[kebsa]

Sorry you guys are having to deal chronic pain, i have had to deal with for close to 20 yrs ( way before the ms) and i did try MJ out of desperation and did not get any relief- i eventually went to a pain clinic and after several yrs of trying different options i eventually had an intrathecal medication pump surgically implanted that delivers a continuous dose of morphine to my spine- it is also programmed to give me a small bolus first thing in the morning then early evening to help cope with the times my pain usually gets worse- i have to go back to the pain unit to have the pump refilled once a month- the pump is programmed using a hand held computer so i cannot alter it. The pump has been a not so minor miracle for me, i still have bad days but every day used to be a bad day and i was close to suicide- chronic pain is no joke, it is a killer. As for the addiction issue, my body would be dependant on the medication now in much the same way that ones body gets dependant on blood pressure medication but i don't get any kind of buzz or high from the medication, when the talk of drug addiction they are referring to how the persons whole life becuase centred on getting the next fix- my pump helps function like a normal person. I also have some neuropathic pain both from MS and phantom pain from an amputation, lyrica seems to cover that for me. I guess all i am trying to say is that there is usually some relief available for chronic pain, it may take much longer than we want to find the right answer but tht is mainly becuase pain is a much more complex issue than one would think ( it is only in recent yrs they are realizing just how true that is) i would encourage anyone with chronic pain to seek referral to a pain management clinic, just as it is wise to see an MS expert to deal with MS, pain needs to be assessed in its own merits and therefore should be seen by a pain specialist even when it is part of a condition such as MS. There are no miracle cures for chroinic pain but there are some answers to make it more tolerable and i hope you can find you solution soon