I really just wanted some morphine

[kaberett]

i.e. hello everyone, I am home again and have been for some time, shortcipher has taken excellent care of me, North Middlesex Hospital continues to exist in the centre of a desolate hellscape as far as public transport to anywhere useful is concerned, etc.

AS EVER it is the case that NHS 111 panic a bit at me being obviously in uncontrolled serious pain, but by the time I've been triaged and actually moved through to A&E it's subsided and I get Very Strange Looks from the medics who come to see me.

I really just wanted to have some morphine available to take when the codeine clearly wasn't cutting it. I really, really did.

So. I have been instructed to get myself referred back to a consultant gynaecologist (Gillian Rose, self, or Chelsea and Westminster in general looks plausible) and to get ultrasounded once a year (for all the good that will do). I am going to try really quite hard to persuade whoever I end up seeing that I ought to be allowed to have a small quantity of heavy-duty stuff on hand for the once-a-year that codeine doesn't cut it rather than wasting everybody's time quite so badly, holy crap. (With, presumably, some safety mechanism in place so that I don't accidentally drug myself up enough to ignore something badly enough wrong that emergency surgery should be happening -- but please can I just have appropriate pain relief while I'm waiting for it to become apparent that there isn't any real problem? Please?)


Other things we have learned: I am not pregnant (surprise), intramuscular diclofenac in my right bicep does a wonderful job of getting my right shoulder to shut up temporarily, NHS 111 triage nurses get a little concerned if your breathing abruptly goes shallow and rapid and they already know you've taken 60mg codeine in the last hour on top of the max quantity of other painkillers and you have a medical condition that carries a risk of lethal complications of which the only symptom will be "more pain", everyone thought I should have gone to A&E sooner (which I WOULD had it not been the case that etc etc etc), this continues a very tedious illness, PLEASE JUST LET ME HAVE SOME MORPHINE TO KEEP AT HOME.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

Hugs? Glad you're okay enough to be home.

[kaberett]

Thank you. <3

[aella_irene]

I am seeing GR on Tuesday morning, and will report back.

[kaberett]

Thank you! And also good luck. (Augh, e-mail. :-/)

[azurelunatic]

FUCKING bodies.

[kaberett]

INdeed. (Poor thing -- it is trying its best, it really is, but this was not quite the crisis situation it imagined.)

[ewt]

Glad you are home and there is nothing new obviously amiss.

[untonuggan]

i am sorry :(((

i'm glad you're home and away from the wonderful flourescents of A&E (at least, I assume yours have those lights, too)...wishing you weighted blankets and for your body to calm the fuck down.

[vass]

NOT FUN. D:

<3

[littlebutfierce]

Blerrrrgh. <3333

[cesy]

Ugh, bodies.

[inoru_no_hoshi]

Ugh, bodies. *hugs* *tea and snuggly blankets*

[sfred]

Thinking of you. <3

[redsixwing]

Ugh, endo.

Warmth and relief to you, soonest.

[davidgillon]

Ugh, somehow managed to miss this. Glad you're home and better.

A lot of my bendy friends have oramorph* on a daily basis, or for breakthrough pain, so it doesn't seem unreasonable you should have something available for occasional pain on this level (even if not due to bendiness) - it's not as if you're inexperienced at pain management.

* My experience during the gallbladder thing was that oramorph gave me about 30 minutes of relief, IV morphine about 1 hour 45, no idea what dosages I was getting. There are also butrans 'lollies' you can suck as an alternative to actual morphine, but I've never had them and not sure I know anyone who has.

[(Anonymous)]

In theory oramorph should last longer, four hours iirc, I had it prescribed for a while whilst I sorted out which combo was best for me when moving to the UK and all such prescribing was via the order from the pain clinic. For me it's a version of butrans that seems to be the most effective, didn't know it came as lollies, I get sublingual tablets, which are a pain, but so would a lolly be, for me anyway. Chemistry hat on, butrans is a mixed opioid agonist antagonist, so it can block a later dose of codeine, so people on it are better off on it uniquely, however, doctors outside pain clinics don't tend to be aware of this in the UK, so if I had an equally good or even almost as good choice I'd choose that, but I was having problems with the adhesive on the patches. There are a bunch of other intermediate stuff that might help. Unfortunately you may need to demonstrate need by going to A&E every time you would use it if you had it even if 9/10 times home with it's comforts, hot water bottles, other choices etc. would be the choice over hours waiting at A&E.

[pipisafoat]

♥

(also because brain, consolidation: thanks for the pictures! looks lovely.)

[silveradept]

Glad that the body has been finally calmed, and it would be nice to have a supply of that on hand for serious pain. Hopefully you get something that works well enough for you.

[hairyears]

oof. Glad to hear you got back...