WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT TAKE?

[solarbird]

WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A FUCKING MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL FUCKING LISTEN TO YOU WHEN YOU FUCKING TELL THEM THAT IF THEY GIVE YOU CODINE IT WILL MAKE YOU PARANOID AND HALLUCINATE?! WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT TAKE?! WHAT? WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE FUCKING TELL ME BECAUSE I APPARENTLY CANNOT GET IT THROUGH THE HEADS OF ANY. FUCKING. BODY.

For those wondering, my GP, who has been told this MANY times, prescribed me a prescription cough medication because the latest fucking permutation of "hi dara spends more time sick than she has her entire life" is apparently an opportunistic nasal infection. I also got antibiotics. The prescription cough med has, yes, SEKRIT CODINE not listed on the bottle but listed by the manufacturer.

Similarly, when I was in the neuro ward after I got hit by that car, they had me hopped up on codine (and it was horrible) and when I got sober/sane enough to get my shit together to ask about it, they said ok, they'd take me off it -- except that then they tried to give me more painkiller and I said "is there any codine in this? I can't take codine, it makes me paranoid and gives me hallucinations." And she said "nope!" and I said "Okay, what is it?" and she said "it's just Tylenol" and alarms went off and I said "...is it Tylenol 3?" and she said "...yes" and I said YOU MEAN THE KIND WITH CODINE, THAT MAKES ME PARANOID AND HALLUCINATE?

motherFUCKER.

Comments

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

Let's see. Tylenol does Nothing for me, no pain killing, no fever reducing. Documented, I did nothing after getting it with a severe infection in a hospital. Some doctors still tell me to take it as first choice for pain/fever.
(One of my doctors was nice and put an allergic code on my records, but another stoopid doctor took it off.)
And certain antihistamines and I don't get along. Like you and codeine. It gets real nasty. But some antihistamines and I do just fine. So I have to know the class of histamine blocker and look it up in my PDR to see if I can take it. "But it isn't the histamine blocker you have listed as an allergy." "But it is in the same chemical class, which means I will probably have the same reaction. Which is Not Pleasant. Suicidal thoughts and hallucinations are ugly." Luckily, they are an old class of histamine blockers and rarely used any more.
By the By - My daughter has the same codeine reaction you have, and has had 4 kids, two by c-section. Now nursing moms should not have codeine anyway. But doctors are so used to giving it to anyone in pain... Yeah, she yells at them too for all the good it does.
I want a decent PDR for my PDA. But usually they are a doctor's item and very expensive. *sigh*

[callibr8]

Ugh! That's awful.

I recall when I had the horrible bronchitis, and ran out of my prescription cough med over the weekend (i.e. no chance of a refill when I really needed it - I coughed so hard that I pulled a muscle in my back). I asked the pharmacist on duty for ideas and zie recommended Delsym, which is an OTC product, i.e. **no codeine** and has a different, longer-acting suppressant than the standard dextromethorphan (Robitussin et al) ones. You can get Delsym at Rite-Aid, and possibly even at the Safeway near you. Might be worth a try; it continues to work better than any other non-narcotic cough syrup, for me.

[l-l-u-w-d.livejournal.com]

I am having similar issues with my current (new) doctor. I hate when they don't listen to you, or downplay or belittle your experience with certain meds.

When I have a doctor who has uncontrolled asthma to the severity I do, and who is taking the same meds I am, both maintenance AND emergency, tell me that my reactions to my meds (currently that the one inhaler I am using does NOT work) is in my head because they use it too, then I will believe them. Until then? Nope. I know how meds react to me, as does anyone else who takes meds, or has taken them at least regularly enough to know, and if they don't work, or interact/react badly, well then, listen to the patient, damn it! All most doctors know about the meds they prescribe/dispense are what they read in their journals/pubs/documents/trials, and have no real hands on knowledge of the meds. Every med reacts differently to each patient, damn it all. Why can't they get that through their thick skulls! I mean, really, we pay them enough, they ought to get their head out of their asses and pay some attention to us.

[callibr8]

I think my primary care doc is terrific - and not only does she listen to me about meds, she looked up the *current* name of a drug I told her I was allergic to, because it didn't sound familiar to her, so she researched it on the spot and now I know what that drug is currently called. Only hitch (for those local to the greater Seattle metro area) is that she's in Ballard. Still, if you want her name, let me know and I'll be glad to provide it.

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

I put it down as a drug allergy. If they press you on what your reaction is, you can explain, but once they've got it down as an allergy (both at the doctor's office and at the pharmacy), you're *fairly* unlikely to get any. In my experience the pharmacists in particular are really good at catching this sort of thing in a "wait, your scrip includes vicodin, which is a codeine derivative, do you know for sure that's OK for you to take?"

All that said: WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?

[mathmuffin.livejournal.com]

Back when I was a teenager, I had an infected ingrown toenail removed. The surgery was painful, especially since I am resistant to local anesthesia, and when it was over, my big toe was a small point of throbbing inside a big ball of gauze. The doctor gave me Tylenol 3 as a painkiller and sent me home.

At home I discovered that the codeine in Tylenol 3 does not act as a painkiller on me. It acts as a diuretic. Every 15 minutes I had to limp over to the bathroom to piss, with the pain undiminished. Fortunately, after 2 hours my own internal pain blocks shut down the pain in my toe.

