The demonization of opiates is hurting people.

[sorefeet]

99. Severe neuropathy from head to toe

I have tried all the pain pills and hydrocodone works best for the neuropathy. It does very little for my stenosis and degenerating spine. I am not addicted but I am dependent. Without pain meds I can't even walk. Not just from pain but from balance also. I treated it for years with alcohol, like so many people treat pain with. Now I know why Granny on Beverley Hillbillies called it her medicine. I was kicked out of the pain program because I also used medical marijuana (legal). Cold turkey get out of my office. I had to hop the Amtrak all the way too Ill. where my sister ran a clinic, hooked me up with a doctor and mailed me prescriptions once a month. Until I wrote Dr. Petzel ( resigned VA undersecretary of the VA scandal) and told him the VA refused to treat me for pain. That is when he wrote the directive allowing states with legal medical marijuana to write opiate prescriptions to legal medical users. States that are not legal STILL refuse to treat VETS for pain that use medical marijuana.
I am actually looking for poppy seeds to cover my ass for the next time some over zealous quack decides I don't need them. I actually had a doctor tell me "If I don't do what the DEA tells me they will take my privilege to write scripts". Do they really wonder why 22 Veterans commit suicide everyday. If they cut me off again and the pain was back with a vengeance, it would seem perfectly logical and the only answer would be to kill myself. It would be obvious the doctor didn't care and it isn't like you are going to live forever anyway. That is the way a mind in pain rationalizes. It's the end of the road and it's ok. I'm sure the majority of people in real pain have thought about suicide a lot.