| Comment Record |
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Commentor |
Ms. Nita Stepp |
Date/Time |
2001-10-19 12:50:38 |
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Organization |
Ms. Nita Stepp |
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Category |
Individual |
| Comments for FDA General |
| Questions |
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1. General Comments
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I am aware that the deadline has passed for the FDA to consider these comments before the meeting is rescheduled, however chronic pain is the issue in my life at this time. I have RSD, or peripheal neuropathy, stemming from a car accident in 1992. I had reconstructive surgery, several series of painful cervical nerve blocks, and when the blocks discontinued helping, I had a surge of pain so horrible that words can't express it. The pain flare ups have not stopped since 1995, and I have been on opiate therapy since that time. I was terrified of the addiction issue and would carry prescriptions around before filling them because I was afraid I would overdose, become addicted, but at some point, the pain overcame those fears and I have tried to take medications as instructed. In 1997, I was trapped into a corner by pain consultants and surgeons who told me that I should have a nerve removed from the stellate ganglion group of nerves, which was called a right dorsal sympathectomy. This was after another series of nerve blocks basically everywhere I was in pain, physical therapy several times, and medictions for seizures believed to calm the pain. These medications for seizures were much more potent than the opiates and caused the feeling of euphoria, also leaving me unable to drive or function otherwise. I drooled, hallucinated, etc. So I refused to continue the seizure medications, although the pain relief they provided was by feeling so calm, one could not think. I was informed by the surgeon who operated that the surgery had no risks, and he would help my pain. I did not want the surgery, but felt backed into that corner and had the second most painful experience in my life. It has been almost four years, and I continue to suffer from the surgery side effects. I have Horner's syndrome in the r. eye, and my vision is affected at times, constant pain in the r. scapula where an incision was done, and have breathing problems constantly, due to my lung being deflated. I have three incisions, small ones, however I have been unable to touch my right breast since the surgery due to soreness which has never left my body. On Monday, October 22nd, I am checking into a pain management program at a reputable hospital to attempt to gain control of my pain again. It now controls me. I am depressed, unhappy, have no sex life because I am ashamed that I have scars all over my body from surgical procedures, and I haven't been to a social event since the surgery because I sweat constantly on the left side from head to torso. The right side, however, never sweats, no matter how hot my body is. I am a 47 year old female, who wants her life back, the way it was before my pain flare up. I have to be honest when I say that if I had to choose between the suffering I have had since 1992 and drug addiction, I know that with help I could overcome the addiction, but I can not live with the suffering. I have had those times that I did not to go on, because my pain is a part of me now, like having red hair or green eyes. I see it as an evil thing, constantly reminding me that I am less a person because of it. If I had not found the doctor who has stood beside me, coaxed me and reassured me for the past seven years, I believe I would have ended my life. He has attempted in every way to keep me comfortable without over-medicating me. He does not believe in that, but we have an honest relationship. I can tell him anything and he seems to understand. If I wake up in the night and cannot move without crawling to the floor, and I happen to take an extra pain pill to keep my sanity, he still tries to help me, but always with caution, even when it means that I may have to run out of my medicine early and live with the pain until it is time to refill. This is how my pain has been controlled, and I know that I can't continue on without some other form of relief. If I have to remain on opiates after the pain management, I will try to be accepting of it in a different light. I hope when you make your decision to tie the hands of doctors who are responsible in the prescribing of opiates for pain, that you will remember people like me first. Like I said, I could be rehabilitated for drug abuse, but not for the suffering. I would have to stop that on my own terms. Thank you for reading this. I pray that your decision is a human one.
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