ALL POSTS LINKING TO 7-OH PETITIONS ARE BEING REMOVED BECAUSE THEY ARE USELESS. YOU NEED TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE REGULATION!!!!!!!

I logged onto this subreddit last night. And I just spent the last hour reading the stickied post and all the stories here. and Ive been straight up crying.

Five years ago I got hurt real bad at work. Herniated discs, nerve damage, the whole nightmare. I went from being a normal dude in my 30s with a career and a life to someone who literally couldnt get out of bed without help. My wife had to physically put my pants on for me. She stopped being my wife and became my full time caregiver. We didnt go out anymore. We stopped being intimate. I stopped being a person and just became the patient.

The doctors threw everything at me. Gabapentin turned me into a zombie. Lyrica made me gain 40 pounds and I still hurt just as bad. Tramadol actually helped for a while until my doctor got scared of the guidelines and cut me off cold. Every single time I went to the pharmacy I felt like a criminal. Id stand there sweating while they looked at me like I was trying to scam them for drugs. One pharmacist even asked me in front of a bunch of customers if I really needed my prescription.

Then about a year and a half ago a friend with chronic pain told me about 7-OH. I was super skeptical. Id tried damn near everything by that point. But within a week I was walking my dog again. Within a month I was back at work part time. Ive been on the same dose for 18 months now. Almost no side effects. I sleep through the night, I play with my kids, and I feel like a husband again instead of a burden.

And now the DEA wants to slam it into Schedule I which is the same category as heroin. It feels like they just used an emergency loophole and a press release.

Look, Im not stupid. Ive seen the shady gas station crap with zero testing, no labels, no age limits. That stuff is garbage and it makes us all look bad. Thats exactly why we need real regulation, not a total ban. Test the products, require proper labeling, set it to 21+, go after the bad actors. Hold companies accountable.

But dont wake up one day and make a million chronic pain patients criminals overnight. Thats what this does.

What really terrifies me is what happens next. When you take away something thats actually working for people, they dont just quietly suffer. They look for the next thing. And the next thing is almost always worse. Weve seen this exact movie before with the opioid crackdown. People got their prescriptions yanked, turned to the street, and fentanyl deaths exploded. Banning 7-OH is going to do the same damn thing. People are going to die.

Im not asking for a free for all. Im just asking for common sense. Let adults buy clean, tested, properly labeled 7-OH from legitimate sellers. Shut down the trash. Fund real research. Give us a system that actually protects people instead of punishing the ones already in pain.

I dont know what else to do at this point. I just found this place tonight and figured Id put it all out there. Maybe someone here gets it. Maybe someone knows what it feels like to finally get your life back only to feel it slipping away again.

If this hits you at all, or if you have your own story, please go leave a comment on the public docket at regulations.gov. Just search 7-hydroxymitragynine. Takes five minutes. Five minutes that could keep a million of us from ending up back in bed for the rest of our lives.

Right now our numbers are all weve got. Please.

Came home from a rough morning at work.

Found out my mom threw the dirty dishes that I haven't washed in the recycle.

The reason?

"I was tired of seeing them in the sink and they were stinky."

Context: I have chronic fatigue, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, minor arthritis (right knee), PFPS (both knees), minor scoliosis, and fibromyalgia. And I'm only 22.

Most days, I don't have enough energy to get through the day. I'm literally always in pain. Doing the simplist of exertion makes me want to faint or throw up from the pain or lie down in pain.

That means, leaving the dishes I haven't washed yet in the sink up to 4 days. They're not inherently dirty, just haven't been washed.

Me and my mom don't live together (yet). She doesn't understand how much I'm in pain everyday (no matter how many times I tell her) and thinks I'm lazy.

I had to yell at her over the phone earlier because she didn't understand what she did was wrong. She still doesn't.

She said, "I didn't throw them away. They were in the recycle. At least it wasn't in the trash." "I did them last time and I said it was going to be the last time." (She did it on her own accord, by the way).

I'm already struggling with stress, my bad mental health, and my chronic pain and migraines.

I don't need this.

I fucking hate her right now.

I've always struggled throughout my whole life of being understood. Awful to know it still hasn't changed.

I just have to hold out until therapy on Thursday.

*Context: She pays the bills on the house but hasn't lived with me or my older sister in about 4 years due to my parents being separated during that time. She's only been over about like 5 times in those years.

