Cymbalta is not a tricyclic antidepressant - it is an SNRI. The tricyclic anti-depressants are an older class of antidepressants and have been around a long time but they can have significant benefits in reducing neuropathic pain. The thing is this, you can't assume that because one anti-depressant in a particular 'class' or type doesn't work for you, they will all have the same effect. You need to work your way through all or at least a number of them to know whether any of them will or won't work. Just because Cymbalta didn't help you, doesn't mean that a different type of antidepressant won't help. It can be a long, slow and tedious chore to work your way through different drugs but if you find one that helps and has acceptable see-effects then it is worth the effort.

I'm not surprised your doctor wants to put you back on the Nucynta given the excellent results you seem to have had. Are the periodic problems the Nucynta gives you with anxiety and your skin worth putting up with for the amount of pain reduction you get? If they are worth it TO YOU and ONLY YOU, then just get on with it and take it if the tramadol and kratom don't work sufficiently well for you. Its your decision in conjunction with your doctor, not anyone else's decision.

I so often read or hear about people with crippling CRPS whose biggest concern is how they will get off the drugs their doctor is wanting to prescribe for them to try. Lots of people won't even consider taking certain drugs just in case they might have issues stopping them in the future. I can't understand that. They would rather live with excruciating pain and poor quality of life than risk just trying something that, in fact, they may well have no/few issues coming back off. Its really important to give yourself the very best chance of getting the pain from this condition under control as much as possible. Like I said, the chances are high that you are going to have this pain for the rest of your days so its far more important to find medication that works and gives you a decent quality of life now on the basis that you are unlikely to be coming off it. Deal with the problems you have got now so you can have a good quality of life and can use your hand/arm thus, ironically, giving yourself the best chance of ridding yourself of the underlying CRPS. Don't fixate on the issues you might or might not have one day in the distant future. If you have to come off it one day then yes - it might be difficult - but deal with that problem if and when it arises in the future.

You are 45 years old - why do you let these relatives bully you and push you around? Its none of their business what medication you take. Why do you even tell them what medication you are being prescribed? Its got absolutely nothing to do with them. Ignore all this crap they are saying and the garbage articles they are sending you - throw them straight in the trash. They can only pressure you, upset you and make you feel angry if you let them. Personally I would pity them - I pity their ignorance and lack of intelligence. They clearly know nothing about CRPS, know nothing about modern thinking in chronic pain treatment and opiod medication. Oh and they obviously don't understand the difference between addiction and physical dependance - that's one of my personal 'pet irritations"! You absolutely CAN take your pain medication forever if you need to - that's just another indicator of their lack of intelligence. I fully expect to be taking mine for the rest of my life and I'm the same age as you.

How your father in law chooses to deal with his back pain is his business but its an entirely different medical condition and entirely different pain. No two people with back pain arising from the same underlying damage would have the same type or level of pain, nor would they cope with their equally well. Its not a competition to demonstrate how big your balls are based on how good you are at suffering!!

Have confidence in yourself and your decisions about the ways you choose to manage your own pain, including the drugs you choose to use based on your doctor's advice. Ignore your idiot relatives and be more assertive if they try to pressure you. What you do is none of their business and its a massive invasion of your privacy for them to keep interfering. You don't need to be horrible or destroy family relations but be absolutely firm, have the courage of your convictions and don't let them mess you around any longer.