I usually lurk but this post is relevant to my personal situation, and inspired me to voice an anecdote. I was born with chronic polyostotic pain caused by a p

I usually lurk but this post is relevant to my personal situation, and inspired me to voice an anecdote. I was born with chronic polyostotic pain caused by a post-zygotic mutation. Because my physical disease is plainly visible, my pain wasn't dismissed so easily unlike others. Unfortunately, I have a life long history of "chronic pain treatment" to show for it. I was 12 years old when I experienced my first withdrawals from opioids, served from a brown bottle as candy flavoured syrup. Today, I've had the experience to try many other analgesic medications including Cannabis but to no avail. Almost nothing helps reduce my suffering. My opinion isn't popular but I'm not convinced that opioids are useful for treating anything but acute pain because it exacerbates the mental health aspects of chronic pain. The only medication that raised my quality of life, isn't marketed for treating pain and wasn't prescribed to me for treating pain. The only medication that helps me live any appreciable life worth living, is the phenethylamine-class of stimulants used for treating ADHD, mine being marketed under a branded french name meaning liveliness. This accidental discovery has been the closest thing to a miracle for me. I can't substantiate any of my anecdotes with academic sources but I've personally found that CNS-depressants like opioids or Cannabis increased my sensitivity to pain, while CNS-stimulants decreased my sensitivity. My chronic pain is forever eternal, but now it doesn't dominate my life. I can now live a more active life, with far greater mood and energy than ever before. If my chronic pain flares up, I take an NSAID with a proton-pump inhibitor and be done with it. I'm satisfied with this combination, and I actively refuse any prescriptions for opioids or Cannabis. My tolerance for pain is greater than ever, much to the horror of those poor nurses working in the ER. When I first met them, they couldn't believe the fact that I wasn't begging for pain relief after seeing my X-rays. Now that we're on a first name basis, they understand that it's business as usual for me. I hope my history has helped someone, or sparked an intellectual curiosity. This is my first post, and I hope it meets the comment guidelines. I do not wish to elaborate in detail about any specifics, and I'm not promoting any medication in particular. I'm simply sharing a life's worth of struggles, and a life's worth of findings. Happy hacking, comrade!