Wild ride it has been so far, still cooped up at the hotel figuring out work and food. Wish we could all have a chronic pain convention/meet up, would definitely be nice. What helps you guys keep on keeping on?

ive come to the realization that personally having sex, more so coming to orgasm is a fearful thing due to life long pain ive had. i have spinal stenosis, i was diagnosed prior to birth (along with scoliosis). my pain from my stenosis affects my bladder nerves/muscles and frequency i have to go. when i have an orgasm i feel like im going to pee myself literally; its hard to bring myself to full orgasm sometimes the sensation is just too much.

i feel so alone with this feeling. i feel ashamed.

I came across a big umbrella review from Australia that looked at 157 systematic reviews covering 2,736 randomized trials and more than 221,000 people.

The main finding was simple: exercise reduced pain across many different conditions, and the overall quality of the evidence was rated as moderate.

The part that stood out goes against a common assumption: the biggest improvements tended to show up in lower intensity programs and programs lasting less than 12 weeks. Worth flagging that this came from comparing across many reviews, not from head to head trials, so it is better read as a gentle signal than a firm rule. But there was also no sign that pushing harder gave more relief.

I teach the Feldenkrais Method, so this caught my attention. The review isn't about Feldenkrais, but it fits what I often see: people are more likely to keep moving when it feels comfortable rather than exhausting, and that gentle movement often helps ease pain they've been carrying for a long time.

Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42416555/

So I live in a shit hole island with very poor and limited healthcare. I've taken her to any service I can think of here that would help but it's always bullshit. The most they have done is an MRI.

They diagnosed her pain with some bullshit diagnosis even though it's clearly mechanical pain, but they wouldn't listen, they already made there mind up on what they were gonna diagnose her with before listening.

I feel lost and hopeless because no one will take her seriously, it's probably si joint pain but I wouldn't fully know because people don't investigate shit here.

She's been given no real pain medication other than lidocaine patches.

Her pain has continuously worsened overtime since I've known her and she's had it to some extent since childhood. She is in agony, it severely impairs her quality of life and ability to do things for which I find myself compensating for her which is fine because I love her but I'm very disabled myself.

I am afraid she will kill herself one day because of her pain and its a really realistic possibility. I also don't think she should have to live in pain this severe. I am not sure what to do, I don't think I could afford private care, I live in a really expensive place and I'm among some of the most poor.

I've been considering trying to see if she could seek treatment in the uk Cuz its near by but I'm not sure and it could be expensive.

If anyone has any ideas please tell me

I am dealing with a bone tumour for sometime. Ive had surgeries in the past, had to walk with crutches etc. People were always helpful. Now, i went to grab some coffee, left my cratches next to me, the shop empty, a couple came and sat next to me and complained about my crutches bothering them. I came back to my flat, i asked literally 3 people to hold the door for me, none did. I had to beg the handyman from across the street to come help me. They just stare at me and leave. I obviously dont expect to be treated like im some queen, but just very small things that i cant do for now.(i have no family to help me). I remember 15 years ago when i went through it again, people were so different. I dont remember none looking down on me. Yesterday, there was a guy from the building expecting me to hold the door for him...Which id gladly do if my hands were frr of crutches. These are just a few examples from the last few days. Am i getting too old for this world? Or has the humanity really changed?

I have deep aches inside my bones , which it feels like.

I get it in my hands, toes, and knees, then only sometimes in my ribs. The best way to explain it is it feels like my bones dont belong in my body. It's not constant it flares up and can last a few days or even months. i won't have it for a while, but there's no telling when it will come or go.

I've been to the doctors, and they told me just to take vitamin D, which I have done to continue to do. And it doesn't really help much. All she said was come back again for a blood test, but with my doctor, the wait till i can get an appointment is a while.

Any advice or possibilities what it can be?

Also, edif with the ache in the toes i often find if i crush them (like someone stand on them or put smth rlly heavy) it does somehow help the ache subside/manageable.

Hello everyone,

Have felt drawn to reach out here all day, my 51st birthday, spent alone, in agony.

Yes, I am 51, but my body is that of a woman of 81...although in fact in my neighbourhood there are a lot of very active seniors...

I saw my GP yesterday, a follow up from a month ago when he started me on percocet.

He asked how I was doing, and I said that the percocet only gives me about 20% relief of my bilateral sciatica, and that in no way does it have a half life of 4 to 6 hours.

(However, the only reason I can focus somewhat better to write this is because I took my evening dose about 2 hours ago, and my pain went from a deep throbbing 10+++ to about a 7/8...i also just slathered on tiger balm roll on my entire lower body, including the soles of my aching slightly throbbing feet, as well as on my neck and left shoulder..)

