‘Chronic pain patients like me are not the cause of the opioid crisis.’ Photograph: Troels Graugaard/Getty Images A recent visit to one of my doctors started out in the usual way, with a review of my current medications. I have rheumatoid arthritis, an incurable autoimmune disease, so my list of medications is fairly long. The doctor paused when she reached Tramadol, a mild opioid I use sometimes before bed when pain threatens to steal sleep. “You need this every night?”