I have fatigue. I sleep for 10 to 12 hours. And i don't have energy to do much. I read a lot. I do research and i like to share information. I moved 5 hours away from my friends. I used to be a clinical nutritionist in a hospital. So i have to motivate myself. How do you handle your fatigue.

The thing that takes away the pain the most and helps with the fatigue is an indoor swimming pool. I joined a community center and try to get into the pool 3 times a week. Of course, when I get home I am exhausted but just being somewhere I can move without pain lifts my spirits. What I hate is the way the fatigue from pain has changed my personality. Grumpy, irrational and angry at the world. I don't sleep well since I worry about everything, including the cuts in prescribing opioids since I'm not dying from cancer. Why don't docs understand that pain causes fatigue!<br />
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I am sorry to hear about your condition. If nothing has worked you or your doctor might look for help in Europe or other countries. I remember seeing the story of a boy about 13 or 14 years old who had a neurological condition which could not be treated here. Any movement or even a slight breeze blowing on him would cause extreme pain for him and the pain shots were not helping that much. His family took him to France where they tried some experimental treatment that is not used here and he finally got relief. <br />
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What I am trying to say is don’t give up until you have tried every possible method and even some impossible ones. You never know when you might find relief. Did you see the earlier post about someone who got their doctor to try stem cells injected into their back and with time this caused the back to rebuild or regenerate her nerves. Of course this was expensive and took time, but it helped her. I will pray for you to find relief soon.<br />
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I have been in chronic pain for 33 years. I have had 8 spinal surgeries, c-2 to c-7, l-1 to s-1. Now they want to go after t-1to t-3 acd hook on to bottom or c-7, I don't think I can take any more pain. All the surgeries did was to stablize my back but it keeps collapsing? Brian

Hello Excentrk, I am so sorry to say this, but I know exactly what you are feeling! I am a 63 yo disabled guy who has suffered from a systemic arthritis since I was 5 years old. I had my first explosion of arthritis at 5, my second at 28, and the last one at 48. The last one left me crippled so badly I had to use an electronic wheel-chair to try to get around, I was diagnosed as having an "Unspecified form of arthritis, fibromyalgia, and finally type two diabetes when I was 48. I have seen over 100 doctors to try to get some help to control the pain and it wasn't until I moved to Tucson, that I actually found a doctor who believed that soft tissue problems could cause pain. I have so many spurs in my spine that the doctors and the specialists ruled out any operation because it was "too risky."

Believe me I know how chronic pain can drain one of any energy. The only thing the doctor's can do is prescribe more and more narcotic pain killers for me, but I hate to take them as they really mess up my head as well as my insides. I am so tired of fighting this pain everyday and since I am on disability it is so hard to make ends meet. I sleep close to 20 hours a day now and everytime I see the doc, he tells me how I have to start exercising -- but provides no answer on how to deal with the pain or the fatigue. My pain number is always a 10 or a 15 on a 1 to 10 scale. I just don't know what to do any more. I've tried everything on market to help ease the pain, and have spent all my savings on every new "miracle": cure, but here I am still crippled up.

Thanks for listening everyone. Please forgive me for 'crying' on your shoulders I know a real man is supposed to be able to handle all of this without whining! I just wish I could help others get through this horrible time in our lives....;Best Wishes to everyone, and I will continue to pray for everyone!

Excentrk I am so happy that you can walk those 2 blocks. I hurt so much my walking gait is only 4 to 6 inches. I look like an Ape when I walk because i am so bent over. That's one of my most frustrating points: my doctor thinks I should be able to use a treadmill or even lift weights, but by the time I park and walk to the gym, I am so tired I almost would fall over. Imagine if you can trying to walk 100 feet only taking a 6 inch step each time. I don't know why these Doctors can't or won't understand what it is like to take a 6 inch step, -all the time. Anyway You are doing Great! I pray you can keep it up.

