Frustrated with These Doctors

Intro:

28 year old workaholic and father of three. I love the outdoors and doing anything to enjoy life. I was diagnosed a little over a year ago with ulcerative colitis and I have been doing everything in my power to not have it hold me hostage.

Some more about Nick:

I love my work and family. I am very fortunate to have a job that I can enjoy both whenever I like. I am definitely an outdoorsmen and love to hunt and hike.

Symptoms:

Right now I am in the middle of a full blown flare. This flare is worse than any other I have experienced. It all started with getting a stomach bug from one of my kids.

Nick’s Story – Frustrated with These Doctors

So let me start off with that before I had a flare up I was your typical mid 20’s guy. I did not even have a primary care doctor.
Let me tell you this was probably not the best decision. I come from a family of medical professionals ranging from doctors down to nurses. They would always tell me I needed to have a primary care doctor.

When I had my first flare up and found that first bloody stool I was at Fenway park watching a Red Sox Yankees game and I completely passed out in the stall. This was quite the experience because I woke up slumped into the wall and had to gather my thoughts. It was pretty damn scary!! Somehow I stayed the rest of the game and drove the 2 hrs home without crapping my pants. I will never forget that night.

So on to what’s eating at me right now. With my flare ups I get some crazy joint pain. Since my first flare up I have gotten myself a primary care doctor. On my first appointment I explained to them all about my UC and they even have the records from my GI doctor. I explained to them that I usually know a flare is coming because I will start to get sore and even my eyes start to have a burning sensation.

When I recently went to her to try to get something to help with this pain because it’s pretty much unbearable she told me almost flat out no. She was treating me like I was some drug addict just looking to score.. This frustrated me tremendously to the point I told her to give me a drug test and I will pay out of pocket. Of course she did not budge. Instead she was kind enough to tell me to take Tylenol as if I was a moron and not already doing so. She also proscribed be Voltarin gel which did absolutely nothing.

I do not look like a drug addict and to be honest I barely even drink.

I don’t even like taking prescription drugs as much as possible but this pain when I have a flare is absolutely insane. I really need some advice here. I have tried everything without using medication from meditation to heat packs and nothing has truly made it so I can function.

So what’s your thoughts? Has anyone been through this before?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. My GI Doc referred me to my primary care doctor to help manage the joint pain during a flare.

Medications and Treatments Tried:

I have tried everything from heat packs to meditation. Nothing has helped the joint pain during a flare.

written by Nick S

submitted in the colitis venting area