I highly doubt the Er will help you out with "extra" pain meds until next month. I highly beleive they will help you out of their ER as soon as possible, probably by treating and streeting you. You will most likely be stabilized with a shot of some type of pain medication, then told to follow-up with your primary care physician. If you havn't got a primary care physician, they will surely discharge you with information on how to obtain one in your area. The ER doesn't want you to come back with the same problem anytime soon. Do you have a PCP Primary Care Physician)? If not, then why not? It would make things easier on you, the healthcare system, etc., etc.
Hi there...sorry to hear of your pain issues..
I'm a bit perplexed on if this is all about an insurance issue, I would think going to the ER would be 10 times more expensive than seeing your Dr.
I also think that the ER is meant for life/death emergencies. You have been dealing with this pain for awhile now and it's not something to where you are in any danger without strong pain meds. There is ice, heat, resting, Tylenol or Advil, massage, biofeedback, relaxation techniques, do things to distract yourself, etc.
And believe me, I do empathize and understand. I've had dozens of surgeries and 3 cervical fusions to where I have a lot of titanium in my neck to where they went in from the front AND the back this last time to really shore me up..LOL...So I do get pain.
There are many new laws and regulations being passed..NY is one of the first to where the ER is now not allowed to give more than 3 days worth of medications and nothing long acting. The reason is that this is not their job to be someone's chronic pain Dr.
I'm not trying to be snarky, just trying to explain things as I think you will find this no matter what state you are in. By telling them that you can't see your Dr. because your co-pay costs too much, this is not going to have them giving you pain meds.
Obviously no one here is a Dr. and cannot tell you what you should or should not do. I am just saying what I would do (and have done). I haven't had health insurance in over 6 years and have to save up every 3 months to see my PM Dr. I've also had times I was in between Drs. and surgeries and in great pain and I just took it one day/hour at a time. I've only been to the ER twice in my life and they were both for life/death emergencies.
So unless you had just had surgery and you had a high fever, extreme redness and oozing at the surgery site....I just don't personally recommend using the ER just to get pain meds.
If you are able to see your Dr. in February then I would just hold out until then. One other reason to do this is because going to the ER seeking pain meds will go on your medical record and it actually looks bad. If you didn't have the co-pay issue...you would be seeing your regular Dr...correct?
The other red flag that they look for in the ER is someone requesting opiates for their pain instead of someone who has an emergency is just looking for pain relief no matter what they offer. So, you really see this as a true emergency then I would go and tell them you are not looking for any type of opiate but maybe a muscle relaxer or steroid shot or NSAIDs (prescription).
Just my personal thoughts..Let us know what you decide..