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        New Message Board Archives >> Jul-Sep 2003 >> Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
        
(Message started by: Patrick_A on Jul 10^th, 2003, 10:44am)

Title: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Patrick_A on Jul 10^th, 2003, 10:44am

Went to my physician today to get my referral for my Neuro. Yea, I am on a HMO!
I always seem to have a new Doctor everytime i go. In walks this young guy of approximately 30. Yea, i am old!
He says " What seems to be the problem today, Mr. Alexander"
So i proceed to tell him i need a referral for a Neuro, My Neuro had retired during my last remission.
Then i proceed to tell him i needed a prescription for 1. Imitrex nasa spray 2. Imitrex tablets 3. Heavy duty narcotics.
He proceeded to tell me that he would write the prescription for the Nasal spray but not the tabs. I then tried to explain to him that my Insurance policy states that i can only get 6 sprays in a 30 day supply ( another argument altogether....Fricking accountant decides how many sprays i need) and so therefore i would need some tabs to get me through those days when i was out of the sprays. He says " Oh no, I will word this prescription so they will give you 30 sprays for this month. I reluctantly said ok, even though i knew from dealing with these Morons before that they are not interested in my relief, only the fact that these sprays cost $20.00 a pop!
Then my Doctor tells me he will only write me a precription for 5 pain pills, and then on top of that he writes them for 5mg Loritab. I just about threw the SOB back at him, but decided to ask my Neuro for some heavy duty narcotics. No sense in pissing the Doc off!
Sure enough, I go to the Pharmacy and they give me 6 frigging sprays to last me 30 fricking days. I am PO'ed.
Go to my Neuro next week though, and i try to get him to understand my problem better.
Needed to vent, Thanks, Patrick

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Roxy on Jul 10^th, 2003, 10:48am

Patrick, IMHO you might want to call your doctor back and ask for 02 rather than narcotics. Narcotics do not work with ch's, and 02 DOES work rather well. Click on the top topic on the general posts and read up on it. If need be, print it out for your doctor.

Good luck,
Tracey

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Patrick_A on Jul 10^th, 2003, 10:51am

Thanks Tracy, I will ask my Neuro!
Patrick

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Ted on Jul 10^th, 2003, 10:52am

So that's what DJ really stands for. The webmaster here is Dr. J. Man, you used to play some good hoop. :-)
Patrick, did you ask your doctor for a prescription for a preventative too?
What about other triptans like Maxalt, etc.? If you get the other triptans you can use them when you run out of Imitrex. Have you tried O2?
I hope your Neuro can help you out. And remember to ask him for free samples also to supplement what you get at the pharmacy.

Title: : Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Linda_Howell on Jul 10^th, 2003, 11:00am

Patrick,

Sorry. I gotta jump on this one. Forget the heavy duty narcotics. Roxy has already said it, but it bears repeating. They do nothing for cluster headaches except give you rebounds from hell and then you still have CH PLUS another problem. I'm wondering if this is not the reason some people say their Dr.s and ER personell treat them like a druggie.....

Stick with asking for a preventative, as well as fighting for more Imitrex. Good luck Patrick.

LindaH

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by stuey on Jul 10^th, 2003, 11:53am

Patrick you might try Relpax too. Relpax pills if I took them right when I thought the attack was coming worked it seemed to me a lot faster than imitrex pills or amerge or the other pills i tried. i believe they are absorbed quicker. The thing with relpax is you get 12 pills an order. i don't know what your co-pay is but i gotta pay 35.00 for a prescrip of them. they cost without insurance about 200.00 for the 12 pills. the narcotics definitely don't work unless you want to take the edge off. i have tried vicodin and oxycontin and they did nothing at all for the attacks. i am just pulling for you. Your neuro should have lots of samples cause the drug companies bring them by constantly. When I told my neuro I don't get enough meds with my insurance to last me he gave me samples of pills and even a cartridge of Imitrex injection he had left. So I hope yours does the same. I gotta tell you I absolutely showed my ass in the neuro's office, crying and stuff and I think that helped me get some more pills too. I will be interested in hearing what happens at your visit. Stuey

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Karla on Jul 10^th, 2003, 12:30pm

Call your dr. up right away and ask to talk to his nurse, the one that told you his perscription would give you enough for the month and let his nurse know that the pharmacy only gave you 6 for the month and that they will not give you more refills. Ask him again for imitrix pills, shots or another triptan such as frova, amerge, axert, maxalt, or zomig. But let him know asap that his script didn't give you coverage like he thought it would. See what he says then. He should help you if he is a decent dr. And by the way DJ isn't a dr. lol on that one.

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by stevegeebe on Jul 10^th, 2003, 12:48pm

Patrick,
I went through the same shit.

What I did was to call my Insurance provider who then sent me to their prescription subcontractor (yes, they sub this portion out) and explain my problem.

