Working with chronic pain?

@jdbarr1
I can empathize with your dilemma. What type of work do you do and what have you been diagnosed with/treated for? How long is your gap of not working? Have you formally applied for SSDI?

I'm so sorry to hear that. I feel your pain Parrot i'm 67 have an active property casualty insurance license in Pennsylvania and I'm working for an agency that's great but they don't provide me any leads and I can't go door to door Can I only have AP and C license. And I'm trying to do the same work remotely and I can't find anybody i'm trying to make just a couple 100 bucks a week part time. You're young try and get better I did get a little better but not enough to work I felt if I was younger I would recover better. I'm listening and watching for responses here as well Hopefully you get some help. Good luck.

Have you tried pain management yet. I was in chronic pain and felt that my life was a see saw, one day I couldn’t do anything because of the pain and another day I wanted to get my old life back. I finally found a happy medium after going to pain management and finding a regimen of meds that helped with pain without interruption of a normal life. I suggest getting into pain management and looking for a solution of medication that will work for you.

Can you explain more about what pain management actually is? Is it just medications, is it PT, is it meditation, is it a combination of these and more?

When you enroll in pain management you sign a contract with the department that states that you will not seek treatment elsewhere for your pain treatment. Your physician is usually a physician that is trained in anesthesia. He will evaluate your situation and recommend pain medication or treatment specific to your problem. If you are prescribed medication such as opioids you will follow a specific schedule to take your medication. Part of your agreement is that you are subject to random drug screenings to insure that you are compliant with your meds.
I suffered from pain for years until I went to pain management. I have been doing it for 12 years and I can live a normal life with it.

Here’s my view and my story: back in 2010 I began having chronic pain which interfered with my work. I applied for SSDI. I was denied three times then I needed a total hip replacement. I thought I would get better And go back to my aggressive physical work as an artist. Turns out every other year I was having major surgeries, and the recuperation time was getting longer between work. I had my own business and the work and income lessened. I finally got used to the surgeries and the lack of business coming my way. Then I asked for my doctors help which went nowhere. Then I finally gave up and just focused on recuperations and how I could muddle by. I had saved all of my earnings so I was in decent shape.. I never did recover enough to be able to do my work and earn a living wage and I had chronic pain so I was on low-dose opioid. Dealing with that I was always very careful. Finally 13 years later I received a financial award because my husband passed away from the SSA. I had given my Social Security back in 2023 so that’s good because my Social Security can earn more till I’m 70 when I will be taking it. And lose the widows pension. When I was in my 50s in 2010, I got misinformation about attorneys. I was told that attorneys who help you with SSDI take a portion of the proceeds for the rest of your life. That was incorrect information. They just take a fee and it might even be from the SS a side if you win. I should have sought out an attorney because my degenerative disc disease is permanent and I would’ve never gotten back to work to do my aggressive artwork when I started the first joint replacement and was suffering debilitating pain in 2010. my advice is to seek out legal counsel who deals with SSDI and see if your case merits suing the SSA for your permanent disability. Since I worked for myself, I never qualified nor paid in to the temporary state disability, so I can only go for the federal permanent disability. There is a temporary state disability (I live in California I don’t know about your states.) I always felt that needing to be on opioids for chronic pain that could never be fixed in my tailbone qualified me for permanent disability. I always felt that I should not be forced to work while on opioids because if there was an auto accident as an example I could be liable. The system does not make sense and sometimes you have to fight for your rights. Additionally, you have to be in a state whose politicians in laws are common sense and support common sense thinking and policies.

My gap is 3 years.

I formally applied for ssdi and its been several years waiting. 1st hearing coming up with a very tough judge.

I was an urban planner.

I just don’t know how to apply for accommodations when my pain doesn’t correlate with movement. Im thankful for your response/empathy.

Thank you for your empathy and understanding

Pain management doctor just wanted to inject me with steroids without even evaluating me 🙁 Working on a second opinion now

Sure!

Pain management doc just wanted to inject me with steroids which he did.

But overall I have done meditation, massage, tylenol, muscle relaxers, biofreeze gel, tricyclic antidepressants, physical therapy etc