Physical Pain

[whiteraven]

I honestly can't manage the pain. I tossed and turned all night, and this morning I just couldn't get out of bed. Everything hurts. And it makes me so tired. Being in so much pain, all I can think about is that this is never going to get better and that I can't live the rest of my life like this.

 

[arfie]

gentle empathy, raven. i've managed my chronic pain since childhood and am quite skilled with pain management techniques, but there are still quite allot of days where i wonder if suicide is a valid pain management option. not today, but some days i wonder more than others.

i take it one round at a time.

 

[Tinyflame]

Yes up most of the night with the same @whiteraven .

 

[DharmaGirl]

I'm sorry you're suffering. I had terrible back pain until they did the correct surgery and I know how horrid pain can be. I hope you can find some sort of relief. I now use a CBT/THC roll on to help with my ankle pain. It usually works.

 

[Freddyt]

I too lived with a lot of back pain (damaged SI) and recalled pain and athritis pain just pain. The back pain is mostly gone now and for the most part the rest is mostly controllable but I know where you are coming from @whiteraven.
Back pain and spasms were the worst, there is nothing I could do to escape it and everything was a compromise as to what I could and couldn't do.

Keep looking, there is something out there that will help....

 

[Muttly]

Completely understand where you are coming from. It's so hard and draining. Be gentle on yourself and try and find some good distractions.

 

[Friday]

Been there. So many different times. So many different ways. Will be there, again.

What can you do about it? Now. Near future. Long term.

 

[whiteraven]

What can you do about it? Now. Near future. Long term.

I think one of my biggest problems is not being able to limit my activity. I mean, I'm much better at it than I was, but once I get started doing something, I can't help but just push through the pain. That's what I've been told to do multiple times by physicians-to just push through it. The most recent I saw--a rheumatologist--did remind me that my activity needed to be limited, but...ugh. So hard.

She ordered aqua therapy for me, but the idea of being in water completely freaks me out, so I haven't done that yet. I have trouble taking OTC meds - I do find that when I take one, it helps take the edge off, but I really try to limit that to the nights I really need to get some sleep and the days I have something planned.

 

[user27357]

Sorry to hear it, complete empathy for your situation. Mine starts as spasms and muscle tension achiness and the spirals into debilitating neck and shoulder pain. The water works for me but it is the relaxing calming effect more than just being in water. I could probably get to the same place just being left alone and having a cleared schedule. This disorder is plenty to handle on its own, pain on top of the rest just isn’t really doable is it?

 

[Mee]

I think one of my biggest problems is not being able to limit my activity. I mean, I'm much better at it than I was, but once I get started doing something, I can't help but just push through the pain. That's what I've been told to do multiple times by physicians-to just push through it. The most recent I saw--a rheumatologist--did remind me that my activity needed to be limited, but...ugh. So hard.

She ordered aqua therapy for me, but the idea of being in water completely freaks me out, so I haven't done that yet. I have trouble taking OTC meds - I do find that when I take one, it helps take the edge off, but I really try to limit that to the nights I really need to get some sleep and the days I have something planned.

I do this too, but it can be counter productive because the pain can ‘get in front of’ the meds. Also if you have pains like muscle spasms then a few days with out them can allow muscles to properl Relax then things can correct and really improve .

If it’s musculoskeletal and you have any mobility then a class aimed in preserving that might reduce pain? Yoga from a teacher who was used to teaching wheelchair classes and was flexible about adaptations for painful and dysfunction if bodies helped me reduce my pain and keep me walking for many years.

Night times are horrid with pain. I don’t know about you but my hyper vigilance also steps up a gear at night , which makes me tense which makes pain worse, which makes sleeping more difficult, which makes pain worse, which makes hyper vigilance and tension worse ……

I am really strict about my pre sleep routine and since I developed ptsd I listen to ‘gentle’ audiobooks at night so that my mind is caught by an easy to follow plot and lulled to sleep that way. Without that the overthinking circle gets more and more fraught and the pains and stress seem bigger .

 

[whiteraven]

if you have pains like muscle spasms then a few days with out them can allow muscles to properl Relax then things can correct and really improve .

Yeah. Fortunately, I don't have spasms much. But during the times I do, I totally agree!

If it’s musculoskeletal and you have any mobility then a class aimed in preserving that might reduce pain? Yoga from a teacher who was used to teaching wheelchair classes and was flexible about adaptations for painful and dysfunction if bodies helped me reduce my pain and keep me walking for many years.

I would love to do tai chi or qi gong, because both have helped me in the past. I have a *very* difficult time doing them on my own, though, even with videos, and I have so much anxiety with even the thought of going to a class. Honestly, my anxiety is really off the charts lately, and having to do anything that requires me to be out of my home and interacting with people is just too much. It's why I try to at least walk.

my hyper vigilance also steps up a gear at night , which makes me tense which makes pain worse, which makes sleeping more difficult, which makes pain worse, which makes hyper vigilance and tension worse ……

Oh wow...I'm sorry about this! Certain times of the year are difficult for me when I go to bed, but for the most part, I think the pain at night is just left over from the daytime. I am extremely tense during the day sometimes, which I know makes the pain worse.

This disorder is plenty to handle on its own, pain on top of the rest just isn’t really doable is it?

Right!

I get relief in the shower, so I might just stick with that for now!

 

[Freddyt]

Back pain? Something that helped me before I found I had PTSD was Spinal Decompression.

So think...Human Slinky. It stretches your spine and allows it to realign itself. It also allows the cartilage in your back to decompress and absorb fluid again. Over time they compress and loose lubrication as well as contact each other and not function like they should.

In general it was the most helpful thing I did and it allowed me to do lots of things I couldn't before I started, like playing golf again.