Hi George’s wife, I wanted to mention anti-anxiety medication’s for your husband. I have witnessed instances of giving patients diazepam (Valium) or Ativan when painting intensifies as a caregiver. I had my own experience once in the hospital when they replaced my hip and I had incredible pain. I think it was in my knee. they refused to give me more opioid. It wasn’t that much opioid. I was on one of those machines where you push the button and I think they had just taken me off of it, I had a meltdown. I asked them to bring me a phone and I called the doctor and swore at him because I was in such incredible pain. ( The hospital told me that would only give me more pain medicine if the doctor approved; so I told them to bring me a phone and I called the doctor!) the doctor didn’t like that so much so then the head nurse of the hospital came to see me and prescribed me a very low dose of Valium. immediately it controlled the pain! I was very comfortable after that. it was a wonderfully kept secret. I don’t know why they hide things like that. I was probably more out of control with anxiety and suffering and by getting control of the anxiety I could control the pain.. I hope that idea might help your husband. I also witnessed it when both my mother and my father were in hospice and their pain levels caused them to suffer terribly. Controlling suffering with anti-anxiety medicine really helped.
Pain is a difficult thing under any circumstance, and chronic pain really destroys the quality of any life. All the things that you spoke about the empathy, the gratitude, awe, et al, those help me with my emotional pain. They are wonderful tactics I use when down in the dumpster, but it does not seem to phase my chronic pain.
I can’t remember who recommended the books about mind over matter with Dr. Sarno (and his follow up) but the problem for me is that I can’t do anything else while I’m focusing on mind over matter to get rid of my pain. So I really appreciate the opioid which does the same thing, but allows me to function while it removes the pain. I was talking about this with my doctor yesterday about how the pain felt in my brain it is relatively real, I have isolated the pain mostlyto my nerves, nerve sheaths, and my muscle fascia sheaths. They seem to be the network which transports the sensation of pain from the area which is aggravated, to my brain. The opioid interrupts the pain signal in my brain.
There is some pain for which this would not be a good idea. Pain is there to send us a message to change something. It needs to be heard and it needs to be acted on. However, there is some pain for which the medical industry provides no assistance and which just needs to be quieted.
I am grateful that I have a happy medium. You asked about antidotes: anything creative takes my mind away from where I don’t wanna be. working on my ancestry, cooking, painting, taking a slow walk, reading a good book not just a good book — an engaging book – anything that is so incredibly absorbing that I am 100% engaged. Maybe you could sit down and make yourself a list. Kind of like a bucket list, but not things you wanna do before you die things that are so engaging that you lose track of time and reality. I also love heat. I love my heating pad I love my little sauna. I love to kick the thermostat up and wrap myself in blankets with my dog (who absolutely hates being warm, lol). I love shiny objects or lights. I could sit and stare at the Christmas tree all night long. I can put on my favorite music mix and shut my eyes and get rid of my body.
I believe we are spiritual beings having a physical experience. If you can focus on being light like air and remove your head, your consciousness, or your awareness from your body, you may be able to interrupt the pain signals.. If you can focus on being light like air and remove your head or your consciousness or your awareness from your body, you may be able to interrupt the pain signals. Sounds like you may wish to do this without medicine. For me, I have no desire to suffer and I just want the pain signals to be gone without doing any damage to my body. medicine works just fine along with my doctors support.
Take care George’s wife, and get rest when you can. I find that pain is exacerbated when I am not well rested. Maybe you need a caregiver as well. If you use the next-door app and you are very careful, you can find some nice people that will come to friend you and give you a little respite. I see people helping each other all the time there! Good luck

Thank you George’s wife and loriesco….Your comments are inspiring and oh so true.

I feel I should offer one caveat. I too found great comfort and the ability to function with opioids. However, after relying on them for about two years, with the need to titrate upwards, I have found the digestion issues overwhelming. Already blessed with IBS and GERD, I can no longer tolerate the daily stomach cramps. Knowing what to eat and when is impossible to predict. So, with my doctor’s support, I am weaning off the oxycodone. When I am off it completely I’m hoping the doctor (PCP) and I can find a substitute that doesn’t have the digestive side effects. Tylenol and NSAIDs barely touch the pain.

In my case it’s lower back pain. Next week I’m having the M.I.L.D. procedure for stenosis. In the future I plan to try radio frequency ablation (RFA) for the arthritic pain.

It seems this post took a turn somewhere. You were asking about coping mechanisms. Empathy and Humor work best for me. If I’m trying to diffuse a situation I find humor is a great equalizer. Many compliments on 20 years of CRPS and still finding humor there. Empathy is the big one. If chronic pain teaches us anything, it’s empathy for our fellow sufferers. The irony for me, my wife that can no longer deal with my chronic pain is divorcing me for being a narcissist. One that is totally devoid of empathy in any way.