Increase in leg pain, possible new disc injury? MD/RN/Chronic Pain sufferers HELP PLEASE!?

Question

I am in chronic pain and seeing a pain doctor. One problem is i don't see the doctor anymore just his nurse who tries to get me in and out and has a very intimidating manner. In the last few days my leg has been hurting enough to make 50 mcg of fentanyl and 3x 7.5mg of lortab feel like nothing more than an asprin. the pain goes around my hip, through my right buttcheek, down my leg and around the kneecap, continuing down and focusing about mid way down my tibia. It is on the outside of the leg, i.e. if you were looking at me right-side on. on the hip and tibia it feels like someone is taking a file to the bone. I don't see the doc again until Sep 3rd and calling them is of no use, although i have a good in-person relationship with the doctor. The root question here is - is there a single nerve that can be to blame for this? Prior i had some problems with the femoral nerve creating numbness in the upper and rt surface of what felt the muscle (but not skin), but surgery in december fixed that much. I have a lot of scar tissue, stenosis and degenerative disks. Also starting about thsi time, any weight placed onto my right side causes an inflammation of this. So - is there a nerve i can blame, and does the description of the new symptoms indicate a new injury? I'm without insurance until September 3rd, so I have to ask here.

Please, people experienced in this thing only. People who have had the same thing happen to them, people in medicine, etc.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

I personally would demand to see the doctor every time, and I would call tomorrow and demand to see the doctor ASAP.  Why is a nurse seeing patients in the first place?  This isn't good practice unless they are a nurse practitioner.

Answer 2

Sounds like a ruptured lumbar disc that is pressing into your sciatic nerve. I have this, and surgery was helpful, but I am a chronic pain patient now as well. Been dealing with it for years. the hardest part is accepting its presence in your life, next is getting a sympathetic doctor, then, figuring out what eases the pain and what aggrevates it. In my case, my docs actually aggrevated my condition by allowing me to go four months before they did an MRI. Three days later I was in surgery. But they sure are sympathetic now.