Other Living with chronic pain

[Ivan the Elder]

I should mention that the main reason I do not have many friends (except at the church) is because I intend to move in another six months and I don't want to make and then soon break friendships. That would hurt others and myself.

 

[Tigergirl1217]

Hello there. I live with chronic pain due to migraines. They started about 3 years ago, but we...

I'm not sure if this would count as pain but I suffer from IBS I become frequently constipated with gas also all the time. Farting at work is hard/ embarrassing because I make it smell VERY bad. It is not as bad as chronich migraines.

 

[Ivan the Elder]

Embarrassment is a strong type of stress though. So is just worrying about having the need. I have skipped church for two weeks for that very reason. The Harvoni somehow makes a lot of gas and farting in the church during a service isn't exactly a pleasant idea. It isn't a way to impress peope. Well, maybe construction workers on the job but that isn't me.

BTW, I have changed my screen name a bit. I seems it wasn't a good idea to use my real name here. I do on many forums but there are some possible side effects from identifying myself here. So the picture is still for the same person. I may also change the picture in a while.

 

[renee5g]

I know my injuries are making my depression worse every day.I have very limited use of my left arm from my shoulder down because of this my world had to change. I can't horseback ride,canoe,hike and keep up my farm.I am going to pt. 3x a week and will most likely need 2 more surgeries. The pain eats at you and for me the pain and scars are a daily reminder of the attack.

 

[Ivan the Elder]

I had to quit all of the same things because of my fibromyalgia. Horses, canoe and looking after yard and field all not possible any more. I have had the pain for so many years it only really bothers me much when it gets really strong. It set in about 40 years ago, maybe about six years or so after I was infected with Hep C by an immunoglobulin injection. That is one they sure don't talk about. Just one injection was equivalent to the infective power of a couple of thousand blood transfusions because they used that many people's blood to make one batch.

I sometimes wonder what it is like to live without pain. I just can't imagine it very well. It is a part of my life and has been for so very long. I have this vague idea that it would somehow be kind of like being on a super good drug that makes you feel really high without screwing up your brain. Even straight morphine doesn't take away all of the pain. I have a script for pure morphine but I don't like taking very much because it makes it hard to think well. So I sometimes take maybe half of what the doctor says I can. I guess one of these days I should try a full dose. I don't like drugs though. It is the only drug I take now, excepting my Harvoni Hep C treatment.

 

[Gadgie]

Quote........"I sometimes wonder what it is like to live without pain"

When I was "put under" on a recent visit to hospital, I woke up "feeling great, no pain at all" in my back, for the first time in many years!

Then the nurse came and told me to make the best of it, as when the anaesthetic wears off, the back pain will return?

I asked if I could get more and take it home, but of course the answer was no?.....Pity Eh!

 

[anonymous]

Both sitting and/or lying down causes me a great deal of pain. And, mostly I'm now useless for discussion or conversations at a computer because it's too physically painful and exhausting. My brain often makes no sense of what I see in order for me to read it and understand. I keep going back to previous sentences, over and over, in order to focus extra hard to remember for upcoming sentences. Currently computer use mostly makes me feel like death as my neck, spine and eyes ache. Whatever. This pain and all these challenges suck big time as they just plain rob and slow my sharing, as well as, learning ridiculously down and while crippling thought and communication; I'm angry with all this.

 

[Ivan the Elder]

Quite a few years ago I built a very special "work space" for sitting at my computers. The chair is a very good recliner with leather seat. I cover that with a heated electric blanket and over that is a folded comforter with a thin layer of memory foam. This is the only place that I can sit (reclined) with feet up for any length of time and it is also the most comfortable place for me to sleep. I have my monitors set up on swing arms so they can be swung in front of me. I am a computer freak since I wrote my first software 51 years ago and still keep up with it. My computers are and always have been my connection to the outside world. I was forced to quit my full time job in 1998 because of the pain and my strong tendency to fall asleep due to such poor sleep at night. The government finally admitted that I have been disabled since before 1998 but did not admit it until 2008.

