When to give up?

The answer is never give up. Easier said than done. The old adage 'each day is a gift' doesn't seem to hold up to pain and suffering.

I've dealt with pain, and yes, you are now made to feel like a criminal by wanting opioids. With my condition, if I give up my meds, I'll just die quickly, pretty simple and easy. But your condition is different, as you could linger on indefinitely. Hopefully, the pain pump is the solution.

I've tried nearly all the pain killers, even Dilaudid injected into my heart through a stent. Well that works nice temporarily, but nothing seems any good long term. The best painkiller I found overall was washing down a handful of ibuprofen with a glass of whisky, if your liver is up to it. My other suggestion, take it for what it's worth, is stop any activity that causes pain. Find something else to occupy your time that you enjoy. Curtail the onus. What about surgery?

All the best to you.