ifihavethespoons:

here is what i don’t understand:

if an average healthy person is in a lot of pain and this pain is temporary but excruciating, their doctors, ER or otherwise, will give them strong medication, usually narcotics, whose strength will match the pain felt.

but when someone with chronic pain experiences pain above and beyond their normal everyday pain and this extra pain is temporary and excruciating, their doctors will give them weak medication, rarely narcotics, that the patient takes on a regular basis for less excruciating circumstances.

now if the chronic pain patient asks the doctors for something stronger, the doctors discourage them.  they say things like ‘it’s dangerous to get used to narcotics.’ or ‘you can’t rely on narcotics for chronic pain.’

we chronic pain patients are forced to deal with more pain than the average healthy person everyday.  but why does that disqualify me from receiving adequate treatment when my pain level goes above my extremely high tolerance?

the doctors need to respect us.  we have more experience dealing with our pain than they do.