hey I am 44 hiv+ male for 20 years and am quite healthy for the most part. Cd4 is 750 vl is undetectable as of 3 months ago. I've never had an opportunistic infection or any sickness related to the hiv. About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease. I was prescribed 3, 7.5 hydrocodone per day and for the first three years it was fine. Then I had surgery to fix one of three disks. So two remain. Pain was much relieved but drug use escalated for about 2 years. I then decided to quit and tried for a year unsuccessfully. Went to rehab and am now one year clean of opiates. I take virimune, truvada, ibuprofen(1600mg/day), and ZOLOFT(50mg/day). Ibuprofen is not cutting it for back pain any longer and I want to know what my options are. Tramadol has been suggested and I've taken it before but my doc seems reluctant. Should I try to convince her to give it to me or are there better options? I see her in the morning.