A lot of doctors are afraid to prescribe painkillers and drugs like Adderall. They’re closely monitored by insurance companies and regulators. It’s intolerable sometimes. I wrote recently about going through a painful attack of gout and getting a barrage of drug-seeking type questions from a triage nurse over the phone, even though they knew for sure I was in agony. (Gout is not the laughing matter people associate with weird images of Henry the 8th.)

They apologized for the questions and a bit of attitude by telling me they were just doing their job, but I felt much like you. I was afraid to push for the treatment I needed, despite being in too much pain to sleep at night.

Fortunately for me, that pain was temporary and lessened after a couple of weeks. I can only imagine what people living with chronic pain have to deal with.

It seems like political and public attention go in cycles over narcotics and drug seeking. We just don’t seem to be able to get the balance right, and medical professionals often feel caught in the middle.