Interview CP39

Age at interview: 38

Brief Outline: Neck and arm pain since 2003 aggravated by working at computer workstation. Treatment: Physiotherapy, NHS and police convalescent home. Current medication: tramadol slow release, tramadol, amitriptyline.

Background: Police officer; married; 4 children.

Was disappointed that his GP did not explain that the antidepressant was to treat his nerve pain,...

When you were prescribed the amitriptyline, how did you feel about taking that?

I was open minded until' Again I trust the doctor, but I was still optimistic that things would get better at that time, and so to be prescribed something else, to me seemed that I was going in the wrong direction. I went to my GP and then my GP met me at me local chemist and I asked about them, and he said, 'They're antidepressants', and I says, 'Well I'm not depressed'. 

So I immediately went home, onto the internet and I looked up amitriptyline, which confirmed that they're antidepressants and it never cheered me up any. It was only later through the pain clinic website that I saw on the pain and depression page the use of amitriptyline, and I've since seen my GP and had a chat about that drug with him, make him aware that, you should have told me about the neurological, or the neuro side of things more clearly because I was quite disappointed that I'd been prescribed downers, or antidepressants, so a wee bit confusing, similarly the chemist came straight out with it, 'They're antidepressants', so I was quite disappointed, yeah.

Searched the internet to find out what 'chronic pain' meant after seeing a poster in the surgery...

My first introduction to the term, 'Chronic pain', came whilst filling time in my GP's waiting room. I saw its a Scottish research into chronic pain or some letters attached to it and, forgive me for not remembering it but, I did take that home and had a potter about on the internet to do a search against chronic pain, and up this site came again. 

I looked through the pages, I think there was about six pages or so, but they covered such topics as the pain clinic, pain and depression other subjects on pain and the management of pain, and I did find, well those two that I remember, most interesting. 

The one on the pain clinic is a thirteen page pr'cis, I think eleven pages really because the bibliography takes up the last two, but it was an amalgamation of a lot of research that's been done from those accredited books, but its something that is very readable and quickly understandable, and extremely relevant. 

I could liken myself to a lot of the symptoms that were being expressed in the research, and I thought, why not. Similarly with the pain and depression page, the Amitriptyline was explained as it should have been explained before that, you know, by my GP, and I would say my chemist as well.