Some people think acupuncture is like snake venom, and prescription medication is natures essence.
It sounds like you have tried Traditional Chinese Medicine from more than a few practitioners already, so I don’t want to waste any of your time talking about something you already know all about. New drugs are being invented every year. I hope you find the ones that work for you and your lifestyle.
Best.
The cancer center offered me & other’s alt/med therapy along side traditional chemo for those that want to try, i have tried acupuncture & for certain issues like my wrist from carpel tunnel & trigger finger from aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer, worked well. Im not saying Chinese med has no place. Im a firm believer God placed certain plants & herbs & the POPPY plant on the earth to be used. The Yew tree made Taxol for cancer, so theres that & others im sure u know, but to make a statement that we’re all sitting waiting for that next RX is cruel & unwarranted. I may have my cancer come back, & my neuropathy will most certainty get worse. The last thing we all need r these anti-opioid avengers that say we all have OUD bcz they work for us. Dependency & addiction r 2 different things, I wish the so called saviors of the opioid patients wld stop saying we r addicts. I dont crave anything except for God to take this pain. Thats all. They work. So let us have our choices.
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@ClaudiaMerandi
I want to personally thank you for writing this!
I will continue to thank you. We need as many human beings as possible to educate and advocate!
For those of you who comment…(before doing your own ACCURATE and TRUTHFUL research)…
@ChineseMedicineDoc please allow me to paint you a picture.
I wont take up too much of your time.
Patient diagnosed with chronic illness.
Just one out of too many to count symptoms of said diagnosis is debilitating pain.
Patient agrees to treat the pain with pain medication appropriately prescribed by pain management, palliative care or hospice doctor after exhausting all other treatment options.
•physical therapy
•acupuncture
•herbs/tinctures
•steroid packs/injections
•creams/topicals
•OTC medications
•prescribed medications
•yoga
Doctor starts very low and titrate up only as needed. This could take weeks to years to achieve as every patient is unique.
Patient reaches “functioning” at a pain level of 6/7. That pain level never dips below a 6 on the pain scale. 24/7 pain, but now functioning and tolerable so they both agree the current strength and dosage works!
Pharmacist decides they dont like that strength or dosage. Then, once you speak personally with the pharmacist and explain what your diagnosis is the insurance company has a problem. Once you speak with the insurance company, then it circles back around to the Drs office.
Doctor gets spooked and either cold turkey cuts their medication(s) or titrates them down and off of their medication(s). Establishing new care? Forget it. Good luck. You are left to the wolves.
Pain patient now develops more symptoms. Racing heart. Joints locking up. Loss in range of motion. Wheel chair bound. Heart attacks.
Patient is left to die a miserable death… (this is where I could see some desperation in a pain patient…)
Or
Patients turn to the streets and dies due to fentanyl.
Labeled an addict.
Coffin 
nailed shut.
Now I could be wrong, but the only desperation I see is in the eyes of a chronically ill pain patient whos had their medication(s) cut or taken from them.
Patients who are appropriately prescribed their medication(s) are not potential drug addicts.
Honestly? Thank you very much for actually reading this in its entirety. And I appreciate the conversation!
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Please share! You are 3000% correct! The more eyes see this well written proposal AND our replies… the better off (as chronically ill patients) we will be 
My mindset is at the very minimal this brings awareness… the greatest achievement is future generations NOT being treated like we have. It’s time to change lives! (There is a little chain link type icon at the bottom right of every post/comment. That is where you access the share option & more! 
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I’m glad you have tried acupuncture. Mostly, when I see patients that are already using opioids, nearly every time they will only make one visit. This way they can report back to their doctor that “geez doc, I tried the alternative medicine and it just didn’t work”.
After 36 years of this, I can even read the face before I read the intake information.
I don’t want to take your meds away (period).
I actually don’t even want to treat you if that’s the direction you are going. …
I just want to have a chance at treating the ones the doctor KNOWS DARN WELL are not improving and instead of me, the patient gets a script for poppy.
Yes, we did use opium in Chinese medicine for a few weeks after the trauma, but then the condition was considered chronic and healing was prioritized over pain relief.
Best to you , for your kind and thoughtful reply.
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Yup 
My issue is only that that hypothetical MD you speak of DOES NOT refer that patient to me.
Hahaha very very few … the crumbs!!- I speak from decades of full time clinical experience.
Best, and thank you for the kind words and thoughtful comments.
