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Have you ever been shot? Then, maybe you can help me! Or, even if you haven't.
Frei
A French Prometheus UnboundDeadwoodRegistered User regular
A French Prometheus UnboundDeadwoodRegistered User regular
I have a gunshot wound from a .45 on my shoulder, it basically shattered my clavicle and the bullet fragmented, as bullets do... some of it is lodged deep in my bone as the doctor's said it'd do more damage to take it out. This was over a year ago, btw, so not recent. It has healed.
Now, my problem is that it constantly hurts and doctors really don't have anything to me. I was obviously given pain meds when I was recovering but after the sutures came out and followups with doctors it was just "Uhh, take ibuprofen, put hot or cold on it" etc. None of that shit actually works. The pain settles down when I'm resting and engaged in something. X-rays indicate that everything healed fine, minus the bone healing around some of the shards.
Basically, it hurts like a dick but my primary care doctor doesn't want to prescribe anything and I know anytime someone tries to get pain meds it's looked on with scrutiny because, well, they're pain meds... lots of abuse and lots of street selling with them. I'm also 24, so being younger doesn't help. Have any of you ever had to deal with extreme, constant pain? How did you do it? Home remedies? Witch doctor cures? Should I get a second opinion from another doctor (the way that would seem to be, were I that 2nd doctor would be "my doctor wont give me pills, GIMME"). I have kind of just weathered it but it's just getting tiresome, I have a valium prescription, that isn't really for pain at all but it helps to a degree, but I can't use that for pain and for what it was prescribed for as I would run out incredibly quickly.
Now, my problem is that it constantly hurts and doctors really don't have anything to me. I was obviously given pain meds when I was recovering but after the sutures came out and followups with doctors it was just "Uhh, take ibuprofen, put hot or cold on it" etc. None of that shit actually works. The pain settles down when I'm resting and engaged in something. X-rays indicate that everything healed fine, minus the bone healing around some of the shards.
Basically, it hurts like a dick but my primary care doctor doesn't want to prescribe anything and I know anytime someone tries to get pain meds it's looked on with scrutiny because, well, they're pain meds... lots of abuse and lots of street selling with them. I'm also 24, so being younger doesn't help. Have any of you ever had to deal with extreme, constant pain? How did you do it? Home remedies? Witch doctor cures? Should I get a second opinion from another doctor (the way that would seem to be, were I that 2nd doctor would be "my doctor wont give me pills, GIMME"). I have kind of just weathered it but it's just getting tiresome, I have a valium prescription, that isn't really for pain at all but it helps to a degree, but I can't use that for pain and for what it was prescribed for as I would run out incredibly quickly.
Are you the magic man?
Frei on
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Ask for help.
If this is going to hurt you for the rest of your life, pills might not be the answer.
I started to get terrible back pain while sleeping, and was afraid of going to see my doctor because I didn't want to be medicated for the rest of my life. So I simply said that I wanted to try to fix it rather than medicate, and she evaluated me with that in mind, and figured that it was likely posture related. So I did about two months of physical therapy and it improved significantly. I'm not saying "physical therapy will work for you," but I am saying that you need a doctor who is willing to work with you as you try to work through your pain.
But yeah, pain is a big deal nowadays; it's kind of the big elephantine "disease" in the room because it's so nebulous for a lot of sufferers, and doctors either don't believe their patients or aren't willing to medicate simply because a patient says they hurt. Don't be afraid to shop around until you're getting answers that actually help you improve.
If your injury is causing inflammation then that will make the soft tissue swell up and only push harder against the injury. Even if all the fragments are forcefully removed from the bone, the bone still won't be smooth.
The solution to this for me was icing it every day for three minutes and keeping my legs elevated for fifteen minutes after that. It seems like you tried that (unless I'm mistaken and what you meant something like icyhot by "ice", no that's not a viable way to bring down swelling).
I guess if it's really that bad then just keep reiterating it to your doctor. Eventually either he'll realize that the mild treatments he is suggesting, including time, are not mitigating the pain; or you'll realize that your doctor is an idiot.
Bullet wound in my forearm turned out almost exactly like what you are describing. Couldn't remove it all, healed up, pain never went away.
I got a second opinion from an apparently decent surgeon who was happy to take the fragments out. Couldn't understand why they weren't removed the first time round.
So yea, go find somebody who will take it all out. The copper is sharp and just cuts the flesh, and always will until it is removed.
^This right here is basically what I was thinking.
If you want to check around, I'm sure you'd probably be able to find a surgeon that has experience treating veterans in a similar situation to your own.
Yup, see another doctor. They'll probably refer you to surgery.
I had to fight with my last doctor to get something more than advil for my kidney stones. Apparently me crying and folded in a fetal position on the floor only required the same pain meds that people take for a mild headache.
The shoulder is a highly innervated region and nerve damage can be really hard to spot. Get a referral to have your nerve function checked if it hasn't been already, and see if you can find a doctor that specializes in gunshot wound treatment.
