I would so recommend seeing a Pain Specialist at Mayo Clinic. They are on the cutting edge of alternatives. I know it might be expensive, but just go for a consult. Sometimes doctors will do courtesy phone consultations.

I did years ago for phantom pain and they used electric shock, which worked and got rid of the pain, but only for a few months. I did it a couple times again locally, but the side effects of the treatment were too strong and I decided to stop. If the effects lasted for a lot longer period I might have kept going. 19lin.<br />
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Hi @seanbeck. Welcome to Connect! We're excited to have you. No soapboxes here... your post was fantastic. Thanks for joining in on the conversation!

I know this is a difficult question to answer because each case is based on<br />
the individual, but do you think they'd do anything differently than my<br />
current Pain Mgmt. Dr. ?<br />
I currently take 15mg MS Contin ER 1 2X a day, 5mg oxycontin IR 1 every 4<br />
hours, and Gabapentin 800 mg 3X. Plus I've had over 35 epidural and facet<br />
injections, and am unable to try the nerve root block shots because the<br />
Doc's cant get the needle to where it needs to be due to all the hardware<br />
that takes up 80% of my spine.<br />
I look forward to your response. Thanks<br />

Just what I said would happen is happening read the following article : http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2009489-6-killed-22-overdosed-from-suspected-counterfeit-painkillers-in-california/?iid=ob_article_footer_expansion <br />
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Smugglers gave the medicine to unsuspecting users and they died; what did authorities do but add more regulations to make it harder for pain suffers to get pain medicine. <br />
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As I said before by making more restrictions on pain medicine and making it harder for doctors to give it out and patients to get it, the pain suffers will go to illegal or unsafe sites to get the medicine they need. The result will be more deaths that no pain suffer or anyone wants. <br />
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What is really needed? This is a question for everyone who uses this site.<br />
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From my point of view we need an objective method of measuring pain in each individual, not some personal estimate of how much pain we have today.<br />
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An objective measure would allow doctors and patients to determine how much pain a person is experiencing. It would let them see how effective or ineffective a pain medicine is in lessening the pain and help both doctor and patient determine what changes need to take place.<br />
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Another suggestion is to allow pain suffers the right to euthanasia or physician assisted dying, so that only those who want to and are willing to die to end their suffering will die, instead of some haphazard method that exists today where unwilling and innocent people take pills they think will help them, but end up dead or worst, from an overdose or street drug. By worst I mean how crippled you can become from using the wrong methods.<br />
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There definitely needs to be more research into pain, and better methods of treating pain.<br />
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In discussions with my doctor he had me review what long term use of opioids would do to me and how they would effect my body and brain. Such as frontal lobe atrophy and opioid induced hyperalgesia. He does not want me to get into a situation where I am more damaged by the medicine that is suppose to help me. He is making me very aware of the CONs as well as the pros of the treatment I am asking for, so that I will go into this with my eyes open.<br />
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My fear is the knee jerk reaction that our political leaders seem to have, where they will make all opioids illegal except for a very few which will result in more unintentional deaths as this article shows. 19lin<br />
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