Diversion of Blame and the Opioid Crisis

By Richard Dobson, MD, Guest Columnist

The war on drugs is so frustrating and confusing! Why are people in pain forced to suffer? It just makes no sense!

I often see those comments from people who suffer from diseases or injuries that cause severe pain. I often feel the same way. But after years of bewilderment, I have come upon a clinical description that seems to describe the plight of people who suffer from chronic pain. Let me try to simplify this complicated and mystifying condition.

First, a brief overview of the current situation. There are five basic groups of people involved in the opioid crisis:

1. Pain Patients

These are the people who have medical conditions that cause them to suffer daily with torturous, disabling chronic pain. Many have found that opioids have given them a new lease on life, reducing the pain and enabling them to have some quality of life.

Then the CDC prescribing guideline came along and formalized a process in which these valuable pain medications were often withheld and pain sufferers were shunned by doctors.

2. Doctors

Doctors and other healthcare providers who prescribed opioids to treat chronic pain became targets of regulatory and legal sanctions. Some were forced out of practice by the suspension of their licenses. Others went to prison under the guise that they “overprescribed” opioids with no medical justification. Those who were not targeted chose to eliminate opioid prescribing or discharge patients who would benefit from opioids.

3. Drug Abusers

These mystifying actions occurred against a background in which an epidemiologically distinct group of people were becoming addicted and dying in increasing numbers. This group includes those who abuse opioid prescriptions, although most are using illicit substances such as methamphetamines, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.

4. Drug Dealers

The suppliers of illicit substances, including those who produce fake pills and lace them with deadly poisons derived from fentanyl. The Drug Enforcement Administration has labeled them “illicitly manufactured opioids” (IMF) and they are now responsible for about 3 out of every 4 opioid overdoses. In Massachusetts, IMF’s are involved in an astounding 90% of overdoses.

5. Regulators, Insurers, Politicians and Media

The regulatory and enforcement agencies from federal, state and local governments, as well as politicians, insurers, news media and addiction treatment advocates, have all promoted actions that target chronic pain patients and the dwindling number of doctors who treat them.  It is this group that has the ultimate power to take effective action and disrupt the deadly supply of IMFs.

Diversion of Blame

Here is the basic scenario which entails a massive effort involving diversion of blame.

The drug abusers in Group #3 are dying in record numbers, even as opioid prescriptions have declined. These alarming deaths are caused primarily by poisons illicitly produced and distributed by the drug dealers in Group #4. But the regulators in Group #5 remain virtually silent about the IMF market and instead chose diversion of blame, targeting patients and doctors in Groups #1 and #2.

The consequences are horrible. People in Group #3 continue to die at escalating rates. People in Group #1 suffer horrible enhanced torture and many are having suicidal thoughts. And doctors in Group #3 are being driven out of pain management.

It is truly a bizarre scenario! But there is an actual medical condition that would help explain or at least describe these events. You have to keep an open mind and try to look at things with a perspective that is not warped by old, preconceived ideas. But here it is.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

What if, instead of pain patients in Group #1, there were a group of children? And what if, instead of regulators and enforcers in Group #5, there were parents and caregivers? Ignore the other groups for the time being.

The same scenario -- only involving children, parents, and caregivers -- becomes a classic case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Those in a position of power (parents and caregivers) are imposing a factitious disease on children.

The official name for this condition is Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA), a psychiatric disorder in which a person repeatedly and deliberately imposes an illness on someone else, even though they are not really sick.

In the case of pain patients, it is the regulators and enforcers who have FDIA and erroneously portray patients as responsible for the increasing number of overdose deaths. Patients are made to look like they have some disease that they do not have.

In the pain community, I believe there is no argument about this falsification and diversion of blame. Most people who take opioid medication are not drug addicts, just as most doctors who treat them are not drug dealers. Most pain sufferers and doctors have no idea how to even obtain IMFs.

While FDIA is classically used to describe the abuse of a child by a parent, the diagnostic criteria are not limited to child abuse. The criteria apply equally well to the abuse of people with chronic pain: The imposition of a factitious disorder (addiction, drug diversion) on a group of people who do not have that disorder (falsification of the medical condition) by someone in a position of power (the cohort of regulators, insurers, politicians, news media, and the addiction treatment community).

Factitious Disease Imposed on Another is both a perfect metaphor and a diagnosis for the ongoing diversion of blame in the opioid crisis -- the culprit that enables the medical torture of patients and perpetuates the rising overdose death toll.

Looking at the opioid crisis as another form of FDIA would give society a formal platform to make a more realistic assessment of pain patients who are falsely labeled as addicts and drug dealers. It could also serve as a framework to end the diversion of blame and redirect it towards more effective and constructive action.

Richard Dobson, MD, worked as a physician in the Rochester, New York area for over 30 years, treating and rehabilitating people suffering from chronic pain, mostly as the result of work or motor vehicle accidents.  He is now retired.  

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

Disabled by the War on Opioids

By Michael Emelio, Guest Columnist

I am 53 years old and have severe disc degeneration spread throughout my spine and scoliosis in my lower back. As if that weren't enough, I've also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

I have been on opioid medication since 2001.  For over a decade the meds helped reduce the pain enough so that I could still work 40 hours a week, including some heavy lifting. But in 2013 the DEA shutdown the doctor I had been with for over 12 years, forcing me to find a new pain management doctor.

The new doctor not only refused to continue the meds that were working for me, but immediately cut my opioids by over 90% without tapering me down at all. My pain increased so much that I couldn't return to work, even for light duty.

When I asked the doctor why he wouldn't continue the prescriptions my previous doctor was giving me, he said and I quote, “Because of the crackdown on pain meds you're not going to find a doctor in this state will give you more than what I'm giving you now." 

Mind you, this was back in 2014, and was still less than the maximum 90mg morphine equivalent dose that the CDC started recommending in 2016. 

Little did I know that was only the beginning of my nightmare. Since back surgery wasn't an option, the doctor told me my only choice was to have epidural steroid injections.

MICHAEL EMELIO

I did some research and had legitimate reservations about the injections, but without being offered any other options and not wanting to be labeled a drug seeker, I reluctantly agreed. I couldn't afford to be out of work much longer.

The injections were administered a month apart. The first series did nothing for my pain and the second one actually increased the pain by over three-fold. This resulted in me becoming completely bedridden 24 hours a day and struggling to complete the most basic daily life functions. I'm not talking about doing laundry and cleaning house. I'm talking about just feeding myself.

This left me unable to do any kind of work whatsoever, let alone return to my regular job of over 7 years, where I was working towards retirement. When I asked the doctor what was I supposed to do now, his response was, “Have you considered applying for disability?"

Unless you've been here, you cannot fathom the level of shock and horror that I felt at that moment, yet alone the level of injustice and outrage. A word that comes to mind is appalled, but that doesn't even begin to describe it. I went from being an able-bodied worker to disabled and bedridden 24 hours a day.  And for no other reason than the War on Opioids!

