I had my appointment today. The doctor spent all of about two minutes looking at me and decided I had Myofascial Pain Syndrome. I got injections in my "trigger points" of lidocaine, and some steroid, and it hurts worse now. I was given a script for Meloxicam and Tizanidine. NSAID and Muscle Relaxer, respectively.
I'm pissed because the doctor didn't listen, I had a written down list of symptoms and a pain diary and he didn't even pay attention. I'm in A LOT of pain, and there's nothing anyone will do.
Should I go see another doctor? Or call him back? The injection sites are killing right now. . .
Sadly, you're in pretty much the same position as the rest of us chronic pain sufferers with the docs....
Injections rarely help at all, and usually cause a lot more pain than they relieve. For some people they do help, but it takes a day or two for the initial pain to subside enough for it to count as relief. Depends a lot on the condition and the doctor as well as what is being injected.
Being mostly ignored in favor of only the most obvious, simple observations (and ignoring the details which are often at least as important) is unfortunately par for the course. I wouldn't put much hope in that improving even if you found a different, "better" doc.
Personally, I suggest trying Turmeric. There are related supplements including ginger, bromelain, cayenne, piperine (black pepper extract), etc which can help...but Turmeric is by far the most effective anti-inflammatory supplement that I've used -- and I've tried almost everything there is over the years. It works better than NSAIDs for me.
You may also want to try Voltaren Gel....it's an NSAID that is applied topically, so there are fewer side effects and it works better because it's directly at the site of worst pain -- for me, the sacro-iliac joint. I have pain everywhere, but my ability to cope with the 1,000 other things is very much variable based on how I'm doing with the single worst source.
Frankly, we're mostly on our own with this shit. It's sad, it's frustrating and it makes me incredibly furious. But 99% of docs -- even those specializing in pain mgmt (pathetic as most pain mgmt practices are!) -- aren't going to do anything close to what they could be for you. They'll rush through your appointment and ignore half the shit you say no matter how important or accurate it is....and they won't consider -- or even think of, in many cases -- any number of valid treatments.
Cannabinoid therapies have been very helpful to me: cannabis itself, Marinol, and Cesamet in particular.
You may want to look into Low Dose Naltrexone; you can acquire the 50mg naltrexone tablets online if necessary (e.g. your doctor won't consider it, or you aren't willing to potentially damage your relationship by even asking about something that most docs consider so outlandish/unproven), and dissolve them in water to accurately measure out the necessary dose, anywhere from 15-25 micrograms to 4.5 milligrams. Most patients find a "sweet spot" between 0.5 and 3 milligrams. Look up LDN/Ultra LDN/ULDN/ULD-NTX on BL or Google for more details on how this works....I'm about to start it, hopefully with my doctor's support, as an adjunct to low dose pain medication. I've been on quite high doses (equiv. to 500-600mg+ Oxycodone per day) in the past, and didn't get adequate relief. I battled to get down to nothing last year and have resumed low doses, but don't see much long-term hope for pain relief other than (U)LDN.
My hope is that the (U)LDN will upregulate my natural endorphins/enkephalins, possibly even directly relieve my auto-immune problems by "balancing" my immune system, and maintain my tolerance at a near-naive level while helping the opiates work better. If it works well enough, I may even discontinue the opiates entirely and go with just the LDN alone.
There are other things I'll try to mention in this or other threads if I get a chance....but except for a few other supplements that may be useful (some, such as Phenylalanine, may work well with (U)LDN), my principal suggestions are Turmeric, Ginger, and LDN.
I'm sorry you're going through this....it's hell, and nobody but a fellow sufferer will ever really understand.