Stopped getting methadone

I fear that the "opiate panic" in the US is slowly spreading to the UK. I don't know if that has anything to do with @mrP losing their methadone, obviously. This could just be my paranoia. The last time I saw my GP, though, he told me that he's getting increasing pressure to prescribe less opioids.

I realise that people get addicted to opiates/opioids, and that some people die as a result, and that's horrendous. However, in some parts of the US chronic pain patients are having a great deal of trouble getting pain meds, and often have to go without. I'm terrified that the same thing will happen here. 

People with chronic pain aren't usually problem patients in terms of addiction. Dependency, yes. You can't avoid that if you're taking large quantities of these meds on a regular basis for a long time. But dependency can be broken by going off the meds for a few days/weeks (in a measured, safe way, not like what happened to @mrP !). The withdrawal is unpleasant, but it's just a physical dependency, not a psychological one.

(Sometimes I wonder.... Even if we do get addicted, we're going to be on these meds for a long time. For many of us (including me), opioids are the only thing that control the pain enough that we can have some kind of life. So long as we keep the doses down, by whatever means, is it a terrible thing if we do get addicted? I dunno, what do you guys think?)

Anyway, I've been off tramadol for 2 days (one of my occasional make-sure-you're-not-getting-too-dependent breaks), and aside from a bit of sweating, I'm fine. Well, my pain is pretty bad, but I can deal if it's just for a few days. 

However, the idea of the rest of my life without opioids... Going through multiple back spasms a week without tramadol would make my life unlivable. I wouldn't have a life. It wouldn't be worth it.

Is it just me ? Am I being paranoid? Anybody else?