To be perfectly clear, I didn't take illegal drugs and I never abused, gave away or sold my prescriptions. I passed all my drug tests, never had a record of drug problems, or even a DUI. I didn't even drink alcohol. I did NOTHING to give them any reason whatsoever to take my medications away.

My current doctor is currently weaning me off the last of my opioids, stripping me of the last tiny bit of medication that have any effect on my pain. What little quality of life I have left is about to be taken away completely.

The only thing I can do now is pray that I am able to hold on and not become another suicide statistic after being forced to live in agony day-in and day-out. All because of the barbarically handled, totally blind, and uncompassionate War on Opioids.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against fighting drug abuse and addiction, I'm just against the way it's being fought. Taking these medications away from people who have proven they need and use them responsibly will fail to have any impact whatsoever on the addicts who are abusing them.  It only serves to punish the honest and innocent. Why should I be punished and forced to live a life of pain, misery and indignity when I have done nothing wrong?

With the help of opioids, I was still very active and happy, enjoying things like riding motorcycles, jet skiing, and even paragliding. Although recently becoming single, I had no reason not to hope for eventually finding the right woman and living happily ever after.

But I've been robbed of all of that now. I am bedridden and struggling to survive on nothing more than disability income. My pain has tripled thanks to the unnecessary and unwanted steroid injections, and for no other reason than the fear instilled in my doctor by the DEA and CDC.

And it's still not over. The only thing my doctor is offering now is more of the very same injections that put me here in the first place and robbed me of my life.

What keeps me fighting is the sheer anger and outrage that I have for the injustice of it all. If you are a doctor, DEA agent, politician, or anybody else who is not a chronic pain patient – then take a minute to realize that you are only one car accident, one slip, or one fall away from this happening to you.

STOP THIS MADNESS!

Michael Emelio lives in Florida.

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us. Send them to editor@painnewsnetwork.org.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

Help Us Get Our Lives Back

By Andrea Giles, Guest Columnist

I am a 49-year old disabled nurse living in Wyoming. Since 2010, I have been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, phantom limb pain and severe osteoarthritis with multiple major joint deformities.  My remaining knee is now bone on bone, requiring me to use a wheelchair. 

I lost my right leg and half of my pelvis after a total hip replacement due to the osteoarthritis, after which I developed a severe MRSA bacterial infection that resulted in the total hip disarticulation. I’ve had horrible phantom limb pain since the amputation. I also had 2 failed spinal fusions, leaving me with chronic back pain and nerve damage. Since 2010, I have had a total of 52 surgeries.

From 2010 to 2016, I was treated with opioid medication by a pain management physician, with a stable, safe, effective and legal regimen. I followed all of the requirements, such as urine drug tests, pill counts, using the same pharmacy, etc.

Then, at an appointment in 2016, my physician told me that because of the CDC guidelines, he would no longer prescribe opioid medication to me. I was forced off my high dose (120MME) cold turkey. I was lucky, as I didn’t experience withdrawal symptoms other than the reappearance of severe, intractable pain.

I tried to use NSAIDS for the pain and developed a severe, life threatening reaction to them called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. I came very close to death and was in intensive care for 6 weeks. Because of that, I will be unable to take NSAIDs for the rest of my life.

Because of the MRSA infection, no physician will perform any further surgeries or steroid injections on me because of the risk of activating another infection.

I have tried acupuncture, massage, chiropractic therapy, mirror therapy, physical therapy, water therapy, many different herbal and nutritional supplements, aromatherapy, music therapy, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy and mindfulness. All without relief of the severe, intractable pain.

When I was forced off opioids, I also lost my career as a very good ER nurse. I went from a functional member of society to a home-bound, miserable person who hurts too badly to keep my house clean like I always prided myself on. Many days I’m in too much pain to even shower or complete daily activities of living.

My husband and children have lost the wife and mother they were able to interact with, go places with, share activities with, everything. I have gained 50 pounds because the pain has left me unable to exercise.

After I stopped taking opioids, I developed hypertension.  Before, my blood pressure had never been higher than 130/80. Now I take medication for high blood pressure and it is still usually around 150/90.

I also developed heart arrhythmia and last year suffered 2 sudden cardiac arrests. I only survived because both times they were witnessed by my husband, who is also an ER nurse, so he immediately started CPR. The cardiologist could find no underlying causes and told me that the arrhythmia and cardiac arrests were probably due to longstanding, untreated severe pain.

There is no physician that I can find that will accept me as a chronic pain patient and my primary care doctor refuses to prescribe opioids anymore. I have literally tried every pain management physician in Wyoming and in Montana, which would have required a 6 to 7-hour drive for each appointment.

I, along with many other intractable pain patients, are working feverishly contacting our congressional representatives, federal government and civil rights groups, begging for help -- for anyone in a position of power to hear our cries of medical abandonment and neglect.

Our pleas mostly fall on deaf ears, as the government has convinced the media and the public that pain patients are all addicts and use opioids only to get high. They site false overdose statistics and refuse to acknowledge that while opioid prescriptions have declined -- causing devastating effects on the pain community -- the overdose rate continues to climb because the clear majority of overdoses are due to heroin, illicit fentanyl or polypharmacy with multiple drugs.

Many intractable pain patients are committing suicide because untreated pain takes away their quality of life and the will to live – something they had with legally prescribed and effective doses of opioid medication.

We are desperate. We don’t want to get high. We just want to make informed decisions with our physicians about our own healthcare, to regain access to opioid medication, and to get our lives back!

Andrea Giles lives in Wyoming with her family.

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us. Send them to editor@painnewsnetwork.org.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

A Zebra With the Heart of a Lion

By Dawn Tucker, Guest Columnist 

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) sucks.  There, I said it.  I have EDS Type 3 hypermobility and it hurts. I cry every day, sometimes two and three times a day.

I have dislocated various parts of my body due to collagen deficiency.  I have what is called frequent subluxations. My neck, shoulders and wrists have sprained for no reason other than I turned too quickly or took a deep breath.  I never knew why. I just knew people judged me and were critical whenever I mentioned the severity of my pain. 

My whole life (and I am 50 years old now) has been spent listening to others tell me my pain is all in my head, or that I am lazy or crazy. So I stopped telling people about it because no one wants to listen to a constant complainer. 

Instead I isolate and spend most of my time -- when not working -- in bed trying to get my body to cooperate with me.  It doesn’t.

I have three children and five grandchildren.  One son and one grandson also have EDS, and I cry because I know they will be judged and criticized by people who don’t understand. 

I once heard someone tell my son, “Something is always wrong with you.’ And I thought to myself, they could be talking to me.  I am beset with migraines, insomnia, dental issues, allergies, fatigue, irritable bowels, sprains, pains and aches.

I too have been told, “Something is always wrong with you.”

DAWN TUCKER

And they are right.  Something is always wrong with me.  On bad days I want to give up.  Then I remember, I might be the only person my son or grandson knows, who truly understands their pain.  I cannot give up on them, even if at times I want to give up on myself.  

