Chronic Pain Management Support Group

[itsmewhoelse]

Seems no one has posted in here since spring, I hope that means that we were all enjoying the summer weather as much as we could, and hope the warm weather provided some extra relief. Now im dreading the change in weather. Going thru a return to work physio plan right now, which is maybe gicing me some more range of movememt but not pain relief yet. Anyone else do a return to work with fibro and back problems? How did it go?

[Andit]

Dealing with some health issues right now. It`s been a year of non-stop stress for me (my Dad passing away, 2 emergency surgeries, 3 trips via ambulance to hospital, etc etc), and currently dealing with weird results from bloodwork, which is leading to a biopsy on Friday (had one before, not that big a deal, all things considered).

On the plus side, with all that's been going on, I don't really notice the pain I'm in.

Wishing everyone a healthy and pain-free day.

[SillyLoocie]

Wouldn't it be nice if there was no pain we were feeling?
Pain is a constant companion that has so many of us reeling?
It wears us down & makes us weary & tired,
It leaves us sad & uninspired,
Venting just a little can provide a little consultation,
Relief would be a welcome sidekick to replace our frustration,
I'm sad about what so many people are going through,
So I'm sending my well wishes to all of you.

I am so sorry that so many of you are experiencing & living in pain. It is like the roommate that refuses to take the hint & leave.

Many of you have been through far too much already. I also just want to say that I really feel inspired by positive attitudes like Andi's. She always makes me smile & I am grateful to her.

[$$avingmom]

I have also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, something with a much longer name than fibromyalgia (chronic nervous system sensitization syndrome). I have degenerative disk disease and arthritis in my neck and back from a car accident 6 years ago. Also bursitis in my hip and tendonitis in my fingers hands and wrists. I have been diagnosed with sooo many things since my accident that I can't even remember all of them! What I can tell you ia that I have taken the tramadol, with in the first few years for pain relief. It worked at first, but seemed to be one of those kind of pain relief drugs that you had to keep steadily upping the dosage on, to get any REAL relief. I ended up on a sustained relief version in the end, it even stopped working for controlling my pain, so I slowly tapered off of it. WARNING to anyone who is on this stuff*** IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ADDICTIVE but it is hell to come off of. I felt like I had the flue for days< shakes, brain zaps (shocks), wasn't pleasant at all. I could have tapered off more slowly and would recommend that anyone doing so tapers off very very slowly. If you search the internet you will see that others have had very negative effects while trying to come off of tramacet tramadol. Anyway, after that I was afraid to take ANY pain medications and bared the pain for a year or more. when it became absolutely unbearable I tried several different things, of course the first offered is always percocet, YUCK! This stuff makes me nauseous and makes my entire world spin after even half of the lowest of doses! Then I think the DR tried me with something else containing codeine. We discovered that me and codeine don't get along! Then there was dilauded or morphine, this was almost as bad as the percocets! Worked for the pain but made me nauseous and gave me extreme stomach cramping. I ended up on hydromorphone in the end and have been taking it for several years now. Started out with 1mg tablets and worked up to 3mg extended release. I don't get nauseous, dizzy, stomach pain or feel "high" at all the hydromorphone just works on my pain, like it should. I have switched from 3 doses a day down to two on my own, on numerous occasions with out any side effects or with drawl symptoms (like the tramadol). I am not saying that I am pain free, I gave up on the notion of finding a "magic pill" years ago. But it takes my pain down to a level that I can deal with. i know that I am going to have to deal with pain every day for the rest of my life, as it has been explained to me that I let my body be in pain for far too long and it 'hypersensitizes" your nervous system. Apparently there is currently no real cure out there for a sensitized nervous system, for those of us that have this condition, even a light touch can sometimes be perceived as being painful. Most of us end up getting diagnosed with fibromyalgia. In my experience there are a few other things that help to relieve the pain associated with these kind of conditions besides pain pills: magnesium citrate, helps with muscle spasming increase dosage slowly watch for loose bowel movements as a sign that you are taking too much. Infrared heat: from sauna or heating pad, I have a heating pad for my chair and my bed I can't sleep with out it. infrared heat is healing, helps to relieve pain and heal damaged tissues in the body, can also help to detoxify (sauna). Curcumin supplement: I am unable to take traditional anti-inflammitory medications prescribed by the doctor, they cause me extreme stomach upset (with in a few doses I feel like my stomach is on fire). So I take curcumin instead, it is a natural anti-inflammitory, which is much easier on your body and much better for you. To answer your above question, \i have done chiropractic, accupuncture, and physiotherapy extensively for the last 6 years and have been unable to return to work. I applied for the CPP disability benefit with my doctors support almost 2 years ago and was rejected, I am currently stuck in the lovely backlog of tribunal hearings, IF i actually get a HEARING many are not even getting that now. My daily functioning is probably similar to yours, there are a lot of things around the house that I just cannot do. Some days, usually when the weather has changed, it is all i can do to get out of bed. On a good day it takes me several hours to "get going because of the level of spasming and stiffness through out my body. I really try to keep going though, to keep things limber and to keep some muscle on my body. I also have to take care of my son, who has aspergers, bipolar, a neuromuscular disorder and fibromyalgia. He is home schooled. If you or anyone else on the forum have any specific questions that they would like to ask me, feel free to PM. If I can help anyone else to minimize their pain I am glad to!
I wish everyone here a happy pain free day!
Andit, I hope things are much better for you soon!
I apologize for my extended absence on the forum, I had to devote some time to my son to get his issues sorted out.

