I have a wife with chronic back pain also. She just started drinking again and it landed her in the hospital. Besides that it caused us to both lose our jobs. I lost mine because I was at the hospital making sure she was alright. The doctor did tell me people with chronic back pain end up as addicts. It only seems to get worse, their back pain never goes away and is an excuse for the drugs. Yes she has been to all kinds of recovery and has been sober for two years, then the back pain, then the abuse.