Just another ex. of women and pain med

[toby75 IC Friend Find all posts View Profile Close toby75]

My husband's back hurt this morning. It hurt enough that he had trouble moving around. Went to the doctor was sent home with vicoden and muscle relaxers. I say to all us who cannot get pain control. Stop saying you have IC and go in with back problems!! Use your GP for back problems and continue to get the rest of your care from your uro!

Of course I do not endorese the above statement but hey when deseparate it's worth a shot

IC is not visable to the human eye as painful but we cannot get pain treatment and back pain is not visable either but they hand out pain meds for back problems like candy...BECAUSE they KNOW back pain is indeed painful now we need to get them to understand that IC is PAINFUL.

[ICLori ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close ICLori]

Toby, the problem is not so much IC as it is the fact that we are women (most of us here I mean.) Women are something like 75% less likely to be prescribed pain meds for the same painful condition, than men.

Shrug.

Gender bias is still alive and well in medicine today, I am afraid.

Blessings,
Lori

[Sarojini Support Leader Find all posts View Profile Close Sarojini]

I agree with Lori... women get the short end of the stick when it comes to pain control, and often, even general medical care. I wrote an essay on this issue for the website Revolution Health ... it's at http://www.revolutionhealth.com/stor...a22218a74cb71d

[Kara Isabel ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kara Isabel]

I really like that essay, Jen SO true and SO SAD. I've been wondering if the men at my pain clinic are getting better treatment than me right now I DO plan on taking my husband to the next appt! ***fingers crossed*** that they listen to me and HELP me!

I just broke down in tears about an hour ago because the pain spiked so high.

I'm so sick of this. And I'm disgusted by the way so many of us women are treated regarding pain control.

hugs,
Kara

[toby75 IC Friend Find all posts View Profile Close toby75]

As I posted it was my husband that went in, therefore him being a male so yes, the arguement women are less often treated then men I can agree with. But also you have to realize that IC is a condition that has no cure, so if you are having pain problems and the cause is IC, then doctors shy away from giving pain meds because it would mean long term pain treatment.

Back problems can be long term pain as well but there are surgical procedures, chiropractory treatments ect...they will help back problems so they are more willing to treat back pain with pain meds because they can defer the patient to a specialist that can help the back pain from whatever it may be stemming from ie slipped disk.

I am not talking to the people they use daily pain meds to get by. I am referring to the people that just wished they had pain meds for when the pain gets so bad they cannot handle it and are able to pop a painkiller for those times.

For those people just having a bottle of 30 lortabs is all they are asking for. Which brings me back to my original post of going in for back pain. Oh, and women can get pain meds for back pain much easier then IC pain.

[toby75 IC Friend Find all posts View Profile Close toby75]

Also the theory of bring your husband, boyfriend or male friend to an appt in hopes the doctor will be more willing to prescribe pain meds boils down to the fact that it's no longer a one on one consult. The doctor has two people aganist him he will be having to convince of his decision not to give pain meds. Just like a physical fight, one person is going to back down or walk away from a fight when there are two people he would have to fight.

Of coure there are other reasons as well, the patient has somebody they can speak for them when they get too emotional to speak, they have somebody that can say yes they are in pain, like a witness in a court trial.

In MY own personal experience I have never had problems receiving pain meds for any other reason other then IC.

We also need to know that IC has no cure and it is not fatal. Most doctors do not want to start pain control on a patience when they know it may be for lifetime. Of course cancer patients receive the meds b/c a)they either are terminal or b)treatments will get rid of their cancer therefore their pain will go away. IC is for life, we don't die from it but will suffer from it till we die. Doctors today do not want to worry about having the DEA over their shoulder.

So I think there should be more Pain Clinics and I think they should be able to prescribe meds as they feel without the extra worries of the DEA. If a patient is caught abusing the meds or selling the meds then that should not fall on the doctor it should fall only on that patient. But that is not how it works.

Amy

[toby75 IC Friend Find all posts View Profile Close toby75]

Jen

Hi Jen

I read the essay you wrote about pain management. I am very interested in seeing the trials and studies you are referrencing in your essay. Do you have links to those trials and studies you used for your essay? Or were they hard copies from medical libraries?

Thanks!
Amy

[mary124 ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close mary124]

I have to agree, my friend's daughter went in for her back and something else, and she comes out with pain medicine, but here, most of us, we can't get anything! I've never had problems with doctors giving me medications though, but once my Uro realized it was going to be an ongoing thing he did refer me to a pain clinic.

[~*~Christine~*~ ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close ~*~Christine~*~]

I also agree with Lori.
My dad got a full bottle of Perocet prescribed for a tiny kidney stone while my mom, who had Lupus, is only offered anti-inflammatory drugs

Funny thing is the female doctors and nurses are equally bad, and maybe even worse, than most male doctors when it comes to treating women who are in pain.
Maybe there is a belief in the medical community that women tend to lie more often about their health to recieve narcotics...?

[toby75 IC Friend Find all posts View Profile Close toby75]

Christine

Yeah it sucks that your mom cannot get the pain meds she needs for lupus. But it goes into the same theory kidney stones are short term and a dr feels comfortable giving them out for a short period instead of a long term disease.

Also, not downplaying lupus is painful by no means, but passing kidney stones is a very painful thing. I have seen my dad in tears over kidney stones.

Of course I myself as many of you others have been in tears too over IC pain.

Like I have said before most drs do not want to touch us with lifelong diseases that cause pain. Doctors should be allowed to dispense pain meds to us with longterm illnesses without worrying about the DEA. The doctor should NEVER be held accountable for what his patients do the pain meds unless the dr himself/herself are doing criminal acts with the pain meds. The patient that is abusing or selling the drugs should be held accountable not the doctors and the DEA should stay out of the picture and give these doctors the respect they deserve for knowing how to dispense pain meds.

In fact I have always believed they should do away with the so called scheduling of narcotics. It's just another way the govt is butting their nose in where it doesn't belong. Leave the science of medicine to the doctors.

[Kara Isabel ICN Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kara Isabel]

Last month, my husband had some dental problems, they put his temporary cap on wrong and he got an infection and they gave him oxycontin!!!

*sigh*

Kara

[Sarojini Support Leader Find all posts View Profile Close Sarojini]

The references are in the essay. Just click on the links within the essay and it will take you to articles. You may need to click on more links WITHIN the articles linked to the essay; unfortunately, word count is limited, so one has to do a little legwork.