Last Wednesday I encountered the reason for the sometimes crappy treatment I get in the ED concerning my migraines. I actually met a real life in the flesh migraine faker! :
I was waiting in the Ed waiting room, waiting for my boyfriend to get off work, and noticed a couple sitting across from me. They were chatting happily, laughing and pigging out on candy bars and chips and cokes. I noticed the hospital bracelet on the girl and after about 10 minutes, I couldn't help myself.... I asked her what brought her to the ED at 3:00 in the morning. She looked at me and says..."Migraine"
I'm in shock at this point but then I get angry!
I say" YOU have a migraine and you can EAT and DRINK? Isn't the light bothering your eyes? You do NOT have a migraine and you know it!"
I turn away disgusted. Well....guess what...she goes into "migraine mode". Gone are the chips, the chocolate and the cokes, and out come the dark sunglasses, the cold ice pack and she puts her head down on her boyfriend's shoulder and starts to grimace in "pain"
I start laughing out loud. :chuckle I could not believe it! I still can't!
I have to drag myself into the ED, feeling half dead, wishing I was, and I get the red flag because the staff encounters people like this girl!
When I finish nursing school I want to work in the ED and I'm guessing I can't do what I did Wed, but I think I'm going to have a hard time keeping my mouth shut.
Honestly, I never quite understood how the cynicism towards migraineurs came about until now. Another part of me can't see how the real thing can be confused with these obvious cases of faking it. A dilemna that shouldn't exist I suppose.
How do you handle people like this? Can you get your license taken away?
We get TONS of drug-seeking fakers in the ED. They commonly fake migraines and abdominal pain. "I'm allergic to ibuprofen, toradol, tylenol, codeine and morphine." They are after dilaudid. The newest trend is to fake chest pain, because in triage system chest pain goes to the front of the line...
Didn't know it was possible to be allergic to Tylenol. There'd go my diet! :chuckle
In Response to: athomas91 who stated that he has had to shake patients awake and seemed to indicate he did not believe they had level 10 pain simply because they were asleep.
I have seen my teenage son be given enough medication to put him deeply asleep and yet that pain still be there. I know for a fact that my son has a very high pain tolerance, but his migraines are so painful that even while in a drug induced sleep he continues to moan and fidget and even cry because of the pain. He often doesn't remember much about it afterward, but for those of us there with him it is a painful thing to watch.
Thankfully, his neurologist seems to have found a medicine that works (for him) and he only has to endure a severe episode now about once or twice a year, but for a while there it was several times a month and the only thing they could do for him was to give him enough medicine to allow him to sleep, but not stop the pain.
I think that pain is a very hard thing to define and how one person reacts or doesn't react doesn't necessarily indicate their level of pain. Yes I know there are those who "fake" it, and I can only say that I truly hope their bodies never decide to show them the real deal.
I totally agree and understand what you are talking about! I watched my son start with migraines at the early age of 5. When you see a 5 year old stop dead in his tracks and grab his head and cry, only to start vomiting a few minutes later......... there is nothing more heart-wrenching than this. Thank God he has a wonderful Ped Neurologist that also has his under control through preventative meds and treats with Imitrex nose spray/Phenergan when he has a break through migraine (he is 13 now). I pray ALL sufferers are as lucky as we have been.
I have worked ER night shift for many years, and I have seen many "true" migraine patients as well as many "drug seekers". The fakers DO make me angry BECAUSE they DO tend to make the nurses cynical at times. Hey we are human..... and when you do this day in and day out for years and you see the SAME patients that come to the ER with specific requests, specific doctors that they want to see (because they know who will give them exactly what they want) etc etc.... you do tend to get cynical. I have actually had the regs come in and ask who is the doc before they sign in. And after watching my son as well as many TRUE migraine sufferers, it does make me angry that a drug seeker may be tying up a ER bed and a true sufferer is in the waiting room only because he/she may have waited at home a little longer and now the ER is full.
HOWEVER..... I ALWAYS treat my patients the same and medicate the same for pain regardless of my own personal feelings. I agree that pain is subjective and I also have a high tolerance. Grouping any ER or group of nurses together as a "whole" when describing BAD ER's and BAD nurses.....seems a little harsh! Some on here have talked about hating certain ER's and going to the other "wonderful" ER only to contradict and say that they went back to the "forbidden horrible ER". What is up with that? Until you have walked a mile (or a 12 hour shift) in an ER nurses shoes.... please don't judge! Perhaps what you percieved as being non-caring was simply a nurse stressed to the max over a large volume of CRITICAL patients. Perhaps she did CARE, but her time and thoughts were on Mr. MI or Mr. head injury across the hall. Let's try to be a little more understanding of what we as nurses face DAILY!