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This is long overdue & highly necessary. There are so many people suffering from a lack of pain treatment, including myself. This need is reflected in all populations, even animals. People from all backgrounds with painful conditions, ranging from from acute surgical pain to chronic pain, all areas of the country. It seems to be the only thing that does not discriminate. We’ve all been negatively impacted & need help.
We are either being denied care, access to medication that improves quality of life, or treated like criminals for daring to need pain or anxiety medication. I have been diagnosed with CPTSD, partially because of my experiences with pain, particularly surgical pain & the mistreatment from a doctor. I’ve had over 20 surgeries, including debreedments & skin grafts for a severe burn, a cholecystectomy, & a hysterectomy to treat early cervical cancer to name a few. It was the latter that scarred me the most though, emotionally & physically.
In 2013, after a failed conization surgery & finding I had cystic ovaries causing other issues, I had a robotic hysterectomy. The Da Vinci robot was brand new to Barton hospital at the time. The doctor was new there too, mine had left between the conization & then. Surgery with this robot was being actively promoted as a better, less painful option. I realized this later, after my own surgery, when I’d go to my local coffee shop & find an advertisement for it right on the cup. I’ll never forget that ad.
The new doctor seemed nice & like he really cared about me. He tried to tell me before surgery I’d be in less pain & recover quickly if we did it this way, but particularly I’d be “up & shopping by Friday”. I was absolutely not up & shopping within 4 days, or even 4 weeks. They told me before surgery that my pain would be treated & taken seriously. It was not & I found out the hard way not to trust a doctor’s word regarding pain treatment,
As soon as I woke up, barely able to breathe or whisper I was in so much pain, I begged for help. The nurses gave me attitude when I tried to tell them how much it hurt & even told my husband NOT to help me to the bathroom, that I was being dramatic. I was so confused, but I gripped my IV pole like a lifeline & tip toed across the recovery room in tears.
I’m neurodivergent & contrary to popular belief of autistic traits, I feel pain more severely than most. It should also go without saying that I respond differently to social situations, & have trouble processing things… like pain & people being mean to me. I didn’t understand why the nurses were so rude. But I later found out it was likely a mix of my doctor labeling me an addict & wanting to please hospital administrators with their very expensive Da Vinci purchase.
All I could say, whispering over & over to my husband, was to “just shoot me” because I couldn’t take it. He told me to just be quiet, we needed to get me out of there. I tried my best & he fought the doctor for 20 measly pain pills. They wanted me to go home & take Tylenol! I barely made it through the week with those 20 pills. I was under-medicated & in constant agony, I barely slept, couldn’t eat, yet was expected to care for my 1 year old special needs son & go back to work in 4 days?! There’s no way even the doctor truly believed that. I was naive & foolish to trust him.
I was then humiliated at my 1-week post-op follow up. He opened the door so the whole office heard him yell at me like a child & call me a drug seeker for need long more medication. And I truly did. Telling my husband not to believe me or help me because I was faking it. That there was “no possible way” I was still in that much pain. I left in tears & completely humiliated, traumatized. He also tried to corner me into taking a brand-name estrogen for hormone replacement that I couldn’t afford. Eventually my pharmacist fought for me to get a similar dose in a generic form, which was covered by insurance. I never went back to his office ever again.
It took 8 weeks of recovery before I could work again. In those 8 weeks, much of it was spent with my husband helping me do everything - shower, get up & down from the toilet, helping me eat, while I held a pillow to my stomach & asked God why over & over. It was embarrassing…. Barely able to function let alone interact with my son. All on top of being hit with menopause at 24 years old. It was a lot. It was a lot for my husband to deal with on top of work, too.
I’m currently in trauma therapy to help me deal with the constant anxiety & fear/mistrust of doctors. I believe most of my pain is simply written off as something I just need to “deal with”. This feels especially true after Lyme Disease tore up my nervous system & now I suffer daily with so much more. I’ve had to learn to deal with chronic pain. But not without its price & consequences. I’m 36 & completely burned out.
I feel like a robot who “just does” to provide for my family. I have to take care of my husband now, who is so sick & in so much pain every day due to a rare condition that causes large non-cancerous tumors on both adrenal glands. He has uncontrollable high blood pressure, mood swings, weight gain, & pain, among many other things due to these masses. Even he can’t get the treatment he deserves.
I just want to add that the doctor who performed my hysterectomy surgery, is now the head of robotic surgeries in a prestigious hospital in Pennsylvania. He did just fine.
So yes, please get rid of these cumbersome & unnecessary restrictions on pain patients!
