Coping with pain
How does having chronic pain affect you on a day-to-day basis? How do you cope with it?
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I can relate although I don't have that pain my in our family there is suffering from that chronic pain. You can see the patient how he really feels and what you do buy medicines just it because you cannot touch or massage the affected area.
I talked to the nurse at the Rheumatologist office and was surprised to learn that they are not legally allowed to prescribe pain control medication. So... do I just suck it up? I can do that (as I look through this forum I think we all are doing a lot of that). At what point do I seek out pain management? I already know from experience that Tramadol provides huge relief and doesn't interfere with my ability to function and enjoy life but am I wimping out to accept that and take advantage of that relief?
I am learning that there are very different types of pain. If someone has a great pain in a small area (like a broken bone) everybody understands and is sympathetic. However, if someone has low level pain but in every muscle cell their body does it add up to be significant a pain? I am learning that yes, it does add up. I think that low level consistent, never-ending pain is what leads to the fatigue. Yet, very few people understand that and are sympathetic to it. So, we cope by trying to not be grumpy, smiling in spite of it, forcing ourselves to be engaged and active and then we curl up when we can and try to rest as best we can so that we can keep going.
Absolutely NOT!!! There is no weakness or shame in taking pain medication to help cope with your pain! Please don’t feel like it’s a bad thing! I myself wear a Fentnol patch and take hydromophone to manage my pain! I go to a pain clinic monthly and have several injections and rhizotomies ( burning of the nerves) to try and get relief! These procedures helped at first for a long while, but slowly began to fade in helping the pain until they weren’t worth my while! Now I’m on “medication therapy” that helps my pain level. I still have bad days and every morning is rough! Now I’m researching a Nuero Transmitter; a couple of wires are inserted into the spine in a certain area, depending on what part of the body is affected, and during the trial basis, a unit is worn on the outside of your body that “zaps” the nerves as a type of “nerve Block” before pain is reseppted to the painful area! If I get enough relief, after a trial week; the unit that was on the outside of your body, is surgically put under the skin in the pelvic area. I praying that I get enough relief to either, quit pain drugs or at least substantially reduce them!
There is much out there to reduce pain! You need to experiment and see what works for you! Good luck!
I don't cope with pain as much as I do pressure.
It's fair to say that, now that I'm on Humira, nothing really hurts per say. But I have anklosing spondlytis that affects my neck and the awful thing about it is the head pressure, the ear ringing and the occasional dizziness. It ebbs and flows somewhat dependent on my neck position but it never really goes away. Ever. It's like constantly being under assault.
Trying to go about my daily life, do my job well, enjoy things like I used to, is a real struggle since the head pressure began about a year ago. And no doctor seems to give me any hope that there's anything that can be done about it. Perhaps, one day, my spine will settle and the symptoms will subside somewhat. At least that's the hope. I've read that can happen in people with spine issues.
It's difficult to imagine living the rest of my life this way.
