Kidney stones and Toradol

Lora, I wonder if you can get something in writing from your doctor stating that Toradol is contraindicated for you and take that with you if you have to go to the ER?  It's unlikely you will get an ulcer from just one dose, but I do know someone (you know Andrea, right?) who got THREE ulcers after ONE dose of Toradol in the ER, so it's possible.  And anyway, it's just not OK for them to give you a drug you specifically indicated you could not/did not agree to take.

That's probably a good idea.  Because of the Coumadin interaction, the bleeding problems I have had in the past, and the potential for considerable bleeding from an ulcer IF I would develop one, my PCP is pretty adamant that NSAIDs are out of the question for me, so I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem writing a note that I could carry with me.

I saw him again this morning, so I wish I had read this before I went.

Today my INR is up to 3.5 (1 is normal and 2.5 is the desired "therapeutic" level for me) and the blood in my urine from the stones in my left kidney is now actually visible.  Sigh...

You could probably also provide a copy of the note to the hospital if you regularly go to the same ER, kind of like you can provide a copy of your advanced directives and they keep them in your chart.  But I'd still carry the note with you.  And you might not have to see him to get the note.  Maybe you can just call.

I do hope the hospital administration follows up but unfortunately my personal experience is that they often don't on things like this.

Yeah, no call today.  If I have not heard from them tomorrow morning, I will call again.  Someone WILL be talking to me about this sooner or later.

I was just wondering if you'd heard from them yet.

I have been in the hospital 2x in the last month for stones. I tell them I am allergic (I would add that med) meds and that morphine, zofran and benedryl is the combination that works for me. They look at me like I am a drug seeker, but they do as I ask. You have to stand up to them and be an advocate for yourself. Toradol can cause scarring in your pouch even by IV. I had an ER Dr insist that since it was through IV that it works differently than oral, but it is a systemic thing, not because you took it differently. They can get in serious trouble for giving you something you can't have.

Yes, on a previous visit to the same ER, I had to argue with the nurse who insisted that Toradol was NOT an NSAID. Fortunately, in the middle of it another nurse and the doctor came in and the doctor confirmed that I was corrects and that it is a very strong NSAID. (They gave me morphine instead that time.)

There was supposed to be a note on my electronic chart (I have seen it on my chart at the other hospital, but that ER is much busier and is farther away). 

My first bout with stones, they gave me the morphine like I asked, and was still in pain after two doses that they wanted to give me Toradol, but because of an experience previously in which the Dr was going to give me that instead of morphine, I knew it had aspirin. I am allergic to aspirin itself, so even if I didn't have RNY I would still not be able to take it. Well this ER dr argued with me while I was screaming in pain (which if I am asking for pain meds it means it is 100 out of 10 pain because I don't ask for pain meds, I usually can deal) that it wouldn't bother my pouch as it is in my IV, and it is motrin not aspirin in it. I find that ER drs commonly make that mistake with Toradol. They don't even look it up. I told him you aren't coming near me with it and you need to figure out something else. My PCP told him to give me what I ask for and don't question it. I have a rare reaction to meds known as Stephen's Johnson syndrome, especially with Penicillin and Sulfa. On top of that he gave me the wrong saline solution (I have to have half sodium mix instead of full because of brain disease issues). He then was going to give me flomax, but it has sulfa in it, and she again had to go in and change the orders. 

Needless to say when I was in there a week ago, he not only treated me like a druggie, but again tried to give me the wrong meds. So when he prescribed a kidney med again, I made sure to look it up. He caught myself, my mom, and the nurse looking it up because I told him after the last time and UCLA ER almost killing me with Penecillin/Sulfa Antibiotic (they assured me it wasn't) I didn't trust him and refused to take med until I knew for sure. He was upset, but I don't care.

I think I should be given a medical degree because of all the time spent in and out of the hospital in the last year.

Wow, that's horrible.  You definitely need to be on top of your medical care!  (I actually have my own copy of the PDR as well as a really good relationship with one of the pharmacists at Kroger in order to avoid interactions with the Coumadin that result in hospital stays and having to get plasma and/or blood.)

I understand that drug seeking is a very real phenomenon (although one of the older nurses said that after 20+ years, she can tell when someone is legitimately in pain versus in withdrawal or just faking it), but when someone has had a very specific experience as we have and can TELL them WHY we cannot take a certain medication, they damn well should listen.

Yep, I'm gonna get a new bracelet that says Toradol allergy...

I have an SOS necklace. I have a LP programmable shunt on top of all my other allergies. It is a locket type necklace that you keep a water insoluble paper inside with all your information on it. That way when things change, you don't have to get a whole new necklace/bracelet. I have too many allergies and issues to put it all on one tiny bracelet. They also sell USB bracelets that you can keep your info on.