don't dull the pain. Nor does the Ibuprofen.

[fireflights]

Agreed Akiko and I am sorry you have to deal with that. But there are non narcotic pain killers out there aside from tylenol and ibuprofen but even then they seem reluctant to use them even if the person has severe pain like my sister. She had to basically call up crying for them to give her the tramadol which is a non narcotic pain reliever but it seems to be doing wonders for her right now.

[Oniya]

It is possible to build up a tolerance for just about any pain killer.  (I've seen my roommate down four Midol without thinking.)  One thing that she did after inadvertently getting a tolerance for her sleep meds was to take 'drug holidays', where she would take the drugs one day and stay off of them the next day or two.  The people at the free clinic told her that this would help postpone the tolerance.  Just a suggestion for your sister to talk over with her doctors.

[fireflights]

Oh well here's the thing, the pain killers they had her on that were narcotic weren't really helping , the tramadol seems to be working tons better for her.

[Oniya]

She might have built up a tolerance for the narcotic pain relievers, and the new drug (being new) doesn't have that issue.  That may have been part of the reason (or preventing that) that they took her off the other ones to begin with.  (In the case of my roommate's sleep meds, the doctor was actually supposed to take her off of it after 3 weeks, but kept on prescribing it until she literally could not sleep without it until she detoxed.)

[fireflights]

Well to be honest, they never really worked for her, only dulled her pain a little but didn't allow her the relief if she tried to move. this has been from the beginning and my does not take drugs so she wouldn't have built up a tolerance before the accident. But she could atleast manage with them if she didn't move. However, she can now rotate her foot with minimal pain using the tramadol so it does seem she is getting better relief and more mobility with this med with is a plus. But no, the meds prior didn't work for her very well from the beginning and it was oxycodone and hydrocodone.

[WhiteTigerForever]

The answer is YES, they are sadists... or worse...they don't even care!!!  (and dentists too!!!) Their nurses are worse... lots of personal experience... (I have had the pleasure of meeting a few kind nurses though, but very rare)