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Lumbar Pain Pump needed. Any Doctors for 65+?
The last of the baby-boomers are finding out that health ins. advantage plans with social security can’t get a doctor…It doesn’t pay! This my 3rd call to specialists related to my hospital can’t get pass the scheduling nurse as I listened again to a hot mic phone call where the nurse ask the phone desk operator “Is that his file on screen” Yes she said. “Oh No, his case doesn’t pay, tell him we are busy!” Then I hear those famous words “All 4 of our neurologist are busy with their patients! Sorry”. Well, knock me down with a feather. 20+ yr old Combat Vets returning from WW-II come home in 46-47, start a family 10 yrs later and children born in 57-58+ are reaching critical mass and Dr’s don’t like it. Workers comp pays better I have been told, so unless you’re ready to pay $3k-$5k out of pocket, you’re not get services. I have exhausted everything else, many fusions, RFA, Epidurals I lost count, S-I injections, SCS that after 3rd time the Dr. gave up. 20hrs of Ketamine IV drip is expensive & not fun also not fruitful. The Opioid debacle messed everything up, now buprenorphine/Subloxone is 2 per day while teeth crack off. Wow, having fun now! Forget the class action as you had to be on this stuff 2 years. Why? Some people sunburn & get freckles and others don’t. We are all different and had this since Jan 2024. Never had a cavity my life and now this? Sad world!
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Sorry to hear of your issues. It is open enrollment and you might consider getting out of the Medicare (Dis)advantage plan into regular Medicare and purchase a secondary to pay the 20% Medicare doesn't. The Advantage plan is an HMO not a PPO.
I hope you find someone to help you. Backpain is real.
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1 ReactionThis is off topic to a degree, but I feel compelled to ask away. Two things(in addition to all my various chronic pain symptoms): First, recently, I started having sinus stuffiness that accompanied some inner ear pain. I went to ENT PA. She looked in nasal area with scope. Nothing out of the norm. She put me on pantoprazole and generic nasocort. The ear pain cleared up, but the nasal stuffiness remains, and for the last few weeks I notice a loud "whooshing" in my inner ears when I breathe. At night it is so distracting that it takes me forever to get to sleep. Anyone ever expereince such a thing? If I don't concentrate on it, It goes unnoticed, like my tinnitus.
Second, I have begun to experience involuntary "jerks" in my shoulder and arms from time to time. It just started in the last month or so. Not sure if it is associated with all the pain meds I'm on(tramadol, gabapentin, diclofenac K) or perhaprs something associated with my severe, chronic neuropathy.
I will welcome any thoughts from my fellow commenters. Merry Christmas to all!
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1 ReactionThe “Eustachian” tubes connect the middle ear to the back of the throat to equalize air pressure as changes in altitude or weather fronts cause barometric pressure to change. Why it remains open to hear lying down to sleep is beyond my pay grade! However, the “Ear, Nose & Throat” Dr. should be able to correct this as an ear infection or abnormal condition may be the cause. Tinnitus added to sinus infections, medication maybe to cause this as a temporary tube issue. I use nasal spray & needy pot w/saline will flush a portion of mold, pollen, dust etc. may add to your problem. I had surgery for a deviated septum and guess what, I grows back over time, but you indicated they checked and good.
I still have tendinitis, loss of hearing after decades of car repair in dealer shops, as the never had gloves, single use ear protection or safety glasses. Things have changed. Yet I hate my sinuses as some days are horrible and other days nothing! Odd. Once the meds are gone, so may the tube noise. But go online to check side effects for each. With Severe Regional Chronic back pain, they took me off hydromorphone 8mg right to buprenorphine/Naloxone and since 2010, I get hardly any relief from pain.
Best of luck and make the best of the holidays. My wife and I decided to order a pizza for Christmas! lol!
I will have to check into that if I can afford an extra cost. It was unfortunate to have the Dr pull the plug on my career early as my income is stupid low. So a double whammy in the wallet with prices double or triple from 3 years ago since Covid. Thanks for the info as I need to check into extra coverage but a numerologist prefers payments on a Volvo, not a Honda Civic! lol. Happy holidays.
Prioties.
Thanks for your response. I am going to have to wait another two or three weeks before I can see the ENT again. You have to be on death's doorstep before you can get an immediate appointment. I also had surgery to straighten out my septum about fourteen years ago. I am going to ask to see the doctor this time, not a twenty-seven year old PA.
Merry Christmas!
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