Pain management

[tudorose]

For those of you who don't know my story over the last year I have RRV. It's epidemic polyarthritis and causes pain in the joints muscles and lymph glands and fatigue that you cannot imagine exists until you get something like this.

At the moment I'm in the middle of a stress induced relapse and suffering a lot. I've missed a total of 5 days work in the last 2 weeks. It's only Monday and the pain started to take over me at lunchtime getting worse as the day went on. It's like this every day. I usually suffer it out without painkillers coz it's bad to take painkillers all the time for a long term condition.

I need some sort of pain management techniques but don't know where to start.

Tonight I tried using the electric throw rug and using breathing but there's only so long I can do that without getting totally exhausted so I gave in and took some nurofen which didn't work anyway. My GP is a f/wit and told me to take painkillers every 2 hours. If I'd done what he said for this last year my body would be even more f/d up than it already is.

I have a very high pain tolerance and can block pain at certain levels but this is really wearing me down. Most people who get this can't keep going so I get lots of questions about why I can. Thing is I push through so much pain every day that they have no idea.

If you have any techniques that you know of or have worked for you please let me know. I need help to keep pushing through this and I'm so tired and all out of ideas.

I'm at the point where I'm starting to feel disconnected from everyone.

[salleh]

Sweetie....I know nothing that can help you with the pain ....I am a firm beliver in pain meds .....( doctors daughter and all that )

this condition .....is it permanent ? ...

maybe ....self -hypnosis ? ....have you tried that ? .....


I had headaches every single day from the time I was 19 till I was 39, and most of the time they didn't respond to any kind of over the counter pain meds, I now have tinitus from all the aspirin I took trying to make them go away ... then they just stopped ....now I can take 2 execdrine and poof ! it goes away ,....but those years taught me how debilitating constant unrelenting pain can be .....


....I am a big old wuss about pain ......but is there nothing that can be done about the underlying causes of your pain ?

[tudorose]

Originally Posted by salleh

Sweetie....I know nothing that can help you with the pain ....I am a firm beliver in pain meds .....( doctors daughter and all that )

this condition .....is it permanent ? ...

maybe ....self -hypnosis ? ....have you tried that ? .....


I had headaches every single day from the time I was 19 till I was 39, and most of the time they didn't respond to any kind of over the counter pain meds, I now have tinitus from all the aspirin I took trying to make them go away ... then they just stopped ....now I can take 2 execdrine and poof ! it goes away ,....but those years taught me how debilitating constant unrelenting pain can be .....


....I am a big old wuss about pain ......but is there nothing that can be done about the underlying causes of your pain ?

Thanks for taking the time to reply Salleh (((hugs)))

I've been told it can take anything from 2 months to 2 years to go away. Some people seem to fully recover and others get relapses for years and years.

There was a myth about an electric fence treatment but my husband doesn't want me to try that because of the history of heart conditions in my family.

I haven't tried hypnosis. Do you need to be able to concentrate for that?

I've tried everything I know of so far.

I've pretty much cut out wheat and dairy which helps a little and I take a lot of stuff from the naturopath but the biggest factor in this relapse was stress

I hadn't realised how far I'd come in the recovery until this relapse.

I also need to find a painkiller that works without doing any damage. The naturopath has done acupuncture on me but it only helps for a little while and is very expensive.

I can usually manage it a bit better during the day coz of all the distractions but it's when it keeps me awake all night that I find it the hardest.

I guess I need to come to a place of acceptance that it's gonna hurt and not going to go away in a hurry

[spunkysmum]

Originally Posted by tudorose

Thanks for taking the time to reply Salleh (((hugs)))

I've been told it can take anything from 2 months to 2 years to go away. Some people seem to fully recover and others get relapses for years and years.

So it isn't necessarily a permanent condition? That's good to know, anyway! Although I am sure it feels that way right now, while you're waiting. Time crawls when you are waiting for pain to pass.

There was a myth about an electric fence treatment but my husband doesn't want me to try that because of the history of heart conditions in my family.

I accidentally touched an electric fence once when I had a migraine. The pain seemed to subside a bit at first but I don't remember it going away.

[BR549]

Tudor, I tried to look up a bit on RRV yesterday---I read this post shortly after you posted and I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help you.

The only thing that I could find was a few articles. I didn't want to post a lot of alternative treatments that I found, simply because I'm not familiar with RRV and I don't know what is legitimate. Also, I didn't want to post things that you'd already read or knew
This is something that I did find though---not helpful for you now, but it could be at some point: http://www.lifescientist.com.au/arti...s_river_fever/

I only hope that there is someone else here who can give you some advice or share what worked for them

I'm sorry I can't give you any more than this.

[tudorose]

Originally Posted by BR549

Tudor, I tried to look up a bit on RRV yesterday---I read this post shortly after you posted and I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help you.

The only thing that I could find was a few articles. I didn't want to post a lot of alternative treatments that I found, simply because I'm not familiar with RRV and I don't know what is legitimate. Also, I didn't want to post things that you'd already read or knew
This is something that I did find though---not helpful for you now, but it could be at some point: http://www.lifescientist.com.au/arti...s_river_fever/

I only hope that there is someone else here who can give you some advice or share what worked for them

I'm sorry I can't give you any more than this.

