Q. I have complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis that put me in intractable pain 25 years ago. Until recently, I have managed with the opioids my doctors prescribed. Now that the doses are being lowered, I am in severe pain again.

I often wonder: If I have to take my life because I can no longer stand the horrible pain, how will I do it? It frightens me that I am thinking this way. I suspect others with chronic pain are, too. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are punishing us by taking away our medications, even though we have done nothing wrong. The changes intended to restrict opioids are harming the most vulnerable.

A. We have heard from hundreds of patients like you who h

See Full Page