I understand your pain. Have you talked to any pain management doctors? You have to force doctors to listen by saying "I need you to really listen to me"!

@suzanne2 and group I see so many of us prescribed Gabapentin. Some folks on high doses. I am taking 600 mg a bedtime (No don't sleep} and pain management and neurologist say that is a baby dose and I need to go up. Why. I don't see a difference except during the day it makes me tired at 900 mg which she wants me to take Everyone I talk to takes gabapentin even those without neuropathy. How many here are prescribed gabapentin and do you see a difference in your pain level? Thank you. Oh I did hear that it acts as a sedative. Is that so for anyone?

@ To all my pain warriors!!!!! I get so saddened for all of us. People and even our doctors, don't really understand. Yes, there are some good doctors, that really try to do their best, but "THE STATE OF THE ART" with chronic pain is entirely limited. Most drugs barely work, and few patients are lucky enough to respond well with limited side effects and lowered pain. The opiod crisis has made it almost impossible for the pain patient to get the medicines he needs. And truly, unless you experience this relentless, unstoppable pain, you don't quite get it. And you shouldn't, really! I think we all have protective mechanisms inside ourselves that buffer us from human suffering. It is way too much to hear, to think about, to really feel. Even my pain doctor really does not like to talk about pain!!!! I swear, the guy does not like it!!! He is more of a "fixer" type. He can handle the epidurals, surgeries, etc., but the discussions make him squirm. I actually think he is a softie. But I really can't talk to him. Those of us who have even one person to really hear, are very lucky. The mechanisms of pain are getting more and more understood. The treatment seems almost not there. The insidiousness of CRPS is astounding. How it can morph, go from one place to another!!! The Science behind CRPS is unbearable to even read! Pain in itself, is a disease. It spreads, it morphs like an evil monster. I told God to give me a day I could handle today. I told God to not give me more than I can handle. I told him to keep an eye on me. I wake up, each new day, with both hope, and terror. In a blink of an eye, goes anyone. May God bless and keep all of you, Lori Renee

@suzanne2
Does your husband really say that if you can teach 3 four hour days per week your pain can't be that bad? Which planet did he arrive on Earth from? That seems like a very insensitive if not utterly compassionless thing to say. I am going to take the kind route and just say he sounds like he's being a bit more than a tad dense.

I was reading your exchange with @jenniferhunter from Sept. 17th and how she suggests it could be TOS that you have (though you thought perhaps a pinched nerve). Have you had any chance yet to figure out what you want to do next in terms of treatment? If you were to be admitted to Mayo you might have to take an LOA from teaching. Is that something you can afford to do? Also and more importantly, is it something you can afford NOT to do, given how crippling it seems to be to your life?

Finally (and I seem to be asking more people this lately since my wife is getting some benefits) have you thought of trying kratom? It is not FDA approved, but it sure can help pain, and it's not an opioid or benzo (no scrip needed) and is an option for you. Just thought I'd mention it.
Best to you Suzanne, Hank