I was in the ER a few weeks ago. I thought I had appendicitis. One thing about the ER is that you almost never see a doctor you know.
Before I left I took my blood pressure medicine because I know my own reactions to things. Even with the medicine, my blood pressure was sky high. I expected that. I was ready for it. See, I don’t process pain like most people. Hell, every time I have been pregnant I don’t feel labor until its almost over. So, when pain sends me to the ER, well, a regular person probably would have gone a few days earlier.
So, I tried to explain to both the nurse and the doctor that, even though my blood pressure was in stroke range, I did take my medicine and it would go down as soon as I was out of pain. They didn’t believe me. Big surprise.
The doctor ordered two clonidines to bring my pressure down before he gave me anything for the pain. Instead of an argument I just took them, I was in far too much pain to argue. The pills worked, sort of, by dropping my pressure slightly, enough for the doctor to realize I knew what I was talking about.
So, along with the whole not processing pain normally, I don’t react to pain meds normally. Who really didn’t see that one coming? So he gives me a weak med in an iv (which, weeks later, I still have a bruise from). I think it was tordol. That did nothing but make me nauseous. I went to the rest room and almost blacked out from the pain. The doctor probably thought I was some pain med junky looking to score. He finally agreed to give me something stronger while waiting for a hospital policy ct scan before taking my appendix.
He gave me demerol. This knocked me out and just took the edge off the pain a little.
I choked down that bitter crap for the ct scan, which they put in Crystal Light now instead of something sweeter, while napping off and on. They also did blood work, including a pregnancy test even though I told them why it was impossible for me to be pregnant and a full drug test (again because the doctor thought I was a junky looking to score and I think he was trying to prove that I didn’t take my blood pressure meds). Oh, by the way, did I mention that as soon as the second medicine took the edge off the pain, my pressure was a low 130/90? The nurse even came in to check to be sure I didn’t put the cuff on someone else to be sure!!
Anyway, I sleep on and off waiting for the ct scan. They finally come get me for the scan. After the test, I return to the little room and doze more.
The doc looks at tge test and comes in to apologize. I did not have appendicitis afterall but something much more painful. I ripped the muscle in my abdomen that causes six pack abs. The doctor said every case he has ever heard of and the only other case he has ever seen personally, the person can barely crawl into the ER from the pain, let alone walk and talk. Again, I remind him of what I said when I got there, I don’t process pain like normal people.
So, he gave me a script for hydrocodines to control the edge and help keep my blood pressure down and sent me home. I told people I was going home so no one would worry, got the hydros filled, and, for the first few days took then every 6 hours. They knocked me out and, honestly, I lost two full days because I was basically sedated.
I feel better now. The rip is still there but is healing. I had a 5 inch horizontal rip in the muscle that was bleeding into the muscle. The doctor told me to expect blood in my urine as it healed and some tenderness if I was normal. After that second day on the pain meds, I knew it was healing, I was able to take a hydro at night before bed and one about mid day to keep the pain a normal person would feel from skyrocketing my pressure but that was all I needed by then.
According to what I found online, I really shouldn’t have been able to move two days prior when the original injury occured and for a few weeks after. Being knocked out with the meds allowed me to not move to allow it to start to heal.
The rip is still healing. The research I did shows that it will take 6 weeks to heal completely.
But that is why I hate the ER. They always look at me funny and I get the usual lecture about the importance of taking my blood pressure meds because its always sky high.