Opioids....the nightmare continues...

Back pain or any pain for that matter sucks.
Long story longer...
I broke my back back in 2001. Speared the ground head first launched off a quad in the dunes at WOT... about 60-64 MPH didn't see those whoop-de-dos.
Shattered T5 and T6 vertebrae into more pieces than they could count.
Now I'm fused solid T3-T8 with a couple titanium rods and 8 screws in my back.
Oxycontin and Oxycodone worked well for me.
When I came home from the hospital, I had both. ate them like candy. I would take a 20mg + 3 5mg at once just to try to sleep... I stopped taking them as soon as I could.

Thought I was going to live with back pain the rest of my life. But in my case there is a happy ending. About 2015 my chiropractor suggested I try some deep tissue massage. He had added a couple LMT to his practice so I gave it a try.
1.5 years later and I was pain free and no longer waking up in the middle of the night from back pain. I can put my socks on standing up. WooHoo!
My back rarely bothers me unless I've been doing things that would make anyone have a back ache.
It was my low back that was always tight and where the pain never went away...
Meds just made it more tolerable.
I scheduled a 1hr Deep tissue massage once a week but all in for a year and a half it was a total of 41 visits. Wasn't always able to make it work with my schedule. My copay was $8 per...

Then one day my insurance decided that they were not only not going to cover the massages going forward but they reconsidered the previously approved claims and denied coverage after paying for them and demanded I pay them back.
Went round and round with them for a while.
In the end they ate it but said no more. Lucky for me I really didn't need any more.
Now I pay 100% out of pocket if I want a massage but I've been pain free and haven't needed regular maintenance... knock on wood.
Once in a while I feel my low back getting tight and achy so I go in for an hour or 90 min deep tissue and maybe follow up a couple days later. Once or twice a year at most. Haven't been in over a year due to covid but I've been good.
Have a couple bottles of scripts still but they are years old and I haven't needed to open one for at least 5 years now.
March 3rd 2021 will be the 20 year anniversary of the day I broke my back.

The LMT that I was seeing was better at her craft than any others I had ever been to and I had been to quite a few. I've kept track of where she is so I can see her when I need a good massage.
My back is probably better now than it was before I broke it...
A car wreck in 86...
A slipped disc in the 90's...
Seemed to always have some common nagging issues before but not so much now.

Times like these I'm reminded just how lucky I am.
I rarely think about it... I could have been a quadriplegic or worse.

To keep my perspective I truly believe my worse day ever was/will probably still be better than 7 Billion or more other people's best day on this planet... Life is Good!

I guess, I'm just saying, don't give up. Try different treatments if you can.
We are all different and we all have different struggles.
You are never alone. Never give up hope.

Best to all.