Hi ANS,

Over the course of my life so far, I've had scleroderma pain; sciata pain; birthing pain; cervical disk pain; lower back pain; toe pain, and constant Parkinson's pain not properly diagnosed until last year, not to mention spiritual pain and general angst, which, since I have time to notice it, means my life isn't as bad as you may be inferring right about now. To ease it I have logged more than 5,000 hours of yoga, swimming, massage, physical therapy, speech and swallowing therapy, meditation and Tibetan chanting. Almost all of my doctors were unable to find or explain a cause; some of them clearly thought it was psychogenic. Then I got wise. Just like general neurologist was unable to spot early onset Parkinsons in me that is clear as a bell to every neurologist with a movement disorder specialty, I had to go to a PAIN MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST to begin to grasp the causes, mechanisms and treatments of my pain. The field is too new and too rapidly developing for general docs to stay current. Bottom line: some of those meds work really really well for many folks; there are more options; and, the only way you'll get through it is if you do your own research and work with a pain management doctor (along with whatever specialist convinces you of a diagnosis). If you already have a PM doctor and still are experiencing unrelenting pain, tell him or her that your treatment plan is insufficient and tweak it together. Or find a better doc. BTW, seeing a pain management doc was the smartest decision I ever made. I still have pain but it is much reduced. I also find it dissipates when I am creating. Do not give up! Good luck on the 15th.