I try to be strong and do everything myself.  I hate to ask for help and I tire of arguing with people about my condition. Yet I know I will argue for my son and grandson.

In the last few years, I have made acquaintance with others who have EDS.  But I’ve met only two doctors that were familiar with EDS, so I took to learning more on the internet.  The internet offers a chance to get the word out about this condition. To let others know about EDS and the often painful associations because of this inherited disease. 

Medical students are sometimes told, “When you hear hoof beats behind you, don’t expect to see a zebra.” That’s why EDS is symbolized by a zebra. It is misdiagnosed, under-diagnosed or simply not considered.  

I am living proof that sometimes it really is a zebra.  I have no problem with being a zebra, but this zebra has the heart of a lion.  

Dawn Tucker lives in Ohio.

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us. Send them to editor@painnewsnetwork.org.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

A Careful Reading of 'Dopesick'

By Roger Chriss, PNN Columnist

The new book “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America” by Beth Macy describes the origins of the opioid crisis and the plight of people addicted to opioids, particularly in the Roanoke area of Virginia.

The book looks at the crisis from multiple perspectives, including local physicians and pharmacists, law enforcement and attorneys, community leaders and even drug dealers. Macy treats the story of opioids, addiction, and fatal overdose with sympathy and concern.

“Until we understand how we reached this place, America will remain a country where getting addicted is far easier than securing treatment,” she wrote.

Macy relies heavily on books like “Painkiller” by Barry Meier and “American Pain” by John Temple, asking questions these journalists explored but providing no new answers. In so doing, she perpetuates numerous media-driven myths about the crisis and misses opportunities to investigate important open questions.

Dopesick starts with the arrival of Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin and the rapid rise of addiction and overdose. Appalachia was among the first places where OxyContin gained a foothold in the mid-1990s, quickly ensnaring working class families:

“The town pharmacist on the other line was incredulous: ‘Man, we only got it a month or two ago. And you’re telling me it’s already on the street?’”

It is still not clear how OxyContin made it into the black market so deeply and quickly, but Macy concludes that overprescribing for chronic pain was a key factor in the crisis. She cites “recent studies” that the addiction rate for patients prescribed opioids was “as high as 56 percent."

Most studies actually put the addiction rate much lower, with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimating it at 8 to 12 percent.

In the second part of Dopesick, Macy draws on the work of Stanford psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke in describing adolescent drug use:

“Across the country, OxyContin was becoming a staple of suburban teenage ‘pharm parties,’ or ‘farming,’ as the practice of passing random pills around in hats was known.”

But pharm parties were debunked years ago as an urban legend.  Slate’s Jack Shafer looked into their origin and concluded the “pharm party is just a new label the drug-abuse industrial complex has adopted."

Macy’s writing often echoes her source materials. On adolescent drug use, she writes:

“So it went that young people barely flinched at the thought of taking Adderall to get them going in the morning, an opioid painkiller for a sports injury in the afternoon, and a Xanax to help them sleep at night, many of the pills doctor prescribed."

Lembke herself wrote in the book ”Drug Dealer, M.D.” in 2015:

“Many of today’s youth think nothing of taking Adderall (a stimulant) in the morning to get themselves going, Vicodin (an opioid painkiller) after lunch to treat a sport’s injury, ‘medical’ marijuana in the evening to relax, and Xanax (a benzodiazepine) at night to put themselves to sleep, all prescribed by a doctor."

The similarities between Macy and Lembke (a board member of the anti-opioid group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing) are striking.  More importantly, the data on teenage drug use disagrees with both of them. According to NIDA, teen drug use has been in decline for most substances for the past 10 years. Which makes it hard to parse Macy’s and Lembke’s claims about high levels of medication misuse among the teenagers they describe.

Macy also perpetuates ideas about race in the crisis: “Doctors didn’t trust people of color not to abuse opioids, so they prescribed them painkillers at far lower rates than they did whites.”

“It’s a case where racial stereotypes actually seem to be having a protective effect,” she quotes PROP founder and Executive Director Andrew Kolodny, MD.

In fact, rates of addiction and overdose have been rising rapidly among African Americans for years and recent CDC data on ethnicity in overdoses shows no significant difference among black, white, and Hispanic populations. The crisis has long since evolved beyond omitting a particular minority group.

Why did it take so long to recognize the opioid crisis and work to stop it?  Macy assigns blame to the political unimportance of regions like Appalachia, the failure in many states to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and addiction treatment that’s based on 12-step or abstinence-only programs. She writes about the treatment industry with almost righteous anger:

“An annual $35 billion lie -- according to a New York Times exposé of a recovery industry it found to be unevenly regulated, rapacious, and largely abstinence-focused when multiple studies show outpatient MAT (medication assisted therapy) is the best way to prevent overdose deaths.”

“The battle lines over MAT persist in today’s treatment landscape -- from AA rooms where people on Suboxone are perceived as unclean and therefore unable to work its program, to the debate between pro-MAT public health professionals and most of Virginia’s drug-court prosecutors and judges, who staunchly prohibit its use.”

But Macy doesn’t look at the full story that heroin addiction represents. She omits the shattered childhoods and serious mental illness often seen in heroin users, and ignores the complicated trajectory of substance abuse. She also skips the fact that heroin addiction frequently starts without prior use of any opioids.

Throughout the book, Macy follows the standard media narrative of the crisis, focusing on addiction as a result of pain management gone wrong. But most people who become addicted to opioids start with alcohol, marijuana and other recreational drugs.

What Dopesick may lack in depth and rigor, it makes up for in compassion and intensity. Unfortunately, Macy accepts at face value claims from experts when she should have fact-checked them.  Perhaps the errors will be corrected in a second edition, which could turn an interesting book into essential reading.

Roger Chriss lives with Ehlers Danlos syndrome and is a proud member of the Ehlers-Danlos Society. Roger is a technical consultant in Washington state, where he specializes in mathematics and research.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

How Low Dose Naltrexone Relieved My Chronic Pain

By Marelle Reid, Guest Columnist

For the past eight years I've been dealing with Interstitial Cystitis (IC), a chronic pain condition that feels like a bladder infection that never ends. No one really knows what causes IC and there is no cure.

I've tried everything from surgery and homeopathy to narcotics and antidepressants, but nothing seemed to work until I discovered Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN). A hormone specialist suggested I use LDN as a way to combat the nerve pain that had plagued me for years. I figured I might as well try it since the only side effects from LDN are trouble sleeping and vivid dreams.

MARELLE REID

After a couple of weeks I found the strange dreams stopped, and a few months later I realized I was able to eat foods I normally would avoid because they made my IC pain worse. In fact, I was able to resume a completely normal diet, including foods and drinks that would have previously sent me into terrible flare.

For the past year I've been taking 4.5mg naltrexone at night just before bed. Although it has not cured me, I've been thrilled to find that it has reduced my pain to the point where I no longer feel held back from doing anything I would have done before I was diagnosed with IC. 

