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Physical pain

Oh yeah. I have CRPS and nerve/joint damage in multiple locations. Most of it is from physical abuse and assault. The intersection with PTSD is hard because those days of breakthrough pain remind me of the trauma. I try to just put it out of my head.

Not dx with fibro but I get that all-over body ache more often than not. My back is all messed up and that radiates to my shoulders and arms and legs. I've been on and off opiates for years, but now I take kratom & gabapentin and it's been a godsend.

It doesn't get rid of the pain altogether especially in my leg but it reduces it significantly elsewhere and at least gives me room to function. Unfortunately recently I hurt my tailbone which is already f*cked and that's made it more difficult. Any little movement paralyzes me and I get stuck in certain positions.

As I understand it, fibro makes you more sensitized to pain. So even simple things like cutting veggies might activate it for you. As for the psychosomatic component, it's a reality of pretty much all chronic pain sufferers that the more stress we're under the more pain we experience, but in general, psychosomatic pain doesn't have an organic cause. And it sounds like yours does, so it wouldn't fit that definition.

Mine has an organic cause as well but I'm also diagnosed with FND, so I'm sure there is an overlap. I have it in my hands (they get numb and stiff and stuck in certain painful positions) and I get full body twitches while remaining conscious. It's not voluntary but there's no epilepsy or anything like that. Sometimes my muscles spasm too hard and that causes pain, so I guess that part of it is psychosomatic, technically.

It depends how you view FND, which is an area of medicine that is very poorly understood, though there is growing evidence that individuals with FND have anomalies in brain pattern activations and white matter pathways that aren't present in those without the disorder, which in my opinion is related to the ways in which the brain is altered after experiencing trauma. Which we know occurs with PTSD.

One of my friends has had luck with gabapentin and Cymbalta for the fibro. I've been recommended it but unwilling to take it. Once you get on it you basically can't come off, and I'm too poor to ensure a constant years-long supply.
 
@Weemie
gabapentin is on my no-fly list. You can get off and speaking as one who has, I suggest you tell your friend to do some research into it. Pfizer was pushing this stuff pretty hard and got caught listing some effects that were not approved by the FDA, not backed by supportable evidence or testing.
But, almost everything to do with our blood/brain barrier and the stuff that gets in and does us a trick is just buy and try. If it works, thats great, feel good, my best wishes. But if it doesn't and they say "double down" and take more, well, the chances of a good outcome are diminishing based on my experience.
 
I Thought costochondritis only lasted a week or so? I've had it a couple of times and it resolved fairly quickly. I'm wondering if there is a different kind. I'm not trying to question your pain, I really want to know about it if you don't mind.

I have spondylolisthesis in several areas in my back. I had a fusion on 1 level, but now the level above it is causing pain. The difference is that I don't want pain meds again. I have really bad pain, but resting several times a day helps. I try to plan my week by doing outings one day, resting for the most part the next while doing my projects on the resting days in between. I rarely do more than 2 outings a week, so there is lots of time to do things that need to be done. That is key to pain control.
 
As I understand it, fibro makes you more sensitized to pain. So even simple things like cutting veggies might activate it for you.
Thanks for responding (to everyone!). Yes, very simple things can trigger pain for me.
t's not voluntary but there's no epilepsy or anything like that.
Oh, glad to hear! I was dx with epilepsy years ago, but I'm now without meds. I think I could still be having some seizures--I get horrible smells sometimes--but the awful, hard times of the epilepsy seemed to have passed.
It depends how you view FND, which is an area of medicine that is very poorly understood, though there is growing evidence that individuals with FND have anomalies in brain pattern activations and white matter pathways that aren't present in those without the disorder, which in my opinion is related to the ways in which the brain is altered after experiencing trauma.
I think most areas of medicine are poorly understood, but there are definitely some that "professionals" have no ideas about.
One of my friends has had luck with gabapentin and Cymbalta for the fibro.
I've been on both and come off both. The gabapentin was for seizures initially, and I had terrible side effects. They put me back on it several years later for occipital neuralgia, and it did help some, but...again, awful side effects. Bad side effects with the Cymbalta, as well, and it didn't really help. But I was on it for depression.
Once you get on it you basically can't come off,
Hm...I got off both with very little problems.
gabapentin is on my no-fly list.
Yep, me, too.
But if it doesn't and they say "double down" and take more, well, the chances of a good outcome are diminishing based on my experience.
I've come to disbelieve all instructions to take more or take something else. Doctors just have no idea how to help sometimes.
It's so hard to live with chronic pain and limitations on what you can do.
Yes! It's especially hard if you are active. I didn't realize how much I did or wanted to do until I couldn't because of the pain. It definitely makes the depression and hopelessness worse.
I Thought costochondritis only lasted a week or so? I've had it a couple of times and it resolved fairly quickly. I'm wondering if there is a different kind. I'm not trying to question your pain, I really want to know about it if you don't mind.
For some, it can be brief with no recurrence. For some, though, it can last...well, for decades. I tend to have short periods where I'm ok (although my ribcage and sternum always hurt--they feel like they are bruised when I press on them) and then flare-ups when I do anything to trigger it. The worst is walking. I love to walk, and it just causes so much pain.
 
I'm sorry this lasted for you. It totally sucks to not be able to walk. I love to walk too and can only do short ones because of the back pain. I have an appointment with the pain doctor but his answer is always drugs. I'll ask for PT again and we'll see.
 
I take Tylenol for pain. It does help even though you couldn't have convinced me of that before I tried it. I also use aspercreme with lidocaine. I shattered my ankle when I was 25 and still have bone fragments that get caught in the joint causing pain so bad I can't even move it. I use the aspercreme (?) and it takes away more than half the pain so I can move the joint and shift the fragment. It works better than narcotics in my opinion. It gets right to the pain, and doesn't make you feel dissociated.

Can you ask for a referral to pain medicine? They have more options than tylenol. I'm outraged that they didn't refer you already since you've been in such pain for so long. WTF? They will go through non opioid stuff first, then when that doesn't work or works only to a certain extent, they will move on to pain meds. You can skip the gabapentin and cymbalta since they cause too many side effects. Just tell them. I hope you can get some more help, this has gone on for far too long!
 
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Thanks @DharmaGirl!

Can you ask for a referral to pain medicine?
Yeah, I could try that. I haven't up to this point because I think it will cause a whole bunch of other issues. I have trouble going to the regular doctor (and she's about as non-threatening as they come, working in a local clinic and talking more about herself than me--she is the only reason I can go at all right now)--takes me months to schedule, causes an immense amount of anxiety. I have very little trust in medicine and its "professionals." I am noticing it is more of a thing now than it ever was.
I'm outraged that they didn't refer you already since you've been in such pain for so long. WTF?
Nobody seems to have any interest at all in helping. I've had pain for years, and it has progressed to the point where I just am wiped out if I go out during the day. Like today. I took my mom shopping--she's 87 and really needed to get out of the house--and the pain has just exhausted me to the point where I just can't do anything. I am functional in that I work, I volunteer, I have two businesses. I think everyone just assumes that, since I can do all these things, the pain isn't that bad.

I've always pushed through everything. No matter how bad I feel. I sometimes think I should just lie down and quit everything. Maybe then everyone would understand how depressed I am and how much pain I'm in.

It really doesn't pay to keep trying.
 
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