yep, move onto another primary here for your own healths sake, seriously. this doc should simply have snet you for at the very least here at this point a good contrasted MRI simply to actually try and identify the true underlying pain genrators and not simply treating you with a plethora of painkillers that do absolutely NOTHING for you at all except on a good day may mask your pain.
you simply NEED to find out what you actually have wrong in there before anything can actually even be more appropriately treated. right now, you simply have no clue as to what is actually going on or is damaged at any point under the boney structures that x rays will only show. an MRI, esp using that contrasting agent will simply show the inner structures like nerve roots that could be impinged, the more 'inner" portion of the discs themselves, and the spinal cord as well that can also be somewhat compromised from various spinal issues too.
personally i would blow off your current primary and look for one who actually cares about their patients. three years of this type of pain and crap is just wayyy too long. you just DO really need an MRI at this point just to finally 'see' whats up inside that spinal level at all. considering the ongoing nature of this symptomlogy, that doc should have done this at least after one year of ongoing pain just to see what he had been treating? the key here really is that you simply cannot even begin to really 'appropriately" treat what you don't even know the patient actually has wrong??
if you have to see another doc just to get the appropriate type of testing then i would most certainly do it at this point. you just do not even know whether or not this could even be a surgical case, or something that could simply respond to the most appropriate types of treatment you could get thru a good PM doc either. either way, you DO deserve to have your real pain and concerns attended to properly/tested. three years is a very long time to simply be forced to suffer with something you do not even know yet you may have there? push for that MRI also using a contrating agent for the best possible look in there and if your doc will not do this one simple referral for you, simply fire him and move onto a doc that actually cares. good luck with this and i do hope your doc will do the right thing here for you. please keep me posted, Marcia
