Drug Seeker Stories

Specialties Emergency Nursing Q/A

Well I had one of those lovely drug seekers the other night. Patient said she had a kidney and was peeing prue blood. Well, I had her get a CC urine. When I went back to get her urine, I noticed her finger was bleeding and some blood spots on the sheet. And her urine was a weird pink color. So I told the doc and he had me cath her....her urine was completely clear. Of course, she tried to make up a story about how sometimes she pees blood but sometimes pees clear too. Whatever...sent her out the door...

Also had someone come in 3 times in one week who used a new name everytime. Turns out he was going to ER after ER in my city using differents names for drugs...sent him out the door and to jail.

Yes, I'm actually saying that some of us need to lighten up. I know, hard to believe. I can be pretty rabid on the subject of chronic pain, and proper management, but I can also laugh. This thread started off very amusing, but very quickly it turned into a debate about right and wrong. I suffered severe chronic pain for 4 years before being diagnosed, and was treated badly by docs and nurses in the ED too many times to count. Of all those times, I was only given meds once. Now, I've been diagnosed and I have a great doctor who has worked out a pain management plan that is working.

It is depressing, frustrating, and humiliating when you have real pain and a nurse treats you like a drug seeker. But it was very interesting to read this thread and see what they go through everyday and have a better understanding of WHY they looked at me this way. Heck, I was so naive when I went to the ED that I went in, told them I was in pain, and that my doc(who I have since FIRED) said that nothing was wrong with me, but I'm in agony so can you please give me something for pain? I outright asked for pain meds, no manipulation, no bull...I didn't know that people other people go to the ED to get meds because they're addicts. I didn't ask for meds by name, because I didn't know one opiate from an other, or anything about them really. I just knew that ED's have to have something strong. I never asked for a scrip, I just wanted a shot of something, anything, to take away the pain for awhile.

After reading the posts in this thread, I can understand why some of the things were done, that made no sense to me at the time. Like once a doc asked me what meds I was taking, I said "birth control pills" and looked at me like I was a moron and said " I meant pain meds". I told him the truth, I wasn't taking anything because my doctor said that there's no reason for me to be in pain. So, that doc gave me nothing. I guess he assumed that my MD knew what he was doing, or maybe he thought that my MD had cut me off, who knows, but I understand to some extent, why the ED never helped me. Because they probably spent the day dealing with the hilarious fakers these other posts are about.

The posts are funny, please, continue to share your stories. Especially ones like the " 100lbs of MOPHINE" :lol2:

Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.

I recently took care of a man whose wife and he had put items in his rectum and member. He had to have an I & D and had an open wound at the base of his member and at his rectum. He refused me to do his dressing changes and insisted on doing them himself by grabbing the drsgs out of my hand with his bare hands and slapping them onto his wounds. He was in isolation. Here's the drug seeking part: He was on norco atc, dilaudid q 4 prn, ativan q 4 prn, valium prn. He pressed his call light every few minutes begging for all of the meds at once. He kept me so busy just answering his light that i could barely see my other patients. Then he came out of the room naked and proceeded to complain to management that i would not give him any meds, even though he already had norco twice, dilaudid twice, ativan twice, and valium once. This jerk got me fired from my travel assignment because even drug-seeking bums have all the power and nurses have no rights, especially if you are a traveler. I wasn't even given a chance to give my side of the story and the manager could see that the meds were given as requested but not all at the same time. I dislike being a nurse mainly because of patients like this--they do not care that the nurse is a professional and has bills to pay just like every one else. They love to get nurses in trouble. Even though he is an uneducated, useless bum he was smart enough to figure out that management is only interested in the bottom line, kissing the patient's butts, and does not care about the nursing staff. I am so depressed i can't stand it, i lose sleep as i wait to start the new job i just got--thank God it is a hospice job where i won't be trapped in a large hospital with pigs begging to get high all day and night. However, my lights, cable, cell phone, water bills, etc... are about to be shut off due to this man's actions, and i will have to wait another 3 weeks for a paychecks. Due to this @#$%^& patient's lies i could not even collect unemployment in the interim to keep my head above water. I hate drug -seeking patients and their stupid family members. You can work yourself nearly to death, be professional, pleasant, compassionate, and all that other garbage and nonsense and they appreciate nothing. I've told my teenage daughter to avoid the medical profession because sick people and their families are cruel, selfish, and are complete babies who set out to destroy anyone who won't give them what they want.