Ok enough of my soap box.... but I hate to see nurses attack each other.. We are (for the most part) all caring and hard working. We may have a "warped" or "dark humor" that helps us deal with life and death, minute by minute changes.....but so what! That is what makes us INDIVIDUALS..... and probably most are GREAT nurses.
I suffer from migraines. I have since I was about the age of 12. I have Imitrex, and Vicodin and Torodal (sp?) at home. I can usually treat them myself. This year has been extremely bad I think with my back I am pinching a nerve which hasn't helped my migraines. I have been out to OP so much for them that I will not go until I have tried everything I can here at home and I have usually had it for a wk to 2 wks before going to emergency room. Don't want them to think I am a drug addict just wanting pain meds. When I get them the noise, lights, N/V, unable to eat barely drink. My Dr. has put me on daily medication Inderall 120 mg and Neurotin 900 mg daily and that has calmed them down. Not happening as much. Usually when they are that bad demerol is what i need to get rid of it, or stronger. I will consult my dr. before going to er.
The post above are right pain varies in different people. I for one am not able to tolerate pain very well. My husband can.
My daughter is 10 and is starting to have migraines. We see a neuro dr. in DEc.
Angelia
Angelia.... are you by any chance travel distance to St Louis? If so, I can recommend an awesome ped. neuro guy that has made a wonderful difference in my son's life! Let me know..... :)
Last Wednesday I encountered the reason for the sometimes crappy treatment I get in the ED concerning my migraines. I actually met a real life in the flesh migraine faker! :
I was waiting in the Ed waiting room, waiting for my boyfriend to get off work, and noticed a couple sitting across from me. They were chatting happily, laughing and pigging out on candy bars and chips and cokes. I noticed the hospital bracelet on the girl and after about 10 minutes, I couldn't help myself.... I asked her what brought her to the ED at 3:00 in the morning. She looked at me and says..."Migraine"
I'm in shock at this point but then I get angry!
I say" YOU have a migraine and you can EAT and DRINK? Isn't the light bothering your eyes? You do NOT have a migraine and you know it!"
I turn away disgusted. Well....guess what...she goes into "migraine mode". Gone are the chips, the chocolate and the cokes, and out come the dark sunglasses, the cold ice pack and she puts her head down on her boyfriend's shoulder and starts to grimace in "pain"
I start laughing out loud. :chuckle I could not believe it! I still can't!
I have to drag myself into the ED, feeling half dead, wishing I was, and I get the red flag because the staff encounters people like this girl!
When I finish nursing school I want to work in the ED and I'm guessing I can't do what I did Wed, but I think I'm going to have a hard time keeping my mouth shut.
Honestly, I never quite understood how the cynicism towards migraineurs came about until now. Another part of me can't see how the real thing can be confused with these obvious cases of faking it. A dilemna that shouldn't exist I suppose.
How do you handle people like this? Can you get your license taken away?
Cathy
Ive had migraines for over 7 years due to an injury (X stomped on my head in a fit of rage) When I have a flare-up, there is NO faking it. Complete strangers tell me I look like crap. My right eye swells and tears up in response to light, I cant move quickly because the movement makes it worse, I vomit continuously due to the pain. I dont blame you for blowing up at that girl. Migraines are not something to joke about or fake!
Specializes in jack of all trades, master of none.
I have been living on Vicodin & Valium for the past 2 months.. due to a severely herniated disc... I have been experiencing back & leg pain since May, blamed it on the mild MVA in early May. I had been working & doing all my typical mom duties until the last week. My pain has been consistently rated at 5-10, depending on the day. Just b/c I was somewhat normally functioning until last week, doesn't mean I wasn't hurting. Nobody saw me once I got home & laid on the couch & cried, with my 7 year old trying to comfort me & putting my socks & shoes on for me. The neurosurgeon got on the phone with a colleague trying to schedule me ASAP for steroid injections, talking about how he couldn't believe I was functioning, let alone even walking....