[Andit]

Andit, I hope things are much better for you soon!

Thank you!

I think *my* diagnosis was right in the end and it was a series of stressful events taking its toll on my body. My biopsy was inconclusive, which isn't too bad a thing in my scenario, since it means nothing really bad is happening at the moment. And I think I've finally kicked the infection that's been lingering and causing me to feel yucky for months. At least I hope that's where my new-found energy is coming from (ok, so it's nowhere near as much as the 70 yr olds I know have, but hey, I'll take it ).

[Andit]

In my experience there are a few other things that help to relieve the pain associated with these kind of conditions besides pain pills: magnesium citrate, helps with muscle spasming increase dosage slowly watch for loose bowel movements as a sign that you are taking too much. Infrared heat: from sauna or heating pad, I have a heating pad for my chair and my bed I can't sleep with out it. infrared heat is healing, helps to relieve pain and heal damaged tissues in the body, can also help to detoxify (sauna). Curcumin supplement: I am unable to take traditional anti-inflammitory medications prescribed by the doctor, they cause me extreme stomach upset (with in a few doses I feel like my stomach is on fire). So I take curcumin instead, it is a natural anti-inflammitory, which is much easier on your body and much better for you. To answer your above question, \i have done chiropractic, accupuncture, and physiotherapy extensively for the last 6 years and have been unable to return to work.

Just curious about the curcumin - a friend of mine takes turmeric to help with inflamation (she adds it to all her meals and makes up her own pills by filling empty capsules). Do you find the turmeric upsets your tummy?

Also, have you ever tried arnica for pain? I have a friend who used it for her old arthritic dog and it made quite a difference.

[$$avingmom]

Andit, I am glad that you are doing better! To answer your question about curcumin, tumeric. I do find that when I first start taking it, that I do tend to have a bit of stomach upset. I generally try to start out with a very low dose and work my way up to the recommended dosage. The other thing that I have read about tumeric and tried in the past myself , is that it is more easily digested with ginger. So I have taken it in the past with the ginger anti-nausea tablets that you can purchase at the drug store. I take capsules that I purchase from the health food store. If you can't take tumeric then maybe boswellia could offer you some relief, with out stomach upset? Boswellia is a natural pain reliever that I also have experience using. It has some anti-inflammitory properties, but is mostly used for pain control. You can use both tumeric and bosweilla together. It is easy to find pain and joint formulas that contain both. You can also find bosweilla on it's own if you are unable to tolerate tumeric. I do not have much experience with arnica, I believe that I have tried using it topically on my neck years ago. I don't remember it doing a whole lot, but then again nothing much does topically!

