@faithwalker007

Browsing the web this evening, I found an article, "Fighting Chronic Pain", by Peter Jaret, in the April 2013 issue of AARP magazine. It's pretty well buried, but I persisted by searching with the keyword "opioid". I arrived at the AARP website via federal seniors with disabilities searches.

Anyway, if you want to get your BP up a notch, read the silly things he reported as options for pain relief. Not all silly, but to anyone with chronic intractable pain, is massage a viable long term solution? Or acupuncture (who can afford either one, since Medicare doesn't cover them - that in itself ought to call into question the effectiveness of the many alternative therapies)?

I read the article and the comments by people who live in the real world, and have severe chronic pain. I'm going to outline a comment of my own and post it.

I haven't yet found a committee in Oregon that is addressing this issue. Unfortunately, Oregon has set the 90mg limit on opioids. Yes, marijuana is legal here, but that's meaningless to someone like me who can't afford the doctor who prescribes, the fee to the state (both around $250, annually), or the expensive product. On top of that, my doctor said that if I used any cannabis, he would stop prescribing any pain meds.

I know from experience that morphine gives me 50% pain relief, if I take my full prescribed amount, which I don't because I'm afraid of running out or being denied, and if I could get a therapeutic dose, it would be even higher. Jaret reported that opioids give only 20-30% relief. I have to wonder if he spoke with anyone who is in tears or suicidal because of the terrible pain. If he or someone he cared about were in that position, I wonder if he'd write the same (in my opinion) nonsense.

End of vent.

Jim