Doesn't feel much pain....

[Buckeye7]

My mother in law, Peg died in June of CBGD, she had been diagnosed as cerebellar ataxia, MSA, PSP before her final diagnosis. There is one issue, I have never seen discussed. Peg had soso many falls. She cut her her head a few times, broke her hand, lots of huge bruises and lastly broke her hip. Peg rare ever felt much pain at all. When she broke her hip. She tried to walk on it, in th ER she was stretching and kicking it high in the air even though she was asked to lie still. The doctor was shocked that she could even move it and anlikedwe couldn't understand that it didn't really hurt. Peg just described it ad feeling like she had a cramp. When she had several stitches in her head she rarely wanted anything for pain.....not even headache. Does anyone experience that or have an explanation for it? Jan....buckeye7

[Hidden]

Hi Buckeye7

Hello, and thank you for this interesting subject.

Many PSP sufferers experience pain. However, there are many accounts of people with PSP that seem to show little or no pain in circumstances where "some pain" should be experienced. While there is no specific brain region that deals exclusively with pain, there is a region called the somatosensory cortex that is implicated in "pain" functioning. Most of the signals for this pass through the thalamus. It's very complex, and no one knows exactly why some PSP sufferers do not report feeling pain. Some may think that they have pain "but cannot express/report it". However, it is probably related to some areas of the brain that may be damaged (even the thalamus itself) and preventing "signals" passing through the thalamus. In this circumstance pain may be dulled.

I look forward to other people's thoughts on this matter.

Cheers

T.

[Buckeye7 in reply to Hidden]

T. Thank you for your response. You gave me a direction to research. I also don't know if what you indicated applies to CBGD as well as PSP. I would think it would. Peg's last was CBGD. You seem very knowledgable, can you give me any of the differences between these two conditions? Jan / Buckeye7

[Hidden in reply to Buckeye7]

Hi

I hope I'm not short-changing you with my response to your query, but it may be easier to give a good article to read about CBD and PSP comparisons. It's quite detailed but you can pick out the bits that simply describe the symptoms.

Here is the link:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

(Simpler info is available, as you may know, on this site of PSPA and the CurePSPsite.

Happy researching!

Cheers

T.

[Buckeye7 in reply to Hidden]

Strelly, Thank you. I appreciate your info. Take care! Buckeye7

[Heady]

Hi Buckeye,

My husband can't not really express pain! He broke his wrist last year, asked if he was OK, he kept saying he was fine. Finally someone asked to rate pain on a 1 - 10 scale, he said 8! He was pale and sweating, so we all knew he must be in a lot of pain, but couldn't actually tell us. I am sure he doesn't feel pain like he use too. On the other hand, he fussed over very tiny things, that the rest of us don't even acknowledge!

All very confusing, especially when you are the one that has to work out if your loved one has a problem that may need attention!!! I tend to look at S's skin now to determine if he is suffering. The eyes aren't much help, so there is not much assistance from him or his body! Just keep everything crossed that I get it right, yes, I am over cautious now, but I can't afford to get it wrong!

Lots of love

Heady

[Buckeye7 in reply to Heady]

Heady, Thank you for your kind response. I am hoping I hear from several others so I can see if there is some pattern between Patients. Peg would occassionally repeat, tell us one thing then completely contradixt herself within a minute or two. Peg had 27 staples in 2 gashes in her head and didn't think she needed anything for pain. Even if you touched it, there would be very little if any reaction.I hope youccan find some joy in the journey you are going through together. It is a rough road and I pray for each of you that are still onthis road. Sincerely, Jan/buckeye7

[jzygirl]

This explains a lot last fall Brian had he was badly bruised on his hip. There was a scare that it might of been broken or dislocated he thought we was making a fuss over nothing because it didn't hurt in the slightest. But when all the bruising was at its best it really did look painful. Even the carers winced when they saw it. But not a flicker of acnolagement that there was anything amiss from Brian.

Janexx

[Buckeye7 in reply to jzygirl]

Thank you for your response, hopefully we hear from others. Thisis something that took me a while to figure out. Peg had so many falls and it just broke my heart to see her go through it. In a way not feeling all the pain was somewhat of a blessing. Take care.......jan / buckeye7

[jillannf6]

i feel pain but not in the usual way - ifalll so many times a day but despite bruising have been lucky and have not broken another limb ( back to 7 years ago b4 being dxd with PSP i broke my )(tiroght)ankle - fell out of my chair qat 10 pm at night after being at an aqua aerobics class in the day time and boy did it hurt!

]but my pain is different now and i do not feel it as much

bangs to my head / hips etc and lots of bruises but not the same sort of pain at all

so i should be careful and so should my carers

thanks for the input on pain

i di dnto realise tha tmy brain could eb affected in that way

biut jmy right knee permanently gives me jip now a si nearly alwyays fall on my right side

lo jill

[Buckeye7 in reply to jillannf6]

Hi jillann6, You are such a sweetheart. I so appreciate reading your opinions. You know first hand how things are and you take so much time to respond and encourage others. Thank you jan / buckeye7

[Greenbee]

My husband Ron, diagnosed with PSP in 2011, does not feel pain. This started happening about two years before his diagnosis.

[jimandsharynp]

As we all come to know, there aren't any patterns to PSP so anything is possible. Jimbo