Also, from what my x-rays show, there are no fragments in my muscle or tissue or anything, just in the bone itself. The bone has more than likely mended around it by now and they'd have to re-break it just to get it out.
And yeah, I know how much shit doctors have to go through with the DEA. Even for things like valium, my doctor told me I'm one of two patients he prescribes it to just because of how much pressure and bullshit he gets from the government about it. And that's for valium, which isn't even in the same neighborhood as painkillers.
Valium is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the world, and is treated the same as Xanax and Ambien (two other really, really common drugs) by the federal government. It is not hard to prescribe - you just have a really shitty doctor.
Edit: If you want to look it up, it is Schedule IV for the DEA. Just means you have to go to the doctor for a Rx every 6 months so that they can determine if you still need it. The really bad stuff is Schedule 1 (completely illegal and no medical use...Heroin is here) and 2 (medical uses, refills are not allowed - have to get a new Rx every time...Ritalin and very powerful painkillers). Milder painkillers like codeine are Schedule 3, which is essentially the same as Schedule 4.
Though, working in a Doctor's office it becomes clear how often people ask for narcotics like those. They think that "Oh yeah I accidentally dropped the whole pill bottle down the drain" is an excuse sometimes.
My coworker had a bad accident and mangled her shoulder pretty bad... Are you doing any type of physio? She said when she stopped she was getting similar pain that you are describing.
after my shoulder healed and the immobilizer came off I did all the recommended physical therapy and I still do shoulder exercises. it always hurt. i expected it during physical therapy but not this long after and this much. doctor said there'd always be stiffness and I'd never be able to lift as much with that arm anymore.
But yeah, they caught the guy easily... he was completely out of his mind from the start and he just started running, he obviously had no plan at all. I'm pretty sure he's still in jail. I watched the story on the news in the hospital and it said they caught him in the parking lot of a supermarket, still running wildly with his gun and that an unidentified man was shot and was in critical care at the hospital and I was all like, hey, that's me!
I'm surprised that you haven't been called to testify at his attempted murder trial. I don't think being high is taken into account.
The end of the story is pretty funny, you should be able to dine-out on that story for years to come! Should we ever meet at a PAX, I'll stand you a pint any time.
And yeah, I was curious that I was never called to testify, either. All I ever had to do was identify him, which the clerk did as well (after they caught him with a gun in his hand...) and I never heard anything about it ever again. I assume he got a state appointed lawyer and they went the mental health route, I can't imagine why it would even go to trial, but who knows. I checked up on his name some time ago and he was in jail. Good enough for me, I suppose.
Haha, I know it's a bit of self satisfying stuff but it's just a good story to tell and I never get to tell it, really. Most people think I'm just bullshitting if the story ever comes around and my scar healed up real well so I end up with people sticking their finger in it to feel the indentation under the scar.
When I still had my immobilizer on, I was asked what happened constantly and it did get me a few free coffees/meals/drinks which was pretty great. That was also when I had to wear pajama pants because I couldn't button jeans.
My wife is an oncologist, and this kind of shit drives her batshit. I will attempt to channel her rant on this subject:
Pain is a genuine medical problem, and your physician has a genuine ethical obligation to treat your medical problems, or refer you to someone who can. If they aren't comfortable treating chronic pain (and its fine if they're not), then they should refer you to a pain management specialist, who can and will. It may be you need therapy, or further surgery, but it may be that you are simply going to have on-going pain, in which case you need ongoing medication. Concerns that a patient with ongoing pain has physiological dependency on a therapeutic drug is moronic; if the patient has an ongoing need for any therapy, that patient is dependent upon it regardless of how the fucking DEA or the fucking protestant ethic feels about pain medication.
Also: for Christs sake, watch out for Ibuprofen. A GI bleed is no fun at all, even aside from the non-trivial likelihood of death. Seriously; routine NSAID consumption to treat chronic conditions is dangerous. Tylenol is only barely better.
As an aside, one of the pain meds she prescribes most often for long term cancer patients is methadone. It carries a stigma, but the truth is its a great pain med -its long acting, and it won't get you high, and has very limited street value. All opioids carry a substantial risk of dependency, but not all of them are recreational in any meaningful way.
Driver: "My car won't start."
Mechanic: "Oh well."
Client: "Somebody is SUING ME!"
Lawyer: "Not much you can do about that."
CEO: "Our servers are freaking out I don't even understand!"
IT GUY: "Computers re like that sometimes."
Customer: "Super-size with fries."
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If your doctor isn't helping you, you have a bad doctor. Get a second opinion, get a twenty-second opinion, find someone who takes your complaints and concerns seriously. Doctors are like any other profession, I don't think you'd tolerate this kind of bullshit from someone in another field so I don't know why you'd tolerate it in medicine.
New doctor time.
If you're able to hit the weights, maybe some muscle development will help.
I'd say be insistent on your doctor that you don't want this chronic pain. Even ask for a reference to a physical therapist; it'd be a lot better if this is something that can be repaired through exercise than just being on pain meds.
Also, guy with oncologist wife: I like her. More doctors should think like her.