"off label" use of medication - vent

Ikari

In a hunt to find appropriate and effective pain relief I have been offered numerous drugs for "off label" use. 

I understand many take these medications and benefit greatly however personally I find it disheartening that the majority on offer have not been approved for the uses they are prescribed for. Wikipedia states "A 1997 survey of 200 cancer physicians by the American Enterprise Institute and the American Cancer Society found that 60% of them prescribed drugs off-label".

Like a lot of us, I rarely if ever took medication prior to BC (including headache tablets).  I am currently on an AI and have monthly OS injections.  I suffer from a large range of side effects from the two medications I take.  In order to address these side effects I have been offered antidepressants and anticonvulsants amongst others.  I have tried a few and find I am trading one set of side effects for others.  From what I have read it seems that once a medication is approved for use the other "benefits" do not undergo trials as it is too expense for pharmas to undertake when their drug is already approved.

That being said, I think it is great that we are able to be prescribed medications "off label" as it enables those who are willing to experiment (I don't mean this negatively by the way) the opportunity.  What I do not like though is the pressure I have received from the medical profession to take these medications due only to the fact that there are no other medication options for the post cancer pain I feel very day (peripheral neuropathy, AI pain, lymphedema etc).  In Australia opiates are not easily prescribed and medicinal marijuana is not legal.

I ask the question, how much effort do the pharmaceutical companies put into making SPECIFIC, effective, non addictive, pain relieving drugs (without a gazillion negative side effects as a trade off)? 

And in my perfect world I would like to take a tablet when needed not a daily dose which my body becomes dependant on.