Really sorry to hear that SHM & Pagey.

Our medical systems fail so many of us.
My girlfriend has been in chronic pain for about 5 months now, showing strong signs of fibromyalgia, polymyalgia & diabetic nerve pain. Pain so severe & dabilitating that she lost control of her diabetes & ended up in ICU numerous times in the past few months. All hospital tests (x-rays, MRI, C-T, bloods) show clear for the above mentioned conditions so many hospital staff believed her pain to be psychosomatic & treated her accordingly!
Pain relief given by doctor was 30mg codeine/500mg paracetamol but these became ineffective after several weeks. Tramadol was too hard on her stomach & destroyed her appetite. Ibuprofen & all other OTC pain meds ineffecticve. Diclofenac helped at times. Basically she was told she would just have to "deal with the pain" until an official diagnosis could be made by a rheumatologist (whom she is currently waiting on an appointement with). Easier said than done!
So with my mental health suffering from lack of sleep I took matters into my own hands & did my research on the best ways to treat my girlfriend's pain. Recreational drugs are a big help. Psychedelics, serotonergics & dissociatives in particular. LSD, MDMA, 2CB, ketamine & methoxetamine have been the biggest helps so far. These drugs are just a wee "holiday" away from the pain tho. Not practical by any means when cost & serotonin depletion/syndrome are real factors. We've gone through 21grams of ketamine in the past 2 weeks! (obligatory doctor's doses n all!

)
I managed to acquire some Lyrica from a friend & that was the first medication that really worked for her nerve pain. I told her to take the empty blister pack to the doctors & tell him that this stuff works & you want him to perscibe it to you. It worked! He started her off on 75mg twice a day, then when she went back for her repeat perscription with symptoms of persistant pain he put her up to 150mg twice a day. She actually needs this 3-4 time a day at the moment so that's 450-600mg pregabalin a day. Quite alot but that's what she requires to combat her pain!
So at the moment the pain is managed but I had to take matters into my own hands to get the Lyrica which I knew she needed. If it was left up to the doctors she would yet to be perscribed it & living in a world of pain.
Thank fuck for easy access to information!