Feeling Pain

I have had more than my fair share of doctors appointments, trips to Urgent Care and the Emergency Room, and diagnostic tests because of something that hasn't been working right.

There is one aspect that I will never really understand, and because of that I cannot really offer any advice on what to say when this comes up.

When I have a new pain, or a pain that sometimes happens but is not one of my constant symptoms, sometimes I try to find relief but sometimes I ride it out.
Recently, with this new bladder pain, when I thought it was bladder swelling or a bit of inflammation, I took a specific medication that numbs the pain.
I believed to know what the problem was, so I took something mild to combat that problem.

When the results came back that it was inconclusive, a potential UTI, or something entirely different, I stopped taking that medication even though it would continue to provide some pain relief.
Why?

Well I have experienced two types of situations when it comes to pain relief with brand new inexplainable pain.

First:
I take what I can to reduce the pain and then go see a doctor or go to an urgent care or ER. I get there and they ask me:
• How severe is your pain?
• Where is your pain?
• Does it spread to anywhere else?
• What kind of pain - sharp, dull, intermittent, burning, stabbing, throbbing, etc...?

Well, if I have taken something to take care of this pain, I can't necessarily answer these questions. Then they become frustrated and start to question whether or not I actually WAS in pain at all. I start to wonder if I was making a big deal out of nothing (because I can no longer feel what is going on with my body), and I leave with no answers, only to be bombarded by severe pain later on.

Second:
I refuse to take this pain-relieving medication until after I see the doctor. I wait so that I can answer their questions clearly and precisely.
They ask another question:
• Has anything helped to reduce the pain? Medication? Activity? Voiding?

Of course, I tell them what helps, and they look at me as though I am a certified lunatic. They begin to ask why I am not taking that medication if it helps the pain. I try to explain that I want to be able to tell them exactly where the pain is and how bad. But, of course, who just sits with pain when they have pain relieving medication at their disposal? So then they question my motivations, they question the severity, and they start to treat me as though I am faking the whole thing because I MUST be crazy to WANT to feel the pain to try and figure out what the hell it is.
*Sigh*

It's a lose-lose situation in most cases.

The truth is, there have been more situations that I can count where I have taken pain meds, or been given pain meds by EMTs, before I see the doctor, and then I am sent home because the pain does not seem severe enough to be treated, only to be in excruciating inside-ripping pain later.
I would rather feel my pain enough for doctors to SEE me in pain so that they take me seriously rather than skip the pain but wind up in a much more dangerous situation later on.

There is another reason I choose this route.
This week, for instance, I was on a specific antibiotic for a UTI. I did not take that numbing medication at all this week. Not because I did not have symptoms. Not because I was in less pain. I decided to forego the numbing medication because I want to be acutely aware of whether not the antibiotic is working.
Which it wasn't.
If I had been numbing my bladder, I may not have noticed, and whatever this is could have turned into a dinosaur-level monster by the time I finished the course.
As it turns out, because I decided to suffer, I knew the day before my last dose that I was not getting better. That gave me time to see my family physician - before the weekend - to try something else or investigate further.
If I had not done that, I would have been in Urgent Care tonight. No question.
And with this new medication, I want to be aware of how well (or not) it is working so that, on Monday, if it has not resolved the issue, I can clearly tell my doctor and go another route.

I am not saying that it is easy.
It is brutal.
There have been several times where I have been lying in bed or punching the wall or even screaming into my pillow from this damn bladder pain. I know that there is a bladder-numbing medication within arm's reach. But if I cannot feel the pain then I cannot know if I am getting better or worse.

My only advice: write down all of your pain, every symptom, every discomfort, no matter how graphic. Then, if you do get a doctor who does not believe you, you at least have a written record that they can refer to.
Try to prepare your answers as best you can to the most common questions - written in the following post.
Good luck!!