GP playing around with my Tramadol Pain relief AND stomach is extremely swollen as if I am pregnant

[DaniahAQ]

Hey ladies,

My name is Daniah. I'm new to this online community.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis three years ago and it's absolutely horrible.

I've already had 2 surgeries to remove adhesion and chocolate cysts. It seems I also have a little bit of fibroids.

Doctors in hospital put me on Tramadol prolonged release. It helps a little with the pain. I don't really want to go on any more opiate medications as it's bad enough that I'm on Tramadol.

Have had problems with my GP who kept playing around with my pain killers telling me that they're very strict with giving out Tramadol to patients. I informed him that the pain team consultants were the ones that prescribed it to me and are happy for me to continue taking it when I am in pain. They even wrote a letter to him to confirm that. I am not abusing the pain relief and only take it twice a day as prescribed by the pain team consultants at hospital. I recently changed GP and went to my first new appointment last week to meet my new GP and he too informed me that they're very strict with prescribing Tramadol. I really don't know what to do as it seems GP's are now going against the word of the consultants.

Also, since my first operation, my tummy has swollen up to dramatically. I've always had quite a flat stomach. I now look like I'm 4-5 months pregnant. It's rock hard as well. This has really left me feeling really insecure and the doctors don't know why my stomach is the way it is. I had a colonoscopy last week and they found nothing. I have an ultrasound booked in for next month. Is it normal for your stomach to swell up so dramatically?

[JellyKat]

Can they not try you on codeine, or an anti inflammatory like diclofenac?

Hope you get some relief and answers soon x

[Rach123455]

Hi Daniah

I had the same frustration with a GP and Tramadol prescribed by the Consultant in Pain Management. I’ve struck lucky with a change in my GP, although it’s not easy to find a good one. I would suggest that you contact someone in pain management to ask for a follow-up appointment or get hold of the Consultant’s secretary and see if you can get a friendly ear. The issue with you GP may be that he is obeying orders from the CCG. It is nuts though and incredibly distressing for you. I maintain with my GP that codeine is more constipating than Tramadol - less side effects for me - which is another way of avoiding getting your meds played around with.

When I complained to my pain team about my last GP not prescribing my Tramadol easily, they sent a letter stressing the importance to the GP. Also ask if you can be copied in just in case your GP still doesn’t help and you need to go to the CCG.

Good luck xx

[DaniahAQ in reply to Rach123455]

Thanks for your response. It's much appreciated.

I can't change from Tramadol to codeine as I've been in Tramadol for over a year and as you may know, it's not a pain killer that you can just stop like paracetamol. There are bad side effects to just going cold turkey on it.

Also, I've been on codeine before. It really does nothing for my pain.

The pain doctors cc me into letters. J receive them in the post, whereas my GP received them via email.

I think I will take your advice and contact my pain team asap and let them know what's going on, because it shouldn't be up to a gp to play God with someone's life. If a consultant has approved something after examining you, they should be following what the consultant has asked. If I had a history of messing about with my pain killers, then I can understand the worry. However, it's been the opposite: it was me who decided to cut down from the high dosage of Tramadol that I was initially put on, along with the many other opiates I was prescribed for my pain .

I hope everything sorts itself out for you too darling! Xx

[Rach123455 in reply to DaniahAQ]

Yes, you’ve made some important points there about stating that 1) you are not someone to mess around with your painkillers; 2) you’ve reduced your dose of painkillers in the past.

Fingers crossed for you and do pm me if you get stuck - I’ll help you draft a complaint letter to the CCG. Xx