Today’s post is one that I have spoken about in the past but will speak towards it again because of its importance. Without the complex cocktail of prescription drugs or opioids, I couldn’t imagine how much worse my pain would be. With my diagnosis of CRPS there is NO CURE! There are few treatments at this time but the most effective in giving me quality of life is a combination  stimulator/opioid treatment plan. There is one other called a Ketamine Infusion much like a chemo treatment which some people find successful in reducing the pain they suffer from. Without these pain management plans quality of life is reduced! My treatment plan is a drug plan that’s administered very carefully and watched by a team of people being checked monthly if not more!

So why am I going on about my drug treatment plan? The reason quite simply is that some people want to refer to those of us who are chronically ill as addicts. There’s this stereotype that comes with being chronically ill, and everywhere you go it follows you. Most recently during a Super Bowl commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X276jp-vvRY and comments made by comedian Bill Maher! I can’t and won’t try to tell you how many times that people have made this reference to those of us who are sick. If you want to read his comments I’ll leave you to search for them on Twitter. My illness has no cure! Am I suppose to stop living life just because of that! The medications help me with basic daily functions and if they are managed well can be a benefit and not a detriment to the quality of my daily life. Unless there’s a cure then this is my only form of for treatment.

The stigma out there is that we as sufferers of chronic illness abuse the drugs we take or have become addicts. This perception I think is caused in large because you will often see us changing drugs or taking combinations to see what works best to relieve our pain. We often take large dosages because that is what it takes to control the pain. Instead however too often we are looked at as someone who abuses. Some combinations just don’t work with CRPS pain, and so doctors will change drugs to see if something else will work to give us some relief. Changing medications will often cause others to think we are hopping from drug to drug. I shouldn’t have to make excuses for taking medications that I need to reduce my pain! So I challenge all of those out there who have this perception to really look into why we take the medications that we do. Don’t be so quick to label me because I guarantee you that if we had a choice, we wouldn’t want to be taking any of these medications at all!

With the proper use of my medications it allows for me to be a voice and to advocate for a cure to CRPS through this blog and other avenues. If I wasn’t controlling my pain through opioids then I wouldn’t be able to advocate for my chronic illness like I do. Its time to stop lumping us into the category of abusers and see us for what we really are. Some of my fellow advocates are doing amazing things to raise awareness, and providing other sufferers of chronic illness with support and so much more. Without their specific drug treatment plans those things wouldn’t be possible. Yes I’m chronically ill and its bad enough that I have to live with this debilitating disease called CRPS but I won’t be called things like a junkie, abuser, or addict when I have no other choices for treatment! I’m doing the best that I can do and it wasn’t my choice to become ill. So having to apologize for the treatment that helps me to be an active member of society is just adding salt to the wound. Please help to stop the stigma that has been built up around us! More importantly help us find the cures!