I went to the doctor's today, because my back is out. I have been doing my physical therapy exercises, and have been working out. Everything seemed to be going well, until it just wasn't... my back is killing me. I haven't been able to sleep for days. My previous doctor and my OBGYN cleared me to take painkillers for back pain while I am trying to conceive. (They said it has not shown any side effects to be harmful to pregnancy when taken infrequently.)
I take about 4 painkillers a year. My back has to be really bad for me to justify taking it. Usually I prefer taking a muscle relaxer, because instead of making me stupid, it relaxes my muscles and solves why I am having the pain. Then, when the swelling goes down, I can visit my chiropractor and/ or do my back exercises. (Due to birth defect warnings, I have stopped taking muscle relaxers).
I went to the doctor, today, because my painkillers, that my primary care doctor said was safe, were past their expiration date. This type of medication becomes highly ineffective as it passes the expiration date. I made an appointment to go in, and had to see another doctor. He did the mobility test on me (a variety of exercises like bending over, lifting legs, and swaying at the hips)) to see where I was having trouble. I explained to him, that the area was sensitive to touch, and he could tell I had a lot of weakness in my legs, and that I had very limited mobility because of the pain. He made me lay down on the bed, and used both of his hands and pushed down on my low back, like he was giving me CPR on my spine. He did this twice. I screamed out because it hurt so bad. WTF. Why would someone do that? I have gone through mobility tests several times, and no doctor ever intentionally was that rough with me, knowing what hurt me (I hurt my back when I was 17 and no doctor has ever done that to me in almost 20 years). Then he told me that he could not give me anything because he did not want to take any chances. He intentionally hurt me, and then could not give me anything to make the pain stop. I was in tears at the end of the appointment because of the pain, and had to call my husband to pick me up, because I was no longer fit to drive. The doctor then told me to take tylenol. Tylenol. If tylenol worked I would never use anything stronger. He also told me he is trained to manipulate a patient's muscles to help them fire correctly, and I should make an appointment. All I was thinking is, buddy, if that's how you put your hands on a patient on a bad day, why would I trust you to make me feel better? I told him I all ready have a chiropractor/ physical therapist who can help me with that.
So my primary care doctor and my OBGYN are okay with this medicine while trying to conceive. Should I make another appointment to see my PCP, or should I just deal with this? I have all ready stopped taking all other medications that can cause birth defects.
Sorry for the long post. I felt I needed to share a lot of info to get the best advice.