Best Wishes,
Bob815c

WOW!!!!!! <br />
I can not even image what your days are like!! I am so lucky to only have MY pain! I read somewhere that if you throw all your problems in a Pail and could see everyone else's....you would be glad to grab yours back!!!! How true that is! Thanks for opening my eyes tonight .things can always be worse! And sometimes or some days we get cought up in our own pain. And yes I to am on a fixed income. This is never easy cause you want to try everything hoping that this time just maybe..... You sound links me, I'm always trying to find what is new to try. That's why I like this site you don't have to worry who your dealing with. I've found lots of good information. Hope to here from you again. Here's to better nights sleep then the last. Yours, sharon

Constant pain effects us all differently and with the legislature pushing to stop opioids plus the higher cost for medication it becomes a major battle from day to day. I just read of a couple in the South where they could not afford pain medicine for his wife so he killed her then notified family and called the police. They are in their 70's or more. If I was on his jury I could not find him guilty. In the past she had said she wanted to die the article said. Very sad and needless, all for greed. 19lin

Absolutely! I am sorry or your pain. And no one understands how exhausting daily pain can be. It is socially isolating. It steals quality of life.

Hello, I was also taking the same medications for both of the same diseases & others. My doctor prescribed me 1800 MG of Gabapentin, which I thought was ridiculous. I also take Tramadol, 200MG, which only takes some of my pain away. I first started having problems after being rear-ended by a truck in 2008. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Since then, I was side-impacted by a Ford super-duty truck, then rear-ended while I was parked 10 months later. I also have SLE/Lupus, Sjogrens, Cervical/Lumbar Herniated discs, Pinched nerve/w no reflex in my right arm, DDD, Carpal Tunnel Chronic Pain Syndrome, Carpal Tunnel, Chronic Tendonitis since my accident in wrist/forearm/elbow. Cervical torn ligaments in both accidents, completely torn ligament in the left ankle, my legs swell to the point that I can't walk, Small Fiber Neuropathy, Peripheral Neuropathy, Dry Eye Syndrome, Sciatica. My neck area started swelling after the 2nd accident, and my doctor thought I had tumors. He thought I had a Clavicular fossa mass. I had an ultrasound done, Myositis. Lumps form on my chest since my second accident. No one could tell me what they were! They are muscle spasms. When I turn my neck just a little bit, my clavicular area swells into huge mountains. My neck started getting stuck. Tendons started protruding from my neck during spasms. When my Trapezius and Latissimus Dorsi spasms, I have trouble breathing. I have more problems than I can remember & it's not because I don't take care of myself, it's because of car accidents. The only good thing is, that both drivers admitted fault & their insurance paid to have my car fixed. I get Botox injections every 3 months since my second accident. My pain management doctor doesn't care. I take Tizanidine muscle relaxer, which gives me minimal relief. I literally fall out of bed every day because I'm in so much pain & so fatigued. I also have Hyperparathyroidism. The spasms had my pulse up to 121, my BP elevated, which is bad for my organs, and constant inflammation in my body from the Lupus. I always turned down medication, but I'm 52, in pain 24 hours a day & I feel like I'm going crazy. I'm still in disbelief of all the extra problems that I have since the accidents, especially the last one. My claustrophobia has gotten worse to the point that, I felt like I was shrinking during an MRI & I panicked, My head started getting smaller. I drive my disabled daughter to school 23 miles away. I just look straight ahead & pray. I wear compression sleeves from the swelling of my wrists/forearms, which was caused by banging my arms on the steering wheel, then literally falling onto the steering wheel in the 2nd accident. I'm just frustrated, tired, in pain, scared & disappointed. I'm sorry you are in pain!

@excentrk hello. I am new here. Just joined connect 2 days ago
I am SO fatigued from constant pain as well. I too take tramodol. I have for the last 5 years, but 50 mg tablets. I now take 2 per day. Sometimes they help my excruciating chronic back pain. Sometimes they don’t
I sustained 7 spinal compression fractures 6 years ago, due to severe osteoporosis from taking prednisone for many years for a chronic illness, ulcerative colitis . Had 2 surgeries (kyph) which did help a lot. But I am still left with back pain every day. It has been a monumental struggle. For the first two years I could only walk with a walker. Now I can walk half an hour at a time, sometimes one hour, w/o walker, then take a tramodol and rest. I only use the walker first thing in the AM, to help me out of bed
I wish I knew other people who have suffered compression fractures so I could find out what works for them