Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

Hello catCatanzaro just saying Hello Chronic pain entered my life the last five years. It is so disturbing. It changes whom you are. I do everything I can to stop the pain. I have pain patches, bio creme pain reliever, and Celebrex, and tens daily. Gabapentin and Flexeril as needed. I do ice and heat. It is hard to carry on at times. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

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Hi everyone! My name is Julie Souther, and I'm a 44 year old wife and mother of 3 beautiful daughters. Currently, I'm a 3rd grade teacher.
I've lived with chronic pain for over 15 years due to migraines, fibromyalgia and bipolar depression disorder. Over the past few months, my "flare ups" with pain have increased in quality and quantity. I have difficulty functioning on a daily basis whether it's going to an event for one of my children, doing housework, going out to see friends, traveling, or even taking a shower without pain. Also, I am in fear of losing my job due to numerous absences, because I could not get out of my bed.
About twice a month I have a flare up of painful symptoms that can last from 3-6 days before I can just enough to get through the day. I will wake up and feel as though I have been hit by a truck. I have terrible pain in my hands, feet, eyes, lower back, hips and legs. Oftentimes, the pain will move from one location to another in my body. I end up with a migraine and in bed for at least a few days. A few weeks ago, I missed an entire week of teaching because of the flare up and a visit to the ER with severe stomach pain and difficulty breathing. In addition, my blood pressure, even with medication, ranges between 165-185 daily for no particular reason. I have neck pain on the left side that will not go away, incontinence, no libido, and sensitivity to heat just to name a few of my symptoms. I've tried various medications, acupuncture, allergy testing, change in my diet, and even reiki, without any significant help.
This year I've had blood work completed that showed nothing concerning. This month I had an MRI on my brain and spine conducted by the MS Center of Atlanta, which showed absolutely nothing wrong. I had an EEG today and am waiting on those results. I'm at a loss and feel like a failure to my family and students. Each month is becoming more of a vicious cycle of flare ups, migraines and depression.
I've never had any physical trauma in my life to bring on these symptoms. There does not seem to be a specific trigger to my flare ups either. Currently, I am on Pristiq, Lamictal, and clonazapam for my depression. I take rizatriptam for migraines even though I've had botox and shots in the past. I am on Lyrica for the fibromyalgia. Do you have any advice or suggestions? I am willing to do anything to try and get back to somewhat of a normal life before all of this pain.

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Hi everyone! My name is Julie Souther, and I'm a 44 year old wife and mother of 3 beautiful daughters. Currently, I'm a 3rd grade teacher.
I've lived with chronic pain for over 15 years due to migraines, fibromyalgia and bipolar depression disorder. Over the past few months, my "flare ups" with pain have increased in quality and quantity. I have difficulty functioning on a daily basis whether it's going to an event for one of my children, doing housework, going out to see friends, traveling, or even taking a shower without pain. Also, I am in fear of losing my job due to numerous absences, because I could not get out of my bed.
About twice a month I have a flare up of painful symptoms that can last from 3-6 days before I can just enough to get through the day. I will wake up and feel as though I have been hit by a truck. I have terrible pain in my hands, feet, eyes, lower back, hips and legs. Oftentimes, the pain will move from one location to another in my body. I end up with a migraine and in bed for at least a few days. A few weeks ago, I missed an entire week of teaching because of the flare up and a visit to the ER with severe stomach pain and difficulty breathing. In addition, my blood pressure, even with medication, ranges between 165-185 daily for no particular reason. I have neck pain on the left side that will not go away, incontinence, no libido, and sensitivity to heat just to name a few of my symptoms. I've tried various medications, acupuncture, allergy testing, change in my diet, and even reiki, without any significant help.
This year I've had blood work completed that showed nothing concerning. This month I had an MRI on my brain and spine conducted by the MS Center of Atlanta, which showed absolutely nothing wrong. I had an EEG today and am waiting on those results. I'm at a loss and feel like a failure to my family and students. Each month is becoming more of a vicious cycle of flare ups, migraines and depression.
I've never had any physical trauma in my life to bring on these symptoms. There does not seem to be a specific trigger to my flare ups either. Currently, I am on Pristiq, Lamictal, and clonazapam for my depression. I take rizatriptam for migraines even though I've had botox and shots in the past. I am on Lyrica for the fibromyalgia. Do you have any advice or suggestions? I am willing to do anything to try and get back to somewhat of a normal life before all of this pain.

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@julie2019 Welcome to Mayo Connect. We are a diverse group of people, patients and caregivers alike, who share their experiences and support to help others along their journey. One thing that stuck out to me was your comment "Each month is becoming more of a vicious cycle of flare ups, migraines and depression." Given your age and other factors, might there be a hormonal component to this all? If you have not had a workup by an internal medicine doctor, or endocrinologist, perhaps that might help solve your current issues? Any changes like a different living situation or work environment might be at play, with a reaction to something environmental. I hope this has given you some thoughts of pathways to pursue, and that you will let us know what you find out.
Ginger

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Hi Julie and welcome!
I must say you sound like a brave, persevering woman who seems to be at the end of her rope. No matter the diagnosis, day to day chronic pain is absolutely exhausting. Then sprinkle in the kids, spouse, house, job...
there is only so much pushing one person can do. Important to understand when you've reached your limit. I lived and worked through alot as to not let my family, friends, employer, employees down. Ultimately my perseverance was admirable but, at the end of the day I did no favors for anyone including myself.

I eventually consented to short term disability and worked very hard at figuring out my health, having treatments, trying new medications. Thought I could figure it all out during that time and miraculously get fixed. My story was built around eye disease, chronic migraine and cervical/spinal pain. My temporary disability turned permanent and I later was diagnosed with Small Fiber Poly Neuropathy. This, after 3 years of searching, and alot of trial and error, finally made sense of my random wide spread sensations and pains. I used to wake up and feel like Id been hit by train.

I'm truly sorry to hear your story and do relate. My wish for you is that you recognize your needs, demand to be your best advocate (which you deserve), keep pushing Drs to explore or find new doctors like a neurologist, if you haven't already, to rule things out. Being on Connect is a great way to be your own advocate. Research, look and listen. You will find a wealth of knowledge and experience to learn from.

Good luck in your journey and all the best.
Be well.
Rachel

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Hi new here. I have autoimmune issues also chronic fatigue, pinched nerve. Trying the steriod shots soon for neck pain due to pinched nerves. Anyone go down this road?

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Have you looked into trying Myofascial release therapy or MFR? I too have had trouble standing or sitting for more than 5-10 minutes before my feet start to burn. Since I’ve been having MFR therapy, I have been able to do much more , still have some pain but is tolerable enough to enjoy life. I too was very active but a fall and 5 back surgeries, including a spinal fusion, a Neuro stimulator, and many more alternative options gave me no hope until I found the benefits of MFR. It’s a specialized form of PT, so if you do pursue, be careful to make sure the therapist has had the special training.
Good luck and hope things improve your quality of life !

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