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vickythecat

Senior member
Joined
Jan 5, 2017
Messages
366
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
01/2013
Country
EU
State
Earth
Hi,

I've had broken bones in my youth and my parents did not take me to the ER. So I suppose that made me think that the ER is for really urgent and serious life or death cases, and a broken/sprained finger/ankle/wrist etc. can be handled during a regular doctor's visit. I know that was a very extreme point of view, but it confuses me to this day as to when to go to the ER.

This confusion is also made worse as I have been hearing from more and more people that they go to the ER for general pain. Someone I know who also has fibromyalgia, in fact, goes to the ER a couple of times a year.

Now I know pain is very a personal experience - but even on my worst days, a visit to the ER has never really come to my mind. I am more of the 'wait this out, if it doesn't go away, book an appointment with a doctor' type. I also do not like to interact with people due to my severe social anxiety. A crowded ER, all the nurses, the attention, the noises, the questions - the idea alone makes me feel worse.

So what do you think about going to the ER?

And if anyone has gone for fibro/pain related issues, have they really been able to help you?

(I know it also depends on your health care system/insurance. In my case, it is. The hospital nearby is a private one and I don't have the right insurance for that, so it would cost me buckets of money. If it wasn't, would I have gone there on my worst days/post-surgery days, I don't know?)

Thanks!
 
Hi Vicky,
Not sure how the healthcare system works where you're at, but if it's a question between sitting in a waiting room only to pay a bunch of moneys to find out nothing can be done, the best response is usually to wait it out until you can see your doctor.

Before my diagnosis, i did go to the walk-in clinic a few times and emergency once for Fibro pain. When the pain is extreme and you don't know what's causing it, you home someone might be able to help, or a doctor might cave and give you some good pain meds (I mostly got "I don't know what's wrong, but lets run some blood tests. Here's some useless anti-inflamatories"). Thankfully the walk-in clinic (at the same place my Dr works) is pretty good and if you need blood work/xrays/etc, it can all be done at the same place, and any info will show up in your file.

Now that I know I have fibro, I would only go to emerg for something serious but unrelated (broken bones, slicing my finger off, extreme fever, etc), but would only go for Fibro pain if it was so extreme that I knew I needed some serious care immediately. Everything else I usually go to the clinic just to find out what's up.

Of course, everyone is different. Even here with a public system, some people go at the first sign of a cold, and some people might break their leg and say nah, it's fine. If you can hold out until you see your doctor, that's great, but if you think you're in a life-threatening situation, get ye to a hospital!

Speaking of, I need to make an apt with my Dr.

Hope you're having a pain-free day!
 
I rolled my foot while working in the yard, uneaven ground. Been babying it for 2 days. My husbands first reaction was " well you better go to the dr. it might be broke. My thoughts, naugh, it pulled soft tissue and nerves, but hurts like hell cause I have flippen fibro. The good news is after 1 1/2 days of rest, which I hate by the way........cause.things to do. Im better.
One thing Im learning, I aint no spring chicken any more. I have to watch every step I take, and living in wilderness is beautiful, but not profitable for one with fibromyalgia, and now completly understand why my Dear Mother adimitly refused to move from California to Washington. " This too shall pass".
 
"So what do you think about going to the ER? "

I've been working on a " letter to the editor " piece with my thoughts about the current state of " health care " and " medicine " focusing specifically on the " Go to the ER " mentality and why IT is a great part symptomatic of high costs for health care and a " throw the spaghetti at the wall because it might stick " approach to getting help when something unexpected happens ( health wise ). I think it is a very poor way of addressing health issue unless it is a real emergency.

Since most people do not remember how we HB's got along before the " go to the ER " approach " to medicine most people think this is the way it has always been and depending on your age it's near impossible to imagine another way; that goes for the idiots working on " laws " for health care.

It's also amazing in a way how people react to my thoughts and opinions about the ER. People get angry at me for my opinion. They are not interested in know why, or what alternatives might be possible; they just get angry and even rage at the suggestion that something else might work. It's very much like the anger we see on the news everyday whether it is road rage, or town hall rage, of right against left rage, it's like the way a baby reacts when being weened or a drug attack reacts when an intervention occurs. In a society that believe in " rights " anything that appears to infringe on their rights is responded to with anger and hostility. So even if a better plan is possible tableing the plan is near impossible.

During that period of time when The Affordable Care Act was being talked about on the news everyday I became aware of this odd numbeer which kept growing but few people talked about the number and why it was growing geometrically. That number was the number of pages in the bill. I wanted to know how could the news simply broadcast on Monday that the bill was 700 pages long and on Tuesday say it was 1000 pages long and not explain why. Very soon it was 4000 pages long. Who could read that and how long would it take? Were these details of how things would work like " Go to the ER " for anything and everything if your doctor is unavailable " I'd like to read the part and pages about that and how they came to that conclusion.

I managed to be the second caller to The Washington Journal on c-span when Tom Coburn
Medical doctor, politician from OK. was the guest speaker. I managed to be " the caller " way longer than most and the host of the show could be heard asking Coburn " is the caller right? does the caller know what he's talking about? " and during that call I had 2 major points. 1 Once the agenda's are set nothing new can be added to the discussion. and 2 Medical coding, which the host new nothing about. Most people sorta kinda know that it is " there " but they do not have a clear understanding of where it came from, why, when, and how it is in great part the cause of run-a-way health care costs. I'm pleased to say that most of the remaining callers talked about the subjects I introduced. HOWEVER, the next day not one person mentioned medical coding and it was back to the same old crap Ad nauseam. And there-in lies the major problem with getting anything done and changed for the better.

medical coding ties in to going to the ER...there's even this: Emergency Department Coding Handbook
 
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