Posted by pinksharkmark (12.128.190.212) on February 06, 2001 at 00:16:57:
In Reply to: The ER turned us away!!! posted by schwiggs on February 05, 2001 at 16:43:43:
... as to why anyone goes to an emergency room in the first place.
No, I'm serious. I see so many posts here about people going to emergency rooms and getting treated like scum. Why even bother?
What are they gonna do for you at the emergency room, anyway? If they are knowledgeable about CH (extremely unlikely, from the stories I've read here) the BEST that can happen is that they'll give you Imitrex or oxygen. But who needs an emergency room visit to get Imitrex or oxygen? Both Imitrex and oxygen are available to anyone. Imitrex can be bought through numerous sites on the internet without a prescription, if your own doc is too pig-headed too prescribe it for you. Oxygen is available at any welding shop. Welding shops don't give a damn if you have a prescription or not.
If you are one of the unfortunate few for whom neither Imitrex nor oxygen work, you may have the INCREDIBLE good fortune to stumble into one of the seven emergency rooms in the United States where the staff are knowledgeable enough to know that a shot of DHE (dihydroergotamine) will often abort a CH. Well... guess what, folks... DHE is also available as a prescription med. If it worked for you once, INSIST that your doc give you a prescription, fill the prescription, and use it next time a CH hits.
If the emergency room staff are NOT knowledgeable about CH, they will EVENTUALLY give you a shot of Demerol, if you make a big enough scene for long enough. Whoopee-ding! Demerol won't do a damn thing for you unless they shoot enough into you to stun a water buffalo. Even then, the pain doesn't go away... you're just too freaking stoned to give a rat's ass anymore. Oh, and you'll be so constipated that for the next three days you'll be praying for a good bowel movement more than relief from the CH.
I can understand going to the ER the first time you get hit with a CH... you're convinced you've got a brain tumor or an aneurysm or something similar... I know I was! But once you know what you are dealing with, you're WAY better off self-medicating. Faster relief, much less stress, much less public humiliation.
Schwiggs, please don't take this as a criticism against you personally. It is a criticism of the futility in depending on ER treatment in general. I finally chose YOUR post to air my opinions on the subject, but believe me when I say that I could have picked any of DOZENS of other posts I have seen here.
Bottom line is that the ER can't do anything for you that you can't do for yourself faster, cheaper, in the privacy of your own home.
pinky