Quote:
Originally Posted by spine95
I finally told my pain doc that a certain amount of depression goes along with the level of pain I stay in and I was just going to live with it as the psychiatrists answer always was to double up on the med or add another one.
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It's normal and understandable that a certain amount of depression goes along with chronic pain, but the level of pain should be a reasonable amount to endure. I sincerely hope that's the case.
I think the psychiatrists were earnestly trying to help you, but western doctors are trained a certain way, and seldom venture far from that paradigm. In the "
vicious cycle" of
chronic pain and
depression, there's typically some leeway in treating either or both with the goal of
reducing the sense of suffering and
improving the quality of life. Finding the right balance (with or without medications) for each individual patient may present challenges, and can take time, but IMO it's a goal worth pursuing.
Doc