Posted by IsoM on February 13, 2002, at 19:45:06
In reply to Re: Hospital Emergency Rooms » IsoM, posted by Elizabeth on February 13, 2002, at 17:16:15
> I don't get migraines, but I'm generally sensitive to noise, light, and cold. ERs can be pretty unpleasant places. Plus they're full of people who are mostly in a bad mood for one reason or another.
There was one woman who whined. I heard the nurses muttering about her under their breath because the doctor on duty was picking the noisiest patients to treat first. There was also a 13 yr old girl who'd cry every time someone came near her but was giggling when nurses & the doctor was engaged elsewhere. It made my "someone needs a damn good slap" mode start up. One nurse came to me & apologised.
> I'm not sure if that's true here. It is true that (here at least) if you're a psychiatric patient and you whine too much (or otherwise piss off the doctor/nurse/psychologist/whatever), you risk being pathologized for your whining ("hysterical," "hypochondriac," etc.).
As I said, it was more due to that doctor on call, I think, than other reasons.
> > They were so afraid of even giving me anything.
I have no idea. While I've had tests at the hospital's lab before, I've never been a patient there. There's no reason & I felt too sick to argue.
> Gravol? Isn't that just diphenhydramine (or something similar)? Promethazine or prochlorperazine would be my drug of choice for nausea.
Seems like they don't dish meds out easily there. I know from previous experience that Gravol (yes, it's what you think it is) works fairly well for the nausea if given intramuscularly & they were willing to give me that. It helps with a touch of sedation too. Hardly noticable, but anything would help.
> What did you want -- one of the *tripans? (It's cool that there's actually a specific tx for migraine, even if no one knows why it works. < g > Most people with chronic or recurring pain syndromes have to beg for medication.)
Yeah, I was hoping for one of the new drugs specifically for migraines. But they told me they won't give it out unless their doctor says too. What crap! They're just to cheap to pay for it as it's expensive.
> In general, if I have pain that I can treat myself with OTC meds, then it's not bad enough that I would bother taking any medication for it. I only get headaches *very* rarely, I use a prescription NSAID for menstrual cramps, and the buprenorphine has virtually eliminated the chronic (musculoskeletal) back-neck-shoulder pain that I've been suffering for the last 6+ years. (Not the reason I wanted to try it in the first place, but certainly a nice benefit.)
Demerol isn't a good med to give for headaches as it doesn't work that well for whatever reason. This was one migraine that had me lying on the floor, I was so sick. Someone was concerned about me & took me to the hospital for help. They thought it was a good idea & I didn't know better at the time. Nothing I had done for it diminished it & the pain & nausea was getting worse.
Glad to hear your combo works good for you. I'm not even a wuss but long bouts of pain really saps so much from a person. I honestly don't know how some people manage, like those with cancer (esp bone cancer).
poster:IsoM
thread:4588
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020208/msgs/94051.html