Chronic pain. Not coping. Please help.

[Alipurple]

Hey i am 43 year old mum and have chronic pain in my joints which has been getting worse for over a year. Have a pain patch and taking loads of painkillers but still nit able to cope with this pain. Appointment with specialist nit till September. Any advise welcome. Thank you

[Glemily1]

Wtf!!! September!?!? U need to go to ur gp time and time again. Lay it on thick. Tell him/ her that u cant cope. Go to the emergency at the hospital when u can. Be relentless. You have to push to get help. Be figging annoying if u have 2!!! Its so hard to be in pain and still do laundry and make dinners. I know!!! Its tough to sit in A and E for hours but Sometimes its worth it. Dont just sit and deal with the pain, i cant stress how much u need to keep on harassing the doctors. Do it for ur kids. Dealing with pain day after day really takes its toll physically and mentally. I know this for a fact.

Good luck and stay in touch.

[gina1]

I take hydrocodone for my bad chronic pain. Without it I could not cope. What med is your pain patch? I might consider that. What specialist are you being sent to? I've had neurosurgery on my back 2 years ago for pinched spinal nerves..among a ton of other painful diagnoses..

[Glemily1 in reply to gina1]

Did the back surgery help.? I have trapped nerve in my back 2. Any chance you could take a min and tell me a bit about it. If my physiotherapy dont work they are goung to operate.

Thanks in advance .

[gina1 in reply to Glemily1]

The surgery released the trapped nerve, however the damage done to the nerve while trapped damaged it. I awoke from surgery with a numb right leg and foot. They continuously told me it will probably "come back", but it hasn't and it has been 2 years now since the surgery. Surgery is no guarantee. But when it comes to damaging spinal nerves, you are looking at a problem, probably for the rest of your life. Therapy never works when it's trapped, and I think it's inhumane to have to jump the hoops of medicine. I too had therapy first, and it was excruciating.

[waylay in reply to Glemily1]

Do some careful research before opting for surgery. I had a left-lateral microdiscectomy on L5/S1 10 years ago. I've had chronic pain for 9.75 years. The research I did after the surgery (I just trusted the neurosurgeon and went for it) showed that (at that time) about a third of people who opt for spinal surgery get better, about a third get worse, and about a third stay the same. Not great odds! I got much, much worse. My whole life fell to pieces.

[katieoxo60]

Oh how I agree with the post below, be persistant. Pain needs to be investigated incase there is a curable cause, before instilling you into a life time of pain releivers. If for instance you have arthritis there are many other options for pain relief. Antidepressants can lower the pain level too. I use wheat pillows and ice packs , but they only lessen the pain for a short time, but it helps with the coping. I first had pain in my thirties when my children were young, so appreciate your wish to get a solution. Some tablets prescribed can cause pain as can other illnesses like Thyroid imbalance, so it does need investigation. Sadly sometimes it takes months to see a specialist as in your case. There are no magic pills or words that can truthfully help, try setting targets to get you through the waiting time. There are many herbal pain help, maybe worth a temporary try , Tumeric is cheap and may help as the other joint remedies do for some people Good Luck Alipurple, let us know how you get on or if you find a pain relief that works for you.

[misty14]

Hi alipurple

Sorry to read you are struggling with joint pain. It's tough when pain is unrelenting, affects mood and sleep too!.

A couple of thoughts you say you have a pain patch. Was this prescribed by your GP or pain clinic?. Could the dose be increased?. I know side effects can be hard to tolerate. If you don't already go to a pain clinic it might be worth asking for a referral as they can help with pain management in many different ways. They've helped me greatly!.

You could also phone the clinic of the appt your waiting for in Sept and ask to be considered for a cancellation. It might bring it forward as its a long time to wait when in need. Alternatively you could also ask your GP to write a letter asking for you to be seen sooner. Hope this helps and good luck. X

[Trulysad-76]

Please ring your doctor as a matter of urgency. In fact you can ring 111 and they will get you to see an out of hours doctors. They will come to your house if need be. Do not put up with the pain and suffer in silence. Get yourself sorted, there is always someone available and doctors can get you seen anywhere very quickly if they want to. Good luck dear friend

[johnsmith]

See a massage therapist and join a yoga class. You are going to need to learn how your muscles work. You can only do this by engaging with them. Joint pain can be poor muscle coordination.

Sleep is important. The fine tuning of muscle control is very dependant on getting enough sleep. Reduced sleep means more pain which in tune means less good quality sleep. You need to look at how do I get more sleep in order to compensate for the loss of sleep I have lost due to the pain I have suffered.

Hope I have been helpful.

[DISC]

What is your specific condition?

[Hidden]

Hi.

I've been suffering chronic back pain for 2 yrs I've seen doctors and specialist and changed docs and seen specialist again and no diagnosis their attitudes these days are you have pain deal with it. I went through pain management which the online course seemed suggestive that it's just my body saying I have pain which I knew it's not . So pain management psychologist was my next option and only one . Now I was offered a psychologist after my husband was murdered but I honestly didn't need one as I'm very able to manage due to alot of knowledge when it comes to depressions etc so I was a little dubious going but had to try. And I can honestly say the lady I see is absolutely great I know I need to learn to ask for help as I'm very independent and she picks up that and so we know what we need to work with . I also find the appointments great for having me time as I'm mum to two kids home schooled and one has aspergers .

I'm not putting the pain management on you as an answer but I find it helps so had to share that and why but I also get what it's like being a mum and in severe pain . I took kids to bed last night I managed to move off sofa got up stairs and had to lay on the bed and stayed there an hour then when I made it down stairs I cried for 2 hours in pain which I've never done but it's been agony and to be 40 yrs old wanting my mum is beyond funny as I haven't seen my mum or spoken for many yrs. Today is a new day and I'm hopeful is not as bad today. I use a lazy spa in summer as water is what relieves my pain so wondered if you have thought of that as an idea ? Or if it would help.

I actually ended up calling NHS direct on 111 as the pain was intolerable which again I would never normally do this so must of been bad but there attitude is deal with it see a gp and with back and nerve pain unless ur incontinent and at risk of caudi equina they aren't interested. So today I've got to be able to go out to register at my new doctors and wait for an appointment til then I have to deal with it which isn't easy so just be kind to yourself take it easy get as much help as you can but like my friends say to me be forceful with docs else they do fob u off if they can .

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