Oppose the DEA's Proposal on Reduced Opioid Production

I have a daughter that has RSDS.

I am a CRPS warrior. I use these meds to lead a somewhat normal life. Let me explain this to you... I have tried all else. I have had 2 spinal cord stimulators, I continue to go to PT & OT, I have ha over 30 injections, I am on many non narcotics. I had to quit working my second job and after my last surgery wasn't able to return to my first. I am unable to clean, cook, drive, type (This has taken me quite awhile), or shop without assistance of friends and family. My kids have learned to ask if they can hug me or sit next to me. I worked in the medical field and my view of chronic pain patients has definitely changed now that I am one. It is definitely different on this side of the chart. I have accepted my condition and that I will likely never again have a pain free day as long as I live. I am wanting as much quality of life as possible.

I've been suffering from CRPS for over 20 years, & if it wasn't for the painkiller I wouldn't be here this day. The 24/7 365 pain is unbearable. Try to live this long without painkillers is suicide.

It is your opinion that taking meds from.chronic pain patients will INCREASE suicide numbers ..many cannot live without their meds . Not because we are ADDICTS...rather because we are addicted to managing our pain ! Most depend on meds to function , get out of bed , dress , the things you deem insignificant are huge hurdles to us , unless you've experienced constant , chronic pain , You have NO.CLUE how we suffer !! We are #patientsnotaddicts.......hopefully.You.Will. NEVER KNOW !!

I have 3 different disorders that leave me in pain daily. Trigeminal neuralgia , CRPS , and ankylosing spondylitis. Taking pain meds is the only thing that offers relief and keeps me working a full time job. I really don't want to quit working and live in constant pain and never get to see my grand daughter again. If you don't live with these types of disorders how cam you tell us we are better off without the pain meds. ???????

Chronic pain patients should not be suffering like we are. We are treating animals better than people in horrible intractable pain. I have Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, a disease that is listed by McGill Hospital as being more painful 24/7/365 as having a finger amputated without anesthesia. Yet, everyone I know with my illness (and I run an online support group with 400 members) has had their pain medication cut down so much that they are in far worse shape than they were last year spending 50% more time in bed, unable to care for themselves and their families. The rest of the time they are miserable and cannot do half of what they could do last year because their doctors are afraid of losing their licenses, not that each if these PATIENTS didn't need these medications, but they took their medications away only out of fear for themselves. I have also lost 10 people to suicide because they could not stand the amount of pain they were forced to live in. I have one right now I am sure will die within a month. She is in so much pain she cannot move. She has lost the will to eat and cannot find any pain management doctors in her area and all the family practitioners in her state have quit prescribing for chronic pain patients. Last year, she was a vibrant church going beautiful woman. We must change the current situation.

I suffer from CRPS a miserable life changing condition. I am constantly looking for effective treatment and have had multiple injections, done OT, PT, currently medication has been the only thing to make my condition tolerable, barely at that. Reductions in pain medications will only serve to increase the suffering felt by myself and others fighting this terrible condition. Medications need to be prescribed on a case to case consideration not a blanket decision. Thank you.

Been dealing with rsd/crps for 20yrs but havent been getting the treatment i need. People need to understand with chronic pain that you can not control, we should not be treated like this. Only reason people are dying because they are not getting the treatment they need. Many, incuding myself can not live a normal life without the help of medication. I cant even stand in the shower and take one because my disability. Sick of people putting us in a category of addicts. We would rather get a treatment that cures this disease then take medication everyday to feel a little normal. Living with chronic pain, it has destroyed my life. I havent driven for a year, can not do this with my children, cant walk into a store without being in pain, cant stand and cook or do dishes. Been sleeping in the living for a year since its hard to go upstairs because the pain. Havent slept in a bed and now have to get a one story house with wide openings for a wheel chair to fit thru. Tired of being labeled because i look so young and healthy. But when people realized i have a long medical history they are shocked. I propose the DEA or the medicine field give only people with chorinc pain and declared by medical professionals a medical card that can not be copied by dealers or drug seekers. If medication is withheld from chorinc pain patients you will see suicide rates rise since people with chronic pain patients will seek relief by an unknown source that may not get what they think, and it will kill then or people with chornic pain will go thru many emotions by being denied the help they need and will commit suicide. they will experience depression, pain, emotions with many other effects. You will see a domino effect and you will see many innocent people lose the fight. Please understand what impact this will bring to many families and children. Thank you for hearing many of these stories and reconsider what you are doing to our people and America.

I need my medicine to live my daily life. You can ask anybody in my family that I live with.

As a chronic pain patient who already has suffered from the previous reductions in production this will force my dr to remove me from all pain meds! Then I go from having the ability to have some quality of life to none; might as well just dig our graves since you are descriminating against a whole population just to fix an issue with addicts and abusers! Explain to me how that is fair and just ????

I have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. It's one of the most painful conditions from which a human can suffer. I take opiods responsibly. Without them, my quality of life would be greatly diminished. Do not punish legitimate pain patients for the activity of some addicts that usually are not using a doctor to obtain the opioids they desire.

39 years old...i have suffered with RSD/CRPS for 10 years, after a nerve block for another medical condition went really wrong. It's unfair for us to have to fight through so much red tape to have a small por

My Grandaughter has CRPS. She was diagnosed at the age of 15. She was a bright and happy teenager doing all the things of teenage girls do, and then she nicked her foot at a swim meet and then develop full-blown it CPRS. She is not using opiate drugs at the moment but she will have this disease her entire life. So please don't take away something she may need in the future, just to have a semi-normal life.

I am a cancer survivor with rsd. A different action must be taken. I am also an RN in the state of Illinois. I have seen what the governments actions have already done. So tell me when your mother goes from a hospital to a rehab center with a fractured hip that its ok that she has no pain med for about 24 hours. This is what your first action caused for many and still is. Do you want to be the patient lying there in pain and the nurse tell you its the government regulations that are holding your recovery and comfort up. It isn't changing the opioid problem its only making those you need them suffer.

For the person living in high pain from multiple issues I don't want to take pain meds but honestly can't walk without them. CRPS IN R LEG, SMALL FIBER Neuropathy, failed back surgery, scoliosis to name a few. Lost my job from all this. Living on disability I never have enough money like I did working, plus I loved my job. Please remember there ar folks that NEED not want pain meds and are honest. U can drug screen to make sure we take our meds and we can sign to keep meds safe in a safe where no one can get them. Since this all started several of my friends have committed suicide cause there meds were stopped or decreased to where they can't live like that. Drug tests the ones getting food stamps. Don't punish the honest for what the bad do or more May and have moved on to heroin cause they CAN'T live like this. Interview the ones that NEED pain meds, walk in our shoes and it would be intolerable for you. Some days I lay in bed in tears from the pain being out of control. Thank you for reading this. Appreciated. With Love, Joy

Person's with chronic pain need these medications to try to function. Without medications there is no hope of managing a life of chronic illnesses.

We are not drug addicts, most of us have tried, unsuccessfully, alternative treatments, the opioids are our last resort, for the most part we are taking the lowest possible dose, we are functioning (I'm using that term loosely) at pain levels that others wouldn't even consider getting out of bed.

People with RSDS need their meds to help with pain !!!

I have RSD and it has gotten worse so if it helps me to sign this petition then I will.

I have "Complex Regional Pain Syndrome" which is a rare Neurological disorder. I have to take hydrocodone along with other medicines around the clock to control my constant pain and get through each day. Please don't make it harder for the people who actually need the pain control.