Thanks for replying and for taking some time to look it up (((((hugs)))))

That article is really interesting. I hope something can come of it soon.

There's not a lot out there in terms of what works other than to just wait and suffer it out for however long it takes.

That's why I'm looking at what I can do to manage the pain because there is no hope of getting rid of the underlying cause

[silivrentoliel]

How do you get it?

I'm assuming it's not easily treated by something as simple as anti-inflammatories? There was something the doc gave me for tendonitis that was an analgesic along withand it was an anti-inflammatory, and it was a-freaking-mazing. I'll have to ask him and find out what it was....

[BR549]

Silver---it's from mosquitoes. For those who don't know what Ross River Virus is, you can go here: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC89008/

Tudor, that's exactly what I discovered yesterday--- there's not a lot out there on this.

I know that this is something that is prevalent in Australia, but I really would have thought that there would be more information on alternative/traditional treatments. From what I've read, it's quite painful and can affect someone their entire life.

You may have seen this already, but I stumbled across this bit of information
http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/3...iver_virus.pm:





I'm shocked at the number of reported cases in 2012 compared to previous years. Is this because it's being reported more than in the past or more people are contracting the virus?

I am sorry that there isn't more information out there on this and that you are STILL having to deal with this .


(((HUGS)))

[itsanADHDthing]

I was prescribed hydrocodone/APAP (10/325) for a kidney stone.

At first, it affected me psychologically, making me dizzy, tired, and filled with euphoria like no other.

Rapidly, though, I grew tolerant to the mental effects of the drug and now it simply relieves pain for me with no psychological effects.

I say go ahead and take it, unless your extremely against it.


For the fatigue, I am unsure. Shovel some coffee down your throat Just kidding

[avjgirsijdhtjhs]

I have no idea if this would help much, but I figure it's worth looking in to. Good luck!

[chowmix]

Originally Posted by itsanADHDthing

I was prescribed hydrocodone/APAP (10/325) for a kidney stone.

At first, it affected me psychologically, making me dizzy, tired, and filled with euphoria like no other.

Rapidly, though, I grew tolerant to the mental effects of the drug and now it simply relieves pain for me with no psychological effects.

I say go ahead and take it, unless your extremely against it.

I agree with this assessment. I was given a low dose of codeine for lower back pain and took it for over a year. Once a bit of drowsiness/mild euphoria passed given the initial doses, the pain relieving effect continued until I stopped it. I had no difficulty weaning myself off of it at all.

I never felt that I needed an increasing dosage … it's been my experience that a sense that you want to take a larger dose is related to taking the pain killer for the psychological/relaxation/drowsiness ("high") effects. I believe the desire for larger and larger (potentially dangerous) doses relates to seeking the euphoric effects. I've seen the same pattern with Ritalin in my own ADD treatment.

I have tried to understand societal reluctance to take pain medications. I agree that taking pain medication INSTEAD of dealing with the cause of the pain may delay needed treatment. There are so many other reasons given, such as taking them is an indication that you are weak, the medications are bad in themselves, and that you will become addicted, etc.

If you ARE an addictive personality, you may have some difficulty, especially if you seek a high. We've all seen the trials and tribulations of celebrities who abuse their pain medications, and I've seen enough evidence walking the streets of my community that scream the dangers of opiate addiction..

I HAVE seen medications overused by caregivers of the elderly, and I know of one personal case where they were dispensed to help make it easier for the caregivers at the expense of the health of the patient. So YES, there are situations where pain medications are not appropriate.

[Joker_Girl]

(((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))))

Can you take glucosamine? I have heard that is suppose to help with arthritis/joint type pains.

I have arthritis and still have pain meds from when I had surgery. I take a pill called Relafen every day and that is for arthritis. I also have Vicodin I can take if the pain is bad. I find taking it with an Ibuprofen helps more than taking it by itself. I also have Soma they gave me to take at night if I am having a lot of pain. It is some kinda muscle relaxer. Its supposed to make you tired, but it doesnt me.

I am sorry! I will pray for you that your pain eases! I hate to hurt. It puts a dark cloud over everything!

[Rebelyell]

Maybe a hot tub or sauna therapy,or ice the joints,cool bath.Temperature can have both a positive and negative effect on the human body.Sorry to hear your in so much pain.

[Fortune]

I wish I had some really good advice to maintain tolerance. My somewhat adequate advice would be to try to get a legitimate break from work and just rest for a week or two, or as long as seems necessary.

I'm dealing with chronic pain as well, although probably milder. I have the pain tolerance thing going too. What I've learned is to be assertive about needing to take a break, because other people will request and even demand beyond the point that I can give. Of course, because it's chronic, sometimes a break isn't feasible.

I read this last night but I had no replies I could put into words. Many sympathies.

[MX2012]

Tudorose -- I have little advice to give. I had/have arthritis. In my late 30s, I was treated with low dose antibiotics (considered an unorthodox treatment) and the arthritis was suppressed for about 20+ years. I now have osteoarthritis which is slowly increasing.

At one time, I did try acupuncture for awhile but I could not afford to continue it. I did feel better while being treated.

It sounds like you have done some research and have consulted with some doctors. You may have to do more research and "experiment."

I wish you luck.