When you're looking for a pain management clinic you must realize they fall into two categories. I have encountered both. The first one I went to which is no longer in existence thank God, was based around the idea that everyone's pain medication should be limited or be removed completely. That no one should be on pain medication on a permanent basis regardless of their situation. I went to that clinic and told them I had all the pills that I needed, I had doctors to take care of that but what could they tell me about other ways to deal with my pain. I told him the things that I was doing, Qigong , meditation. They told me that for them to instruct me and alternative therapies would be like taking me out of graduate school and sending me back to kindergarten. In other words, they had nothing to offer me but would recommend to my doctors that I be limited to no more than the equivalent of 100 mg of morphine a day. That was about half of what I was taking at that time. The last time I checked those guys were out of existence. the other kind of pain clinic is the one that I have go to at M Health at the University of Minnesota. They evaluated me both physically and mentally, they realized my need for medication was real and they understood that as time goes by your doses have to get larger to have the same effect. They continue to medicate me four more than a year until I was free of infections which I had encountered in the aftermath of cancer treatment. while I was continuing to get infections they could not risk the surgery of opening me up to put the pump in and thread the catheter up my spine. once I was able to have the surgery I got the pump. I came off my heavy doses of medication almost overnight and experience no withdrawal. No withdrawal because I wasn't an addict, I had never abused my drugs, I had never use them to get high. I had never triggered that response in my brain that goes along with getting high and leads to addiction. this is the piece of the puzzle that's so many doctors do not understand. I continue to go to my pain management clinic and get my oil changed every 3 months. They pump out what's left of the old drugs and they pump in fresh drugs. it's done with a needle in the doctor's office and it takes about 5 minutes. the only pain clinic that I know that operates the way that I described above is the one at M health which is part of the University of Minnesota and the Fairview system. I would hate to be just beginning this journey today with what's going on politically with pain medications.. I think we'll see an uptick in the number of people with chronic depression and chronic pain who unfortunately will take their own lives.

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