"Awful treatment by pain specialist"

Around the start of the year I saw a pain specialist doctor. I feel that the doctor spent the entire appointment treating me like I had an addiction, rather than someone in pain and wanting a basic quality of life.

I wanted to know if there were other options for pain relief as I had recently started a new medication under the advisement of my GP and did not like it. It appeared as if the doctor took offence to the fact that I was using a low dose fentanyl patch and seemed agitated with me after that. After speaking more to the doctor about what I was previously taking, they accused me of having an opiate use disorder and threatened to report me to the government authority. I told them that I had used my Endone at night and not during the day to which they said that I was hoarding pills. Even though they were prescribed as an at need medication and not scheduled. I was previously on slow release but at a previous appointment it was decided that we would switch so it was able to taken when I needed it. For example, when trying to sleep at night. They weren't providing much relief which is why my GP had switched to the patches.

I have a degenerative and painful genetic condition which makes my joints dislocate regularly (among other things) as well as bilateral hip dysplasia. I had a hip replacement a few years ago that has left me in the same if not worse pain that made me have the surgery in the first place.

The doctor also physically hurt me. Towards the end of the appointment the doctor grabbed their bag from another room and asked me to hold it. I had to drop it almost instantly as the weight caused my wrist to move out of place and hurt. I feel the doctor did this to prove a point about my obesity (something about what it's like to carry extra weight) but if the doctor wanted to treat me like a human being they could have just spoken about it before using the bag. The doctor knew about my illness and I feel they should never have used a stunt like that to prove a point. On someone else with my condition or even with my wrist at a different angle, it could have caused a dislocation. All it did was add to my pain and humiliate me. I did not feel that I deserve to be treated this way as a human being who went to a doctor for help and not more suffering.

The doctor acted and spoke as if they weren’t going to authorise any pain medications which made me upset and feel horrible. I made a remark that has now followed me to almost every doctor and specialist appointment and has ruined my chances at ever having any quality of life more than I have now because they have twisted it.

All I said was, other patients with this genetic condition are prescribed things like ketamine infusions, benzodiazepines and stronger opiates, why can't I have anything? As I said, I feel the doctor acted and spoke like they weren’t going to authorise any medication and I just wanted to know why they weren’t going to authorise an alternative. The doctor has written to my GP and told my GP that I was pressuring the doctor to prescribe ketamine, benzodiazepines and opiates, which is far from the truth. I wanted to know what options were available instead of being treated horribly.

I have spent a long time being upset by how I was treated and what has been said about me. I have no other options for a pain specialist either, as I do not have the money to see a private specialist and because of this I did not want to put in a complaint. I did not want to be treated worse by the doctor at the next appointment because I had put in a complaint about them.

My situation has changed however because it seems like it will now affect how I am treated for my hip revision surgery. The anesthetist at the pre-admissions clinic had written it in their notes that I was pressuring the doctor. The doctor I saw in that same pre-admission clinic asked if I would like stronger medication as it looks like your pain isn't under control but I had to turn it down because it would take me over the daily limit I am allowed now. Four of the lowest dose oxycodone by the way (only a third of what GPs can prescribe without needing to see a specialist which is the equivalent of what I was prescribed before seeing this doctor). Four tablets a day and I am treated like a second class citizen despite trying to do the right and get the right help.

My surgeon has had to change the category of my surgery because my pain isn't being managed at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the surgeon would rather not do the surgery because of the increased risk of complications of a revision but we don't have that option because I am not being treated for the pain.

My life as it stands now is confined to the bed, couch or desk chair. I only leave the house for medical appointments as I do not have the mobility to do so without being bedridden for a week or two afterwards. My spouse has to help dress me and shower me. I do not contribute to my household in any way aside from attempting to parent my child from the couch. I have no quality of life.

I've even had days where I should have gone to the Emergency Department because I was vomiting from the pain but because of the pain specialist doctor and the way that I was treated, I couldn't because I did not want to be treated like I was just seeking drugs as I was at that appointment. All I am seeking is a better quality of life which I had thought everyone was entitled to.

Last time I had surgery at Box Hill, I was left to sit in my own urine for around 3-4 hours and being ignored when I asked for pain relief. I had a rather traumatic experience and it looks like I'm headed to a much worse experience this time around because one doctor does not listen to their patients.

I even asked this doctor how many patients they had treated with my condition. The doctor’s answer was zero.

I do not want to cause any issues for this doctor. Perhaps the doctor was just having a bad day and I was a casualty of that. I just don't like being made to feel like I am less than a person because the doctor misunderstood my question.