I have had chronic tendonitis in my shoulders since I was 15 (I m 26 now). I am used to taking anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen) o-t-c for the pain that I am in all the time. In the last few days, the pain in my right shoulder has gotten unbearable. Ibuprofen hasn t worked, heat rubs haven t worked, sleeping upright/flat on back/properly on side hasn t helped. Resting it or moving my arm--everything hurts. I went and got X-Rays at the ER because the pain was severe. I overhead the x-ray techs talking about calcium, but the doctor told me my x-rays were normal. She then ended up prescribing Tramadol 50mg to me despite the fact I take Adderall XR 25mg. It s a good thing I asked the pharmacist about potential drug interactions, but shouldn t the doctor have had the sense not to prescribe a pain medication that could interact with my Adderall and cause seizures? I ve had to have steroid shots in my shoulders before for acute tendonitis pain like this. Even the pain medication and anti-inflammatory (Ketorolac 10mg) are barely dulling the pain. Instead of the 8-9 I was sitting at before the visit/medication, I am fluctuating between 5 and 7. Is there anything I can do at home to help relieve the pain I m feeling that I m not already doing? I ve been alternatively resting/gently stretching my arms and alternating hot/cold on the shoulder + using the medications prescribed. Also, is it possible that I have developed calcific tendonitis and the doctor I saw in the ER was incompetent? The fact that she prescribed interacting medications w/o a second thought makes me think that she really didn t try to help me at all. The pain was too severe to wait to schedule a normal doctor visit or I would have done that. Should I have insisted on a corticosteriod shot to reduce the inflammation? Even now, with both medications (the anti-inflammatory and pain reliever), my tendons feel like they are on fire.
posted on
Thu, 20 Mar 2014

Sat, 26 Jan 2019
Answered on

Mon, 28 Jan 2019
Last reviewed on