Hi Kathy ~ Has he ever mentioned the Spinal Cord Stimulator since your pain is intractable? This is an implant and the stimulator gives the nerves an electrical type stimulation which masks the pain. It works very well with people who have peripheral pain, but doesn't work well for the back pain. You might mention it to him.

You also might have Fibromyalgia. Many people who have had pain for a long time end up with Fibro. The pain receptor go haywire and the nerves become effected and all of a sudden you have Fibro and the whole body is involved. It's terribly painful -- the trouble is, some doctors don't even BELIEVE in Fibro. They figure if you can't "see" it and can't really diagnose it, then it can't be real. Fibro IS hard to diagnose. If you look it up you'll see for yourself. But it is recognized by the American College of Medicine. I think more and more doctors are realiziing that it IS real.

I have the same problem as you in that my MRI doesn't look "bad." While I have had 3 surgeries, it always comes back as "post operative changes" but stable. There are never any more herniations or bulges; at one time there was a bunch of scar tissue but now they don't see it anymore. I wonder where it went??? I asked my doc just the other day -- I said that I KNEW how to read the MRI reports, and I knew it wasn't bad. So how come I'm in so much pain? Could I have Fibro?" And he said "Oh yeah, you have THAT!!" Well, darn it, why didn't he tell me that a long time ago!!! I just found out I have Fibro 3 days ago!! And i've been in horrible pain for more years than I can count!!! Good grief.

It sound to me like you need a long acting opiate -- I'm on OpanaER 40mg twice a day, along with Lyrica 75mg twice a day; Topamax 200mg twice a day for nerve burning; Cymbalta 60mg twice a day for depression And this stuff pretty much takes care of it. He did add Norco 10/300 for breakthru but it's not working well --- I'm VERY hard to medicate and it needs to be stronger. I'm supposed to call him tomorrow to let him know how it's working. But other than that these meds have worked quite well in keeping me "fairly" comfortable and I've been in awful pain for 27 years -- and I'm tired.

I don't know where you live, but I think it's terrible you have to wait until MAY to get into the pain clinic. That's just unacceptable!!! You should be able to see that doctor sooner than THAT!!! Good grief. Are you in Canada or England??? Jeepers, that's just too long.

I hope your doctor will change your medication so that you get SOME level of comfort. You've suffered long enough. Being in this kind of pain not only effects YOU but effects the people around you too. But YOU are the most important, and you should NOT have to suffer. Being treated like we're in the dark ages is ridiculous and the DEA needs to keep their noses out of our care. God bless you and please take care. And let us know what happens, okay? Hugs, Lee