Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

@chatnoirkc Don't give in. Be strong. I am in the same boat. My pain is off the charts and has stollen my ability to walk. After 2 years I am finally scraping myself off the pavement. I after 5 social workers have found my "Life Coach" I can't go back to the old me because it is not possible. So I have to start a new chapter and figure out how to work around my physical short falls. If you can find one that works with you it can be a life changer. Think about it. It is good to talk these thoughts out with someone who can relate. Or reach out to the group as they always have great words of encouragement. God Bless you!

Hi my name is Lilly. I want to know if anyone has had decompression of L 4 and L 5 ? I had surgery in Feb. of this year and now have a lot of pain in my lower leg back and buttock with throbbing pain to my bilateral extremities. Can’t stand any longer than 10 min..

Have had chronic pain for the last 20 years or so. Feels like a kidney stone, but there is none there. Always interested in new methods of relief.

@laura1970 I agree with the person who didn't want you to give up. Giving up might seem like a way to go but it is not to a helpful track. It's not uncommon to ponder some type of escape. When something hurts it is very upsetting.

It's a good sign that you came here. Feel free to ask questions of others on what has helped them. Try to enjoy something/s every day. In a coping type class I took awhile back one suggestion seemed especially good. First, because it's easy to do & can be done anytime. It was to give yourself a comfy caring hug as often as you like. Be your own best friend and say nice things to yourself that sooth you. Even sing a song to yourself out loud or in your head. Humming is a universal self smoother. Science confirms it too. Please keep hanging in there. People do care about you always. Hope you find some help soon.

Hello,
I am just joining this group. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you. Like the Holy Spirit, chronic pain has been my constant companion for the last 40 years or so. Much of it stems from child abuse. Then a bad fall injured my spine and put me in a wheelchair for 10 years on a ton of opiates. I got off of the opiates in 2014 which caused 9 1/2 hours of seizures, 2 strokes, and 5 wks in a coma. Such a blessing. It left the low back damage numb and I got out of the wheelchair, but left with dystonia in the left leg (severe palsy cramping of the muscles). I have adult onset epilepsy. I’ve had a heart condition that’s electrical for 26 years and just got an implant to monitor it. I went back to school in 2018 to make sure my brain was still working correctly. Went back to work for the IRS. Had my right hip replaced in 2023 from arthritis. That was about my 58th surgery. Fibromyalgia, peripheral neuropathy, and arthritis have all been my friends for many many years. I got new glasses January of 2023 and found out I had very bad cataracts from all of the steroid pain injections. Christmas Eve of 2024, the stairwell light was out at my apartment and I didn’t see the last two stairs. I walked off into nothingness; landed on my knees, and all of that excruciating nerve pain in my low back that had kept me wheelchair bound instantly came back. I was hoping it would go back to being numb… but no such luck. It also really irritated the severe stenosis in my neck and that pain was radiating down into the fingers of my right hand. I had cataract surgery in March of 2025. I refuse to take pain meds … so I have been wheelchair bound and off of work since March 2025. I was able to get pain shots in the low back which have allowed me to walk short distances only. The pain is centralized right at my tailbone now and radiates out from there. My neck is a different banana. I found out yesterday that it requires surgery… three vertebrae will have to be excised and replaced and a second surgery will be required somewhere down the line. So! That’s me! I’m almost always in a good mood. I have excepting techniques. I have only shared the highlights with you. I believe God has the foresight which we lack and that everything happens for a reason. We have to be our own best advocates and be grateful for the things we do have … because it can always worse. It’s nice to meet you all!

Oh my gosh! After all your suffering you still have a great attitude. May God continue giving you strength to face your situation.

@lillym I hope you’re getting opinions from someone other than your surgeon. I had that surgery and got relief, so it isn’t necessarily catastrophic.

@pierwell

Hello, I am Jerry from Texas and I have suffered from chronic pain for years due to Psoriatic Arthritis and Osteoarthritis.

I’ve already had x-rays that shows bone on bone to left hip and I have to wait until the neurologist does the MRI to rule out the chronic pain from the decompression of l 4 and l 5. I know one thing for sure ; I’m tired of all this pain. I’ve been on a walker over a yr. now.