Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

@artscaping

It's hard to understand why some of us get hit with so many things.

Have you discussed the possibility of a spinal cord stimulator implant? It's really helped me. Burst DR is a new technology to look at. It's what I have, and I don't have any sensation of it working. Other types give a constant vibration that's very annoying.

Jim

Abby I didn't have knee surgery I had a tumor removed from inside of spine cord I say they cut the spine apart glued and screwed it back together sorry to hear of your pain my pain is for life certain surgery the pain is for life. I have been looked at it as tomorrow is a new day I do the best I can trueheart

Hi Jim, Thanks so much for your support and suggestions. I have researched and mentioned the Burst DR to my neurologist. That was before my (SFN) Small Fiber Neuropathy diagnosis. It doesn't appear that it would help with the Myofascial pain. I will discuss it with him again in March. Don't forget to remind me. (just teasing).

Hi, Colleen and Kelsey. I am a male 74 years old. I just joined and posted in reply to another tinnitus sufferer. I had a spinal fracture, which has a proper name but it escapes me at the moment, about two years ago from improper lifting a very heavy object, and due to my doctors receptionist forgetting to make the appointment for me with a surgeon in a hospital for spinal surgery plus other delays not in my control resulted in a five month delay between the injury and surgery. He did a procedure of injecting a substance which hardened and lifted the affected spinal area to its correct distance between vertebra, but I have been getting random pains in various areas of my back, when I bend over to do something on one side of my back in the soft area between my ribcage and hip bone, up from there in another area on the same side alongside my backbone when I do something else, and a couple of other places, and these pains get worse the longer I do whatever I'm doing. I sit in my recliner for 15-20 minutes and the pain is gone but when I resume the activity, such as washing dishes, or doing something down on one knee, or bending over to pick things up off the floor, the pain comes back. Painkillers of any kind doesn't touch it. Aspirin works for a back ache but doesn't affect this stuff.

My name is Janis, I’ve had chronic pain for 20 plus years. My paim stimulater was inplanted 1/17.
It rins the entire length of my spine. It does help dealing with the pain, no it don’t stop the pain it help my brain to deal with it.
I also have rods, played and screwd in my clavicle tje help my pain going down my left arm. Also me lower back as well. With in the last two plus years my paim has increased from my geet to my hands and shoulders. I just keep moving, I know one day I may be in a wheelchair. I’m 57

@janiss Hi, janiss. That's a rough one you have, I think. But on the other hand, with some help and support from the rest of us on this line you really have something you can offer the world. I hate to say it, but your experience of dealing with pain, and the frustration of wondering what's coming down the pike next, can be a real lift for others in the same boat....er... And there are many out there who need a friend, a little support of words, touching by simply knowing and recognizing. Anyway, You may be the one who helps some folks keep going when times are very very tough. Honestly, we all need you.

Hi Larry I,M lioness I had a L2fracture in my back the Dr.wanted to inject same substance but I refused. I have the same symptoms now ,it's been 12 year since my fracture.I lay down in afternoon for 30 minutes but can't @don't lift,wash to many dishes at a time and don't do all my floors like I use to ,you have to learn to pace yourself I did. With a fracture ,the backs aren't the same as when they where whole.

@janiss

It's hard to understand what others experience, especially with regard to pain. I imagine that the stimulator is helping at some level, though my own experience has been that it doesn't do the whole job.

I have autonomic and small fiber peripheral neuropathy, which is a progressive disease, so I have no knowledge of what a year may bring. I'm trying not to obsess over it, but it's hard not to think about it.

Do your doctors have any other options to offer you?

Jim

I am 66 years old and have been a pain patient for about 30 years. I am a cancer survivor and almost every disk and vertebrae of my back is in bad shape. I also have artritis, worn out hip and worn out knees. I've had about 9 surgeries, some more successful than others. I am a patient at the M Health Pian Clinic where I had a pump installed last spring.

