Medication And The Impact On Injury

[Nicolette]

I have a permanent back injury, have had for over 10 years now, and I used to manage it quite well when I went to gym regularly. Changes in lifestyle and work have lead to that decreasing (my fault) and less proactive management on my behalf. Dancing is helping but my Osteopath told me I need to get out and at least walk daily otherwise I am going to be seeing him more often and be in constant pain.

Why this is interesting, is that with my now illness, I am currently taking Valium each morning to just be able to walk out the door and go to work. I was at a point where I was so anxious about work that I would be dry retching with just the thought of going to work. If I worked at home as an alternate option I would sit infront of a computer looking at it blankly for hours on end achieving nothing. So for now I need the medication.

The down side to all of this is I have inadvertendly 'lost control' of my ability to know how my back is doing. As in when I was too stressed, my back muscles would tighten and I would be in agony so I would go out and walk or try to aleviate the stress as much as possible.

With the Valium I find it somehow relaxes my mind more so I forget to associate that my back pain is due to being stressed as the medication lessens (numbs) the pressure within my mind. Its sort of a catch 22 in that to function the Valium helps but then it numbs out what my back injury is screaming out to me until a much later stage.

Does this make sense to anyone?

 

[Sterre]

Doesnt valium also relaxes the muscles? I have to look it up, but I believe it does so. That could explain why you feel you lost control over the pain signals?

 

[Nicolette]

Yes Sterre it does relax the muscles but I don't take Valium all day long, only once in the morning so throughout the day as the muscles tense as the Valium wears off, the muscles then pull my spine, hips and ribs out of place.

If I was to take more Valium (which I don't want to unless absolutely necessary),it would numb and relax the muscles again. A vicious circles as my basic structure is then out of balance meaning I would then walk like a duck when my hips twist, have breathing problems when my ribs pinch my lungs and have neck problems as my posture is out of whack and the damage just travels up the spine feeling less muscle pain opening the door for me to do more damage.

Also with the Valium, I do feel less pain and tend to do more things that I wouldn't do if not taking the medication, due to pain recognized, and more than likely aggravate my back more without realizing it.

The best analogy I can think of is the difference of saying breaking an arm while drunk versus sober. While drunk you tend to feel more invincible, think you can do more, minimize the injury and end up doing more damage than what would have been the case if broken when sober when you were more likely to recognize the injury and its severity immediately.

 

[njray]

Nicolette,

It is great you and osteopath recognize that there may be other facets of management needed besides that of meds to help with the back issue. I can relate to that of wanting / needing to get out and go to work instead of going bonkers at home staring at the fuzzy screen. Might the other half or a friend be interested in doing daily walks with you? The trap of taking more valium is very powerful and I would suggest reaching inside deeply to suppress the urge. Are there any other techniques you may employ to help aleve the pain from physical injury besides walking or gym thing?

 

[Nicolette]

Thanks Njray. Just clarifying - the mess are for anxiety & not for any intentional back related purposes.

 

[goingonhope]

my Osteopath told me I need to get out and at least walk daily otherwise I am going to be seeing him more often and be in constant pain.

Whatever changes you made to your lifestyle Nicolette, perhaps you want to change them back and reclaim what you need.

As in when I was too stressed, my back muscles would tighten and I would be in agony so I would go out and walk or try to aleviate the stress as much as possible.

You wouldn't wait Nicolette, until you're too stressed, and/or feeling agony before you'd prioritize daily walks. I would, you wouldn't though, ...would you?

 

[Cheshire]

Does this make sense to anyone?

I get what you're saying. When I first got out of hospital last year, the docs had me on a cocktail of oxycodeine, tramadol, temazepam and valium, and they told me "don't do anything that hurts your arm". Are you kidding? I could have taken my arm out of the cast, unstitched the wounds by my own hand and then slammed it 50 times into a brick wall and I wouldn't have felt anything.

As things settled down they kept me on the temazepam and valium with the same warning, "if it hurts your arm you're doing too much" and then at the same time, "if it feels tight, stretch it, you need to exercise to regain strength". I couldn't feel a f*cking thing.. o.O

In the end I gave up the meds and suffered with the pain in the interest of trying to get some strength back. Your position obviously isn't like that though. I'm wondering though, if it'd be possible for you to cut the valium and maybe take something natural instead? There's heaps of anxiety-reduced herbal things out there, if you're interested in that kind of thing..

 

[njray]

At 3:30 am this morning I slipped in the dark on the bottom stair and whacked my shoulder-The already scheduled for surgery one........The F ing pain. I regained myself and got the drink of water I needed and laptop and went back to the bedroom .............. As i sit here my shoulder throbs ..........I say Damn take one of the happy pills.......... To be honest I rarely ever really take an aspirin as I have seen or heard about enough carnage in others peoples lives including my own .... Not me but family members......... It f ing hurts:(:eek: I made my brain over power it(the pain) and for the most part it has............enough to be able to type this post and not take that drug................ How come I can direct my real pain to go away but the made up dream pain that woke me up that included an item that was used in my assault I cannot F ING make GET OUT of my head...........

 

[AngelaMarie]

From reading your post, Nicolette, you are already trying to figure it out. I have been on these type of medications and they do seem to delay the pain process. If you can walk...do it. I bought a cross trainer for my home. So, if I have a few extra minutes I can get on it. Easy and handy. If you have no choice but to take the medication then at least you already are aware that it can delay symptoms. Try to find the middle ground!! You are a very smart woman. It will come to you.