By Carol Levy, Columnist

Where exactly do the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stand on working with and helping those with chronic pain, as opposed to ignoring our voices and pleas?

At the Rally Against Pain in Washington, DC on October 22, the CDC was invited to come but no representatives attended.

Is it another jab at us because they can’t see our “invisible” illnesses and disorders?

Is it a result of the media and the public not knowing or caring about our plight?

October 7 was Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day. Many of us tweeted and posted on Facebook about it, but the news media for the most part gave it a ho-hum. Do they have a policy of not reporting on a disorder if they don’t think enough people have it?

Instead, the media seems content to repeat the hysteria laden stories and recycle articles about opioid medication abuse, while mostly ignoring those who may benefit from opioids or have them as their only treatment option.

While it is scary to see headlines about banning kratom and other substances many of us use for pain relief, it is worth remembering that an FDA advisory panel in 2009 voted to ban Vicodin and Percocet, because of their effects on the liver. No such ban was adopted, but they did change the amount permitted and how you can get them.

We need to be concerned about the “slippery slope” that comes with threatened bans. Instead of reacting with fear and wasting our emotional energy, we need to respond proactively. Better to get out paper and pen, and start sending letters and emails to your representatives in Congress and the FDA, DEA and CDC.

Kratom supporters won their battle, at least temporarily. Why can’t we?