For many years, Ms. X. was the victim of serious pain, something that I know quite a bit about, since in my own case I've had severe back pain from congenital spida bifida and hip displacement.
Ms. X goes unnamed. Her name does not matter. Oddly enough, her husband is- you guessed it!– a chiropractor and massage therapist. He is a true believer, but more on that in a moment.
Her pain was intractable. She participated in treatments with her husband; sometimes it was better, sometimes worse, and she did not know where to place her confidence.
She saw several neurologists, two of whom gave her MRI exams. This was ten years ago when these machines cost thousands to run, so much that it was cheaper for her to fly to Costa Rica for the exam. And why not? Their doctors go to our Universities and have similar credentials. I'd have done the same for recent dental work but for a couple of unrelated issues.
The local neurologist offered her one thing: pain medicine. At first, it worked and worked very well. She was taking hydrocodone (5.0 MG) and Ultram/ Tramadol at the same time. As the months went by, though, her body became habituated. And she did not want to embarrass her husband, or, worse, undermine him. So, she never told him. She lied by omission with her heart in the right place. Life went on, with no pain.
Dr. knew the meds would stop working so he increased the dosage to 7.5 and finally 10. 0 mg 6 times a day. For those not knowing, that is a LOT of medicine. Even that wasn't enough.
So she had two issues.