Naltrexone is the same drug used to treat alcoholism and opioid addiction. In larger doses (50mg) it blocks opioid receptors in the brain and decreases the desire to take opiates or alcohol.  It's believed that taking naltrexone in smaller doses stimulates the immune system and the production of endorphins, the body's natural painkiller.

LDN is prescribed "off label" for many conditions, but it isn't well known as a treatment for chronic pain because it's not marketed by any drug company for that purpose. The patent on naltrexone expired years ago and there's little money to be made from it or to conduct clinical trials.

However, a review of anecdotal information online and in social media suggests many people suffering from Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and other chronic illnesses believe they have benefited from taking LDN. (See "Naltrexone Changed Life of Fibromyalgia Patient").

I hope others can find the same relief that I have. 

Marelle Reid lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us. Send them to editor@painnewsnetwork.org.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

A Pained Life: Hold On Hope

By Carol Levy, PNN Columnist

If I didn’t know better, I would think the lyrics from Peter Allen’s 1976 song “Taught by Experts” were specifically for the chronic pain community:

I've been taught by experts in the art of cruelty
Now I'm giving lessons free
All it takes is three
I'll teach you to make friends with pain
Lesson number one
No it's not much fun
Never was much fun

That song feels like the story of my life, at least my life since the pain started.

After my last surgery, the doctor took photos of my shaved head and of the scars remaining from the 12 other neurosurgeries I’ve had for trigeminal neuralgia. Every one of them left visible scars, at least until my hair grew back.

Surgeries also leave invisible scars in our minds and souls. I would venture to say that, in one way or another, many of us have some level of post-traumatic stress disorder that will continue for as long as we have pain.

Recently I finished reading a book on chronic pain. The author gave many exercises and suggestions for ways to deal with pain. The exercises were geared towards ways to change how we think.  Many of the suggestions seemed to be variants of “Don't worry. Be happy.”

There must be a middle ground between “My life is cruel because of pain and I am consumed by it.” -- a thought that is hurtful and soul crushing -- and “I'll pretend it isn’t there and smile.” -- a falsehood that is equally destructive.

What is it that tethers us?

I think it is hope. Hope that the pain will get better, hope that a better, newer, easier treatment will be found. Or better yet, a cure.

And hope that in the interim we will still have access to the treatments and providers that helped us. 

Maybe these lyrics from “Hold on Hope” by Guided by Voices expresses it better than I can.

Every street is dark and folding out mysteriously
Well that’s the chance we take
To be always working, reaching out

For a hand that we can't see
Everybody's got to hold on hope
It's the last thing that's holding me

Carol Jay Levy has lived with trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic facial pain disorder, for over 30 years. She is the author of “A Pained Life, A Chronic Pain Journey.” 

Carol is the moderator of the Facebook support group “Women in Pain Awareness.” Her blog “The Pained Life” can be found here.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represent the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

Positivity Is My Survival Technique

By Mia Maysack, Guest Columnist

As a young girl, swimming and diving were my main passions in life. I spent every day at our neighborhood pool, from the moment they opened it until the second they closed -- even on rainy days.  I figured I was already wet and there was a great group of lifeguards. I didn't have a care in the world.

All of that changed at the age of 10 when I developed “swimmer’s ear” -- an infection of the ear canal that is often brought on by water that remains in the ear after swimming.  The water creates a moist environment that aids bacterial growth.  

After a routine visit for ear drops at a local clinic, I returned home to rest. Within a couple hours, I awoke from a nap feeling stiff from my neck on down. It was as if I were suddenly paralyzed. I was terrified. The next few moments felt like an eternity. If my mother had not come in to check on me, I could have died right there in my childhood bed.  

My mom knew something was wrong with her young and healthy daughter, and it wasn't much longer before we were on our way to the hospital. During the ride, I remember feeling the head pain for the very first time.

I also recall feeling upset with my father, because on the way he had all the windows down and I felt so cold.  He also had his rock music blasting, which angered me considering how much head pain I was feeling. I did not realize it then, but he was only doing his best to keep me awake - as I was slipping into a coma. 

After arriving at the hospital in a wheelchair, I threw up all over my poor dad. After profusely apologizing, I fell into a deep sleep. Days passed without anyone having any idea what was going on. When my desperate mother inquired, she was told, "Every moment Mia survives is a miracle."

Eventually it was discovered my body was fighting a grave infection and emergency surgery was required. The bacteria was harbored within the mastoid bone of my left ear. It should have been a relatively quick fix, but during the procedure the surgeons found the bone so infected that it crumbled into tiny pieces. It required hours of focused and careful work. 

After sewing my head shut, I was left to rest in the intensive care unit. It was then that left side of my face began oddly twitching. My family had been through the ringer at this point, but my mother did not leave my side. She noticed this change and called for immediate attention, fearing I was having a stroke or seizure.

MIA MAYSACK

It turned out there had been bacteria left behind and it was now attacking my facial nerves, which demanded a second emergency surgery. 

This rare experience left me with deafness in my left ear, partial facial paralysis that has turned into permanent facial synkinesis, as well as chronic migraines and daily cluster headaches. Considering the odds I was up against, I often refer to myself as walking miracle. Bacterial meningitis is swift, sometimes deadly and often results in limb removal. So although my entire life had been turned upside down, I knew I was lucky to be alive. 

Although I go through life with a positive and gratitude attitude, my head has been hurting every single day since this happened. We had no way of knowing back then that I would live with the consequences of that experience forever. I am thankful to have learned the concept of mortality at a very young age, as that helped to cultivate core values, morals and choices for myself  -- which kept me out of a lot of unnecessary trouble other kids my age were getting into. 

Upon returning to school, none of my friends wanted anything to do with me. Instead of checking in and asking what happened to me, untrue stories circulated and the teasing began. Children can be downright cruel in middle school and high school, and because I now looked different than everyone else, I was an easy target. I would spend my recess inside the nurse’s office, working with her on facial retraining exercises. I used to glue or tape my eye closed at night, otherwise it would have essentially dried out and I may have suffered vision loss or lost the eye altogether. 

Accepting My Differences

I have come a long way since then with overall acceptance and I embrace my differences because they represent my fight for life, health and well-being. 

Over all these years, I have tried just about every treatment for my pain that anyone could think of. Medications further complicated things, while neglecting to help with the underlying issues.  Diet changes made no difference.  Nor did biofeedback, acupuncture, Botox, dry needling, trigger point injections, herbal remedies, massage, and chiropractic. The list goes on and on. 

I feel a deeply rooted disappointment with our current healthcare system. We have made many powerful discoveries and improvements in medicine, and the breakthroughs are tremendous for many.  I have come across some great personnel within the medical community, however they are few and far between. 

Due to my illness being invisible, I am often either treated as though I am overreacting, flat out lying, drug seeking or being dramatic. At one point I was banned from a pain clinic for missing a few appointments  because I did not feel safe enough to drive myself.

There is a common attitude toward chronically ill patients, that we are not fully taking responsibility for ourselves or our ailments, and a general opinion within society that we should pop an aspirin and shut up already. If only it were that easy or simple. I wouldn't be here writing this if it was. 

