TrigeminalNeuropathicPain

I have lived with chronic, intractable pain for over 18 years. I have had to learn how to manage my pain and my life. I have had to educate everyone around me, including most of the healthcare providers I see. The misinformation and/or lack of information about my diagnosis and the use of opioids to treat chronic pain is mind blowing. Especially when I am dealing with the medical community. Most doctors think I am on too many medications and that I am a drug seeker. Little do they know I was completely against starting opioid therapy 18 years ago. It was a doctor who convinced me it was the only thing that would help the pain and he was right. I have tried so many alternative therapies and nothing has helped like the opioids. Yet I was still rapidly tapered to half of my therapeutic dose in 2016. It’s time for the medical community to wake up and truly see chronic pain patients! We should not have to sign away our rights with ridiculous pain contracts to get our medication. We have legitimate diagnosis just like someone with diabetes or heart disease. We are not an ID number in a computer, we are human beings who deserve compassion, respect and proper medical care.