Pain management medications

[duke1958]

Does anyone know a good PM doctor that is willing to prescribe pain meds in central fl. It appears most there has been alot of misuse, which make it hard for a person whom really needs help. I have degenerative disc, osteoarthritis, and it's getting harder to just function. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[mellie4]

I'd go interview a bunch and see which you get a good feel for.  There's nothing worse than a bad relationship with your pain team.  Mine is excellent.  I see a NP regularly for follow-ups and prescriptions.  I see the anesthesiologists for my procedures.  The staff is lovely as well.  Do your homework and the search will be worth it in the end.

[duke1958]

Thank you very much... I do have MRI's of my back & knee, which show problems, but Doctor's won't give me anything too strong. I can appreciate that there are alot of abuse, which put doctor's at risk. Unfortunately, that makes for a problem for a true need.

[Ghilly]

The plain truth of the matter is, NO good pain management doctor is just going to prescribe pain meds for anyone without first doing a series of tests and evaluations to see what their problem is.  Anyone can go into a doctor's office and say "I have a, b and c and I take d, e and f for pain relief, I need you to prescribe them for me", and if that doctor just takes them at their word and prescribes the drugs without first doing his own examinations, he's nothing more than a scrip writer who will eventually be out of business for violating the law.

I know all too well that there are many people who fake injuries and go from clinic to clinic to get pills to either sell or to feed their own addictions and it makes it VERY difficult for those of us who really DO have to live with chronic pain to get our meds, but that's just the cold, hard fact of the matter.  Until things change, there is never going to be a reputable doctor that you can just go to who is known to prescribe pain meds for the asking.

If I were you, I would get out the phone book and look under Pain Management in the Yellow Pages.  There will probably be several doctors listed, and almost every county hospital has a pain management clinic located within, so try them as well.  It's not unusual at all for one of the staff anesthesiologists to have a PM clinic at the hospital.  It's not going to be easy to find a good one, but it will be worth the search, I promise you.  As long as you are honest with them, they will usually do their best to help, and if they won't do what you think they need to do, it's your prerogative to either go to another doctor or perhaps TRY what they are suggesting, you never know, it just might work.

Ghilly