Living each day with head pain, among other discomforts, gets in the way of me being able to think straight and living the life I used to envision for myself.  Often overlooked or flat out disregarded is the constant losses the chronically ill are forced to navigate through.

For example, I worked very hard to earn a job at the very same hospital that saved my life, but ultimately had to step down because they were unwilling to accommodate my need to work fewer hours. I've also had to drop out of college multiple times because they are not set up to cater to the needs of those who suffer from debilitating pain. 

Within the past year and a half, my daily pain scale number of 5/6 has escalated to a 7/8, which has been devastating. Due to high demand, getting in to be seen at a pain clinic (if you are fortunate enough to have one in your area) can take months. When you've been stuck in a cluster headache for 90+ days, it's only natural to feel isolated and alone. There are times I have asked myself how or if I am able to go on like this. 

Our health is one of the most important things in life. That truth is what led me to pursue patient advocacy so passionately. I began witnessing other people getting treated the same way that I was, and it sparked a fire to advocate for the sake of them as well. 

I am living proof that we are far more than any diagnosis. Positivity has become a survival technique as well as a coping mechanism for me. It has led me down a path of holistic wellness through mindfulness and the humble reminder that -- although things could definitely be better -- they could have been much worse.  

Mia Maysack lives in Wisconsin. Mia is a proud supporter of the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy and was recently honored by the U.S. Pain Foundation as its “Pain Warrior of the Month.”

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us. Send them to editor@painnewsnetwork.org.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

An Open Letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions

By Fred Brown, Guest Columnist

Dear Honorable Attorney General Jeff Sessions,

Why are there are so many federal agencies, like the CDC, DEA and Justice Department, that want to take away my opioid medication?  I have a right to be treated humanely, don’t I?

I am an American citizen who has dealt with some serious and painful medical issues. Over 20 years ago, I was referred to a board-certified pain management physician.  This was due to two failed cervical surgeries that left me with chronic back pain. I had two additional surgeries to fuse my spine after the first two operations, which only made my pain even more severe. The pain physician recommended I should begin a treatment regimen that included low doses of opioid medication.  

These medications helped me to continue working and have a certain quality of life.  I knew from discussions with my physician that, over time, I would need to increase the dose as my body would become dependent on opioids. This has been necessary and over many years these medications helped me live my life.

I have tried other medical modalities such as physical and occupational therapy, biofeedback, acupuncture, counseling, and other alternative treatments.  Further, before starting on opioids, I tried various non-narcotic medicines which did not work.    

Mr. Attorney General, earlier this year, you gave a talk in Tampa and said, “People need to take some aspirin sometimes and tough it out.” 

Perhaps if someone was experiencing mild discomfort, aspirin will work.  However, when one is living with severe chronic pain, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, they very likely need strong opioids prescribed by their physician.

Opiates help patients like me get relief from severe pain. They do not take away the pain, but they help reduce it and enable us to have some quality of life.  

ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS

The “pill mills” have hurt many people, and most certainly the DEA should do everything it can to close them down.  But at the same time, certain patients must have high dosages of these medications. Each of us have a different metabolism and what may work for one person at one dose level may not work at all with another patient.  

When a government agency such as the DEA goes after physicians who are trying to help legitimate patients, without any idea of the patients’ history is and why they are on high doses, that is entirely wrong and inhumane!

Why are so many agencies, along with Congress, trying to keep these medications at lower dosages that will cause me to live with increased pain?  Does our nation intend to condemn citizens who have painful and excruciating disabilities to a life of agony?

I am aware the CDC made some serious mistakes when it released the 2016 Opioid Prescribing Guideline.  Some physicians believe the guideline is law and began to lower the doses of patients or even discharge them from their practice. It took CDC researchers years to admit they significantly inflated deaths from opioid prescriptions because they misreported deaths due to illegal fentanyl. 

Opioid prescriptions have been declining since 2011, while overdose deaths and suicides are at an all-time high!  This is not accidental.  CDC, FDA and DEA are chasing the wrong opioid epidemic and needlessly ruining lives of people in pain.

Mr. Attorney General, was our nation founded on the premise that our fellow citizens should live in chronic severe pain? I do not believe our Founding Fathers would want this. 

Fred Brown lives in central Florida. Fred is disabled because of spinal fusion with laminectomy syndrome, cervical radiculitis.  He also has severe arthritis in bilateral knees with a failed knee replacement.  In addition to pain management, Fred uses "diversion of the mind" as a way of dealing with much discomfort. 

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us. Send them to editor@painnewsnetwork.org.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

The New Face of the Opioid Crisis

By Pat Anson, Editor

Caylee Cresta doesn’t have any illusions about being the next Internet star or YouTube sensation. But the 23-minute video she posted on what it’s like to be a chronic pain patient during an age of opioid hysteria has become a hit in the pain community.

“This video should be made to go viral,” one fan said.

“Caylee you did an amazing, persuasive presentation. Maybe you should be a lobbyist!” another one wrote.

“Single best piece of chronic pain patient advocacy I have ever seen. Absolutely brilliant!” wrote Chuck Malinowski.

Caylee’s video is not addressed to the pain community, but to the public at large. The 26-year old Massachusetts woman with fiery red hair looks directly into the camera and earnestly asks people to set aside their misconceptions about pain, addiction and the opioid crisis.

“I do not suffer from addiction and yet stigma will tell you that I do.  And that is a myth that we are going to change,” she says. “Don’t ever brush off the plight of the chronically ill because your lives can change in an instant, just as ours have.

“The fight against opiates is an uneducated one. This is a movement that lacks understanding in its most basic form. Every lawmaker is taking on this fight without ever consulting even a single chronically ill person. What does that mean? That means that the people who depend on these medications aren’t even being considered when taking them away.”

In her video, Caylee spends little time discussing her own experience as a pain patient. While still in high school, Caylee developed a rare and incurable neurological disorder called Stiff-person syndrome, which is characterized by strong muscle spasms and stiffness. The spams are so severe her lungs have collapsed twice.

“I’ll get such strong spasms in my throat and chest cavity that they create so much air that can’t escape (my lungs) that it just made them literally pop,” she told PNN. “My muscle spasms can break my bones, they’ll get that strong.”

Caylee’s symptoms were usually dismissed by doctors and it took years for her to get a proper diagnosis. Last year, a doctor at a pain clinic dropped her as a patient after getting a warning letter from Medicare that she was prescribing too many opioids. Caylee went without opioids for months, which is when her lungs burst.

Living in Fear

Although Massachusetts has a reputation as having some of the best healthcare in the world, Caylee now drives 3 hours one-way to see a neurologist in Connecticut.

“Any other doctor that I’ve seen over the years has literally looked at me and in one way or another and said, ‘Your prognosis is so dim. It’s so rare.’ They’re not even willing to take me on as a patient. My doctor has stuck by me and tried everything there is to try,” she says. 

