Customer Reviews

Living with Chronic Pain: The Complete Health Guide to the Causes and Treatment of Chronic Pain

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I picked up a copy of Dr. Scheinder's book, Living with Chronic Pain, for my sister who has been having trouble coping with the aftermath of two automobile accidents. I stopped off to see my mother-in-law, who has severe arthritis, who saw the book and began glancing through it - by the time I left she was in the middle of chapter 2 and later told me she stayed up all night to finish it off! She said that she finally understood what some of her medications were for and had already begun to find helpful the suggestions in Schneider's book on pain management. So I went and bought another book for my sister and planned to leave it for her to pick up at my parents house. My father then started glancing through it and before I knew it book number two was gone and I had to go buy a third copy for my sister. So be warned - one book is not enough and you may as well order a dozen - and include one for your doctor!

What is great about this book is that it is an easy read with clear sub-titles so you can jump to the section you want to read, be it the medication you or a family member is taking or type of doctor you are seeing or the kind of chronic pain you are most interested in. Techniques for coping with, and overcoming, chronic pain are throughout the book. Dr. Schenider encourages a holistic approach to dealing with the life changes that severe illness, injury and pain inevitably bring. I have to admit it is disheartening to read how under-treated and misunderstood pain management has been in modern medicine but one is encouraged that we have come a long way from the days of no anesthesia or the belief that children did not have a complete nervous system and thus felt little or no pain compared to adults. I highly recommend this book not only for those currently experiencing or living with someone with chronic pain but also for those about to have surgery or have experienced some sudden trauma like an accident or fall.

If you have pain, you need to buy this book.
If you have a family member in pain, you need to buy this book.

The compassionate Dr. Schneider explains clearly the causes of pain, the latest information on medications, how personality might play a part in how we respond to pain, how acupuncture and other non-drug treatments can help, and how to work in partnership with your doctor to gain control over pain.

As Dr. Schneider explains, pain is usually undertreated. In reality, no one should have to continue suffering. This book gives you the information and vocabulary to talk with your doctor about your needs, and helps you understand exactly how complex pain control can be. But even the most difficult pain can be tamed. I have had chronic pain that is now controlled, after my doctor and I used the same strategies recommended here. For the first time in years, I can make weekend plans without worrying that I'll have to cancel because of migraine pain. There is hope on these pages--hope that you can actually break the binds of pain to reclaim your life. Highly, highly recommended.

Wow - finally the book I've been looking for! For several years I've been disabled because of pain due to a work-related injury, and I only got my life back when my doctor put me on strong pain medications. It's been hard for me to explain to my friends that these medications are helpful and safe, and that I am not an addict. There are many books available on chronic pain, but this is the only one that really explains the appropriate role of opioids in the treatment of chronic pain. The book also talks about various other treatments, including surgery, alternative medicine, and behavioral approaches, but it especially shines in its clear explanations of the benefits and risks of strong pain meds and the difference between addiction to a drug and simply being physically dependent on it. I highly recommend
the book! I think that doctors could learn a lot from it too.

to share with my loved ones; all of them. Chronic pain is so misunderstood by the general public, the patients, their families and yes even health care providers.

I have chronic pain for over six years which is intractable. This means there is no cure just treatments. One of these is opioid medications for the six sources of non-cancer type pain. My experiences have launched me into becoming a Advocate for persons in pain and an Activist for getting the word out about this misunderstood treatment for pain.

Society's view on opioid pain management is 30 years out of date. And in the past several years the government in the US is trying to put doctors who treat patients with opioids into prison. Some patients have been imprisoned for "Trafficking" for having 90 pills or more in their possession even though there was no indication these patients were selling their meds!

For 99.9 percent of patients (Lots of research out there) do NOT become addicts or addicted to opioids! True statement. Do they become physically dependent? Probably. But when a medication allows a patient to have some semblence of happiness and a good life; physical dependence is not high on their list of concerns.

Legistlation was created a few years ago in Congress calling for changes in how the government handles and views chronic pain. It also calls for national awareness of this issue. This bill is sitting in some Health Committee stagnating because not enough people have become motivated to write to their representative and senators on a state and federal level.

Check out Pain Relief Network for more information about this potential legistlation and please try to get on board and help out this very worth cause.

(...)

Dr Schneider is a expert in pain management medicine, and if there is one thing that the Interstitial cystitis patient understands, it's pain. Urologists are very hesitant most times to offer pain management to their IC patients, ironic when the #1 complain of IC patients is the 24-7 pain factor. Although IC is not specified in this book, there are those case studies shown in the book that are by IC patients. All of the book can be incorporated as all IC patients live with chronic pain and illness. There are over 50 million Americans that suffer from chronic pain, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on their care. Tragically, these chronic pain suffers not only attempt suicide more than the average healthy population, they are 2-3 times more successful in the attempt.

Living with Chronic Pain is a guide to pain medications, alternative therapies, and a discussion of the myths of pain. It is a fabulous book that relates one's own personality type to the ability to cope with pain. Once you have identified "you" it is simple to see how you are dealing with the pain and what you can do to alter how pain affects you. It has chapters on the causes of pain, how to decide on the doctor that is right for you, opiods, and pain coping techniques. I find that this book is wonderful for anyone with auto immune disorders, as we are attacked at random and suffer "invisible" symptoms.

