For 2 years, my spine surgeons told me, "your films look too good for you to be having the kind of pain you are reporting."
"I could pull 100 45 year old men who have no symptoms off the street and 1/2 of them would have MRI's that look way worse than yours." (good for them!)
Thought I was a malingerer. He put into my record, "I am wondering if the patient has a physical problem at all? I am ordering cervical, thoracic, lumbar MRI's to rule out HNP." (HNP = herniated nucleosus pulposis = herniated disc)
So, he was certain that I was faking. My lumbar MRI showed a 15mm protrusion at L4-5.
After my L5-4 discectomy relieved the new leg pain associated with a new disc protrusion, but left my unrelenting low back pain unchanged, was sent to pain management. After about 8 or 9 months in pain management, my PM doc called me and dumped me.
"You are way too mobile and your films don't look bad enough to be having the type of pain you are reporting", he said.
About a month later, my left foot went numb and started with very severe foot pain. Discography ruled in L5-S1 me ineligible for the Charite' clinical trial. (thankfully! At that time, I would have been happy to have been someone's first ADR...I did not know better!)
A couple of months later (after amazing trials and tribulations with new pain doctors having been dumped for not having bad enough films), a new MRI showed a 14mm protrusion at L5-S1.
Yes... being accused of being a drug seeker, malingerer, psych problem, etc... is VERY VERY common. I believe it's worse for women. It's worse for people with tattoos and piercings. It's worse for people who have depression or other psych issues in their past. If the doctors don't understand your pain syndrome, too many of them will blame it on the patient.
It's very unfortunate that so many of us must endure these indignities. Note that the small percentage of real drug seekers, malingerers, etc... all contribute to making it worse for us. In many cases, the doctors truly are doing the best they can and just have to accept the fact that they will make mistakes. Occasionally (or frequently) they will deny treatment for patients that should have it... and they will give treatment to some that shouldn't.
Spine sucks.
Mark
|