Pain clinic

[Echolight]

I am so desperate to know what to do in this situation and I wonder if anyone can help. My young adult son had a serious brain injury as a result of an accident. He is now in a wheelchair and suffers with terrible back pain. I have asked the GP to refer him to a pain clinic (the clinic says they will accept a referral from the GP.)

The GP prescribed an anti depressant for pain last week. It sent my son into a full blown anxiety attack and he was rushed to hospital. He's ok but very frightened. I am intending to contact the GP and once again ask he be referred to a pain clinic. I am exhausted with fighting the NHS, not only for him but years for myself when they failed to diagnose me with a life threatening illness for 10 years. I don't feel I can go into battle again. Please can anyone advise me of next steps to get him referred. I'm at my wits end.

Anyone?

Ask for a different doctor??? Or do you see whoever has an appointment

What is the GP’s reasoning to decline a referral? Does he have a consultant that you could ask to do it? DD’s spinal consultant did hers, I was skeptical about going to pain clinic (and so was she) but in reality they have been fantastic. So much more to offer than pain medications or talking therapies which is all any other clinical has been able to give her over the years

@BrookGreen54 He is discharged from consultant care. The GP says a pain clinic won't make any difference as his pain is caused by immobility. I am going to speak to the practice manager tomorrow. If they still refuse I will have to pay privately. I'm just not up to another NHS battle.

Not all pain clinics are equal. I was referred to two. One wanted to put me on antidepressants and they didn’t offer much else. The other had a program based on exercise and some simple psychological techniques to help you cope, like pacing yourself and help with sleep. 75% of the program dropped out and my pain turned out to be an autoimmune condition. They aren’t necessarily the panacea you think they should be. I don’t want to put you off but perhaps have a frank chat with your GP about what your expectations are for a pain clinic and what they think they will offer.

@maverickfox

Thank you. . I just want to get him out of this pain. Interesting stat on the high number that dropped out.

Of course you do. It must be miserable for you both. The second clinic was good, it was a 12 week course and the content was helpful. A lot of it was learning to accept your pain and how to mitigate the worst of it with various techniques. You have to buy into it and do what they say otherwise it is pointless and the people who left just couldn’t see how they could improve their conditions. It was frustrating to hear because I could see very clearly how resistant they were to change or to believe anything could help them. It helped me when I was eventually diagnosed. However, they aren’t all like that. Do chat to his GP but also look for the right sort of clinic, ask around, ask his consultant and so on. If he goes to one and it doesn’t help he will find it disheartening. You might ask about pain management courses as well as pain clinics. The former are more proactive in my experience and might appeal to the GP for referral purposes as they have a measurable outcome. Good luck.

Interesting. I'm waiting for pain clinic.

My son was finally been referred after I made a complaint to the GP. just waiting now probably for months.

Perhaps ask for a review of his wheelchair. He may need a different cushion or support, or perhaps one that tilts in space so his position can change and take the pressure off his lower back for a while.