Soooooo, I guess what I am trying to say is, sure, some people may fake pain, but usually, people are trying to just function & carry on. My co-workers had commented on my limp, but I blew it off until the numbness started in my foot. So, here I am, waiting to get scheduled for surgery & have been told to STOP working before any more damage occurs. Pain sucks & everyone manages it in their own way......
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
I understand what you are talking about. I had a patient on my mental health unit - an LPN who was hooked on opiates - who checked into my unit for detox. She claimed to have migraines and claimed allergies to every migraine drug on the books except Demerol. She had been walking around the unit laughing and joking with everyone, and then suddenly had a "migraine". I called the doctor, who knew her and wasn't playing her game. He offered another migraine medication, which she refused. She kept demanding Demerol. She left the unit AMA, which I thought was the end of it. About 30 minutes later, I got a call on the floor from the charge nurse in ER. She said, "Did you just discharge this patient?". I said, "Yes, she left AMA because the doctor wouldn't give her Demerol for her headache." The ER nurse asid, "She's down here now trying to get the same thing. I'll send her packing." (FYI - this patient had a prosthetic leg, and when we searched it on a prior admission she had about 60 Lortab hidden in her prosthesis.)
I don't get migraines myself, but my wife does. She certainly wouldn't be chowing down on snacks and laughing and joking with people in the waiting room when one comes on. One thing I have found, though, is that a lot of clinics insist on giving Demerol for them. We went to a quick care clinic shortly after relocating to Las Vegas, as she had a migraine, was out of Imitrex and we didn't have a local doctor yet. The clinic doctor kept insisting on giving her Demerol and Phenergan IM. I said, "We're both nurses, and we know about medications. She has an order for Imitrex and it works. Just give her Imitrex 6mg SQ and we will be out of here in half an hour." The doctor kept pushing the Demerol, saying "I don't know if Imitrex will work." I said, "I know that it will. We are not here for narcotics, just relief of the migraine." He finally relented, and we were gone in half an hour.
I have been living on Vicodin & Valium for the past 2 months.. due to a severely herniated disc... I have been experiencing back & leg pain since May, blamed it on the mild MVA in early May. I had been working & doing all my typical mom duties until the last week. My pain has been consistently rated at 5-10, depending on the day. Just b/c I was somewhat normally functioning until last week, doesn't mean I wasn't hurting. Nobody saw me once I got home & laid on the couch & cried, with my 7 year old trying to comfort me & putting my socks & shoes on for me. The neurosurgeon got on the phone with a colleague trying to schedule me ASAP for steroid injections, talking about how he couldn't believe I was functioning, let alone even walking....
Soooooo, I guess what I am trying to say is, sure, some people may fake pain, but usually, people are trying to just function & carry on. My co-workers had commented on my limp, but I blew it off until the numbness started in my foot. So, here I am, waiting to get scheduled for surgery & have been told to STOP working before any more damage occurs. Pain sucks & everyone manages it in their own way......
Girl I feel your pain, literally. I herniated a disc in August, and now I have a raging case of sciatica. The pain has been almost unbearable at times, but I just go on. I have made it this far without narcotics and since I am diabetic, I want to avoid the steroid injections, but in your case DO IT! they will make you feel better.
Back to the topic, migraine sufferers are just a part of ER nursing. I see people who I think are not suffering from migraines, but my theory is.... they are easy to care for and give me a break from the bad stuff, so let them stay in the rooms as long as possible! :rotfl:
Unfortunately, I think society reacts differently to pain now than they did 25 years ago. Maybe we are treating them too good? LOLOL
Girl I feel your pain, literally. I herniated a disc in August, and now I have a raging case of sciatica. The pain has been almost unbearable at times, but I just go on. I have made it this far without narcotics and since I am diabetic, I want to avoid the steroid injections, but in your case DO IT! they will make you feel better.
Back to the topic, migraine sufferers are just a part of ER nursing. I see people who I think are not suffering from migraines, but my theory is.... they are easy to care for and give me a break from the bad stuff, so let them stay in the rooms as long as possible! :rotfl:
Unfortunately, I think society reacts differently to pain now than they did 25 years ago. Maybe we are treating them too good? LOLOL
I thinl it would just be easier to give them a menu when they come in so they can select what they want.
Or Maybe just have a self serve dispenser in the Waiting Room
:
z's playa
2,056 Posts
Didn't know it was possible to be allergic to Tylenol. There'd go my diet! :chuckle