To want to knock my families heads together and actually just shake my sister until she gets it.

[ConfusedPixie]

I have had chronic pain in my knees since I was 10. It started spreading to other areas when I was 18, shortly after I left home. I'm now 23 and in constant pain. Normally low level so perfectly manageable and I can lead a normal life as long as I don't over work (I work 28hrs a week because of it these days though overworked before and suffered for it).

My family believe it is all in my head. I make things out to be worse than they are. There's actually nothing wrong with me. Etc.

I posted an FB status complaining about painkillers containing caffeine and finding it impossible to find some without. 'Little' sister then posts "maybe you shouldnt have so many painkillers then.. ?"

I just want to shake her until she gets the fucking point but she never will because none of them will, even my own mother who would comfort me in the early hours of the morning when I was crying and in pain through my teens.

AIBU to want to go home and keep knocking their heads together until they at least pretend to show an ounce of acknowledgement. I am fed up of watching what I say when I visit them. I gave up censoring my FB when I realised that actually, I should be able to have a moan on there and if they don't like it they can hide it! I should be able to tell my Mum about where I am with doctors on a diagnosis (when she asks!) without her saying "Oh it's fine, it's probably not that fibro-whatever you call it anyway!"

Gah. If you can think of a witty retort I'll ply you with (or if you prefer)

Loads of painkillers don't contain caffeine. Just get normal ibuprofen or paracetamol, codeine or diclofenic, it's only the plus one or advance ones that do. And all shops will stick them, supermarkets always do a generic brand which is without caffeine and a fraction of the price.

I'm sorry, does my posting about my healthy and painkillers insult you in some way, Dozer? What the actual fuck?

I am in pain 25/7/365 damn right I'm going to post about it on FB or Twitter sometimes.

Dozer that makes no sense. Why should you not post about those things?

Pixie I thought you were very controlled with your reply. I'd have told her to piss off.

Those are mostly anti inflammatories. Does the doctor think you have inflammation? Did the doctor explain that if you are on diclofenec or ibuprofen long term you need to take lanzloprozole (sorry cant remember spelling) to protect your stomach?

Paracetamol is an excellent painkiller. You just need to make sure you don't take more than one dose in four hours.

I was have Fibromyalgia pushed on me by GP and I nearly accepted it. Bit fab advice on a chronic pain board was to resist and keep pushing as there was no cure for Fibro and GPs used it for a catch all for anything they can't diagnose.

If I were you I would join these forums for advice and also to moan freely as they understand. It feels like a relief. I would push the GP for referrals for rheumatology and anything else - check the boards. Also check you have been tested for psoriatic arthritis, lupus, coeliac, Lymes disease and Chrohns. Any of these could give you joint pain and are testable by blood test. Also, ask for a referral for an allergy blood test.

Finally, order your groceries online. You can get a couple of packs of painkillers that way. And take management of your health. Part of you doesn't want to be this person who suffers from pain so when you don't you take a complete holiday from it and that's how you forget and run out of supplies! That's how it is for me!

Tee: That site is brilliant! And surprised to hear about ibuprofen and fibro, I must admit that I've always used it for reducing swelling but not killing pain, I remember a doctor telling me that it was great for swelling and it stuck in my head that paracetomol = pain, ibuprofen = swelling. It was only recently that I learnt ibuprofen was good for both

Pidj: I like that, I'll throw that in next time Congratulations on the newborn :) & thanks for the tip, I have a tesco express down the road from my normal accomodation but co op is two minutes closer so we usually go there lazy I'll pop by tomorrow on my way to work and see what they have :)

Oh kinky :( I know how lucky I have it at the moment as I can cope fine with over the counter painkillers at the moment.

mummymeister I think I may start telling them they are being rude, now I've started the process I'm going to be moaning taling about it and I don't want to defend myself or hide it any more.

Dozer: My health issues are a huge part of who I am and takeover my life, if people on my friends list don't like it there is a defriend button. Usually they get ignored which I'm fine with, I just want to moan after all

SirBoob Thanks I was impressed with myself for not responding to that comment! I don't know if you've seen her posting on my things before but she's generally rude and full on when she does. She's just the same in person too, it gets tiring.

Nynaeves: I do plan to push for the rheumatology and other things too, I have a list that I was given by MNetters of things to ask for testing on because they won't be forthright in offering. I am going to start by insisting on full basic tests and asking for physiotherapy and find out about referrals for various departments locally so I know exactly what to expect.

Thanks to everybody for your time btw, I do rant about things related to it a lot on MN and always get sound advice!

so sorry to hear about your chronic pain, Pixie, it is such a draining thing to have to experience. Constant low level pain is really exhausting and debilitating, and it doesnt help that most people with chronic pain have an 'invisible' condition.

You can't win - if you talk about it, you are a whinger; if you talk about it only rarely when it is really getting on top of you people assume that you are faking how bad it really is. At least that's my experience anyway, and I work in a disability support service!

Chronic pain is something that is really hard to understand and empathise with if you have never experienced it, I get that. But surely it is not that difficult to acknowledge that if someone tells you that they have chronic pain, they are not necessarily making it up just because you cant see a reason for it. Grrr.

I hope that you soon find a way to try and manage your pain more effectively Pixie.

They are ignorant fuckers.

It makes me so mad when people are like this. I have had M.E./CFS for 11 years. Even the people that have seen the effects don't fully get it. My grandad who doesn't see me at my worse anyway still doesn't get it and tells me that I am ok 90% of the time (I visit every couple of weeks for a couple of hours, how you can judge it in this time I don't know) although I know he believes it now as sometimes he mentions some reasearch he has read about.

YANBU, I would have to give some snippy reply to your ignorant sister and do so every time they do this. You shouldn't have to feel that you have to tip toe around them either, it is shocking that they have seen this for years and think you are not being truthful about it. I hope they don't need your support one day, cause they damn well shouldn't get it!

I like what purple said.

Sorry to have offended you with the anti moaning on fb comment I hope you find people online and in RL who are supportive and that you get better help from the Nhs than you've had so far.

Applying lots of heat to where the pain is worst works for me, and sleeping tablets at night because you can cope better with a full nights sleep. Your family sound like mine, my mother still can't accept my diagnosis so I don't talk to her about my health full stop because what she has to say is pointless, simple as.

Next time your sister makes a pithy comment, tell her to fuck off until she has something useful to say.