Pain is killing me

[Seshat]

AccountingDrone: you're one of the other members here in chronic pain. Did I leave out any patient-to-patient advice you'd add?

[Seshat]

Adding one more thing:

Everything I have said is patient to patient advice.

Admittedly, I'm an unusually knowledgeable and experienced patient! BUT BUT BUT: I am a patient. I have no legal licence to practice medicine, I have not studied medicine, I am not a nurse or doctor or physiotherapist or anything.

Take what I have said as what it is: the life experience and practical 'pain survival' techniques or another person in what started out as unendurable pain.

Through those techniques, I have managed to make it to 'endurable pain' with the ability to do some good in the world.

[Mishi]

I'll happily second Seshat's advice, especially about exercise. I've found that keeping my weight down at the lower end of 'normal' by eating healthily (with my doctor's blessing) also makes a positive difference to my pain and fatigue levels.

DeltaSierra suggested a TENS machine - one of my friends has just had her spine fused, and has been using the TENS for pain relief before and after the surgery. It worked so well the first time that she fell asleep almost immediately! (and has continued to provide the same or similar level of relief every time)

[Seshat]

Mournblade,

Please post something? Even just an 'I read this and I've tried all those tricks' or an 'Okay, thanks, there's something new in that'.

Just ... something.

[LewisLegion]

I would also like to suggest medical marijuana, if that's an option in your area. Several states have it on the ballot to make marijuana legal all across the board this November. If you're lucky enough to live in one of those states and it passes, or you can get a medical MJ card from your doctor, try out a few strains, find what works for you. MJ works fabulously on pain and it's a hell of a lot easier on your system than a lot of the opiods and anti-depressants you'll be perscribed.

My two cents Good luck...I know how it feels to live with pain.

[BlaqueKatt]

Also, take the meds for the depression. It doesn't mean you're weak, it means you have a chemical imbalance in your brain that needs to be corrected. Being less depressed will also help you withstand the pain better.

for some of us it's not about "perceived weakness", it's about bad chemical reactions, there's a reason anti-depressants have a "black box" warning, for some like mournblade(possibly) and myself, they react with our natural brain chemistry, and cause dangerous side effects. And if you've never gone through it you can't understand how terrifying it really is, I had a full-on medication induced psychotic break(I was in 5 point restraints, and still fighting while on Halidol, according to my physician), with zero history of psychosis, and have not had one since, it lasted until the anti-depressants cleared my system, and I was warned it would likely happen again if I ever went back on them.

The last time I was on some I had a gun in my mouth and was pulling the trigger

Talk to someone about the depression, and explain that this happened, there are professionals that deal strictly with depression caused by medical issues*, and they usually DO NOT use medications(my clinic has 4 of them).

*chronic pain, fibro, cancer, paralysis, HIV, MS, MD, these are some of the conditions that can cause depression that medications won't be very helpful for.

Various herbal medications*, and "alternative" treatments such as acupuncture and biofeedback can be helpful to some as well, talk to your doctor.

*I take an "herbal anti-depressant" at the suggestion of my physician, and it's helped not only with the depression, but also with my migraines.

[Seshat]

BK & Mournblade:

I had not been aware of the type of reaction BK had to antidepressants. Mournblade, if you were trying to describe that sort of reaction (rather than the sort I discussed), I apologise for not understanding you.

(BK: all I can really say is EEK! and )


For people thinking of going onto antidepressants for whatever reason, please be aware that there are many different types, which act on the brain in different ways. It's possible that BK's reaction occurs only if she's on this type of antidepressant, but that that type would work as expected.

However, if I were BK's doctor, I wouldn't want to risk it either!


But for those of you who have less severe problems than BK on one type of antidepressant, please understand that there are many, many different ways for antidepressants to work.