In my experience (living in west coast america my whole life) both washington and california are extremely reluctant to prescribe any opiates or benzos even when its necessary. I have two degenerative discs that are causing severe pain every single day and it would be easy to buy a passport and hire a doctor in another country and pay out of pocket than it would be to get my doctor that has my medical history to listen to my pain specialists recommendation and prescribe me bupes.
Theres an automatic stigma and my doctor claims im “too young to be in that much pain and have that much bone issues” but im also “too young to be an opiate addict” so he refuses to help me manage my pain.
I’ve been using kratom but its expensive and makes me nauseous. Guess id rather be nauseaous than in excruciating pain all day and even in my sleep. Been fighting for pain relief for over five years in two different states and the most theyre willing to prescribe is gabapentin and put me on a bunch of SSRIs (sertraline, welbutrin, cymbalta, etc) and i cant get any pain relief.
Literally almost was 5150d because I’m suicidal due to the amount of pain. Most i could get for that was a toradol and a valium in the er and was sent home.
The medical care system in america is absolute trash and they treat all patients with chronic pain as addicts and drug seekers. Like god forbid im addicted to not being in pain and being a functional human being. Maybe i wouldnt be suicidal and need 4 useless antidepressants if i was being taken seriously and my pain was actually being managed. But no. Apparently thats impossible.