I stand with other chronic pain sufferers off in the shadows. We have been forgotten. No research. No treatment. Now there are laws and a movement of public outcry condemning opioid use. Our pain medicine is being taken from us. We have been treated without compassion, humiliated, stripped of dignity. People don't understand that we are not abusers but simply seek temporary relief from our endless pain. We are always tired, often depressed, and feeling hopeless. We are just trying to overcome the obstacles our bodies have presented to us. We are made to feel shame because we need to use pain medicine to cope with everyday life.