The book itself is 352 pages and priced at a lower than average $15.95. For anyone freshly diagnosed with IC I'd highly recommend it. It has several coping strategies and it will explain to each patient how their pain will affect them. The book personalizes itself to the individual reading it. This book should really be the second book you buy in your IC arsenal, after the Survival Guide. While the survival guide will help you understand your condition better, this book will help you understand how it will be to manage the everyday pain of living with the noncurable condition of chronic illness. I give this book 5 stars on the incredible techniques that can be applied to anyone. Ms Schneider truly is a professional that has gone out of her way (she's authored 7 books on the subject) to make sure that patients can find comfort and peace in their illness.

The All Info About Interstitial Cystitis website (AIA:IC) http://cystitis.allinfoabout.com highly recommends this book for its readers.

Dr. Schneider's book is a "must have" resource for anyone that lives with pain. She dispels the myths about pain medication and addiction, and offers insights into many other modalities that can be valuable tools for the patient. I am fortunate to live where she practices in Tucson, and I get to see the excellent results she helps her patients achieve in living with chronic pain problems. I recommend this book highly to my patients and colleagues.

I have just re-read her lastest book on pain. What a masterful job she did!
Dr. Schneider leaves nothing to the imagination or mis-conception that we as patients usually have. EVERYTHING is so carefully explained, I especially like the glossary addition, it leaves nothing to guess work. It is a wonderful piece of work, I have not seen anything that comes near to it in clarity and helpfullness!
It has become my handbook on the subject and I will refer to it as needed in the future. It is great when a doctor can put themselves in the patients place and know what the questions might be that usually go un-voiced by the patients, and give clear and understandable answers. What a great book!

I found this book to be very informative and easy to read and understand. It is not full of medical jargon that real people can not comprehend. It hits the nail right on the head as far as how most Chronic Pain Patients feel from one time or the other.. I think it should be mandatory reading for all Dr.s that have Chronic Pain Patients......We are not crazy, we are in PAIN!

Doctor Jennifer Schnieder Helps put some of the current myths about opiod use to rest. This book has helped me to help my Doctor understand what is going on with my conditions and what treatments I can benefit from. This also helped me understand what I can do, and what I can expect from different forms of treatment. Thanks goes out to Doctor Schnieder for this well written, understanding and caring book.

This is one of the better books on pain. But the major problem about the book, and it is major, is the failure of author to explain why so many doctors, including her before she "saw the light," can go to work every day knowing that many of their patients will come to them with complaints of pain and the doctors (supposedly healers) just push them aside and say: "You're an addict." "How do you know Percocet is the best drug for you? You aren't a doctor, are you?" "Too many patients wanting relief from pain, but my hands are tied, even if I wanted to (and I'm not saying I want to) if I give you Vicodin the state and the pharmacies are going to label me as a "drug dispenser," not a doctor. I have my license to protect." "I'll give you some pain medication today, but it's gotta last 30 days [amount of med is 30 Vicodin]." Patient replies, "But Im, really hurting. I need more than one a day." "There are other doctors you can see. I'm not seeing anything that justifies a lot of pain medication." And on. And on. And on. Schneider admits she became a believer in Opioid pain meds when she and her daughter got chronic pain and couldn't get proper treatment for their pain. Up till then, she was an internist who gave 2 cents about her patient's pain." She needs to write a book about her awakening and why so many doctors would rather have patients in pain, rather than getting Percocet to treat the pain. Don't get me wrong: for a short book, she's on the right track, but the question that has to be answered: Is why doctors are indifferent to patients in pain? And they convince themselves that anyone who wants opioids for pain must be looking for a high. Can she answer this question: "Why did California have to pass laws telling doctors they need to treat pain ,which is grossly undertreated?" At the same time that California seems to be looking out for people in pain, it allows doctors to pass a patient to a pain specialist if they don't want to prescribe opioids (Vicodin, Percocet etc.), Well, the problem is that many pain specialists won't treat pain if it warrants it with opioids because the government, supported by most so called healing doctors, label pain doctors as untrustworthy, who give opiods to anyone who walks throught the door.
Today, in 2011, doctors know that fewer and fewer doctors are pain specialists and even if they label themselves pain specialists, but don't prescribe adequate pain medication because the govt, media, academia and, sadly, most doctors have no respect for pain specialists--the doctors they're supposed to send their patients to for knowledgable pain relief. All competent doctors if they do proper evaluations of their patients should be able to prescribe the right pain med, but knowing that the safe route is no pain med, no problem with govt,especially the odious DEA and its sister the FDA.
Author needs to recognize that all the knowledge I have about pain assessment and pain treatment (I have chronic shoulder and knee pain (arthritis and two incompetent surgeries for knee and accident and bad surgery for shoulder and have done lots of research on pain treatment) means nothing. Schneider and others like her need to be testifying in public in Congressional hearings, trying to convince people with power that pain is a problem that needs to be meaningfully addressed, not sloughed off. NOTE: to repeat CA wrote a nice law about treating pain, but then, practically in the same sentence, told doctors they don't have to treat pain. Only when patients can sue easily their doctors for malpractice for not treating pain will doctors get serious about pain. Schneider feels good about herself is what I get from her book above all other things. But what is she doing to get ordinary doctors to treat pain adequately. Talk is cheap.