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I absolutely can see where you are coming from. I’m glad we conversed! I totally and whole-heartedly agree that healing should be the main focus. However, there are illnesses that have no cure… with that being said, every alternative medicine option should be exhausted before deciding to prescribe opioids. There are way too many patients suffering, having heart attacks, committing suicide, etc. Debilitating pain left untreated will kill a human being from the inside out. Have a beautiful Wednesday!
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I myself am a chronic pain patient over 25 years dealing with debilitating Osteoarthritis, Spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease & a 4 level lumbar fusion with laminectomy and I cannot have any decent quality of life without my pain being controlled, do not punish us clients that are living what little life we can to function to make life bearable, the disability I deal with is not to be taken lightly and I would’nt wish this on anyone EVER. We are not a part of the illicit opoid community, please treat us with respect as were just trying to survive and deal with the torture as these diseases wreck havoc on our bodies, please reconsider lifting the DEA restrictions on the legitimate patients that are compliant to our Dr’s and just want our voices heard, thank you for your time with my concerns.
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Where do we like? Or is it just your comment? I only saw the vote
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Not everything can be healed & treating pain/symptoms is the only way. Acupuncture doesn’t heal either.
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yikes
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not everything can be healed, but a lot more can be healed than modern medicine knows to heal.
it’s time to have the focus on healing, not on permanent symptom management with always worsening side effects.
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Spoken like a true defender of the palliative pacifier called poppy. China almost lost their entire country over ignoring the hypnotic and addictive effect of opium- now America is following in their footsteps. Believe what you wish but don’t try to tell us it’s truth.
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or, wild thought, do both. people shouldn’t have to suffer until they have a cure. and no there isn’t “always” side effects long term.
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I’m not really interested in discussing science & medicine with someone who thinks poppies are inherently bad, that anything you say is true, or that relies on AI for “info” (that uses wikipedia LOL) instead of actual science & data.
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I wasnt on any opm at that time dxd with cancer. I was willing to use alt med as a compliment to western meds & ive been an adnavced yogi for 30+ yrs but had to stop due to PHN/PN/CRPS . I also could walk 12k steps on treadmill or outdoors, now lucky to get 3k in a good day. Sometimes im sure alt/meds help, but to say ALL of us r just waiting for another opm rx isn’t OK. Its in fact the last thing i ever tried were opioids. I had TENS ESIs, PT/OT all other txs failed me. After an anaphylaxis incident post op w/a 3 cocktail opioid used in rapid succession via IV, they stopped ALL PMS, sent me home in 23 hrs post hyst/ooph, 7 hr surgery w/ zero pms. 9 days shuffling thr floor, no sleep. 8 LONG PAINFUL wks of recovery, then 4 yrs later Dr agreed to let me try 1 opioid they said w/zyrtec or benadryl & when I wasnt allergic they stuck w/that & ive been on the same dose for yrs. It still gives me relief even tho im sure im physically dependent, i never had what adx have, cravings, overuse, misuse, i nvr diverted, dont have OUD the way PROP & others like to label those that need #painmedicine. Pls dont be one of those Drs. It takes an army & Drs should be on OUR side when all other modalities have failed. Opioids have been used safely for yrs. It was those addicted to heroin coming to the pm drs for clean high back in the early-mid 2000s & just bcz some bad actors used it for their high, we didnt but r being punished & left forced off , tapered down & so many committing #suicideduetopain. Thats not OK especially in the veterans whove lost limbs or are paralyzed living in wheelchairs. MOST ALLOF US r #chronicallyill #painpatients that have tried it all. We deserve to be treated with compassionate care & RESPECT, not like drug seeking criminals. This is why we say no to Suboxone & no to elective surgeries & alot of us r not getting useless DANGEROUS SCS implants or ESIs anymore. The last 1 i had punctured my dural space, CSF LEAK, lost use of my left leg for a while & had a headache from hell, had to be transported by ambulance as i cldnt sit up. ESIs have no real lasting effect on certain pain & r dangerous, hence the waiver b4 getting them. SO pls rethink your stance on opms b4 making comments like that 1 u made.
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Well, like I said, I don’t want to get involved in cases where a patient is using opioids anyway.
Cancer treatment plus opioids is plenty enough on a patient’s plate. I hope everyone here gets all they want from the pharmacies- I never advise on prescriptions. I am just curious to know how you responded to the first course of acupuncture for the cancer-related pain…
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I have yet to see any medication without side effects… this doesn’t exist.
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Voting is the most important but if you want to like it, just click on the heart. 
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