They insisted that my Dr. call directly and outline the special circumstances. Well, la-de-fucking-da, they agreed to make what they refer to as a "dispercement modification".

I now get twice as much as what the gate keeper allowed but still not what my Dr. prescribed.

I know that we are not suppose to wish our condition on others....but I wish I could, for a moment, "touch" the pain to the heads the bean counting numd skulls and say, "How bout that?...ass hole... Need some relief now?...ass hole."

Sorry.

Steve G

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by vig on Jul 10^th, 2003, 3:41pm

I'd like to know something. I'm pretty sure there are doctors lurking in here. Are they ever embarassed by what they read about their profession?

Will any of them ever speak up?

-p

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Mark C on Jul 10^th, 2003, 5:28pm

I was waiting on Linda to get this one! ;D Most of us do not get any relief from narcotics...I don't. Triptans and O₂ do it for a bunch of us. Here (http://www.clusterheadaches.org/medications.htm) is a good link on CH medications and here (http://www.clusterheadaches.org/resources/non_script_treat.htm) is Margi's list on natural remedys. Good Luck with the neuro.

PFDAN's
Mark

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Patrick_A on Jul 10^th, 2003, 11:44pm

28 years guys. I have been through this hell for 28 years. I am fairly knowledgeable. Been on prednisone, and varapamil. Willing to try just about any new combinations. I have just started my cycle so i figure i got about 10 to 16 more weeks of this.
As soon as i talk to my neuro i will get all my meds straightened out. Thanks for your concern.
I personally have had a little success with narcotics. Mainly for that deep sleep it gives me. I never abuse them because i realize they dont actually abort too well.
I will also ask for oxygen. My main concern is to get some preventatives.
I have beaten my HMO to death about letting an accountant make decisions about my meds. They have compromised a little. Mind you, I have great insurance as far as cost go. But they hate spending $20.00 a pop for a drug that only aborts and doesnt actually prevent.
Anyways, Thanks all, Patrick

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by gene on Jul 11^th, 2003, 12:16am

Patrick A,

This shit makes me crazy!! I have endured it many times myself, had to suffer dozens of attacks that could have been easily medicated away but for these ignorant bureaucrats!

For me this is the biggest problem I face (next to the actual headaches of course) I'm episodic, so I don't keep in much contact with any Doc's in between cycles. When my cycle starts (usually every May) I start right back in the ER. I typically ask the new Doc " Are you familiar with CH?" Oh yes, they reply, migraines can be really tough! It's the ignorance!!

I must have suffered 12- 15 yrs of this torture with numerous visits to the ER,this latest (1 month ago) for the first time (probably because I was not going for my Doc's opinions and arguing!) She called for a consult (telephone) with the hospital Neuro. He prescribed the pred taper which worked for me immediately!! After the first 60 mg of pred I have been completely PF!!! WHY DIDN'T ANY OTHER ER PRESCRIBE THIS FOR ME IN THE LAST 15 YEARS!!!???

Again if we accomplish anything as a group I would like to see any real CHer never suffer a single attack that could be safely treated.

Good luck with your Neuro, by the way, I'm out of cycle and in a good position re imitrex, pm me if you wish.

Gene

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by sueellen83 on Jul 11^th, 2003, 12:52am

Sorry to hear you are having such a rough time Patrick.
I hope you find some relief soon.

I guess I found the exception to the rule. I have had the same GP for 15years and he has always been there to help me with my CHs.

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by gene on Jul 11^th, 2003, 1:41am

just curious?? in my previous post I didn't put in the frowning face?? how did it get there?
G

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by Charlie on Jul 11^th, 2003, 4:14am

A couple of things.

You need to take some board printouts and other stuff. Simon's letter would be very helpful I would think.

This may sound impossible but it's worth a try:

When you tell the purberty neurologist what your problem is, try to involve the little twerp and allow him to think he's really involved. Do this by "asking" if he thinks what you're saying might be worth a try. It might work. These guys, especially, neurolgists, like to think their patients are idiots and making them think this stuff was mostly his idea might be effective. These twerps like that stuff.

Charlie

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by TomM on Jul 11^th, 2003, 8:25am

on 07/11/03 at 01:41:48, gene wrote:

just curious?? in my previous post I didn't put in the frowning face?? how did it get there?
G

FM, dude. It's friggin' magic.

When you type 3 question marks together you get the frowny. Like this ???

TomM 8) => the smiley w/ glasses is an 8 next to end parenth. Or just click on the smileys above.

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by gene on Jul 11^th, 2003, 9:39pm

Thats very cool??? (thought I'd give it a test drive)
Gene

Title: Re: Moron Doctors! Not you DJ!
Post by forgetfulnot on Jul 11^th, 2003, 10:06pm

Quote:

These guys, especially, neurolgists, like to think their patients are idiots and making them think this stuff was mostly his idea might be effective. These twerps like that stuff.

Good one Charlie ;)

Lee