I feel like my pain management doctor looks at me like an addict. i need to go because i have inoperable levoscoliosis, a herniated disc and arthritis in my neck. i just feel very uncared for, like i'm a junkie. what should i do?

I : I am responding to your question very indirectly. As you know, people with severe chronic pain often need significant doses of narcotics to obtain control of their pain. Doctors are often in a bind, when trying to balance control of pain with potential for abuse or dependence. One option you may not have considered is adding medical acupuncture to your treatment regiment. In many cases, acupuncture allows the person to reduce the number of pain medications they are taking or to decrease narcotic doses. There is an increasing number of md's and do's practicing medical acupuncture in the us. It is safe and can be very effective. I wish you well as you work toward a life with less pain.

If : If you are taking opioid pain meds for the pain, you probably are addicted to them. That doesn't mean that you are abusing them, but the problem is that opioids simply aren't good for long term treatment of pain, so whereas they may seem like they help, they ultimately damage the part of the brain where they work, so that you develop a tolerance to the effect (they stop working). At that point, if you stop taking them, you have more pain than you started with, but since they will have stopped being entirely effective, you will probably be asking for more. At the very least, you will be sure you can't stand to be without the same dosage, but you will still be complaining of pain so, pain management with opioids ends up being very short sighted. If your doctor has explained that to you, and you just keep going in there insisting that you "need" them, he or she is going to feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, and is going to feel: a) demoralized by the fact that he/she is unable to improve your condition, and b) resentful of the fact that you tying his/her hands by not being willing to take some responsibility for the situation, and work toward getting off the meds that are just making matters worse.

A real issue in med-: This is a big issue in medicine, esp with the increasing opioid deaths in usa. Assuming u have not had aberrant behaviors, you probably have pseudo-addiction which is actually undertreated pain but often presumed drug seeking behavior. Make sure you aren't misinterpreting your provider's attitude, and have an honest conversation. I'm sure your provider doesn't mean to make u feel this way.