Pain patients are not recognised in medicine.

It is hard enough for pain patients that they do not receive treatment in Austria and this after Austria has been asked several times to do more for pain patients.

The Austrian social system also prevents pain patients from being treated abroad by not considering pain patients as disabled, even though their pain limits them more than other already recognised disabilities.

As a pain patient, you very rarely have a pain-free period in which you can look after your own household and therefore usually have support from home helps and carers or relatives.

What is a small challenge for healthy people is an odyssey with an uncertain outcome for pain patients. A trip to the shop turns into a marathon and not only does sweat run, it also demands a period of rest after this actually short activity, which can even result in several days of pain.

Standing at the hob for 15 minutes is often so tedious that a short break for the person concerned ensures that the pizza in the oven chars in the meantime or the rice burns into the pan.

From the point of view of the PVA, ÖGK and AMS, these people are nevertheless classified as fit for work because pain is not visible and the illness is not recognised as a serious restriction.

Days on which a pain patient has almost no pain are absolutely rare and during this time the patient should not be able to fulfil their household duties or simply enjoy the pain-free time - NO, the legislator stipulates that the pain patient should pursue a professional activity at this time. It does not matter to the legislator that these days are unpredictable or follow a certain regularity.

Every pain patient must be prepared for the fact that they will not be able to sleep at night if they are in pain and have already missed several appointments with public institutions or authorities because they only got to sleep early in the morning, or have been awake for several days without even a minute's sleep, leading to bouts of weakness and accidents at home.

The opiates administered only do their job when the pain is a little less severe and, in the case of severe pain, those affected often try to get the pain out of their head by lying quietly, which in most cases is unsuccessful and the person affected struggles with the pain for hours.

Because the pain patient has experienced so much incomprehension on the part of medicine, the patient withdraws more and more from society and the healthcare system, as there are no long-lasting and effective treatments to alleviate their suffering.

The pain patient is left to himself and his pain.

I am raising money for legal action against the state's arbitrary decision to leave these people alone and deprive them of their livelihood by not recognising them. A precedent-setting case could bring changes to the system and finally make it possible for those affected to be treated abroad, where the guidelines for comprehensive pain treatment have been implemented.

It is also a matter of the state covering the costs of these treatments or compensating the patient for the state's inaction so that these treatments can be financed.

You can find a personal experience report on this situation in Austria in the link