When I was forced to move into this apartment early this year I built a bed using an Ikea pine bed which I then modified considerably so it is similar to a hospital bed with an elevated head end and raised centre section. I then have about six pillows and a long body pillow that I place on the one side of the bed next to the wall. Then I can relax in there which is the quietest place in this apartment and sleep fairly well. I can still do some work standing but at about 1/10 the rate that I could do when I was a lot younger.

Any ordinary bed is impossible for me to sleep in and the hospital beds are better but still not good enough. They had me locked up in the hospital for six weeks this year and it really did suck. I got very poor sleep but at least the head could be angled. If I lay flat I will roll to one side and then in about 30 minutes the pain is so bad I always wake up. I must sleep on my back, no other choice.

I can't take any of the pain killer near my sleeping time because I have a type of central apnea. If I use any sort of painkiller it could stop my breathing. By using the morphine I can take it up to about 3 hours before bed time because it has a very short half life.

I am very lucky that the church I attend gave me a very comfortable chair to sit in during services. My first time there I tried sitting on a pew and within an hour I hurt so much I was crying. It happens that the Reverend is a retired doctor. He is a very nice man and knew exactly what I was going through.

 

[Ivan the Elder]

A little update: I am almost finished the treatment for my Hep C and at this time the virus is no longer measurable. It should be undetectable but I haven't yet received the 8 week test results. My doctor is sure I am cured and that is such a huge relief. But that isn't why I am posting. I have the type 1b Hep C. It is very closely related to fibromyalgia. Those with type 1b have fibro about 60 to 70% of the time.

A few days ago I woke up and immediately noticed that I was feeling really good. As I did the usual wake up duties I kept wondering what was going on. It was almost like I had taken some sort of super drug that is way more powerful than morphine or other feel good meds. After a few minutes of activity it suddenly dawned on me what was happening.

I had no pain, none, nada, zilch. Nothing hurt. I could barely believe it. I haven't felt like that in so many years I had forgotten what it is like. It was amazing and it pretty well kept up for the entire day. It was so very nice. Unfortunately, it only lasted that one day, so far. The pain is back. I have spoken to the doctor and she thinks that it is a result of the Hep C effects now gradually going away. I am one of the few very lucky ones, my liver has no damage even after being infected for 47 years. In my case I know exactly when and how I was infected, by an injection of immunoglobulin by the army during basic training. It is made from the blood of thousands of people in every batch.

Being pain free was incredible. My doctor thinks that may end up being permanent given a few more months or a year or two. Heaven on Earth is what it is. If that happens I will be so very happy.

 

[goingonhope]

Didn't expect this right now, but this unusual dull achy intense pain, and in this spot, has just stopped me from responding where I really wish I could have.

On board with chronic pain and wishing it wasn't so, like the rest of us here.

 

[Ivan the Elder]

Yay!!!! I saw my doctor today (yesterday) and got the news. I am cured. Virus not detected at all. It is gone, very, very gone. I no longer have a body that is a cesspool for an evil creature that is slowly destroying me. It is gone!!! This is one of the best days in my life. Now I can feel safe about making a friend and even maybe a partner. I would never do that if there was even the slightest chance of infection of someone else. Finally, I do not have to worry about that. I can move forward and upward. It is hard to describe how this feels. I have never felt this way before and it is all good!

 

[Gadgie]

I remember way back to when I used to suffer from migraines, they were really bad! I never did find out what started them and what stopped them.

I was a welder at that time, but then again, I had a few years off from that, when I was a welding inspector, then back on the tools as a welder again, and by that time the migraines had stopped?

The only thing that worked for me, was to lay down in a quiet darkened room, with my eyes blindfolded, and rocked my self to sleep, even half an hour would help.

However, I would have to wait until the pain got so bad, that I would be physically sick, then go and lie down.

My right eye would discharge water until the tear ducts dried up, then it would go all bloodshot, when this happened I used to use "Murine" eye drops, which really worked, and cooled my eyes down, and whitened them like snow.

At that time "Murine" was 49p a bottle (back in the 70s) now it's around £2.50 a bottle, but well with it for migraine sufferers!