Living In Pain And The Toll It Takes On The Mind

[ladee]

Just making a few changes will help SC. Like you in just taking it slow..
All my Real Life friends have been told for years..if I get bad off. Take me to the vet and have me out down.
Maybe our society will have changed and understand they have lengthened our lives...but for so little quality it ended up being torture.
Well..we might have to do a Thelma and Louise...keep that option open.
And give yourself some praise for trying to help yourself! That counts a lot!
We might be shufflin' but our mouths still work! Lol

 

[Tinyflame]

I swear I think sciatica (as I've had several rounds, and that's my most manageable pain), responds to self-done chiropractic on my hip joints.

I'll share my exercises if you want @She Cat ?

:hug:

 

[Tinyflame]

PS, I have multiple injuries all over (neck, back, shoulder, hips, ankle, wrists, etc, plus arthritis and sh*tty guts), including likely compressed discs though I'm only guessing, as I've lost over 5 inches in height, definitely have one in my neck though (so I'm not meaning as in typical exercising :notworthy: ).

:hug: :hug:

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Honestly, if he can't help me, I'm not sure I can make it until my appointment in April with the pain clinic.

You can make it hon! You are strong! If I know anything about you I know that!

Pain is horrible and it makes one do desprite things. Pain will make anyone suicidal. One day I literally screamed all day and all night due to the neuopathy. The ER said I was a drug seeker and released me. Said i fell asleep but its because they drugged me up with PAIN pills. Pain pills dont help nerve pain! Dumbasses!

Anyway, I get it! Hang in there hun and keep searching. I literally called my current pain Dr, left a message on their voicemail, crying the entire time. I told them i was just released from a pain dr (grounds for other drs to refuse me) and that i was in so much pain and just wanted some help. It was a pitiful message but they called me back and took me and he is the best Dr and the most understanding pain Dr I have ever had. He is also on the board of directors of pain medicine or whatever. He is amazing. From just googling Pain Drs and leaving crying pitiful voicemails. Keep searching and dont stop until you find help. Help is out there and you will find it! :hug:

 

[mamachick]

She Cat I totally can relate. Im 58, have cfids, fibromyalgia, cervical disc herniations, spurs, stenosis, arthritis, lumbar bulging disc, about 4 stomach problems including digestion. Now they say I have a small node on my lung. Over the counter pain meds caused much stomach issues and I can no longer take them regularly. The meds I take for stomach cause nausea, dizziness and tinnitus. I also have COPD. The drug epidemic has taken away any hope for quality of life here too. I live in same climate as you with no financial means to make change and my house is in constant need of repair with me being the repair person. I have been in bed for 4 months and know thats bad to do due to blood clots, but I can't drag myself up for very long. I am out of bed 5-6 hours a week since Nov 1. I don't feel depressed but maybe I just don't know it. I use to be extremely social and now I just don't want to be bothered much so I have little friends and no family. Those I have loved are dying off regularly. (my sister less than 2 yrs ago) Im not trying to die, but when I have shortness of breath, wonder if its a clot. (I have been diagnosed with clot 2 times and they were wrong after further testing and they were when I was very active). Am I tempting fate? Ya...I suppose I am. The pain has wore me down. Also, I have problems from brain injury and can't have the meds(Adderoll) for a sleep disorder that stems from this due to drug epidemic and my own weight loss as a result. So I nap off and on all day and sleep 10 hrs at night.

I am so sorry to hear that you suffer the same way. I feel just the way you describe feeling and have same limitations. The pain causes exhaustion. I just can't drag myself out of the house. It was 75 and sunny here yesterday and I mostly stayed in bed.

I really hate that others are suffering the same.

 

[Deleted member 541]

@Junebug Yes, I would love to know the exercise you do. Thank you!!! Honestly I think my pain and suffering is nothing compared to yours. I'm so sorry for being such a baby.

@brat17 I so get the laying in bed..... I too have COPD, but I had to stop all meds for it because I'm now sensitive to it. Steroids send me into a world of shit with anxiety. I get steroid rage from them and the anxiety is just too much to handle, so.... no meds to help me breath..... Again, I fee like a baby compared to everyone else and what they are dealing with physically.

