Dealing with chronic pain, share your experiences

[TheLightBringer]

Its been a good 4 or 5 years or so now of daily pain and suffering, many injuries, 2 failed surgeries and a suspected connective tissue disease. It is finally starting to wear down on my mental severely

You who suffer from chronic pain, what do you guys do to deal with it? Been sober for 5 years so drugs are NOT an option because I fear now id be even more likely to go off the deep end.

 

[foodcrisis]

breathing exercises pretty much the only thing that's not drugs... idk... a lot of physical therapy i'm told to do bothers my back. a few of the things are very helpful, but most PT really doesn't work for me. only so much time in the day for PT. pretty sure a few of my PT exercises are strengthening my back. i only have one herniated disk, but also spinal arthritis. i can't really lift anything or do a lot of things with out getting pin sensations through out my body and headaches. crazy pins and needles all over my body if i exacerbate the injury. way more than the average person describes from a single herniated disk. my father has every disk in his back ruptured or herniated and i can't do a lot of things he does and if i try i'd get symptoms he doesn't have. my back is really weak, and parts of it get really tense.... all i can say is try to learn some breathing exercises. maybe study different techniques and feel out what works for you.

i find listening to ASMR on you tube to help too.


i don't know what connective tissue disease is, so if that's very bad. i'm sorry to hear. my issue is pretty hard to deal with, but at least i can do tai chi and go for walks... some people are immobile and what not. i imagine that gets hard to deal with

 

[TheLightBringer]

breathing exercises pretty much the only thing that's not drugs... idk... a lot of physical therapy i'm told to do bothers my back. a few of the things are very helpful, but most PT really doesn't work for me. only so much time in the day for PT. pretty sure a few of my PT exercises are strengthening my back. i only have one herniated disk, but also spinal arthritis. i can't really lift anything or do a lot of things with out getting pin sensations through out my body and headaches. crazy pins and needles all over my body if i exacerbate the injury. way more than the average person describes from a single herniated disk. my father has every disk in his back ruptured or herniated and i can't do a lot of things he does and if i try i'd get symptoms he doesn't have. my back is really weak, and parts of it get really tense.... all i can say is try to learn some breathing exercises. maybe study different techniques and feel out what works for you.

i find listening to ASMR on you tube to help too.


i don't know what connective tissue disease is, so if that's very bad. i'm sorry to hear. my issue is pretty hard to deal with, but at least i can do tai chi and go for walks... some people are immobile and what not. i imagine that gets hard to deal with

Human perserverance is a strange thing, the worse I get the more I seem to be able to deal with. I tell myself if I become immobile ill commit suicide, but maybe ill find a way to live through even that.

Thank you for the breathing tips, I try to do breathing exercises for my anxiety, meditation helps distract my mind from the negative spiral I feel when Im in pain at least even if it doesnt remove the pain.

I will likely get on AAS once ive done the remaining surgeries I need to do to try and stabilize my joints further and build more muscle. I know steroids technically arent ”clean” but Im desperate to not be in pain and dislocate

 

[foodcrisis]

Human perserverance is a strange thing, the worse I get the more I seem to be able to deal with. I tell myself if I become immobile ill commit suicide, but maybe ill find a way to live through even that.

Thank you for the breathing tips, I try to do breathing exercises for my anxiety, meditation helps distract my mind from the negative spiral I feel when Im in pain at least even if it doesnt remove the pain.

I will likely get on AAS once ive done the remaining surgeries I need to do to try and stabilize my joints further and build more muscle. I know steroids technically arent ”clean” but Im desperate to not be in pain and dislocate

i wish you the best of luck... you note you have anxiety. i felt that got a lot worse from the back injury. i'm unable to turn my back. i haven't turned my back in 17 years with out it causing a headache. just backing a car out of drive way causes a head ache. i'd love to be able to turn my back. i totally relate to the anxiety.

i admire that you go with out drugs. i smoke a lot of pot now. when i have to move to smoke free housing, i may get on some anti anxiety meds, maybe SNRI's or whatever... not recommending you drugs, just where i might be heading. i'll probably also use ativan occasionally. sorry to derail your thread from the drug free... keep going if anybody has any drug free ideas for he OP.

 

[bvc]

Have peripheral neuropathy from Fabry Disease. Not really what you're going through (it's a nerve issue and not physical), but Lamictal (lamotrigine) has been a godsend. Lyrica, Neurontin, et al. no use. Sending hugs your way. Please stay happy, healthy, and safe. Don't give up. We need you.