So, even though I'm currently a CNA at a pain management office, I do get my fair share of "drug seeker" interaction! For example, yesterday, I had a new patient. Now, on new patients my job is to log into the Kentucky Kasper System and put in the pt infor to get the current report, then do their vitals and set them up for their U/A, then they're off to the nurse then doc. Anyway, I had this guy, he was only 25, when I pulled the Kasper, it was insane. Now, on the intake forms, the guy had said he hadn't been seen by and doc in 2 months and that the last time he had any meds, he was prescribed Lortabs. Sure, that sounded pretty good, until the report was ready to be viewed... Turns out, a week prior to coming to our office, he had been to a doc and gotten 100 Oxycodone 30 mg and 30 Oxycodone 15 mg. Now, not only was he about 3 weeks too early for any meds from anyone, but he's also out of the bounds of what we prescribe (Percocet 10/650 QID max). I showed it to by supervisor, whom was getting ready to go to a meeting with the office manager, "He's SOL get him outta here!" Sure thing. So, I call him back, Kasper report in hand, tell him, "I'm sorry that you've sat for x hours, but, it turns out that we won't be able to take you on as a pt." Of course, the reason is questioned, so I decided to be frank with him, "Sir, it looks like you saw Dr. Z on the 7th and recieved a month's worth of meds." He denied this, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He wanted to argue it, but I just said three little letters: DEA. He got up and left...

Oh, and today, another new patient, another Kasper report. This time, it's a female. Pt has been pretty adamant that she needs to be seen "NOW!!!" The poor receptionist kept telling her that it wouldn't be much longer, yadayada. Anyway, get her report, and she's been on Suboxone since December of 09. Now, I personally have nothing against this med, if you need it and it works then great, but my personal feelings aren't the procedure of the office. So, off to the supervisor's office. Yep, you guessed it, SOL and outta here. So, call her back, apologize that she's sat for x hours, and she denies the suboxone use. I asked her, "If you don't mind, why where you taking it?" She cops to the rehab, "Well, Mrs. Y, if you've been going through a rehab program since December and you've made it almost 10 full months, why break back over?" She was speachless, and she left.

Thing is, we deal with this pretty much everyday :( I hate to say that I've kinda gotten used to it. I don't know, maybe this experience could come in handy in an ED, maybe not! But, I can say that I have a lot of respect for those nurses that do work in ED. ;)

Specializes in Emergency Dept, ICU.

I was very lucky when I went to the ER a few months ago with chest pain. I could have easily been labeled a drug seeker. I am only 28 but was having symptoms of a heart attack. I had chest pain worse when I layed flat. It radiated to my neck and left arm. I was also Hypertensive. I needed something to get rid of the pain and find out what was wrong.

I had no medical history, was an ER nurse myself, and went to another ER b/c I was ashamed of coming in with severe chest pain and going home with a likely diagnosis of Costochondritis. I knew how quickly a normal EKG in a young chest pain patient would cause some nurses and doctors to immediately think i was psych or drug seeking.

Luckily after everything came back normal my doctor sent me to CT for a chest with contrast. Found a medium sized pocket of fluid on my heart. Diagnosed with pericarditis and percardial effusion. Cardiologist helped me get rid of such. Interestingly enough though I got nothing for pain while I was there....

Specializes in Emergency, Critical Care Transport.

What's tough is when someone is legitimately sick and it's most likely from their drug use. I felt sorry for this dude (keep in mind, HIPAA so I've changed some things), but what he had done at a prior hospital was to get as much IV ativan to bring him down off a high, and then AMA'd. Then he came to us...

Guy comes in, "I haven't slept in 2 days. I don't know what's wrong. My stomach hurts." Writhing in pain, looks like he's really hurting.

"I was just at [other hospital] and they sent me home. I came to you guys because I don't know what's wrong. I'm scared." We do an EKG, draw labs.

His heart rate is 120-140, ST. He has JVD. He is diaphoretic.

Then we look up his history. Oh, wow, 2 months ago: Meth positive U-Tox. Oh wow, yes CHF, CAD, most likely methamphetamine-induced heart problems per last H&P.

"What kind of drugs do you do?" we ask (resident and I)

"None. I don't do them. I used to but I don't now. Can I have some Ativan or something to calm me down? I'm freaking out."

