As some of ya’ll know & some don’t, I’ve been visiting the ER more than usual. In a period of about 6 weeks, I was in the ER *Five Times* due to pain flares of my fibromyalgia. Each visit they gave me demerol, but occasionally torodol.
I have since gotten an emergency appointment with my fibro/pain management doctor. He told that torodol is an anti-inflammatory & wouldn’t work on fibro cuz it is not an inflammatory condition; I knew that, but it will help cfs inflammation. He also told me that demerol is an anesthetic, not a pain reliever that can treat the pain. This I did not know. He also told me that demerol could also be detrimental to my health and that if I do find myself in the ER, I should get morphine. Finally, he said that regular use of Tylenol 3′s is also detrimental to my health. He stated that ER docs should know all that.
He did quite a few things for me. He administered local anesthesia to my lower back to help temporarily block the nerve receptors from registering pain for a few hours until I was able to obtain the rest of the medication. He gave me a prescription for the Fentanyl patch 25mcg/h. One patch lasts about 72 hours. This medication works with the pain centre in the brain. He also gave me percocet, but no more that 3/day. This is for breakthrough pain from the fentanyl patch. A change was also made from lyrica to gabapentin. They are apparently sibling medications, but the gabapentin is covered by my plan, lyrica isn’t.
OMG! A pain doctor who actually gets it and treats it!
