Pain relief being witheld

[Paulainpoole]

Hi all, I'm new on this site so please bear with me.

I have had fibromyalgia for many years and it has steadily got worse I also have 2 damaged discs in my lower back which is very painful at times, my old GP was fantastic and we worked together to find the most beneficial pain relief which was and still is recommended by NHS being Tramadol and Prevailing and Amytripteline for my muscle spasms and restless leg syndrome.

I joined this new GP Surgery 3 years ago when I moved to the area I had a very hard time trying to get support and having to wait 2_3 weeks for appointments i just got on with it and looked after myself as I'm sure a lot of us do..

However I have noticed a quite big decline over the last year or so and am suffering more relapses which leave me unable to do anything.

I was approached by the surgery Pharmacist regarding my medication but I pleaded with him to leave it as it was the best option I had had, he agreed and I sighed relief.

But in August last year I ran out of tramadol and was a little worried that I may have been taking too many, I rang the surgery and explained what had happened and that I had non left for the rest of the month, I heard nothing so ordered them through my chemist a week later I had nothing so rang the chemist and they advised that the GP said I couldn't have any till September I was in absolute agony and couldn't even get a phone call to the GP I must admit and I know it is wrong but I was in so much pain I was given some by a friend which I had no option but to take as the 8 paracetamol and Ibuprofen hardly touched the sides, I did tell the surgery this and asked for a call from my GP so I could explain but didn't get one. I then found that without any explanation she had cut my tramadol from 8 a day to 50 per month (not even 2 per day) at this point I was in so much pain and feeling I couldn't carry on with this pain I felt suicidal.

The following month my Prevailing was cut from 2 per day to 1, after emailing the GP and telling them that I felt suicidal the GP rang me and when I told her how bad the pain is she told me I should try to learn to deal with it and try relaxation methods, I have again ran out of Tramadol as I have had a bad relapse but she refuses to give me anymore I told her that the NHS still recommend Tramadol and Prevailing she told me she had been on a course about it, well it seems I cannot compare to her course.

Sorry my first post is such a long tale but I am trying to find out any 8nformation that says she cannot do this to me

Thanks

[Greenpeace]

Hi Paulainpoole , welcome to our forum. I’m sorry to hear that you are being treated like this by your GP, but unfortunately it is not for the 1st time that I’ve heard tales like this.

You mention Tramadol, and Prevailing ? do you mean Pregablin? (Predictive Text)

Both these drugs are Controlled Drugs, and can only be given exactly as the Dr prescribes them, and for the length of time they are prescribed.

There is a worldwide drive to get people off of Opioids and other drugs that some people abuse. Unfortunately some GPs are over zealous in how they go about this.

Your Dr does have a duty of care to treat their patients in whatever medical problem they present.

You have contacted your Dr several times, and it seems she is adamant in not giving you the amount of medication that you require to keep your pain at an acceptable level.

Your next step is to contact the Practice Manager, every surgery has one, you can write or phone, Explain the whole problem to them, and let them deal with it. Explain how much pain you’re in, I would advise that as your next step.

If that doesn’t work, then complain to PALS. They can look into it as well.

Keep calm, and state your case, and say that you would like to work with your Dr in making a Care Plan to deal with your pain. Don’t mention what your last Dr did, she knows that, and obviously isn’t going to continue with that plan.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

GP. 😊😊

[AllthatGlitters in reply to Greenpeace]

That’s brilliant advice 😀Also remember we are on here to vent at too, if you are feeling suicidal please seek help. I often find that some doctors are so dismissive and then the next one is excellent. It’s taken me many years to get a decent GP and it shouldn’t be like that x

[Paulainpoole in reply to AllthatGlitters]

Hi yes I know I had a wonderful GP thank you for your advice

[Hidden in reply to Greenpeace]

Greenpeace, that is fantastic advice. I wish I knew you when I went through similar circumstances. But it is nice to know now. Have a nice day.

[Hazel_Angelstar Administrator FMA UK Staff]

Hi and a warm welcome to our community. Here you will find information support friendship and laughter too. You can find general information on fibromyalgia at our main website fmauk.org

Greenpeace has given you good advice ... An initial complaint should be made to the practice manager, and contact Pals if you need further advice and support

[Paulainpoole in reply to Hazel_Angelstar]

Many Thanks for your advice

[Cat00]

I think your new GP has treated you appallingly and they should have spoken to you and supported you through withdrawal. Greenpeace wrote a good response. I do think there is a problem with the concept of "acceptable pain levels" however. Lots of people live well beyond what would be considered acceptable this is just a fact of life, damaging all your internal organs by taking too many opioids in order to achieve an "acceptable" level of pain is not a solution either. It will just cause you more problems in the future.

