I was suicidal over chronic back pain and you talked me back from the brink

DEAR DEIDRE: LAST time I wrote to you, I was at the end of my tether, ready to end it all.

I’m a 34-year-old builder and have been living with chronic back pain for the past three years.

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The pain was getting worse and had spread down my legs and around my groin area.

I barely got three hours’ sleep a night and the only respite came when I had a few beers to knock me out.

My doctor was uninterested and I couldn’t face going to see him again only to be fobbed off.

I do have a lovely wife, but apart from her, I felt I had very little to live for – I actually thought she would be better off without me.

You made me see I would leave my wife forever bereft if I took my own life.

You encouraged me to see another doctor and press for better care.

I did that, have been sent for an MRI, am on a three-month pain care plan and am getting much better treatment.

I am still in pain but it’s manageable which means I’m getting much better sleep. I feel so much better. Thank you.

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