Table of ContentsForeword Getting Started: There Is No Miracle Part 1: The BasicsChapter 1: Knowing Your Pain Chapter 2: Talking to Your Doctor Chapter 3: Age, Gender, and Pain Chapter 4: Exercise and Pain Chapter 5: Boundaries Chapter 6: Resource Management Part 2: Mind and MoodChapter 7: Concentration and Cognitive Abilities Chapter 8: Anxiety Chapter 9: Anger Chapter 10: Shoulding and Expectations Chapter 11: Consistency, Goals, and Giving Up Chapter 12: Strength Euphoria and Setbacks Chapter 13: Career Chapter 14: Relationships Part 3: Tools and TherapiesChapter 15: Medications Chapter 16: Mindfulness and Meditation Chapter 17: Alternative Therapies Chapter 18: Retraining Your Nervous System Chapter 19: Support Groups Chapter 20: Planning for the Future Who Wants a Paint-by-Numbers Life Anyway? Addendum: For Caregivers Summary of Important Lessons Afterword Acknowledgments Bibliography About the Author

“Clear, engaging, and with the authenticity of personal experience.” —Patricia Morley-Forster, MD, FRCPC Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Founder Status; Professor Emerita Dept of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care, Western University, London, Canada; 2013 Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society Gold Medal Winner “I would recommend this book to all chronic pain sufferers, family members, and doctors involved in managing chronic pain.” —Dr. Manchikanti Founder, Chairman and CEO of American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians; Founder of Pain Physician Journal; Author of Interventional Pain Management and 11 other works, including Interventional Techniques in Managing Chronic Pain “In this practical and empowering guide, Amy Orr offers hands-on strategies and insights that combine the wisdom and empathy of someone who has lived with pain with the clear-eyed precision of a skilled writer. Taming Chronic Pain is a concise yet comprehensive toolkit for living with—and moving beyond—chronic pain.” —Laurie Edwards, author of Life Disrupted and In the Kingdom of the Sick www.laurieedwardswriter.com “Amy Orr has written a clear and persuasive primer on what it means to live with chronic pain. With a light, breezy style, she gives realistic advice on how to manage pain. No quack cures here; no shady fixes. Instead, useful tips on everything from how to talk to your doctor to knowing when to be weird (you’ll understand when you read the book!). Relevant not only for people living with chronic pain, but also for those whose loved ones live in pain.” —Peter A. Ubel MD; Professor of Medicine, Public Policy and Business, Duke University; Author of Sick to Debt (Yale, 2019) and “Critical Decisions” (HarperCollins) “In Taming Chronic Pain, Amy Orr sets out to offer guidance and support to chronic pain patients in virtually every aspect of their lives, and she succeeds in her mission masterfully. As she writes: 'You are not your body but you are in your body, so it's your job to take care of it.' Orr helps every patient to do exactly that—sensibly, purposefully, and with optimism and good humor. She is frank in offering her advice or expertise, but without being preachy or didactic. Readers will come away feeling they have found a friend and valued advisor. I highly recommend Taming Chronic Pain and know that pain patients will benefit from reading it in many, many ways in their present and into their future.” —Joy H Selak PhD Author of You Don’t LOOK Sick! Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness with Dr. Steven Overman

Over 100 million Americans (and over 1.5 billion people worldwide) suffer from chronic pain at some point in their lives.    The author plans to market the book through various facebook pages, including: Chronic Pain Support Group (39,000 members) We Are In This Together (Chronic Pain Support Group) (22,000 members) SheCann (2,500 members)