A young woman living with a debilitating condition says she was made to feel like a “drug addict” when she went to a pharmacy to get prescribed painkillers.
For 15 years, Anna Dooley, from Sydney, has been suffering aches and pains that can go from a “gentle knock” to what “feels like the wrath of barbed wire” around her stomach.
The 30-year-old battles endometriosis – a condition for which she has had four surgeries, two Ketamine infusions and, in the past five years, 35 trips to hospital Emergency.
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She began experiencing crippling symptoms from age 13 but it took eight years before she was finally diagnosed at 21.
Anna relies on strong painkillers to get through the days when she feels so overwhelmed with the “stabbing” pain that she can end up unconscious.
But getting her prescribed medication has been a recurring ordeal.
Last week, Anna walked out of a chemist in tears, claiming a pharmacist had essentially accused her of being an addict over her pain relief prescription.
“I was in shock,” she tells 7Life.
“I had the most horrible experience with this pharmacist after he left me feeling ashamed, humiliated and reminded me that there is still so much ignorance around those living with chronic conditions.
“I understand that there are people who take advantage of (painkillers), but that is not the majority.”
Anna says she was waiting for her prescription when the pharmacist called her name.
“Not even a ‘Hello how are you’… Just in front of a whole shop of people, he goes, ‘Careful, you might overdose’,” she claims.
She says when he handed over her medication he also gave her a spray bottle of naloxone, a drug that can temporarily reverse opioid overdose.
“He says, ‘I have to give you this legally… it’s complimentary in case you overdose’,” she says.
“I told him, ‘I have endometriosis’ but he didn’t want to hear me speak.
“He began by talking over me and talking about overdosing as if it’s some sort of joke.
“I was really alarmed at how much he was making light of ‘addicts’.”
Anna says she was furious as she confronted the pharmacist over his “awful” behaviour.
“I was like, ‘First of all, imagine if I was an addict. How f****** dare you just broadcast this to everyone?’” she says.
“He made me feel ashamed for wanting help.
“I ended up agreeing with everything he said because I was so mortified and wanted to get out of the situation quickly.
“I just don’t understand why he couldn’t treat me like a human being and stop embarrassing me in front of everyone.”
Just as she was about to leave the store with her medication, she claims the pharmacist suggested she should watch the Netflix mini-series Painkiller, about the opioid crisis in the US.
“I still can’t believe he said that to me… I’ll see if the show will cure my incurable disease,” she says.
Unfortunately for Anna, this is not the first time she has felt humiliated for seeking pain relief.
“The amount of shame I have been made to feel over the last 15 years in regards to taking painkillers is wild,” she says.
“There are some absolutely amazing pharmacists out there… but I can’t tell you how many times I have been made to feel as though I’m in trouble.
“People shouldn’t feel ashamed to seek pain relief. Pain relief is a human right.”
Anna says she understands the need for strict laws around medications, particularly opioids, but says the “conversation around pain relief is harrowing”.
“Being made to feel as though you’re the problem doesn’t leave you, and it certainly doesn’t take the pain away.”
She says her reliance on strong medication – prescribed by her endometriosis specialist – varies, depending on the severity of her flare-ups and level of pain.
“My current medication, which cost $92, will last me a couple of months,” she says.
“Every so often my pain relief will get changed, or we will up or lower the dosage, depending on the severity of my pain.
“I have gone months without regular pain relief and then months taking something daily that my specialist has prescribed.
“But it is emotionally exhausting when I have to take something more consistently to get through the day.
“$92 is nothing in comparison to the money I have to spend on regular things like Panadol, Nurofen, doctors appointments, operations, ultrasounds, physiotherapy, osteopathy and missing days of work.
“The list goes on.”
Coping with pain
Meanwhile, Anna, who is an actor and comedian, tries to cope with the pain of her serious condition by turning it into comedy.
She is set to perform her one-woman show, called ENDHOE, as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival, from September 12-16.
“Distractions are everything. Silliness in the darkest moments can help so much,” says Anna, who was a finalist in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s 2020 Raw Comedy competition.
Describing her comedy show, Anna says she has “personified the disease” and the audience joins her “as we wreak havoc on Anna’s body”.
“I’ve been working on it for five years. I cramp, I go to work to help pay my rent and afford food, and then put the rest of the money into the show,” she says.
“My dream is to tour the show to educate and entertain as many people as I can about the hell hole that is living with endometriosis.
“If one person walks away from the show having had a laugh and gained the slightest bit of knowledge about endo, then that’s all that I can ask for.
“For the millions of cramps my body has created, I hope to create even more laughs.”
Anna’s advice
For those living with endometriosis, Anna suggests sufferers can add to their pain relief “tool kit” things such as “heat packs, sleep, therapy, an IUD, gentle exercise and things to look forward to”.
“It’s not your fault,” she says of the debilitating condition.
“There is no answer. There is no cure.
“No experience with endometriosis is exactly the same as the next person and it should be treated as such.
“But most of all, it should be treated very seriously.”
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