Sick & tired of being sick and tired!

[Janepepper]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I'm turning 48 tomorrow. I haven't worked in 8 years. I've gone from being a career woman to an old lady in constant pain, unable to walk, sit, eat, hear or see properly. I'm waiting on a lidocaine infusion or possibly ketamine. Has anyone had either of these and did they work? Any drawbacks?

[johnsmith]

Have you tried Alexander Technique. A lot of pain is caused by malfunctioning muscles. Alexander Technique can retrain the muscles to function better. Better functioning muscles lead to less pain.

What is your sleep regime? Pain interferes with sleep which in turn leads to poorer muscle control - result more pain. So you need to try and sleep doing the day to catch up on the sleep deprivation.

Mindfulness and meditation will help with the emotional content of the pain. Less emotional effect attached to pain the less pain you will be in.

Drugs affect everyone differently. A lot of drugs have side effects as well as being addictive in the long term. By addictive I mean when the drug is stopped there is a backlash in the body.

By experience of NHS medical consultants is that they don't do education. When you have a health disability you need to study yourself and find out for your self what is helpful and what is not. Medical treatment is one size fits all. Which is not true in reality.

Hope this helps

[louiseamos]

Yes let's listen to above..I've been like that since my 20 s. although we need correct help..treatment..my exprecence .now on morpie..dizzy all time..got sent gp Friday by physio..in charge..doctor said my you could die. On this..

.so am slowly coming off has last night...sleep even if you think you sleep good..if I knew what was dreaming knew wasn't sleeping well...sounds strange..do a dairy. I did..did help.xxxallso talk ring to lovely people on here has helped..your not alone..I could sleep when driving..yeh so if feel crap wont drive..

[louiseamos]

PS..I am 38.. only just stopped working has every bones sore..still have my 3 + husband to cook clean after..l will try to work again....will going nuts...

[Hidden]

I love the freedom my pain has given me. No longer employed, but self emoloyed. I've discovered creativity and that is my life now. It was a long painful journey.

Like you I couldn't do anything for constant pain. Went to a chiro and along with his treatments, he suggested 20 min rotations of sitting, standing, walking and lying down. This went on for 3 months and then I gradually increased at my own pace. The idea was to use and rest my muscles more frequently and naturally to break the pain cycle. That's when I started my business. I needed something to do in 20 min bursts as TV, books and mags were getting a bit tedious.

12 years later and several alternative therapists along the way, I have a battery of exercises to do each day, walking and meditation.

I've learnt so much about the body and myself, discovered new talents, I often wonder what life would be like without the pain shaping my life now. I certainly wouldn't have the time to do half the things I've done.

Looking back to the life you once had is not helpful. Look to the future. You have beern given the gift of reinventing yourself. You have time to explore new things. It's so easy to set up your own business then you can work when you like, as often as you like. My accountant says I'm the only self employed person on his books that actually lives it - all the others are working 10 - 12 hour days.

Change the goal posts a bit, afterall happiness is success, freedom is success, running your own business is success, being employed is just being employed no matter what the job is.

Time to take charge and createca new life for yourself. It's exciting and fun, but hard work and scary.

[teadrinker]

48 IS NOT OLD!!!! I am in my 40s too, sometimes the thought of living with this for another 40 or 50 years (I intend to be really really old and cantankerous) is frightening, but I am doing much better these days. It took a long time for the pain clinic to find something that helped me but we are getting there. So I hope the lidocaine or ketamine helps you, and you can start living better again.

Birthdays can be a reminder of where we are and it's all too easy to compare ourselves now to where we were in past times. My mother has just reminded me that I am of an age where things start going wrong and has uttered the dreaded phrase, "and then there's the menopause...." But then I look at her - almost 70 - and she is still working and enjoying a social life despite various difficulties, so maybe it isn't so bad?

[carneed]

Hi Janepepper,yes I tried ketamyn about 6 months ago. I was told to try 3mls but as it did nothing for my pain ,I kept increasing it 1ml at a time up to 9mls which made me a bit dizzy, but it still did not help at all so gave up on it! I have been taking Buprenorphine tabs for more than 30 years for back pain,more recently together with mefenamic acid,(ponstan) an anti-inflammatory, as I haven't been able to find anything that works better without more unacceptable side effects!

I injured my back in a fall downstairs at work in 1974... have had 3 operations including a full lumbar spinal fusion that has resulted in damage above it but don't fancy a thoracic fusion as well!

I hope you have more luck than me in finding something that helps you!