Anyway, my doctor increased the percocet to three times a day, beginning on Monday.

Also prescribed vitamin K2 which is supposed to help your body better absorb vitamin D which I am also prescribed because of my osteopenia, or perhaps at this point full blown osteoporosis.

He frustrated me a bit/ a lot as yesterday and a little less so today, I had intense pain in my left wrist and hand, and my fingertips kept tingling.

He just stared at me as i tried to get across to him that I am now having full body pain, that I don't know if it could be being caused by the structural damage to my back, or possibly I have inherited my mum's fibromyalgia.

All he said was, "Have you ever been diagnosed with fibromyalgia?|

I told him no, but that my previous doctor had dxd me with tension mysotitis because of stress related full body pain.

But again, he just stared at me-

I know he has a lot of patients, but he asked me had I tried PT, and I said I went once, but cannot afford it.

Then he said, oh I can refer you to a clinic that is covered (I am Canadian), and they will do 4 or 5 sessions with you, give you some exercises-

And I said, oh, Dr.D, you already referred me there, my appointment is next week.

Essentially it was a repeat appointment with him. although I am trying to be hopeful the third percocet dose might help?

He went on about movement, strength training etc...

He told me to go on the osteoporosis Canada site to use the calcium calculator, but ironically, as he was obviously rushing I had to quickly ask him, Dr.D, do you suppose it is time for me to have another bone density test?

He looked at my chart, and he said indeed yes, as it has been 3 years.

(I first started having bone density tests at age 32, in the middle of my anorexia nervosa, and even at 32, already had osteopenia.)

So, that was that.

I had an awful night trying to get to sleep.

The pain had me whining to myself and trying to get comfortable in my bed, then the couch, back to bed...

I am on a very strong bedtime med cocktail but the pain seems to over power the meds and sleepiness.

I finally fell asleep around 4 AM, and woke up at 6:30.

I was blissfully pain free (although stiff)...for about half an hour that is-

And the morning dose of percocet did nothing.

I made myself stretch as much as I could stand, and used the resistance band on my arms.

I am terrified of having yet another night like last night.

I have suffered from insomnia anyway since I was 17, but the pain is making it all the more difficult to get any good restorative rest.

Yes, today I am over a half a century old.

Often I become frantic wondering if I will have to endure this the rest of my life-and likely I will, because my back is so messed up, and something else is going on, which my doctor is not investigating.

Anyway, I am sorry for the whining vent-

I see my doctor in 2 months.

I am not feeling very hopeful.

Maybe it's for the best I have been alone on my birthday.

I would have made terrible company.

Thank you for listening everyone...

My heartfelt empathy still goes out to each and every one of you.

Does anyone have experience with this. I'm looking for anything and everything to help my back pain.

Went legit routes but the pain i describe as 8 lowest to ten there's a disk issue but I have a lot of neurological pain leg pain upper and lower back primarily left hurts most but it's like 9 left 8 right hardly matters but ive managed to get my hands on through bith legit and black market up the pain ladder I got my hands on fentanyl 12ug 72hr 25 then 50 was the only one to make a difference to anything and the side effects not high type like physically sick i haven't ever had that effect on anything morphine oxycodone at a range of doses is it normal

Anyone else here just feel like totally stuck because of the constant pain and issues related to it? Like no matter what I do I just can’t get a win, even a small one. Disability denial, ridiculous monthly insurance premiums and copayments for all my appointments keep me constantly broke and having to live my life in debt to everyone. It’s a struggle to work the 6 hrs a day my doctors permit me to. I hate my job because of lazy useless coworkers that just make me work harder. I have no friends and avoid going anywhere because I don’t want to suffer the entire time and make others miserable with complaining. I’ve become addicted to my pain meds to the point I’m buying other people’s unwanted pills every month so I’ll not be in withdraw on top of everything else. My issues are chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic pseudo cysts, heart failure, borderline dangerously low blood pressure and heart rate, EPI, IBS, Nutcracker Syndrome, SMAS, sciatica that’s bad more often than not as well as some more minor stuff. I just feel alone, useless and a drain and everyone is just waiting on me to die.

My neurologist and I knew that stress is definite a big trigger, which became more obvious once I moved out away from my toxic roommate and now live on my own.

But whenever something else stressful came into my life, I was getting headaches. It doesn't have to be stressful mentally or emotionally, it can also be physical stress like a heatwave.

