|
ME/CFS South Australia Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.
Disclaimer
ME/CFS South Australia Inc aims to keep members informed of various research projects, diets, medications, therapies, news items, etc. All communication, both verbal and written, is merely to disseminate information and not to make recommendations or directives.
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed on this Web site are not necessarily the official views of the Society or its Committee and are not simply an endorsement of products or services.
| Become a Member | ||||
|
||||
The Other Side Of The 'Opioid Crisis'
Tuesday 24 September 2019
From US newspaper The Courier-Tribune:
 Winona Stalvey |
The other side of the ‘opioid crisis’
She has lived with chronic pain for over 26 years. It started with Systemic Lupus. Then came the fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, Sjögren’s, Raynaud’s, diabetes, heart disease, non-alcoholic liver disease, stroke ... the list continues on with many more chronic illnesses not listed, almost all of which cause horrendous pains.
Quite a few doctors have called her a “living miracle” because many of any number of her medical problems should have already taken her life. She has had test results come back where doctors have said they have “never seen bloodwork like this in a living person.”
She has had people rudely tell her that “if you really had all those medical problems you would be dead,” accusing her of lying.
Her only saving grace is to at least lower the pain levels she lives with daily so that she can do whatever is left for her. She will never be without pain. The medicines just get the pain down to a level she can usually tolerate, although there are times when the pains are so bad that death almost seems like a blessing. But she fights to live every day possible.
So, when she called to make her next appointment with her Pain Management Doctor and the answering machine said the office had closed, she was in shock! Pain medications are the main way she is able to live a halfway normal life. She immediately got on the internet and phone, looking for a replacement pain management doctor. Almost all of the phone numbers she had gotten on the internet had been disconnected.
This is when she saw part of the “other side of the opioid crisis.” You see, especially in North Carolina and a few other states, many pain management clinics have closed. Between the insurance rates skyrocketing, the states suing pharmaceutical companies, new extremely stringent rules for doctors, etc., being a pain management doctor has become so scary that most have gone into other types of specialties, leaving chronic pain patients scrambling for help.
|
More Fibromyalgia News |
blog comments powered by Disqus
Previous Page |
Registered Charity 3104
Email:
sacfs@sacfs.asn.au
Mailing address:
PO Box 322,
Modbury North,
South Australia 5092
Phone:
1300 128 339
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday,
10am - 4pm
(phone)