Getting fired from your pain doctor may or may not be your fault. What I mean by that is that it could be that he was out of town and had a car accident that required a visit to the emergency room with narcotics involved. It could be that a family member stole your medications and you are not the type of person to involve the police with the necessary police report under your pain management agreement.
Or it may be entirely your fault and you “cheated” by getting painkillers from two different doctors and got caught. Whatever the reason, now you still have chronic pain and no one to help you, right?
Here are some tips for finding and keeping a new pain doctor.
1) Get your complete medical records. You’re entitled to them, but it may take a bit of groundwork and perseverance to get them, as you leave on a bad note. You will need these records to make things easier for your new doctor. You won’t exactly be in the driver’s seat after being fired.
2) Try to find a pain doctor who works in a comprehensive center. Which means their surgery center is on site and they offer additional services like chiropractic and physical therapy. The goal is to lower the dose of your medications so that these additional treatments can help.
3) Don’t lie to the new doctor when you meet with him. You just had a bad experience, why start immediately with a bad foundation that is dishonest? With pain management physicians under the microscope of state medical boards and the DEA, there is minimal patience for someone who lies about their medications.
4) Don’t use illicit drugs. I’m not talking about medical marijuana, although that may be a factor in whether or not a new pain doctor will accept you (and also perhaps why you were fired in the first place). I’m talking about heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, etc. Understand? Your new pain doctor will test you for drugs as is the norm these days. It would be a waste of time and for the doctor to test positive for one of these substances on the first visit.
5) If you have insurance, use it. One of the factors of mistrust in pain patients arises when they use insurance for one doctor and cash for another. It is a red flag and is one of the main drug seeking behaviors.
6) Be flexible in your pain reliever needs. What I mean by this is that when you see your new doctor, don’t insist too much on a specific drug in a specific dosage. This can be another red flag for drug seeking behavior. If you’re seeing a board-certified pain management doctor, do you really want to question the wisdom of that doctor’s experience too much?
7) The last and most important advice is simply to be very polite and respectful at all times with the doctor and the staff. It can be very difficult to work with patients managing pain due to the complexities of the individual’s condition. Making things complex for the doctor is one thing, that’s what he generally likes is mental stimulation and helping people. Being downright rude will ruin trust and relationship development. You will be fired again, and that includes being mean and disrespectful to the office staff.
8) Show up for your appointments. Too many missed appointments will get you fired (again). It is disrespectful, especially without prior notice to the office. Put yourself in their shoes, they are taking time to help. Show up for your doctor visits, procedures and therapy and get better!
