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?
Also, lots of migraine patients call Topamax "Dumbamax". It's great for lowering your IQ.
:rotfl: :rotfl:
When I called my dr to have him d/c the topamax he said "Well, I do get some complaints about "mental dulling.""
I took 2 yrs of bio/chem while taking it, and it took me forever to learn the info - but I had a 3.89 while on it, but was just going part time, so had the luxury of spending the time to learn.
Could not do it full time tho.
Mental dulling or not, I do miss the weight loss aspect of it.
I went through a time where i constantly had migraines. I know a few people have asked how someone eats and drinks while having one, but quite honestly, i would have starved if i waited until AFTER the pain was gone. Not to mention i have to eat something when i take any painkiller, anyway.
My point? Don't assume anyone that eats and drinks with a migraine is a faker.
I'm the original poster and I hope you read the part about how she acted after I said what I did.(which was wrong..yes...yes)
I would never begin to assume everyone who eats is not in pain. Most of you would die from lack of nutrition but what got me was HOW rambuncous she was...I mean VERY......not just funtioning and trying to act lively in order to not worry her BF...I'm talking "We're at Disneyland" type of happy. Both that and and her behaviour right after I spoke up made me supicious and confirmed those suspicions a short time later. I know it wasn't my place to say anything but I was inscensed by it having gone through so much at ERs myself for migraines.
I learned my lesson as a nurse making snap judgements on pain. I recall going through nursing school with a couple mentors who were jaded towards pain back then (we are talking almost 20 years ago now...lol). I came out of nursing school with the same attitudes. If your laughing, smiling, eating, etc., fill in the blank here your not in THAT much pain. Well, about 8 years into my career I took a job as a psych nurse in the prison system. First lesson to staff...show no weakness...show no pain...suck it up whatever it takes. Two years later I took a fall in an outdoor stairwell at the prison, went down the flight with my leg trapped behind me and blew my knee. Two years and two surgeries later, I wasn't better, The next several months revealed pain spreading to different areas of my body that made no sense. 6 months later I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and my world as I defined it came to a screaming halt. I was off work for most of the 5 years following my accident and I got to deal with the same atttitudes that I had once had. I guess someone up there felt I needed to get a dose of my own medicine is how I saw it then. It took all of those 5 years to accept the fact that I would never be the same person again. Not to my spouse, not to my kids, not to my career. I nearly took my own life when I came to terms with the fact I would NEVER be pain free again. Did I show my pain? No NEVER, pain meant weakness, vulnerability to the inmates, it meant risking being held hostage, etc. I left the prison system. It took years of counseling to realize I could express my pain. That was almost 8 years ago now. I am on a strict regimen of meds, that has included narcotics, and I can now function as a critical care nurse...no more ED or areas that have high patient quotas. I being the nurse that I am =) have convinced myself twice that I could do without my meds,...both times I ended up off work 6-9 months. I am not saying there are not those who abuse the system, there are, but we have a responsibility to people to be very careful how we treat them (innocent until proven guilty) Sometimes I just have to say to myself, this is the Drs. decision and problem as I look up their physician/narcotic history on the ED computer, smile and go on. But I just wanted to give my viewpoint as being on both sides of the coin.
And it is all too ironic that they are allergic to NSAIDS, Compazine, tylenol, Phenergan, Talwain, Nubain, etc....
It is sad that these types of patients set a sterotype for the other patients who suffer w/ migraines and do not frequent the ER.
Unfortunately, I have had migraines since I was 11 years old. They run in my family - males and females. I have been to the ER twice in 14 years, and the only reason last time (due to disrespectful treatment the first time) is because I was so dehydrated from vomiting I had to go - and stay admitted for 3 days with kidneys almost shut down.
I have been treated with many meds on an outpt basis, and unfortunately, am allergic to almost everything. I don't know why, but it is legit. I resent being labeled because my body reacts badly to medications.
I've suffered from migraines since I was 13, I'm not 57. I've been on all kinds of different meds. Nothing worked until Imitrex came out. Before that, I frequently had to go to the ER for an injection. My migraines were horrible. I was totally incapacitated from them. Many times, the ER staff would give me those "looks" or even make snide comments. I've reported staff who have treated me in that fashion. I even had a doctor who checked my arms to see if I was a "user".................I almost sued him...............