Caylee has tried stem cells, chemotherapy and many other treatments. The only thing that works is opioid medication. Although she is once again able to get prescriptions for opioids, she often has trouble getting them filled. She and her husband went to 20 pharmacies one day before finding a pharmacist willing to fill her script.

“You live every single day in fear.  Every time you fill your prescription you go, okay, I’m going to have a life for another month. But you live that whole month with such anxiety and wondering what’s going to happen next,” she said. 

Caylee hopes her YouTube video will help educate the public about the daily challenges of being in pain and give some hope to pain sufferers.

“I want to fight for people going through this. I truly want to fight for them. I just want to let people know that they’re not alone. I want them to know that we’re all in this together,” says Caylee.

“What is probably the most humbling is when I get messages like ‘I would do anything for the world to be able to see this’ or ‘I would do anything for this to go viral and for people to understand what we go through.’ When I get messages like that, that let me know that these people feel like somebody is speaking for them, that touches me in a way that I can’t even explain.”

Wallowing in Pain

By David Hanscom, MD, PNN Columnist

One of the most powerful ways to bond with others is by sharing emotional or physically painful experiences.  It is common for people suffering from chronic pain to discuss it with their family, friends and colleagues.

Between searching for a cure and talking about it, a fair amount of their consciousness is focused on pain. But the unconscious brain, which pain is a part of, is much more powerful than the conscious brain. You can’t consciously fix or control it. But you can direct it. Your brain changes every second and will develop wherever you place your attention. The more you focus on your pain, the more you will reinforce it.

Many of us in the medical profession were trained to have our pain patients keep a diary of the pain. But it has now been shown in some studies (here and here) that a pain diary is often associated with a delay in recovery. Focusing on the pain and documenting it may only reinforce pain circuits.

One of the most powerful strategies we have seen in treating pain is when we don’t allow patients to discuss their pain with anyone – expect with medical providers. People can become so wrapped up in their pain that they lose themselves in it. They become their pain.

I had no idea how much time patients spent discussing their pain until I asked them not to. For some, it felt like I had just dumped a bucket of ice water over their head.

They’ll say, “I feel shallow and phony by not sharing what is really going on with me.” That is a sure sign that he or she has become their pain.

We have witnessed several things occur when people successfully stop discussing their pain. The pain may not immediately abate, but they feel lighter.

For starters, do you really think your pain is that interesting to those who aren’t in pain? There is nothing that they can do about it and although they may sympathize, it is incredibly frustrating to repeatedly hear the same story.  Often my patients don’t appreciate the effect their story has on others. People that they enjoyed in the past drift away, furthering their social isolation.

And what about your poor family? They can’t escape as easily. Instead of you being a source of inspiration, peace, love and joy, you bring the whole house down. It isn’t a psychological issue. The effect occurs through mirror neurons, where you are stimulating the negative parts of the brains of those close to you.

Bonding with Pain

Another harmful aspect of repeatedly discussing your pain is that you will bond with those who are also focused on their pain. The bonds are deep and real and stronger than many human connections.

One extreme example of the strength of the need for social interaction involved a patient who we discovered was being violently abused by her boyfriend. We had to call the authorities. But she kept going back to him. One of my staff finally asked her why she put up with being beat up so badly. Her reply was, “It’s the only time that I have his full attention.”

You’ll be almost guaranteed to remain in pain if you are also contributing to another person’s suffering. One of the most basic parts of being human is giving back and that energy is almost impossible to connect to while you are in the abyss of pain. You are taking from those around you and not giving back.

Even deeper though is that the bond forged by pain is so strong that many don’t want to give up their pain. It’s the one greatest obstacle to healing. Being in a victim mode, in any realm, is so powerful that no one willingly wants to let it go. I run across this resistance multiple times per week. It took me many years before I realized that some patients had become addicted to being in pain and were resistant to change. If a patient doesn’t want to even learn the basic concepts behind solving chronic pain, there is nothing that I can do for them.

Our team has attempted to work with several online pain groups, where a lot of energy is spent on complaining about pain, circumstances and medical care. The complaints are generally legitimate, but little time is spent on discussing real alternatives. When we have suggested that there is a viable solution, we are quickly and consistently blocked.

We’ve also asked our patients to never complain or engage in pain behavior, such as groaning, grabbing their back, etc. If you are having a bad day at work or dealing with an unpleasant aspect of your pain, why bring it home? It is supposed to be your haven of safety and relaxation.

Don’t Share Your Pain

We have been surprised how difficult it’s been for some people to quit complaining.  It’s also been surprising how effective this simple strategy has been in moving people forward on their healing journey. At a minimum, their family is happier and everyone’s mood improves. It’s a great start.

Last week I had five different patients become free of pain. All of them had been suffering badly for many years and the change occurred within a couple of months. One person dramatically improved within a couple of weeks. All were beside themselves trying to express how excited and happy they were to be free of pain. Not discussing their pain was a significant step for each of them.

If you are one who feels like that you have to share your pain, then be honest with yourself about not wanting to give it up. It will save you and everyone else a lot of time and money not making the effort to help you heal when you actually don’t want to. Not sharing your pain is a simple beginning and will give you insight on where you are at with regards to healing.

Many people are incensed at the idea that they don’t want to give up their pain. The response is often that the medical profession just isn’t doing its job and fixing them. Whether that is true or not isn’t the point. The key is that you aren’t willing to learn the most recent concepts about overcoming pain. There isn’t any risk and you are already spending a good deal of time searching for an answer.

If you really think you aren’t attached to your suffering, then try this simple test:  Don’t talk about your pain.

Dr. David Hanscom is a spinal surgeon who has helped hundreds of back pain sufferers by teaching them how to calm their central nervous systems without the use of drugs or surgery. In his book Back in Control, Hanscom shares the latest developments in neuroscience research and his own personal history with pain.

More information can be found on his website.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

When Will They Start Listening to Pain Patients?

By Ann Marie Gaudon, PNN Columnist

It’s often suggested that pain patients and their advocates write or call elected officials, government regulators and physicians’ organizations to protest the sorry state of pain care in the U.S. and Canada. Many of us do just that and wind up feeling ignored or dismissed.

I have now corresponded with two different physicians at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), only to be passed onto their “Director of Strategy” (a fancy pants title no less).

The CPSO is the body which governs physicians in Ontario and it has rigidly enforced Canada’s 2017 guideline for opioids. They have monitored patient files, hauled over 80 doctors in to investigate “overprescribing” and basically terrorized doctors for prescribing opioids.

The doctors in turn deny and restrict opioid medications to their patients out of fear for losing their licenses.

I have asked the CPSO these questions:

• What evidence do you have to indicate the long-term use of opioids increases pain?
• Why is the chronic pain population being penalized for overdose deaths due to illicit street drugs?
• Why are you not listening to chronic pain researchers, physicians and patients?
• Does a decrease in opioid prescriptions and an increase in overdose deaths suggest a statistically significant relationship?
• How is it ever acceptable for pain patients to be dictated to by non-pain specialists?

