Pain sanity

[Haylou]

Does anyone have any good tips for staying sane during bouts of ongoing excruciating pain? Haven’t slept properly in weeks and can’t take usual pain killers as they are addictive and have bad side effects. I’m so desperate for a solution and am willing to try almost anything. I’m seeing a consultant on Thursday but the pain is so bad.

[Dotpot]

I am worse at night took meds ain’t touched yet

It really hurts mono what u. Going through

[Haylou in reply to Dotpot]

I have complex regional pain syndrome in my left arm. I have a spinal cord stimulator implanted to help control that pain but I also have a piece of bone fragment in my wrists soft tissue which isn’t helping matters. I hope you feel better soon.

[Dotpot in reply to Haylou]

Thankyou I am in loads of pain it’s the weather

Get really bad migraine this one bad had it nearly a month try to distract my selve playing on fb etc xx

[Foxgal17]

Have you tried Kratom? Just heard about it today on this site. Went and bought some legally at head shop. Thee oz for $25. Made tea. Took all pain away including month old headache. Felt calm , relaxed, and no anxiety. Does give you a buzz though. Not sure what you can take. I liked it because it's legal and it worked.

[Amkoffee in reply to Foxgal17]

I'm glad to hear you're having such success with kratom. I was using it for about 2 months and then I quit because I'm having a lot of gastro problems and it causes severe constipation. At least with me. And my pain is out of sight these days. But it did work when I was using it. I did use it in conjunction with my Percocet. But I found that I could skip pills now and then.

[Haylou]

Unfortunately I don’t think it’s legal in the UK

[spider555 in reply to Haylou]

🙄

[katelee]

its really important to be extra nice to yourself when you are in the absolute agony of a flare up. Be kind to yourself and find ways to treat yourself (special bath stuff, relaxation sprays, nice face moisturiser, new/favourite film to watch etc). It's also useful to have a moan, a cry and a laugh so the right friend is a must!

Unless you have a reason for worrying about addiction (i.e you have had previous addiction issues or addiction runs in your family) its not as common in chronic pain as people think. Meds are an important part of pain management and taking them as prescribed at the beginning of a flare up can mean you get on top of it quicker and will probably end up taking less medication in the long run.

may I ask does the spinal cord stimulator help you?

I really hope your pain levels start to decrease soon.

take care xxx

[Haylou in reply to katelee]

Hi

Thank you so much for your advice. Unfortunately I do have a history with addiction so painkillers are not something I like to lean towards.

The spinal cord stimulator has significantly improved my quality of life. Before I was unable to use my left arm but now I have quite a bit of movement.

[katelee]

I can understand your concerns then. Do you use visualisations to help at all? From what I understand crps is the most painful condition you can have. severe pain and remaining sane is a difficult balance. I dont always manage it but i try to remember to be kind to self which is why i eat too much chocolate!! Sometimes its the only pleasure I get!! Lol 😁

I have recently started using a type of bath oil by kneipp (on Amazon) that is amazing. It's not cheap but works brilliantly for pain. I have the devils claw one which is supposed to help with back and neck pain but they have a few different ones for pain.

I have had chronic pain in my chest and back for about 17 yrs and I am on a variety of opiates. I have been looking into the spinal cord stimulator for a couple of years and I have an appointment with the neurologist in a couple of weeks which is why I was curious if you have found it useful of not.

look after yourself x

[Tourk]

I know it's quite terrifying when one is in so much pain, desperate to get away from the it, trying to stay sain can be a real challenge.

For myself I take each day as it comes, little steps so to speak, occasionally I take sleeping tablets to break the sleepless pattern. And painkillers so I can at least think.

Their are answers your not on your own.

[betabyte]

Have you tried 8HR Arthritis Pain Relief Acetaminophen tablets 650mg each tab? 2 tabs .....3 times daily. It's the strongest over the counter actamenophen you can take. I've taken that with ibuprofen before 400 mg I think the strength. The docs have me on cymbalta and gabapentin together and took me off narcotics.

[Firepool]

I tried all the painkillers my Dr could prescitbe but nothing worked so I used a distraction method (find a complex, time consuming job and banish all other thoughts). The pain is still there after 10 years but after the first year I learnt to cope. Not very original but ettective for me in a situation where all the Drs say they have nothing more.

[Claire89J]

Hi Haylou I too have crps so fully understand what your going through although I suppose I'm lucky I can tolerate pain killers and can now function pretty well with the concoction I take.

I recently did a 7 week pain management programme and it was really interesting and a lot was about all the things that can affect your pain and changing a few things can 'turn the volume down' a bit. I found mindfulness was a great distraction and way to sort through all my thoughts and and anxieties. Headspace is great if you look that up.

I suppose some of it is just time and riding the storm so be kind to yourself. It's ok to put you first, cry, shout or whatever it is you feel like doing. It will soon pass.

I hope you get some relief soon.