@ladee You keep talking about Thelma and Louise..... my best friend and I have always said that's how we're are going out. We laugh and talk about it weekly!!!! Maybe we can make it a threesome. Thelma, Louise and ladee!!!!

I'm now beginning to wonder if I didn't have to work, would the pain be as bad? Would I be able to tolerate it better. Is work causing me to have more pain??? All I do know is that I can't quit my job. I have no way to support myself, and in order to get SS I can't be working. :banghead: Doesn't make sense....

 

[lostforgottensoul]

in order to get SS I can't be working. :banghead: Doesn't make sense....

YES! It is why I can't apply. The 5 yrs it takes to get denied and appeal and denied and appeal; how exactly will I support myself? Even if they approve me the first go around (doubtful) how will I support myself while they go through their process? If I am saying I cant work anymore and need assistance then I cant work while waiting. There is a small amount you can make but its so small that you cant live off just that. Its a ridiculous processes in this country! Unless you have a SO that can help you as my step mom did (whom, in the end of 5 yrs never got SSI) or family/friend to live with while you apply and wait, what exactly are we supposed to do?

I have a sit down job but i am going downhill physically so fast that its become super hard to just walk from my car up to my desk and then walk around on breaks and lunches. I cant hide the pain anymore. And then mentally this job is horrible for me and i am about to loose it on them so its a double wammy. But i have no way to apply for SSI.

/tangent

 

[mamachick]

She Cat you are no baby and your pain is as legitimate as anyone else. Seems all systems are set up for failure much of the time.

lostforgottensoul is so right about the disability process-even if approved first go round, that is 6-12 months from applying and Im pretty sure you have to be unemployed for 6 months before applying, at least it was at one time if it hasn't changed. Many can't survive financially during that period. Most don't get approved first time around. I know someone who died just days after final denial....how could they work if they died of heart disease. Being approved is also bittersweet. There is a great relief in approval, but I also recall thinking there is validation that I am not physically fit and incompetent to hold any job in the US-and that feels pretty bad, (doest help self esteem any) however grateful.

I feel so bad for those of you that work and suffer with so much pain and other conditions. Pain and other conditions can be just as bad even with sit down jobs, it effects concentration and focus. I don't know what the solution is. I know that staying in bed feels like simply giving up. Its not just about the pain, weakness, and being next to the bathroom. Its also about individual circumstances that have progressed over yrs. and from not getting services and led to loss of hope. Its not as direct as not treating a heart condition that can kill you, but seems like a passive death. However, I can honestly say that I argue with my body everyday....telling it to get up and move, and I don't even know how to explain it, but I just can't. As anti drug as I have become....going back on anti depressants.

 

[Deleted member 541]

@brat17 Thanks for sharing.... I hope the anti depressants will help you.

 

[Deleted member 541]

Ok, saw the chiropractor again today. He looked at all of my X-rays, MRI and CT scans of my cervical and lumbar regions. His findings...

Bone spurs in both areas
Neck curves in the wrong direction.
Slight C curve in my lower lumbar region
Bone on bone in lower lumbar
Bone on bone in lower cervical
Also I either have Osteoporosis or Osteopenia, he recommends a bone density scan to verify.
He noted the plaque in my abdominal aorta too.

He said this will and is chronic and I can get "some" relief but I will always have pain due to the condition of my entire spine. He did some adjustments to my middle back and my neck. He hasn't attempted my lower back as of yet.

Honestly I'm just fed up with all of it, but I will continue to go and do the exercises he gave me. I didn't tell him I already do them!!!!

Don't get old people cause it ain't fun and it ain't for sissies either!!!!

 

[Ronin]

Don't get old people cause it ain't fun and it ain't for sissies either!!!!

Look at the badass you who's teaching the youngsters, though :D

<sits, takes notes> That sounds totally a thing to do, get old.

& Damned many wishes of keeping you as healthy and painfree as you can.

 

[Deleted member 541]

@Ronin NO! Getting old sucks. Don't do it!!!!!! "Waves that mom finger at you"