The True Mental Impact of Pain

[Crystallmatters]

I am going to keep this post short as I want to know understand how many of you might have had mental health struggles through pain whether Chronic or Acute.

I have had huge depression and now suffer with the understanding that pain will of course for many of us impact our lives and feelings.

Tonight I have thought after twenty years from my first lower back surgery and since a three more, the main blame on my mental health is it is me my personal life my child hood , the few bad things that have happened is why I am in so much pain , in fact all the doctors and health professionals that deal with pain , swing so much of why are mental health is up the spout, on it’s my fault , my life somewhere these life experiences, that where not good is why I suffer so much pain.

No tonight I have it , the real truth is any medical intervention that punches are skin , worse goes in and interfere’s with are body structure is for many of us the route course of our Pain . Why is so much attention to our past history trying to make us understand this is a root cause of Pain . Yes it might not help, but the truth is it was the surgery the intervention of the body that has upset our system and impacting the brain . Top of the list cause which in turn yes can upset the tummy and start other body malfunctions. But know no one medically will take accountability of what really has happened, the explanation of , yes we had an injury that we suffered huge pain , for some disability, a choice was made to have surgery and sadly it did not work. A big sorry it is a fact after three months of letting the body settle after surgery Pain is still here and maybe worse with other things happening to the body.

It is not our fault it is not in our heads because of past normal circumstances, yes of course for a few , it is very sad that they had genuine nasty experiences that has impacted the brain and playing havoc, helping cause you to be depressed, trying to slowly become deeply depressed.

I know I have been there and I am learning all the time with the help of the Berkshire mental health team that , no it is not my fault , the feelings are nasty and naturally reality of the circumstances.

So yes a good starting point to understand it all wood be the true recognition of how surgery is often failed and this can make things worse than before the surgery. I say for me and be sure I am talking only about my circumstances, it would of been helpful if the surgeon, Doctors my doctor would stop blaming me and my past history and spent time and if they can’t refer me to someone that can say sorry David it seems the surgery intervention did not work as a result the truth is we are sorry but we need to teach you how to live with Pain and what happens when Stress , anxiety, worry, discomfort, pain, bad thoughts because you are feeling down and getting depressed make things worse, can increase pain or change patterns in the brain and cause other issues, glitches of the brain , in my case leading to FND ??.

Now we have compassion, we can start to learn how we can help ourselves better. Personally, I don’t think we can ever not feel sad about our situation but at least we have a better building block to start our journey of understanding and learning how to make life more balanced bearable, and bring some times of enjoyment again.

I will leave it there for now , I really welcome feed back from any of you to how your experience is and your thoughts on how I personally feel, I an not saying I am correct.

Sorry for all of you that suffer , I certainly really get it xxxx.

[Poppy_Ann]

Hi there, I have suffered with chronic pain for over 40 years after an accident in the army, at the time I was told that I had strained my back and to rest for 2 weeks which I did, but from that day forward I suffered chronic back pain and no doctor could give me an explanation as to the cause of it the only surgery they offered was under a x ray machine they pushed 2 needles into my back then they inserted 2 electrodes into the needles and then passed power between the electrodes, on the day there were 3 of us getting the same treatment the first guy came out walking saying it worked great, the second guy came out in a wheel chair but was free from pain I went in and lay on the table they pushed the needles in and the electrodes (all without any form of pain relief) then the doctor pressed the button and I shot straight up hitting the x ray machine and then was lay on the floor screaming they then gave me a shot and I passed out the next thing I knew I was on a ward in bed (the treatment was meant to be an outpatients treatment ) so we did not have beds available to us i had attended with my wife as we were going out after the treatment when I came round i could not move and had to get her to blow my nose as I had snot running down my face, by the following morning I was OK but had to wait untill the doctor came round when he came he said that he could leave it a couple of weeks then try again I told him it would take 4 of them to hold me down to do it so he said if that was what I thought then he would leave it as I was but if I changed my mind to get in touch and he would arrange it, after that I tried just about everything there was from heat packs to ice baths to acupuncture but nothing worked in the long term one doctor said that i must be thinking that it must be all in my head which i agreed with he said he can do a thing called MUA (Manipulation Under Anaesthetic) he said that i would get a shot and go under then he would move me about in different positions to see if i reacted, the next morning he came on his rounds and when he came over to me he had a huge black eye i asked if he has been arguing with the wife he said that this was the only time in my army career that I would get away with knocking out a colonel and said that as he was moveing me about nothing was reacting untill he moved me one way and my leg shot out and my heal hit him in the eye knocking him out he was unconscious for over 20 minutes he said that even though they could not find any cause for my pain that it was real and not all in my head in the end I was discharged around 6 years after the accident which was just under 12 years service as it was a service related problem I was given a small lump sum of money along with 3 months leave so I could get set up with a job and home, since then with technology getting better and after one scan i was told that it's no wonder I am in pain my back was broke in L2 and L3 and that it was still broke after another scan i was told that L4 was also broke and at my last scan they added that L1 is also broke so I have 4 vertebrae all in a row that are broke, they said that they could fuse them together but with every one they did there was a 10% chance that I would never stand or walk again so with having 4 in a row that they would have to do the one above and the one below which would be a 60% chance of my being in a wheelchair after the operation so at my age I do not fancy my chances and will put up with the pain.Good luck finding something that works for you. Regards Poppy Ann