And it is all too ironic that they are allergic to NSAIDS, Compazine, tylenol, Phenergan, Talwain, Nubain, etc....
It is sad that these types of patients set a sterotype for the other patients who suffer w/ migraines and do not frequent the ER.
Unfortunately, I have had migraines since I was 11 years old. They run in my family - males and females. I have been to the ER twice in 14 years, and the only reason last time (due to disrespectful treatment the first time) is because I was so dehydrated from vomiting I had to go - and stay admitted for 3 days with kidneys almost shut down.
I have been treated with many meds on an outpt basis, and unfortunately, am allergic to almost everything. I don't know why, but it is legit. I resent being labeled because my body reacts badly to medications.
I get really bad adverse reactions as well....morphine,hydromorphone, and sulpha are classified as drug allergies since I break out in rashes. Codiene actually makes my body ache ....needless to say, going to an ER telling staff about the codeine thing makes them wonder. Fortunatley I'm not allergic to nsaids or Imitrex. Thank heavens. DHE, stemetil and torodol w/ maxeran makes me agitated to the extreme as well. So you aren't alone. I got my doctor to write down an "official" list of them so the staff would know it was legit and I haven't had as many "looks" since then. Mind you my frequency of er visits has gone down as well. (5 1/2 months since last one for migraines )
I've suffered from migraines since I was 13, I'm not 57. I've been on all kinds of different meds. Nothing worked until Imitrex came out. Before that, I frequently had to go to the ER for an injection. My migraines were horrible. I was totally incapacitated from them. Many times, the ER staff would give me those "looks" or even make snide comments. I've reported staff who have treated me in that fashion. I even had a doctor who checked my arms to see if I was a "user".................I almost sued him...............
It isn't clear if you occassionaly require narcotics for your migraines but as nursing student, we were told that checking arms and inquiring about drug abuse is indicated in certain situations where a pt requests narcs. I'm in no way implying it was called for, just a little fact.
As a migraine pt....I too feel awful when I get a look I interpret as being unprofessional or asked questions that seem to imply drug abuse.
Good luck and hope the Imitrex holds out ER visits forever. :)
I've been to the ED for migraines before when I was out if Imitrex. One nurse told me that she was pretty sure mine was a real one or I would be asking for narcotics, not begging for Imitrex.
I had fairly good luck w/ Topamax decreasing migraines by about 50% -- and nice weight loss too -- but had to d/c because I couldn't concentrate to study...
Now the migraines and weight are coming back.
This exact thing happened to me on Topamax. Although I did not see much success with decreasing migraines, it did make them slightly less frequent. I had visual problems after 2 months on the drug and my Neuro stopped it; I felt so stupid on Topamax, I was afraid of going back to school! Plus all carbonated beveraged tastes AWFUL and I missed my caffeine-free Diet Pepsi Not a good medication for me, but for some people it's great.
I do miss the weight-loss and have gained back the 15 lbs I lost in that 2 month period. The Topamax killed my appetite.
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...
I've been to the ED for migraines before when I was out if Imitrex. One nurse told me that she was pretty sure mine was a real one or I would be asking for narcotics, not begging for Imitrex.
So what the nurse is saying is that if someone comes in "begging" for narcotics she'll think drugseeker. Doesn't sound right. Lots of genuine migraineurs who've run out of options (triptans, meds by mouth) at home who require occassional narcotics to get a migraine under control. Imitrx is great but like many drugs...not always. :)
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Not a good medication for me, but for some people it's great.
SusanJean
463 Posts
:rotfl: :rotfl:
When I called my dr to have him d/c the topamax he said "Well, I do get some complaints about "mental dulling.""
I took 2 yrs of bio/chem while taking it, and it took me forever to learn the info - but I had a 3.89 while on it, but was just going part time, so had the luxury of spending the time to learn.
Could not do it full time tho.
Mental dulling or not, I do miss the weight loss aspect of it.