Pseudoaddiction

(Click the title for a good link about this nasty little syndrome)

Based on what she's told me about her relationship with the doctor that prescribes her pain meds, my wife is pretty deep into this syndrome.

In brief, pseudoaddiction is the set of symptoms that come about when a chronic pain patient fails to get enough medication. A pseudoaddict is constantly seeking more medication, often dramatizing pain symptoms to the doctor in order to try to get them to prescribe stronger drugs. The problem is that the doctor is looking for addiction symptoms, which look pretty much the same, and instead of raising the dose, LOWER it... thus making the pseudoaddiction worse.

It's a disease caused by doctors who don't trust their patients.

Needless to say, she's finding a new pain specialist.