Dr. won't refer me to pain management specialist

I have been seeing a pain management doctor for 8 years. I think that your GP is being irresponsible by refusing to do the referral you need. I hope your rheumatologist will give you that referral that you need. I'm guessing you want pain relief for rheumatoid arthritis. I don't think there's anything a pain management doctor can do to help you other than giving you medication, typically opiates. And if you're wanting to get on opiates for your pain I want you to think long and hard about it. Even Google it so you get a little idea of what you're headed into. I'm not trying to discourage you I use opiates and I have for about 10 years. My pain is so great that there is no way I could do without it. And with the climate in the US right now with the "opiate crisis" it is getting more and more difficult to get a doctor to prescribe opiates to you. And as I'm sure you know opiates can cause addiction or at the very least dependency. The difference between the two is that an addiction is as much mental as it is physical. The addict is looking for the high they get from the opiate and between that and the withdrawal symptoms the addict has a problem stopping the drug. On the other hand dependency is what a patient will get simply from long term use of opiate. And what that means is if you stop it you will have withdrawal symptoms. I can tell you that I have gotten off of opiates before when my pain subsided and I did it by tapering. It was not a pleasant experience but it is possible.

A true pain management doctor does not just prescribe narcotic. He will treat you with a variety of treatments. There are non-narcotic pills such as Neurontin or pregabalin that can help with pain. There are people out there that only take one of these for pain. There are also steroid injections that can help. They're injected into your painful joints. There is also Physical Therapy if you haven't done that, that is something you really do need to do. And if you can afford it acupuncture and massage are also very helpful. Something you can do at home that I know a lot of people do this is to take a bath with epsom salt. Some people do this every night I'm not sure what it does but I think it is for inflammation. Other natural remedies for inflammation are turmeric (which can cause stomach upset) and ginger. Some people will make tea and add ginger. Well that's all I can think of right now. If I think of more I'll let you know. I have suffered for 13 years with lower back pain and now I also have something called polymyalgia rheumatica and rheumatoid arthritis. And both of those inflammation issues. I pretty much tried everything there is to relieve me of my pain. So I do take opiates. But I feel that no one should feel bad for having to take opiates for pain relief. But I also feel it's a very personal choice. You might want it educate yourself a little more on taking opiates for chronic pain. I don't know if you're in the US or UK or somewhere else but I do know that in the US getting opiates from your doctor is extremely difficult. And that's because we are currently in an "opiate crisis." And every politician is passing these ridiculous laws to control the amount of opiates that people can get. I don't believe they give two whips about the people who take them for chronic pain, all they care about is how they will look to their constituents.

If you're going to start taking leftover Neurontin keep in mind that you should not stop it abruptly. You have to wean off of it. So make sure that you leave enough to do that.

That's really good to hear. I hope it continues.