I have provided no less than 27 references to show that there was never a connection between chronic pain patients and those dying from overdoses. However, no one has provided me with answers to my questions -- not even fancy pants.  In fact, the CPSO continues to disseminate disingenuous information about pain management, opioids, addiction and overdoses.

And remember folks, these are the people who took an oath to care for the suffering. That would include all of us pain patients -- or one would think. To put out genuine effort and have nothing but deaf ears returned is sickening -- pun intended.

Health Canada also hasn’t answered my questions and continues to make baseless claims such as "high rates of opioid prescriptions are a contributing factor to Canada's opioid crisis." Predictably, when the media hears that, they rush to publish the news that Health Canada plans to “severely restrict marketing of opioids” -- as if that will have any effect on those dying from overdoses. It will not. The non-pained public laps it up.

I also wrote to my representatives in Parliament. MPP Michael Harris did not respond in any way. MP Marwan Tabbara responded with a boilerplate letter about the opioid crisis, yet when I asked for a purposeful response, none was forthcoming.

Dr. Helena Jaczek, Ontario’s Minister of Health, did not address my concerns either. A representative of Health Quality Ontario did respond to me quickly, yet when I replied with additional concerns, I had no further correspondence.

I’m aware that our friends in the U.S. are certainly not being heard either. Scores of you sent letters and emails commenting on the open letter that desperate pain sufferer Charles Malinowski sent to California Sen. Kamala Harris, who replied with a boilerplate letter filled with hype and hysteria about opioids and how more funding was needed to treat addiction.

Another example is when over 100 comments were submitted to the DEA asking it not to cut the supply of opioid medication because it could lead to shortages and worsen the quality of pain care. The DEA’s response? The agency said the comments dealt with medical issues that were “outside of the scope” of its order. Then it cut the supply anyway.

A genuine letter is sent and verbal diarrhea is returned. I can assure you that this phenomenon is not just “Made in America.” 

If you’ve written or tried to be heard and have gotten nowhere, that is no reason to stop trying to hold governments and physician groups accountable for their shameful disregard for pain patients. We have just had a shakeup in Ontario’s government, so it's all new players now. Will they help? I intend to find out.

Who is with me? More than ever pain patients and advocates need to stick together, focus and move toward effective change. Don’t make quitting an option. If you live in Canada and are a pain patient having unethical treatment forced upon you, please join us at this Facebook page. 

Ann Marie Gaudon is a registered social worker and psychotherapist in the Waterloo region of Ontario, Canada with a specialty in chronic pain management.  She has been a chronic pain patient for 33 years and works part-time as her health allows. For more information about Ann Marie's counseling services, visit her website.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

Now Is the Time to Advocate

By Barby Ingle, PNN Columnist

I have written many articles on patient advocacy and it is still one of the topics I am most asked about. Now through the first week of September is the perfect time to visit with your state legislators and congressional representatives. I have appointments with three coming up in the next few weeks myself.

They need to hear from their constituents. The need to learn about issues facing people who vote in their districts and state. They need to know who makes up the pain community so that they can better represent and REMEMBER us when it is time to vote on legislation that may help or hurt our access to proper and timely pain care.

How do you get an appointment? Look up the website for your legislator or congressman and request a meeting. Sometimes you can make an appointment directly through the website, but I believe the best way is to call and set it up, followed by a written request or confirmation of the appointment.

You may be scheduled with the lawmaker themselves or a staff member who assists them with a particular issue. In our case, it is usually the staffer who handles health or insurance issues.

These appointments can take place in Washington, DC or in your home state. The U.S. House (but not the Senate) is in recess until after Labor Day, so most representatives are in their districts campaigning for the midterm elections. Many are taking meetings and doing town halls.

When you call for a meeting, you may get voicemail. Leave a message! If you don’t get a return call in a few days, call again. If someone answers, call and ask to speak with the scheduler.

It’s impressive to friends, family and other pain community members when you actually follow through with a meeting. It is something that anyone can do, but few actually try. Most rely on others to make it to these meetings.

You need to focus on what you'll talk about before the meeting. If you get an appointment, dig in and study. Do your homework and research legislation so you can explain why you support or oppose it. Share your personal story in a highlight reel fashion. You might have a 20+ year story of living with chronic pain and illness, but you should get it down to no more than 2 minutes. Highlight the challenges you faced and where you are now in the chronic care process.

Make an Ask

The main purpose of your first meeting will be to familiarize yourself with your senator, representative or legislator and make a memorable connection. Stay on topic, stay timely and “make an ask” – ask them to do something specific for you.

These meetings typically last 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t bring a truck load of supporting materials. Discuss no more than 3 topics at the meeting and leave a one-page fact sheet for each topic. You want them to know that they can use you as a resource, so include a calling card with your contact information.

If you are asked about a fact that you don’t know the answer to, just say, “I don’t know.” It is better to be truthful than to make something up and risk losing credibility. You can always follow-up later with the information they seek.

You are there to make an ask, so set a reasonable deadline for them to respond to you with the answer. They may say right away they won’t support or oppose a bill and why. Don’t argue with them if they do. Use it as a teachable moment as to why you hope they will reconsider and how their decision will affect you and others like you in the pain community. If they haven’t taken a position on the issue in the past, it is not likely that they will commit to one in this meeting.

When you get home, always send a short thank you letter to the representative or staffer who was there. Also include any follow-up answers you promised. Remember, if you met with a staffer, they are there to filter out the messaging and bring back the best info they can to the representative.

our 2017 MEETING WITH WITH REP. ANDY BIGGS

If you do get an actual face-to-face chat with your senator or representative, you are lucky. In 2017, we were fortunate to get a meeting with Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs (pictured above).  A personal meeting like that demonstrates to lawmakers there is a constituency for chronic pain and illness that is active in their district and needs to be listened to.

After your first meeting, get ready for the next one. Stay in touch with the staffers and representatives, and when it comes time for them to act or vote, there is a better chance they will remember you and your story and do something that helps the pain community in a positive way.

Hearing directly from patients and caregivers goes a long way in helping us get access to proper and timely pain care. They need to know that we care, so they should care too.

Barby Ingle lives with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), migralepsy and endometriosis. Barby is a chronic pain educator, patient advocate, and president of the International Pain Foundation. She is also a motivational speaker and best-selling author on pain topics. More information about Barby can be found at her website. 

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

I Thank God for Opioid Medication

By Carmen Littizzio, Guest Columnist

I was born with a rare genetic defect called Arnold Chiari Syndrome, which blocks the flow of cerebral fluid and causes pressure to build in my brain. I had brain surgery to treat it in 1999, when I was 44 years old.  

During this surgery they cut off a portion of the skull in the back of my head to make more space for cerebral fluid to flow. Lack of fluid in the brain and spinal cord causes intense pain for me from the waist down.  At times I’m not able to walk and have painful electrical sensations that are torturous.

Nineteen years after the surgery, I still suffer from high pressure headaches, chronic leg pain, thigh and buttock pain, and other symptoms. The high cerebral pressure has also caused other problems, such as retinal detachment in both eyes, vomiting, vertigo and vision issues. 

