Old MS with New problems

[Natasha wonders if]

I am 57 years old. I had a fall two months ago. I went to the hospital after about 10 hours. I did not feel good the night before and ask my husband to sleep in the guest apartment we have. He checked on me and thought I was fine. When he came up about 6 hours later he found me on the ground with two black eyes a broken nose and cuts and abrasions all over my body. When I went to the Er they thought I was drug seeking or on drugs. I never asked for any drugs of any kind. In fact I declined any pain meds because I did not want any pain being masked from the meds. The Er charting that I received does not even cover any of my facial injuries. I may have been out for at least 6 hours. They did not do any MRI or cat scan. When I told the nurse that I did not feel my legs (have not had any feeling in my legs for years) she must have dug her nail in me to test it out. Did not notice it till I got home.

It was a terrible time in the ER and I am afraid of going again. But I seem to be having small amount of times when I seem to phase out, I don't remember anything for a few minutes. Is this normal. I am trying to quit smoking, but staying in bed is so boring. But I have to quit because I dropped a cigerette and I did not even notice and I felt fire on my chest. I know that I sound a mess. But I am totally normal. But after this ER visit I seem to be so scared to even go to the doctors. I asked a nurse to not grab me and to not speak to me in such a condesending tone. I guess I should tell you I was an ER nurse and I just expect certain behavior from nurses. When I heard one nurse say that they were sick of compalining patients, that that is what they had all day. I told them that was not right. That no one comes to the Er for fun. They thought that I was being difficult. I could go on about this. But do others find themselves having to expalin that they have MS and that their symtoms are normal for progressive MS. I would think that a nurse would look up something about MS before the judge.

I am on pain meds and ativan due to terrible spasms of the legs and arms. My spasms stay locked like and my arms and legs are like cement to the touch. I would like to not be on any meds. I can;t take any steroids, so I have to deral with a lot of stuff from the MS. I do use Reiki and other alternive healing measurments. I feel like I am going crazy. What I am trying to find out is are there others out there that need pain meds on a daily base. I do not get loaded on these drugs, they just take away the pain. I would love to have a few glasses of wine with my friends and get a little looped once in awhile. I would like someone to share with me if they have had any bad experinces while in the hospital or Er. If you could share I would appriciate it. Sorry for the spelling and typing.

[Seasha]

Welcome to MSWorld, Natasha!! We glad you are here. It sounds like you are having a rough time and I'm sorry you had a bad experience in the ER. I don't have answers to your questions, but I'm sure someone will! You will find great information and companionship here. In the meantime, keep your chin up and stay well.

[WillyNilly]

Hi Natasha
Wow, I would certainly be filing some formal complaints about that Hospital ER! The worst problem with mine is the horrendous wait times to be seen. Thats why I try to avoid them unless its really major, last time I was there (March 2010 I think, maybe 11?) I was admitted after it took 6 hours hanging around ER for test results. The first 2 hours was sitting in a wheelchair in the waiting room-why? Because far too many people around here use ER as their personal doctors office if their kid has a cold-GRRR. But anyway...
Do you think you were considered a drug seeker because of the pain meds you already take? I haven't had that problem but I always bring enough of my own for a few days "just in case". I think it makes a difference when they see you have your own with you- like they get the idea you're only there for drugs because you've run out of your own if they see you aren't carrying any. Nasty assumption on their part, but I've heard that from more than one hospital nurse and my Dr. Thats why I always bring mine with, then if they want to keep me and send my stuff home with my ride (usually my adult daughter) then so be it.
I've been taking my pain meds since '98 or '99 on a regular daily basis. When I was still working I took quite a bit more, I found when the dose was getting high enough to possibly be a danger to myself or my co-workers it was time to apply for disability
After I quit working I was pleasantly suprised to find I didn't need to take near as much because I wasen't constantly re-aggrivating it daily and voluntarily weaned back to a much lower dose. So far (and it's been over 10 years) I haven't needed an increase! I feel very fortunate with that because I always worry that at some point there won't be anything more to try if I have to keep increasing like so many people do. I consider myself very lucky to have found the right pain med that works well for me
I really hope you'll go to your GP and see if they can find an explanation as to why you were treated so poorly!
Let us know what happens and I hope you're feeling better now!