Huh.

Guess what came up positive again? And HE DENIED USING METH!!! Are you kidding me?

He just repeatedly asked for Ativan (which we gave him a one-time dose of)- he'd be asleep, HR around 95, and I'd do something in the room to wake him up on accident and he'd immediately ask for Ativan. Then he'd fall asleep.

His BNP was over 2000...

Poor guy. No matter how frustrating an interaction with a drug seeker is, at the end of the day, I am grateful to go home and to not be living that person's life. When I keep that in mind, I'm a lot less frustrated.

About 2 or so years ago I commented angrly on this post because of the word "migrainer" I called a lot of you "ignorant" for that I am truely, truely sorry! About 3 weeks ago my entire household was suffering from the flu/plague. I was the sickest I don't know how it happened but I ended up with Viral Meningitis. I was in severe pain. I had all the symptoms and I was unfortunate to have an ER roommate. I listened to her ******** and moaning about her headache. She was complaining her pain med wasn't working. (This is before my diagnosis) I told the doc about what was going on and he said he would give me pain meds. The nurse came in with Dilaudid and magically my roomie got neck stiffness and backpain and suddenly a 15 out of 10 headache. While the nurse was telling her doc I overheard a conversation on her cell, " hey its me their gonna give me morphine you gotta try this" I was ****** I told my nurse who told her doc who told the pt she needed a spinal tap. My pain meds had kicked in and I passed out for about a hour. She was gone.... so sad

Specializes in ED.

I have a lady that dislocates her shoulder to get some moderate sedation and a RX for percocet.

It's odd.. If you ask a real opiate addict. They tell you they can get anything they want 'off the streets'...

Then why are they getting so desperate, punching brick walls to break their hands to get a short supply of percs?

Specializes in Primary Care, OR.

Not in the ER but at the primary care office I used to work in, had a guy come in asking for a multi dose vial of Epi...... That way when his allergies would act up he can just self dose??? States the Epi pen was not effective...

We'll obviously your not getting that ::disappointed face::

Blood draw, allergy panel... One week later, kid isn't allergic to a darn thing on the planet. Lol

They really will try ANYTHING

Had a guy admitted to the inpatient unit for chest pain, to undergo cardiac angiography the next day. On a heparin gtt and everything. He was getting morphine 2mg q 1 hour as well as lorazepam PRN, both of which he was requesting regularly.

Weird thing was, I recognized him. I had taken care of a guy about a month prior for the same thing, and I remembered his tattoos because we had talked about them. I happened to have a bunch of brain sheets in my locker that I hadn't shredded yet, and I found the one from the month before. It had a different name than this guy, but the same birth date.

Turns out it was the same guy, and this was actually his THIRD visit within two months for the same thing. He was about to allow himself to be subjected to an angiogram for the third time.

Of course, once I let the cardiologist know what was going on, the cath was cancelled, because his two previous exams had been negative.

Patient came to ER with multiple complaints (frequent flyer) every test imaginable completed with exception of exploratory surgery. All test negative. When told he was being discharged and no meds his response, "I know my rights. I have the right to be pain free and if you do not admit me and give me x amt. morphine I will sue you and this hospital." Pt. admitted and given x amt. of morphine.

Specializes in Acute Care - Adult, Med Surg, Neuro.

Patient - Demanding "Demadex" constantly. "Give me my Demadex!!!" Pain 10/10. I called the doctor multiple times about the pain, the Demadex, etc. We are both so confused. Finally the patient goes AMA. Turns out she meant Dilaudid the whole time LOL. I found this out as she was signing her papers. The MD wouldn't give here Dilaudid, either.

Patient - On cell phone discussing fast food order. Patient says "I'll call you back," to the caller and hangs up cell phone. Immediately goes WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Like a baby and starts to sniffle and snuffle about his tummy pain. WORST performance ever. I give him a 1/10. I was alarmed and told the MD on the floor, who laughed at me and says it's typical behavior.

Patient - I want my Dilaudid NOW. So I go get the Dilaudid, diluted and push it according to policy (2-5 minutes). Patient states "Why are you pushing it so slow?" And I explain to her the safety risks. She says "Well if you're going to push it so slow, I don't want it from you. I want that other nurse who pushes it fast." I leave the room, waste the med, and immediately page the MD. No more Dillys for you. This has happened to me COUNTLESS times.

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