hi

A pain flare up woke me up on my day off at 5am, tried to use all my tools to fix it, realized im going to spend a few days and ‘another’ holiday (US independence day) dealing with a pain flare up (crossing my fingers hoping it doesn’t turn into migraines and dissociation like during christmas); cried about it and now im sitting in my garage joining this site while I wake n bake the pain away. I guess I want to be able to talk about this type of stuff since I can’t anywhere else. I mean, I ‘can’ but no one cares or understands.

[PainConcernHelpline Moderator Community Champion Pain Concern]

Hi Hidden ,

So sorry to hear about your pain flare up. It is hard enough to deal with social engagements when in pain but it is especially hard around holidays. Your frustration is completely valid and it is great that you found this community to be able to talk about it.

You mentioned that you tried your usual tools to deal with the pain - I'm wondering if this entails medication and/or pain management techniques. While it is difficult not to stress about the pain potentially ruining your holiday, this kind of stress can actually make your pain worse in a sort of vicious cycle. In turn, if you can find a way to relax, it has been shown to alleviate the pain itself, so I hope you can find something that helps you achieve that.

We have some great leaflets on stress, pain and relaxation which you can find here: painconcern.org.uk/stress-p...

As well as on pain management here: painconcern.org.uk/manage-y...

You also mention that you feel nobody you can talk to understands the things you are going through. I think I know what you mean - pain can be an "invisible" illness, sometimes it doesn't show in a way that others can detect or appreciate in all its seriousness.

Someone who has never experienced chronic pain will not fully understand the difficulty it comes with. Depending on your area, maybe it would be worth looking into joining a pain support group? So many people find that simply just talking to others who go through similar problems as they do can help them deal with their owns. As you say, maybe just having someone who understands can make a difference.

I hope you find something that helps you. Wishing you a lovely 4th July weekend,

Moderator 3 on behalf of Pain Concern.

[Jjflash]

Good evening Kara,sorry that you're going through this all alone.Its a difficult one cos only you know what you're going through.How can you explain your pain to someone who can't physically feel it.Im pleased you contacted this site,the longer you stay on this site or others similar,you find people like yourself who just don't know where to turn.I hope you try meditation,yoga,a muscle massager,tens machine.All these are pretty cheap and you're not plying yourself with meds.I hope it's given you a few ideas Kara along with the info from the pain concern team.Know that there are so many frustrated people out there who for whatever reason,are carrying a load of pain around with them.Stay in touch regularly Kara,in general,people who are struggling can feel psychologically better by helping others in the same situ cos we're struggling for answers too.Keep in touch Kara,if one or two of these ideas resonate with you to make your life a little easier,then it's a win win.be gd Kara.

[AuntieH in reply to Jjflash]

Sorry to hear you're struggling! I too just went into my toolkit at 2:30am. You are not alone! Take care and God Bless us all! 💕

[Konagirl60]

All I can suggest is to first have an Epsom salt bath. It contains magnesium sulphate which will calm sore/ spasming muscles.

You can also buy magnesium oil spray for external use on tender spots and you can take magnesium bisglycinate orally as an internal muscle relaxer.

If you have burning nerve pain, you may get benefit from taking Curcumin pills 2-3X a day.

The anxiety and stress of living with pain can really affect cognitive function. It can also wreak havoc with hormones and raise cortisol levels. This in turn causes high blood sugar levels.

Anxiety can be calmed with Pascoflaire tablets ( made from passionflowers ) and blood sugar levels can be lowered taking a chromium supplement.

Perhaps you can buy an essential oil that can calm your pain signals? Pure frankincense oil can be applied to the temples and back of the neck for pain relief. This oil is known to cross the blood brain barrier.

Anyways, you don’t mention where your pain is and what medications you may be using. I hope you can calm your breathing, meditate or do Reiki and with the right supplements, can relax your body and mind. Stress isn’t healthy. Good luck.

[Hidden in reply to Konagirl60]

thanks fr the suggestions. It’s a itchy burning nerve pain in my hands, feet and now the back of my my neck and i’ve been trying to bring down inflammation with turmeric tea, ice packs and cannabis (legal where I live btw). i went out with family yesterday to try and distract myself from it but im still scratching myself like a crack head so maybe i’ll try the magnesium and curcumin.

[Konagirl60 in reply to Hidden]

Could it be shingles?

[Hidden in reply to Konagirl60]

no, it was nerve pain that was caused by a a partial dislocation in both my back and hips which dosent cause a rash, just a sensation that makes me want to scratch. It went away once I got an adjustment.

[Konagirl60 in reply to Hidden]

That’s good to hear.

[Konagirl60]

I didn’t think of this before. I only learned about it from a friend who recently acquired it.

Could you have an infection caused by mites? Try a bath with pink salt in it.