About 2 months ago, I turned over in bed and heard a crack. I started to experience pain and a great deal of discomfort in my neck but to be fair like many people just thought 'auch just get on with it'- which I did using over the counter pain relief.
Then the pain got too much and I went to my GP's who were very good, saw me quickly and prescribed some fairly strong nerve pain relief [pain relief being completely subjective]. Gabepentin which turned my mind blank, to the point that I forgot even my name and then later pregabalin which didn't but didn't give me any pain relief at all.
These drugs required a strict drug following regime and googleing the side effects should have come with a Government Health warning. I was referred for an 'urgent' [sorry taking a moment to consider that word that is used so easily by our national healthcare providers] MRI scan as the muscle spasms had become severe but it wasn't clear if it was the medicine or the injury that was causing the problem. 12 weeks if I am lucky for a MRI scan[? ].
A box of Pregabalin costs £64 (approx) I am sure Gabapentin must be about the same and if I have costed this correctly given a private MRI scan costs about £350, never mind NHS staff costs. I would have recieved at least £3000 plus worth of treatment before even a diagnosis could be made about what was wrong with me. Guess how much it actually cost to 'fix' me! it cost £100 - now that amount is a lot for some people, I know..but really weeks and weeks of taking unnessary medication, waiting for a scan? No wonder we have no money for the NHS.
Ps I had a dislocated facit in my neck, I was able to go private [alot less than I thought it would be] and I was seen by someone who could put it back into place that day- the whole thing took an hour of my time and theirs. the NHS is fantastic but come on NHS Fife, please sort this out, how you run your services is costing some of us patients in pain and suffering. It's all ended well, but really shame on you for encouraging these ridicuous, unnecessary costs.
"Unnecessary costs for neck injury"
About: Victoria Hospital / General Surgery Victoria Hospital General Surgery KY2 5AH Victoria Hospital / Trauma & orthopaedics Victoria Hospital Trauma & orthopaedics KY2 5AH
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