The Problems of Life, Which No One Really Cares About

My GP explained to me the last time I saw him that he was "uncomfortable" prescribing me opioids, which is not news. He asked that I see a pain management specialist. 

There is, of course, this debate, and it surrounds the idea of pain being the "fifth vital sign" (I forget what organization started this action, but at Stanford, they take your blood pressure, your temperature, and then ask you your pain level, every few hours, no matter what the previous results were). Many people believe that adding pain as a "sign" is contributing to the opioid abuse crisis. 

The issue is that about 100 million people in the United States, roughly 1/3 of the population will deal with chronic pain at some point in their lives. Not all of these people will require opioids to deal with their pain, but many might have pain severe enough to warrant a prescription. 

Pretending that people aren't in pain by refusing to treat the pain is misguided, and even in some cases, unethical.

Why do we prescribe so many opioids? Well, a lot of people are in pain, that's why. Are some doctors over-prescribing? Yes, and we have research to back that up--but--a lot of people are in pain. 

Back to my case, specifically, I am on several pain medications, Cymbalta (which doesn't work very well), gabapentin (which works in reducing pain), and then, of course, Norco #5. The problem is, the pain is going up, and the effectiveness of the Norco #5 is going down (probably a mixture of yes, the pain going up, and then the nature tolerance that occurs since I've been taking opioids now for a year straight). 

Honestly, no one seems to care enough to intervene. If I went to my GP, and I was honest with him, and said that the pain is severe enough that I'm missing class because of it, he wouldn't do anything. I've been on the waiting list for Stanford Pain Management Clinic for months, and was just told recently that they are booked until April, and that there is a small possibility that I could be seen in May. In the mean time, I don't have enough Norco to adequately treat my pain. 

On March 6, I'm seeing yet another pain management specialist, but I am not holding out any particular hope that he will listen to me carefully, and take me seriously, that I have fibromyalgia.