Oh yes, chronic pain is not only exhausting and depressing but can be deadly over time.

Having constant pain is a terrible burden on your body and brain and causes all kinds of imbalances in your biochemistry. It's a known health hazard and I'm surprised your physician isn't trying to find some way to ease your pain.

There are non-opioid medications that can ease pain, like antidepressants (they can help physical pain too) or antiepileptics/anticonvulsants like carbamazepine, valproic acid, and lamotrigine (seem to prevent overactive firing of the nervous system).

From the NIH PubMed research: "The antiepileptics gabapentin and pregabalin have become the mainstay of treatment for various neuropathic pain syndromes, owing to their ability to inhibit neuronal hyperactivity along the pain pathways."

None of these drugs work as well as opioids for most people, but they're worth a try when opioids aren't an option.

Letting your body be in pain all the time is an assault on your health and can take years off your life (which can be a blessing if the pain becomes bad enough),

If you are skilled enough at it, meditation can also reduce your pain and is becoming a very popular "pain treatment" these days.