IMHO You have the wrong PM doctor. U need a Doc that specializes in RSD, or at least one that knows more than yours seems. Your body naturally builds up a tolerance to opioids, so eventually it wont help as much, not to mention RSD is a permanent and progressive disease, so it basically gets worse as u have it longer (most of the time). As far as the Doc pressuring you or telling you that u HAVE to have the stimulator, u need to tell him to shove it. YOU are the ONLY person who makes the decision for that ,and DONT LET N E ONE TELL YOU WHAT TO DO! You can ask peoples opinions, but its up to u. Your Doc may just be looking for another quick pay day. My Doc says the stim is the next step for me, but from doing alot of research online and talkin to some people Id say just from my research, 80% of the people who have had it implanted have had to have it removed for 1 reason or another. So for me what may as well be a heart transplant with an 80% failure rate aint gonna cut it!