[Scotsman53]

Seems similar to my situation, all I can say is the combination of microdosing and meditation worked wonders for me, but you need to do your own research.

[Southerngirl2787]

I have never had anyone, any medical provider tell me my pain is in my head. I have a long history, years of spine damage, 16 surgeries, my nerves are so damaged from it all...a nasty parathyroid tumor started it all. I've researched and can discuss it with my pain mgt team, and none has even told me the pain meds are causing the pain...good thing, that will fall on deaf ears. My childhood was not perfect, parents far from it, traumas here and there, but not the reason for my physical pain. Sure I've had down times, when I had to stop working that hit hard...but I can say I've never felt depressed. Even with the limitations now, I keep feeling that there's more positive ahead in my life, so I keep myself going with those thoughts. Not saying that depression is anyone's "fault"...I just refuse to go there. You do have to treat yourself kindly...and that was hard, I was in a high pressure time-consuming career for 30+ years in healthcare...not being there to help folks was a serious blow to my ego. My goals are different now...simpler...and each day I work on achieving something. Don't wait for doctors to be kind or apologize, that is a rare thing, and they are in tune to malpractice issues...so unless you want to pin them down, ask if something was a mistake, then chances are they point to the Medical Release and call it a risk of surgery. I manage the pain now...and walk daily, regardless of how hard and painful. Pain does affect thoughts, brain function, no way it can't...I can also watch my BP go sky high when pain is high, and I'm certain cortisol is high as well. Surgery is very insulting to our body as well, it's not a simple thing without long term issues forming. I have autoimmune conditions, and always now get a nasty flare post surgery. The inflammation from the surgery causes most of the pain for me...it's massive, and usually I need steroids to calm it down, and that took a bit to figure out.

[Crystallmatters in reply to Southerngirl2787]

Thank you, you handle your difficult situation really well, you have a good positive way of coping, although, I am sure you ride the roller coaster of emotions.

It is helpful to me, very kind Xxx

[PainConcernProjects Partner Community Champion Pain Concern]

Hi Crystallmatters,

Thank you for sharing your story. Unfortunately it is common for chronic pain and mental health conditions to exist together, due to the nature of pain. You mentioned the link of stress and anxiety on pain and I too definitely relate to this. I have mixed experiences of procedures/ surgeries helping with pain and would add that pain and treatments are a very individual journey/ experience. (What works for some, may not work for others.)

For me, self-compassion and acceptance were 'game changers' for getting a different perspective of my pain and when I started to explore other self-management strategies for pain (such as pacing and movement) instead of trying to 'fight the pain' and having a constant battle.

I am pleased to hear that you are receiving support from a mental health team and that you are exploring seeing living with pain from a different perspective. I really liked your phrase "we have a better building block to start our journey of understanding and learning how to make life more balanced bearable, and bring some times of enjoyment again."

I'm going to pop links to a couple of our leaflets that may be helpful for you painconcern.org.uk/product/... painconcern.org.uk/product/... painconcern.org.uk/product/...

You're also welcome to attend one of our Pain Education sessions ow.ly/bz3450SZb7g Part of the session further explores the link between emotions (stress, anxiety, fear etc) and pain.

Well done on the progress you've made living with pain and getting help with mental health struggles. I know it is not always easy!

-Pain Concern Admin

[Crystallmatters in reply to PainConcernProjects]

Thank you , Very kind and Thank you for help, I would love to attend one of your Pain Education sessions.

Thanks David

[Crystallmatters]

Hi Sick Bag,

Yes, you are right it can be an absolute nightmare. The difficult task of actually finding someone that can truly help you out is almost impossible.

You get more help and advice from the way we can talk to each other on this site and pick the things out that might work for us.

I know your frustration, I feel for you. Just don't give up .

Best wishes David x