[$$avingmom]

I hope everyone is having a Happy Pain Free (as pain free as you can be!) Thanksgiving Weekend

[Angela273]

I have been functioning at a high pain level for over a week. I limit my consumption of pain medications, but I did take a T3 three nights this week. I am a substitute teacher and taught 4 days this past week. I am grateful for the work and want to work as many days as possible. I am so busy during the day that I just ignore the pain until I am home at the end of the day. I feel somewhat bad at times because I'm not always up for doing as much as I want to. I have dh and our 2yr old son to consider. LO caught a cold at daycare, which resulted in less sleep for us, which negatively affects my pain level too.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

[$$avingmom]

Angela273, I think the guilt of not being able to function and do as much as we used to be able to is one of the hardest parts of dealing with chronic pain. It is really hard for family members who are not dealing with the "PAIN LEVELS" that you are dealing with to understand just how much it drains you. How much it takes from you everyday you have to deal with the pain, just to get through the day. I have learned to try and feel grateful for what I CAN still accomplish and to try and LET GO of the things that I can not handle doing! Over doing things doesn't help an already over stressed body that is in pain! Take it easy, when you have the chance. I know that sometimes we don't always have that luxury. Remember that none of us ASKED to be in chronic pain! It's not your fault! So why should we feel guilty for the things we don't or can't accomplish?? I hope this message finds everyone healthy and well. Enjoy the wonderful sunshine today

[$$avingmom]

I forgot to mention, I understand what you mean about not taking medications because of needing to stay alert. Maybe you could mention to your DR if you already haven't that you have had a recent increase in pain levels and have been trying to work. Also that you are unable to take the T3's prescribed by the DR because they are too sedating to take during the daytime, while working. If you have a decent DR they should be willing to explore alternative pain control with you. My concern for you is that, If you don't already have a condition that leaves you in constant pain, that you will develop a pain condition. My chronic pain condition developed from me not taking pain meds to properly treat my pain, thinking it would eventually go away on it's own. Well I can tell you it didn't and I am now worse off for deciding to suffer thru the pain. Please don't do this to your self.

[$$avingmom]

I think it's a great idea. My husband suffered from a sore back for many years. He was injured when a sack of potatoes fell on him when he was working on his dad's farm. Since then he had been on painkillers but really not helping too much. Whilst we lived and worked in Saudi Arabia he did not suffer any pain at all because it was a dry climate. Back in the UK in 1988 and he really started to suffer. I found a good acupuncturist and marched him down to see her. 3 sessions later and he was 50 times better but definitely not cured. Recently I have been drinking something called Artemesia Annua tea. I grow the plant myself and just harvested sufficient to see us through the winter. See http://www.cancer.org/treatment/trea...taminsandminer. I drink it as part of my post cancer operation care. My husband had a glass a day with me for over a couple of weeks now and he no longer needs to take any Nurofens, Ibuprofens or any other painkillers. It is wonderful to see him walking easily again. I don't why it seems to work but it does for us. I mascerate 12gms of leaves and stem in half a litre of hot (not boiling) water and leave it to steep like tea and we drink one small glass after lunch and one small glass before bed.

Thanks for the info greyling! I am sorry to hear that both you and your husband are suffering with chronic pain. I am going to look into the tea you suggested. Accupuncture did help me a lot for a bit, then it became too costly to keep up with the sessions needed to keep my pain levels managed. I also started to go into a "pain flare" after the treatments so it became a bit of a contradictory therapy. I hope you will keep posting on this threadn it would be nice to know how you and your husband are doing and whether the tea continues to help with his back pain.

[momof3heathens]

Hilarious. Enjoy. Party Etiquette for Chronic Pain Sufferers.

http://abodyofhope.wordpress.com/201...assy-spoonies/

[$$avingmom]

Hilarious. Enjoy. Party Etiquette for Chronic Pain Sufferers.

http://abodyofhope.wordpress.com/201...assy-spoonies/

LOL that was GREAT!! I could really relate to it! Thanks for posting

[Abby5]

I am suffering from a hormone called relaxin. It loosens all my joints. It hurts to walk and use my hands even doing nothing hurts so much. I don't know what to do ?? Anyone here have this or heard of it??