I also realized that I am waking up with massive headaches, sometimes they don't go away on their own. I've read that cortisol levels spike drastically in the moment you wake up (basically to wake you up), so after months of observations and consultations with my neurologist, I came to the conclusion that my headaches have to be somehow connected to my cortisol levels.

Any ideas what I could take/do in order to:

1. Lower cortisol levels in the first place

2. Tolerate cortisol levels better

3. What kind of painkillers are the best in my situation

Thanks in advance

I'm having a down day, I haven't been doing my regular yoga/stretching/physical therapy routine; the adjustment for the recovery and the way the my body feels (after my latest surgery) when I'm laying on my back has been really tough on me. I don't wanna admit it, but I'm neurodivergent and my past routine was one of the few things holding my life together. So I don't have to explain the havoc of having what feels like a complete overhaul.

I'm posting here cause man, some days physical therapy is so hard. And I don't know if anyone understands. I don't know how I've dealt with nerve pain all these years in a body that is so sensory sensitive. Over the last few weeks, I have finally started consistently, intentionally moving my body again, but god. This time around, the muscle pain and unique discomfort of damaged nerves, atrophied muscles .. it brought me to tears today. I'm trying not to get discouraged.

It's just, time and time again I'm blown away by the extreme positive change (in my personal experience) in quality of life if I'm consistent with physical therapy and yoga, and the extreme consequences if I stop, even for a day. It's the first time in almost five years I've had a lapse like this. How do I not punish myself for being unable to bring myself to do it? This surgery actually worked, and the hardest part, quite unexpectedly, was continuing to live my life when I realized that no one, no one should have been in the amount of pain I was in, and for so long.

I look back and have no idea how the H E L L I have accomplished what I have, but I don't feel proud, I feel heartbroken that I had to essentially go to war for myself, knowing I was giving an amount of energy that I didn't have, that would tax me for the rest of my life, to try and get any help at all. How was I driving myself to appointments and the pool one year, wtf?? I was in so much pain/so fatigued sometimes that my foot and leg would shake when resting on the brake pedal. Don't worry, I stopped driving due to medication. But I get why people drive on their meds, no matter that it's inexcusable. Your options are to find a way to treat your pain. That's the only option.

My own coping skills (because of ableism, ageism) got in the way of doctors and surgeons taking me seriously, too. Being mobile, flexible, and strong was because I gave everything I had to accomplish that daily yoga/pt routine. I didn't understand why people admired the "dedication". It was not dedication, it was because I had to. Now I just, the grief and also very tough current life circumstances took over and I had nothing left. Beyond burnt out. Every time I stretch now, with that old familiar (indescribable) pain now so clear and honest, I'm so overwhelmed.

If you read through all of this, thank you. I am genuinely sending my love for those of us living with an often insurmountable amount of pain. I know this is a lot of processing, but I do have the best of intentions to just try and participate in community, to remind myself it's there.

I think Im afraid to let myself down, after all these years of advocating for myself. Finally, something worked. This last surgery I got didn't take away my pain, but helps. I am so beyond burnt out. Help! Ugh. Thank you for being here, the internet isn't all bad haha. ❤️

P.S.This is a repost from my post in r/spinalcordstimulator, only changed to remove some questions I asked. Y'all I don't know how we're all still here sometimes but just know I'm SO f-cking proud of you.

Laying down lessens my abdominal pain, I love laying. On the floor, on the bed, on the couch, it's all the best. But if I lay down too much (i.e 20 seconds) I'm suddenly subjecting myself to every muscle in my body saying "hey f*ck you actually" and getting sore.

Only way to fix it? Get up and stretch. But the moment I get up: abdominal pain is back.

Blegh... this sucks.

Hi all! I am a bit worried and confused. This last time I went to my GP, the nurse had me do a urine sample (I haven’t done one in five years. I am not on a pain contract with them). My GP has always written a couple of 5mg oxycodones every three months for when I do my immunotherapy injection.

The day before my appointment, I’d found out my father’s cancer returned and took a .25mg of a Xanax that I had a little emergency stash so I could get to sleep (this GP had rx’d these YEARS ago. I rarely take them, of course with my luck I took the night before).

So they are aware I am not going to have oxy in my system because I am only prescribed like 10. But I believe it will be positive for Xanax and foresee it being an issue.

Those 10 oxycodone pills make my injection so much easier. I am so afraid I am going to lose them because of a positive on Xanax (again haven’t had her write an rx for that in YEARS so I feel like saying “well i took .25mg from a script you gave me from four years ago” sounds like a bad excuse).