I theorize that my bloodstream immediately identified codeine as a poison, and went to work clearing it out via my kidneys as quickly as possible.

Half of all medicines have a different effect on me than intended. I have gotten tired of playing drug roulette, so nowadays I avoid everything except antibiotics.

I love my doctor

[drglam]

What a jerk!

My doctor wanted to give me a codeine cough syrup to take to the Fly Meeting (I'd had the martian death flu the week before, and had a nasty cough that would interfere with my meeting responsibilities). When I told him I reacted badly to codeine, and would also need to be clear-headed, he gave me Tessalon (benzonatate) instead.

It comes in little clear round gel caps, and you have to drink a ton of water with it, but it works great. And now you have an alternative to request next time.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

oh for fuck's sake.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

That was my idea... tell'em it's an allergy. (If you wanted to fsck with'em, tell'em you get the urge to kill whoever's name is on the bottle.... but then again, maybe not... still, it wouldn't be that far from the truth, and it would be fun (if dangerous) to see their reaction... no, I'm not serious, but the only reason I'm not serious is that I value your freedom... I am serious that somebody needs to see the business end of a lawyer about this, 'cause when you tell'em something and they ignore you and they fsck you over like this, it's called "malpractice", and they owe you...)

Somebody messed with my friend. I'm pissed.

[flit.livejournal.com]

That's what I was going to suggest too; severity of your reaction TOTALLY justifies claiming this as an allergy -- ANY deleterious and idiosyncratic drug reaction should be claimed as an allergy if that's what it takes to get doctors to take it seriously. And if someone quizzes you on it and says that's not an allergic reaction just say that it's so severe that wouldn't it be simpler to list it as an allergy so you don't get it prescribed?

My favorite WTF lately is when I was prescribed an inhaler that can trigger anaphylactic shock in people with peanut allergies... when I carry an epi-pen mostly because of peanut allergies. You'd think the same allergist who diagnosed my peanut allergy would get that! I only caught it because the pharmacist stuck a sticker on the inhaler.

[solarbird]

I have it listed as an allergen on my medicalert stuff for these exact reasons. But I shouldn't have to be making shit up for my GP.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I'm going to remember that one. I have nasty coughs with a tendency to bronchitis when I get colds, and codeine has absolutely no effect on me.

[westrider.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I've got a number of drug reaction problems as well. I've managed to get my Dentist pretty well trained about them, but no one else seems to get it.

[cafiorello.livejournal.com]

List it as an allergy everywhere--hospital intake, pharmacist, doctors. Yes, you can explain what the actual rx is to your GP, but in writing, just make sure it's listed as an allergy.

And if your GP dismisses your perceptions, find a new one.

Cathy

[kmarier.livejournal.com]

Change doctors. Doctors serve the public by taking care of peoples' medical needs. You have as much right to "fire" your doctor for substandard care as a doctor does if he feels he cannot give the patient in question the treatment he/she needs. Should you take this step, I would draft a letter stating why you are terminating him as your caregiver (keep a copy for your files), and if your care was really heinous consider reporting him to the state medical board.

Or, if you receive decent care from this person, listing the drug interaction as an allergy is a good suggestion. Demerol acts on me as a stimulant not as a sedative and I've had good results when I've listed it as an allergy. Makes them sit up and pay attention.

If you have a drug interaction, however mild or serious, it must be taken seriously and if the doctor does not, he/she isn't fit to practice medicine. Intolerable! Good luck.

[king-chiron.livejournal.com]

I think you should definitely drop kick that doctor, letting them know why you're dumping them!

darthhellokitty had a doctor a few years back that, every time she had some minor ache or pain, would come up with the most horrible theories. "Oh, you may have this horrible disease where your bile duct rots away..." And then of course none of these turn out to be true but they've scared and stressed the hell out of both of us. And when she changed doctors we both said "Why did we wait that long?!"

[cheryl-f.livejournal.com]

CHANGE DOCTORS! NOW! DAMMIT!

You should not have to remind your doc of your personal issues - for god's sake, she/he has your chart in front of them. It's not to much to expect that the doc LOOK at the chart, not just hold it as a prop.

If you doctor is part of a group practice, be sure & let the practice head know why you are leaving.

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

at least I'm not the only one that codeine has that effect on. Seems most medications I try to take have the OPPOSITE effect on me than they're supposed to. Which is why I suffer with my allergies most times, because most allergy scripts seem to magnify the problem... (not to mention knock me the fuck out for hours on end).

Also, Codeine makes me sicker than hell. Screw the "take with food" warning. doesn't help. Last time I took something with codeine in it, I got violently sick at work, and had to find a ride home, stopping every 5 minutes to throw up on the side of the road. NOT fun.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

My mother is allergic to codeine. She makes sure to tell this to doctors and pharmacists every time there's even a remote chance a medicine might have codeine in it. Yet twice in the past decade she's wound up taking something with codeine in it.

At least I don't have to worry about my current GP giving me sulfa drugs again. The hives I had from the last dose were pretty memorable. (Fortunately, they looked worse than they were.)

I don't know what the solution is. I'm not even sure what the _problem_ is, except it sometimes seems the average IQ on the planet has dropped 30 points since I graduated college.