Hi, I finally got an appointment through for next week for the Pain Clinic here in London (at Homerton Hospital).
I want to make sure I get the most out of this, so I wondered if any of you have had experience with a pain clinic, and what you found the most helpful?
Thank you and I hope everyone is coping as best they can today. The sun is out here at least. x
I've been on 2 and what I noticed was certain hospitals had much bigger budgets. Oxford we had a hydro pool which I enjoyed. Closest I get to that now is a hot bath or water bottle.
Friends if you need people around you who understand then you are going to the right place.
For me it's where you get sent when they don't no what else to do with you.
Hopefully they have moved forward since I had the pleasure.
What I learnt was pace myself,be kind to myself and don't feel guilty if you have to say no re doing something to help someone out.
Hi yes I am starting a pain clinic soon and hoping it will give me more of an insight of how to manage my fibromyalgia . I work full time and some days I have bad fatigue etc and pain . My work have also referred me to occupational health . If I get poorly it takes me longer to recover I have noticed that .
Both my wife and I were offered a pain management program and found the holistic approach very useful. They looked at everything from exercise to medication. We both came away with a good "toolbox" to help us manage the pain. However differing trusts run differing programs and my sister in law in Oxford had a far less positive experience.
Out of interest was the bad experience in Oxford at the Nuffield hospital ? . As I had a good time there as I lived outside the area they put a few of us up in a B and B for 3 nights if I remember correctly. We would go out for evening meal and I found they were helpful.
The caveat to that was I did my pain clinic there B4 I had fibro i was just struggling with chronic leg and back pain and thinking about it exercise was at the heart of what we did.
Hello there, I have had 2 referals to pain clinics. The best experience was at a clinic in east manchester, weekly visits over a number of weeks.They did a mixture of pretty good lecture, written self reflection and participation. Combined it did help, requires more of a "mind over body" approach, added with gentle exercise.
After the course I received acupuncture by one of their physiotherapists. The affects were good but with diminishing returns. These do vary person to person. All round it was a positive experience.
Good luck, Health 🥰
They have been extremely helpful offering different medications for me to try to help relieve the pain . They have also arranged for injections in my spine,top to bottom to try and control my back pain. I have had infusions to help with fibromyalgia. Please don’t get me wrong a lot hasn’t helped but having them there to offer me help and support has been marvellous. I will to try anything and I made them well aware that I was willing to try any trial.
They have also referred me to other doctors for testing for different reasons. Along with writing letter to my doctors surgery to ask that I receive more help or asking for my medication to to changed . Given me morphine patches unfortunately they didn’t help as they burned my skin causing terrible weeping and blisters . So it was changed to zomorph capsules.
They have also referred me to physiotherapy and written letters to certain places to go and get me access to a local hydrotherapy.
I have been very lucky to have such a supportive team and they have been marvellous with all their help and support.
Constant chronic Pain can be a terrible thing as I think we all know - so go be honest don’t be afraid to ask what they can do to help you. Please don’t forget to them know you are grateful of any help they can offer as I feel if you let them know what’s going on they will listen .
I hope that you get a good team and they will be supportive and helpful to you .
I am well aware of how lucky I am to get such a good team helping me , I am also aware from reading on this site that not everyone is so lucky .
Wishing you all the best and hope to hear you have got on well and you have received some help soon .
You are extremely lucky, please can you tell me which area this is in?
I’m pleased you are receiving such great support from the PM clinic.
❤️
I’m in Staffordshire however the pain management clinic is in the West Midlands .
I have no idea if the support will continue but still I’m grateful of every bit of help , some has helped to some degree - some hasn’t I also suffer from Hemiplegic migraines so I suffer from unilateral weakness, motor weakness with my migraines along with other illness the list goes on.
Let’s face it there is no miracle cure but the support I can’t fault.
I’m also concerned as I know the gentleman who helps me will retire soon. Reading how others haven’t been so lucky adds to my concern about his soon retirement 😔.
I would also like to say thank you for saying you are pleased with the great support I’m getting. Your kind remark goes a long way.
I hope things go well for you
I’ve been to 2 different ones. One, the best they could offer was to imagine putting all my pain and worries on a leaf and watch it float away on the river. Sorry but there isn’t a leaf big enough😂. The other was more positive, had the spinal injections and also one in the back of my head which did stop my migraines for a while. Also gave relaxation techniques and pacing guides. I can’t tolerate prescription meds so that’s out for me.
Good luck
OMG! What is that supposed to be! Leaf therapy 😤. I did laugh at the ridiculousness of it but seriously that is basically cruel and it must have been massively disappointing and deeply upsetting. Like you I can't tolerate prescription meds and the only thing that keeps me going is the hope of finding something to give some relief. I'm glad the other clinic was more helpful. All the best, take care x
Yeah I'm really hoping I don't just get offered CBT - had it before and was told to 'sing my negative thoughts'. Thank you.
You could always try, if you haven't already, one of the fibro clinics. I went to Guys and St Thomas'. One appointment only but I did see 4 people, physio, psychologist, rheumatologist and someone else, whose title I just can't recall. Anyway they sent a detailed report to my GP with suggestions and advice.
I was under my local pain clinic for around 14 months and when the facet joint injections stopped working I wasn't offered anything different to help me I was just discharged back to my GP who bye the way could walk all over the doctors at the pain clinic and he immediately referred me to a different and may I say a lot better my pain is more manageable now
Thanks for all the replies, I am reading and absorbing but too wiped today to reply properly to each one (I have CFS/ME as well as fibro.). x
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