[Paulainpoole in reply to Cat00]

Hi Thanks for your response

[Yassytina FMA UK Volunteer]

Hello, never worry about writing a long post ,your explaining what’s happened, this new surgery dosent doing very helpful , my surgery will follow up with a call back so the way you have been left to deal with this on your own is not very good, even if your doctor was not available they could have offered someone else to speak to you at least over the phone, I agree with Greenpeace they have a duty of care , I would have differently spoke to the practice manager about this. Don’t be fobbed off, even if doctor s are looking at ways now of reducing peoples medication they should not just leave someone that are under their care. Let us know how you get on xx

[Paulainpoole in reply to Yassytina]

Hi Thankyou for your input yes I will update my post hopefully soon

[Paulainpoole]

Hi Ajay Thanks for your comments

[Hidden]

Oh wow Paulainpoole, what a monster! They have no right not to call, not to listen, if they take away painkillers they must replace it with something else. This is not helpful for I don't know where to direct you but I am horrified ...

[Paulainpoole in reply to Hidden]

Yes she should be offering alternative treatment but she isn't and still insists that I only have 50 tramadol for a month I have had 2 relapses recently and an old back injury has flared up leaving me in more pain so I can only substitute the missing tablets with Paracetamol which hardly helps I've got quite a high pain threshold but this is almost too hard to bare

[Bellahill1]

Hi Paulainpoole I’m so very sorry to hear that you have been treated this way by a supposed dr. My first advice is you need to change your dr and find a dr that does believe and support fibromyalgia you should be on proper fibro medication, obviously this is not the case for you as during flare ups it should be enough to control the pain you are in.I have had fibromyalgia, disc degenerative disease and osteoarthritis in both my hips for many years this was left undiagnosed because the dr did not care to except fibro as a physical illness more a mental one that said a lot of drs believe it’s in our heads but as of now even the department of work and pensions except fibromyalgia as an exceptable real illness don’t think they would if it wasn’t true if it was in our heads it would be classed as a mental illness. I’m no dr but after many years of struggling not knowing what was wrong with me I changed dr after moving town and within a couple of weeks I was put under a lot of tests to rule out the major things as they couldn’t find out what was wrong with me however the dr that I saw who became my new dr was a lady dr and low and behold she had it herself so completely understood my situation after a few years of trying a lot of different meds I finally settled on gabapentin 700mg 3 x daily tremadol 50mg two tablets 3 x daily and amitriptalin 10mg two tablets at night and paracetamol 8 in a day no more it works well with tremadol I am so thankful to my new dr for not fobbing me off and saying it’s all in my head to cut a long story short hunni your so called de should be helping you to manage your conditions not chastising you for them I would complain to a place called CQC it is over thr drs so would take this as serious as it needs to be taken I do hope you get sorted out hunni xxx take care xxx

[Paulainpoole in reply to Bellahill1]

Thankyou so much you have made me feel that I should be on the right meds and doses I began to even question whether it was me just making a fuss I have emailed the NHS to tell them what the Dr has done and they have replied if I want to take it further which after another night in pain only managing a couple of hours sleep I have decided to accept their help take care

[Hopinggh]

Hello ! I am so sorry about what you are going through. I took 1/2 pill of Tramadol only once and had extreme withdrawals pain from it.

I read reviews where people withdraw from it in incremants of mgs in long stretches of tapers and still have a hard time.

This must be done very, very gradually and from what i ve read, patients consider it a monumental feat once they are finally off it because it took so long and so much tapering to finally get free.

1/2 pill took two days of painfull withdrawals for me and i will never touch it again.

I hope they can help you with a long withdrawal. It seems like thats what it takes taking it slowly off little of the pill at a time.

Good luck. You can get there.

Hopinggh

[Paulainpoole in reply to Hopinggh]

Hi thanks for your remarks yes I do know of people who struggle with tramadol I have been lucky that it doesn't have such an affect on me it is just the amount of pain I am in when its stopped and no other alternative is given

[Hopinggh in reply to Paulainpoole]

Hi ! Paulainpoole,

How are you doing now?

Thank.you for responding. Im.sorry for everyones pain.

There should be better rules on tapering drugs down.

I hope you are doing a bit better by now.

Hopinggh