Reading through these posts I hear a lot of hopelessness and a lack of confidence in doctors and other medical institutions. It’s hard to break out of hopelessness and loneliness. It’s really hard when doctors run from you because they have experienced their forms of hopelessness when treating pain patients or they are afraid of prescribing pain meds. I went through a lot of this. I’ve been a pain patient for more than 20 years. Finding the right doctor changes everything. I don’t know where folks are located but for me winning the pain treatment marathon happened when I got treatment at the Pain Clinic at M Health in Mpls. They didn’t treat me like a criminal because I wanted medication to treat my pain. They understood I had tried everything else, PT, massage, rolfing, injections,ect.ect. ect. They medicated me until the meds stopped working and then they gave me my pump which is really great.

I found several alternative therapies that may not have extincted my pain but they did help end my depression around the pain and gave me a much more positive attitude. I plan to add to this later but now I have to go to the gym. Love and blessings to everyone in this group and see this message.

I did go the gym today, twice. The first time i did 55 minutes on the NuStep cross trainer. It’s a wonderful device. I can’t walk more than 20 feet without using a cane and even with a cane it gets very painful very fast. (I love going to the grocery store daily as It gives me social contacts and the carts make really good walkers.) Sorry, I digress. The NuStep positions your body, (seated, recumbent),in such a way that your back is not loaded at all. You work your arms with a push pull motion and your legs while pushing forward. After an hour or so I’m dripping sweat and feeling the effects on my one good lung. I’ve only been doing this for 3 weeks and it’s getting stronger already. My cancer treatment gave me chronic hospital pneumonia which left me with COPD and my right lung collapsed and the diaphragm paralyzed. With only one to work with I need to make it stronger.

After my workout I took my 31 year old son who has Down’s syndrome to work at the Pizza Barn where he has been a dish washer for the ;last 15 years. Then I went back to the gym for a complete massage with coconut oil and hot rocks. Massage won’t cure your pain issues but think about it. When you have chronic pain how often does your whole body feel really great for a solid hour? Every muscle, every joint every pore on your skin is transformed into an instrument of pleasure. We’re usually happy to just not hurt. This is way beyond just not hurting. This is pleasure. Your body, the source of your pain, the source of all your displeasure and you depression is transformed into the source of your pleasure. The warm oil, the hot rocks the masseuses powerful and skilled hands. It’s just wonderful.

Alternative therapies like Massage, Qigong, Yoga, Thi Chi, Acupuncture, tapping, (Thought Field Therapy), and Healing Touch may not cure you. They might not replace your drugs or your spinal stimulator or your surgeon but they do all contribute to improving your general sense of well being and when that happens your pain or your experience of your pain lessens and improves. These alternatives may not be founded in modern science, you may nor be able to test them and produce repeatable results but they are not scalpels and pills nor are they parlor tricks and yes they don’t work for everyone. You’re dealing with nontraditional healers and you must have confidence in them and in what they do. They are bringing you gifts that existed for thousand s of years before there was modern medicine. Many of the oldest come from the east where they had highly organized bureaucracies, organized cities and libraries while we of European descent were still running around hitting each other with rocks. These are not stupid peoples. They hung on to things like Qigong because they work.

I don’t use Homeopathy. I do or have used Qigong, massage, Cranial sacral Release, Yoga, Tapping and Healing Touch. In fact, tomorrow afternoon I’ll be receiving Healing Touch for an hour and a half and I’ll be getting from a RN who has worked at our local Fairview clinic for years.

I’m in pain right now as a result of my workout. However the trade off is worth it. The exercise and the massage elevate my mood so much that dealing with my pain is easier. In many periods over the past 20 years I have been as miserable and hopeless as anyone who checks in here. I have all of modern medicine and several great doctors at my disposal and we have run out of answers. They do all they can and they do a great job but I still have significant pain. There are other answers to turn to and not just alternative therapies. It gets down to individual choices and attempts to improve ones mood and one’s outlook of life. The only alternative I refuse to entertain is to give up.

I wish you all Love and Blessings.

Hello @wsh66, Thank you for sharing such an inspiring story. I love your outlook and your ability to look on the bright side with a willingness to try alternative therapies to find something that gives you some relief. I have trouble walking very far without pain from my lower back. I have been using a recumbent exercise bike four to five times a week for 30 minutes in the morning to keep up my leg strength but the NuStep Crosstrainer you mention sounds like it would be even better since it also helps with the arms. I think I'm going to have to check out the local gyms to see if one is available. Thanks again for all your suggestions and sharing what treatments you have used.

John