Living with pain.

I am wondering how other people cope with
constant pain - how they keep going, as pain
really does wear you down.

I hope nobody will come out with - think positive!

Re: Living with pain.

I have arthritis & fybromyalgia, it drives me crazy but I find having interests help. I was getting really stressed with it so I joined some groups, being in this forum has helped, lovely folks on here & very "distracting"!
Lots of advice too!

Re: Living with pain.

Poor you Twiz, it must be very difficult some days. I think long term pain is very debilitating.

Re: Living with pain.

I live with constant pain after three back operations but it is like living under the flight path of an airport after a while you don't notice it.

There are different levels of pain and I have some very serious drugs to cope with the worst but for the basic 'background' pain I just accept it as normal and live with it to the point that until it changes I don't notice it.

It might even be 'thinking positive' though that is not how I would describe it but you can't let something like pain stop you doing things, there is so much to do and so little time to do it.

Re: Living with pain.

I have quite a severe back problem due to osteo-arthritis and were it not for (like Bruce), some serious medication, I'd be in a right mess. The niggly pain's always there, but it's become 'normal' now and I don't think about it.

I keep as active as I can and as long as I don't over-do bending and stretching, I'm fine. I know my limits and one of them, as I've just discovered, is kneeling on the floor with grand-daughters, trying to do a jigsaw puzzle !

Gwyn

Re: Living with pain.

I think my husband copes with his pain amazingly he is still walking everyday and working at a manual job despite his leg and knee being twice the size it should and being unable to sleep due to the pain. How he copes ? by taking many more of his tramadol than he should everyday. It keeps him going. That and shear determination not to stop. I think fear he may not be able to get up and start again makes him keep going and the satisfaction he gets from knowing he is earning money to keep us housed and fed.


It was what got him back to work after his stroke a few years ago, he was ashamed not to be working.

Re: Living with pain.

The past year I have not done so well - had dark thoughts really, Hubs is the reason I'm still here. I am finding it very difficult now, wish there was an answer I could give to those in pain, mine is distraction ..

Re: Living with pain.

I've been through times like that my MS comes and goes so I can't say I have constant pain but when I do have it if I thought this was it and it would be like this forever I am not sure how long I would want to carry on.

I don't have an answer as I said over doses of pain killers keep my husband going.

Re: Living with pain.

I have suffered joint pain ever since I can remember and no pill has ever taken it away as it comes and goes and I have never been good at taking pills ... Work has always made it worse because of having to sit at a desk or bending for long periods of time .... The only time Im pain free is when Im walking in warm weather.But who was going to give me a job walking...? Then in my early 40ies I had a bad crash and couldnt walk for a year. I was in constant pain which nearly took me over the edge mentaly....
At an appointment with my leg at the hospital I was talking to the doctor about this and I remember his words clearly .... No one needs to live with pain (at this point i nearly fell off my chair and choke on my scoffing) But he went on to explain that people get a small pain say for example in their leg .... they then say to them selves my leg hurts so I must sit down and rest it ...at this point they have given up/in to the pain, they put on weight the pain gets worse so they sit down more , then they get more pain in other parts of the body never understanding that if they had kept going they would only still have the pain in the leg , which with the right advice could of been sorted by pills or physio.
Im not explaining this as well as he did ... physio if you listen and work at it can work but it takes time although most people give up after a few weeks as they dont see the benifit straight away.
So I left his office with a different point of view ... and worked hard at my physio, which to begin with was very painful, but soon I worked through that pain and saw the benifits , Then I started to walk building that up to now walking for up to 6 hours some days .... and the benifits are wonderful, my life time pains can dissappear after an hours walking and Im fitter than I have been for the last 30 years ... I can be lazy some times and it would of been very easy to sit down , give up and live in pain, but I listened to that doctor and Im so glad I did .... no matter how much pain your in we can all do a little exercise and build on it slowly and you will see the benefit of it .... plus I also believe in positive thoughts ... why would you not want to ... far to many negative people out there . !!!

Re: Living with pain.

Depends on the type of pain - I have to keep getting up, cant sit for too long. Walking outside on the hard pavement jars and I cant wait to get home.
Constant nerve pain all over and the summer is horrendous, as the nerve pain burns like hell.
Going to bed is the worst time, I feel I am on fire and I just want to sleep to get away from it.
Its not something I like to discuss but sometimes answers are too glib - its not always that simple