In 2008, when I was 53, I developed a crowding in my spinal cord the same as I had in the brain and had to have a spinal cord decompression. They put a titanium plate with four screws into my back to hold it all together.

This operation was so intense that for days after the surgery, I just wanted to die. It was a living hell.

I survived with the help of morphine, but eventually went back to my old pain medication, which consisted of Neurontin, Topamax, Elavil and Diamox -- all in very high doses.

CARMEN LITTIZZIO

In 2009, my body started shutting down because of those meds and I was unable to urinate. I had a permanent catheter put in and all those medications were stopped. I started taking Percocet for pain. After 4 months, I began urinating again and never wanted to go back to those other meds. 

I was told of the dangers of long term opioid use, but decided to risk it for some quality of life. My other choice was to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, be able to do nothing, and still die young because of being so sedentary. 

I am now 63 and next year it will be 20 years since the brain surgery. I take a time released OxyContin in the morning and evening, and oxycodone for breakthrough pain and the headaches. 

I am entering my senior years, but still walking on my own and enjoying my children and 5 grandchildren. I don't know how much longer I will live, but I feel like I’ve won the war. What war? The war for quality of life. I thank God for opioid medication. I have never been high or abused my medications. 

I feel very bad for those that abuse narcotics or overdose.  But why should I pay the price for their inability to use self-control? We don't take alcohol off the market because we have alcoholics and drunk driving.

There are many people like me that have chronic pain and illness, and we are paying the price for those who abuse. It’s not right and not fair that we should be made to stop living because of their issues.  Nobody has the right to choose for me. 

Carmen Littizzio lives in Maine.

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us. Send them to editor@painnewsnetwork.org.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

Why ‘The Bleeding Edge’ Gave Me a Panic Attack

By Emily Ullrich, Guest Columnist

If you haven't seen it yet, you've likely heard the buzz about The Bleeding Edge on Netflix. This documentary should be seen by every adult in America, not just chronically ill or chronic pain patients.

The Bleeding Edge gives insight and affirmation to those of us who have dealt with the medical system a little too much and demonstrates how important self-advocacy is. If you haven't seen it yet, don't let what I'm about to tell you deter you. I've seen it twice now. The first time I watched it, I had a full-on panic attack because it reminded me of the infuriating ordeal I went through dealing with the American medical system.

I wanted to watch the film again, hoping I would be able to watch it more objectively. I made it through the second time without a panic attack, but I was still yelling at the screen.

The film covers an array of medical device errors and malfunctions. But more importantly, it also delves into the mistakes and oversights that the FDA, CDC, American Medical Association and others have made (and continue to make) at the expense of our health because it's more lucrative to make us sick than it is to ensure our safety.

One of the main topics in The Bleeding Edge is the autoimmune disorders that many women developed after the implantation of the Essure birth control device. I was especially stricken by this story.

My first experience with chronic pain was pelvic pain, due in part to endometriosis. I started having my periods when I was 11 years old, and by age 12 was literally passing out because of the severe pain I had when menstruating. I saw doctor after doctor, and every one of them told me the same three things:

“This is normal.”

“At least part, if not all of this, is psychological.”

“Take ibuprofen and a hot bath, and you'll be fine.”

Of course, they were all wrong.

By age 19, I went to probably my twelfth doctor. She decided, in her infinite and culturally superior attitude, that since I had two sexual partners in my lifetime that I must be promiscuous. And if I continued this reckless behavior, she would not be able treat me and would be forced to tell my parents. When I told her I didn't need to be judged or lectured, she clucked her tongue and shook her head, as though I was a lost cause.

Many years and irresponsible, uncaring and uninformed doctors later, at age 31, I went to a doctor who told me I probably had endometriosis and performed a laparoscopic procedure to confirm this diagnosis. The procedure was also supposed to remove it and I was supposed to feel better. It didn't.

As I aged, it got worse. And as I moved around the country, I had to go through the degrading and exasperating experience of finding a doctor who believed me and believed in endometriosis. Many OB/GYN's and MD's still do not.  Even now, I see doctors on occasion who refer to it as a “garbage pail diagnosis.”

The Mirena IUD

At age 36, I was finally referred to a pelvic pain specialist. He believed in my pain and suffering and wanted to help. I cried because he was so nice.

After a fourth endometrial ablation surgery, he suggested the Mirena IUD as a long-term solution to my problem. He said it would not only prevent pregnancy but would be effective in reducing or eliminating my periods. As I lay back to have the IUD inserted, he assured me that it would not be painful that I would merely feel a “slight pinch.”

I never felt ANYTHING as excruciatingly painful. The doctor mistakenly punctured the fundus of my uterus. So, he casually penetrated me again with the same invasive tools, pulled the IUD out, opened a new one and attempted to place it. My uterus simply spat it back out at him. He said, laughing, “Your body doesn't seem to like this! Wanna try it again?”

I should have listened to my body and said no. But he tried again and finally placed it. For the next nine months. I bled profusely every day and the pain was worse than ever. I called and visited the doctor numerous times throughout these months, and every time he assured me the bleeding would stop and I should be patient.

Finally, I marched into an appointment and demanded he remove it. He did, and although I had pain for the next few days, it finally got a little better.

My point in all of this is that I now have about 15 chronic pain conditions. And with each one, I have a similar horror story. I feel a connection to the women who had the Essure device and who later developed autoimmune illnesses because of it. I will never know if any of my ongoing list of health problems stemmed from the Mirena, but I do know that after my bad experience with it and a few other attempted medical devices, my body doesn't respond well to foreign objects.

We are all different chronic pain snowflakes, if you will, and different treatments work for different people. However, as one goes through the process of repetitive ER visits, hospital admissions and doctor's appointments, we get to know what we can and cannot tolerate pretty well.

The pain patients' mantra of “Be Your Own Best Advocate” could not be hammered home better than it was watching The Bleeding Edge. The film struck a deep chord within me about the irresponsibility of our government, medical companies and doctors, as well as their willingness to suspend disbelief if it is easier and more financially convenient, even if it's at the cost of people's lives.

It is very much like the movement to stop the use of opioids, a proven and mostly safe class of pain medication, while encouraging the use of under-tested drugs with bad side effects that are often prescribed off label to treat conditions they were never intended for. It doesn't matter anymore if the patient has a better life or not. It only matters that the medical system drains our wallets and souls, while selling theirs.

Still, after all of this, we have to fight. We have to because no one else is going to do it for us. We have to do our own research and educate ourselves about medical devices and treatments.

As The Bleeding Edge demonstrates, when you can buy stock in healthcare companies, when government became controlled by corporations, and when doctors get paid for using and recommending their products, we lost the ability to trust them. 

Emily Ullrich lives with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, endometriosis,  Interstitial Cystitis, migraines, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, PTSD, insomnia, bursitis, depression, multiple chemical sensitivity, and chronic pancreatitis.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.