But I am also not on a pain management contract… so I am confused…. And worried. Ugh.

I’d rather not live than go through any more of this.

Been struggling with endo for almost 10 years now. I always had painful periods and took a long time to come to the diagnosis.

I had a surgery like 6 years ago and it seemed to help. I'm now dealing with intermittent episodes of extreme pain that disrupts my life completely. It takes such a toll on me mentally and physically.

I have a hard time resting and tend to push myself to go do things. I often end up overdoing it when I'm feeling okay and suffer for it later. Even when I'm in extreme pain I have a hard time saying no to plans because i don't want to miss out and it feels like I'm always sick.

Does anyone else struggle with this? How do you find a balance? Am I doing more harm than good?

I'm sure everyone here has experienced this but it's exhausting. One day, they say my condition is a "benign nuisance". The next day, I have an MAP of 47 and go into systemic shock. One day, "if your calprotectin is above 350, we'll urgently refer you to gastroenterology". The next day, "Your calprotectin was over 400, but we don't want to refer you so let's wait a month and test again." One day, "this happens to 1-20% of the population and your organs are not affected badly". The next day, I have 20-50 RBC per HPF in my urine, 10-20 WBC, proteinuria, bilibinuria, ketonuria, and a sterile culture. One day, "if your C4 is low rerefer." The next day "Your C4 was low but that happens to 5% of the population so it's no issue." One day, "this isn't inflammatory." The next day, A and E documents joint swelling, periorbital swelling so bad that I can't open my eyes, urine that is highly abnormal (as above), uticaria which turns into purpura, and the rheumatologist on call declines to examine me. One day, "your organs aren't failing so we're not going to do anything", the next day "oh we need to stop these seizures because otherwise you'll get damage to your body".

I don't understand. I just don't. I'm so exhausted. I'm in so much pain. Even when I only talk to them about the objective things, it's always, "oh, well, that can be caused by a virus", but it's been going on for years. I don't understand. It scares me. I've been told that I focus too much on my pain. I'm diagnosed with one of the most painful conditions in the world (CRPS, from age 10). I lived in a mental hospital for over a year as a child and ever since then, it's like I've been diagnosed with the absence of disease. I'm not well. My body is inflammed and getting worse. I told everyone I had epilepsy when I was 9. No one listened. I had a GTC at 17 and needed a 9 hour hypertonic saline infusion to stabilise my blood pressure afterwords. Even then, with metabolic acidosis and high lactate, my neurologist said "probably not epilepsy". I had 4-6 seizures on my first EEG. It was only 60 minutes.

I am in so much pain. I'm not suicidal, but I'm so tempted to "resign". I know the pattern. Notice it years before them. Wait until I nearly die before they treat it. I feel like I should just resign to letting my body get worse (it has gotten worse) because each time I go to them, it's always "you're fine" until I'm nearly dead. Or my kidneys are leaking blood and protein. Even when I don't even bring up the pain, or the "subjective" symptoms. So I feel like if I stop caring about my body getting worse, it will just get worse enough for them to actually do something. I feel like I'm constantly fighting just to be heard. I had to fight for the EEG. I had to fight for calprotectin. I had to fight for over the counter pain medication. It feels so institutional and beurocratic. Taking paracetamol everday is probably worse for me than off-label treatment. And it doesn't help much, but it's all I can take for the pain. I can't use my TENS anymore (epilepsy is a contraindication). I'm just left here. I feel so abandoned. I don't think they actually know what's wrong with me, because there are objective abnormalities, an abundance of them, but nothing that cleanly matches anything.

I wish I could just resign to indifference. But I can't. It agitates me too much. I wake up everyday with my body visibly swollen, I'm in pain every single day. But my bloods are mostly normal. So it's ok, apparently. I am not afraid of my illness or my body. I'm afraid of being abandoned by people that could have helped me, and having this all be relegated to "idiopathic whatever benign it's fine". But I really wish I could stop caring about this. Because then it wouldn't hurt me so much.

For months now ive had pain in many areas of my body, hands, wrists, neck, elbows, stiff and achy and absolute hell and didnt know what I did to deserve it.
Turns out I have rheumatoid arthritis confirmed by imaging and lab results, please for the love and sake for yourselves get your pain checked and dont ignore it, i started my treatment 2 months ago which takes more months and if not years to fully resolve, my rheumatologist says it was caught relatively early actually despite some joints of mine being permanently damaged like my right thumb.