Hi, Leesa and Dr. Smith:

I thought that severe chronic pain was severe pain that lasted beyond the time it took for the injury or disease causing the pain to heal. Some people say it is 3 months, others claim it is 6 months, and others 12 months.

As for intractable pain, I thought it was severe chronic pain that was hard to control, but not impossible to control.

According to what you typed, Leesa, it seems that I was wrong: you said intractable pain was pain that is not relieved by anything. According to Leesa, the severe chronic pain I have might not be intractable pain because my severe chronic pain is controlled with Duragesic, MSIR, and Tambocor.

According to the criteria Dr. Smith gave, the severe chronic pain I have could be intractable pain. Dr. Smith said: "Intractable Pain (IP) has four outstanding characteristics: (1) constant, (2) severe, (3) disabling, and (4) causes detectable biologic impacts on the body's blood pressure, pulse rate, hormone levels, and neurologic systems." My pain is: 1) constant (or permanent) without treatment, 2) severe (or intense) without treatment, 3) disabling (I cannot do almost anything without the treatment mentioned above), and 4) my blood pressure goes through the roof without treatment, my pulse rate increases without treatment, my hormone levels are always lower than the normal level...

Thank you both for your information. I have trouble deciding what type of pain I have. If it was intractable, doctors would take me more seriously instead of acting like my pain was in my mind and all I needed is a shrink. I admit I do hate shrinks because they treated me like the doctors I just mentioned.