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Original poster

A place to whinge about chronic pain

251 replies

PliezReleaseMe · 24/03/2011 21:25

...so that I do less of it in real life.

For me it's hypermobile joints and particularly knee pain, have had it for 20 years & recently had surgery to correct it. Still too early to tell what impact it will have.

Right now though I just want to have a good old sob and a whinge and say that I am fed up of having to think about pain, manage pain, medicate for pain, find ways to overcome or push through pain. I am tired of having constipation/runs, hives, itchy skin and brain fog from pain meds. I am tired of having anxiety attacks because of frustration about my restricted mobility.

I know everyone gets aching joints, but there are times when the pain is so bad that I feel faint and nauseous.

Does anyone else manage chronic pain, the kind that no-one can promise will heal or get better? What strategies do you use?

OP posts:
canei22 · 21/04/2011 19:40

Hi everyone, didn't take the amytriptyline last night so spent the whole night waking up every hour. Am taking pain relief tonight and hope the omeprazole stop my stomach from being upset.

helibee hope you get your insurance sorted out, and the blood test isnt too bad.

I only had my steriod injection a few weeks ago to see if it would work, it has worn off already. So I have to go back to Gp and be refered to orthopaedic Dr. That means another 5 month wait!! Am getting to the end of my tether with all this.

pantaloons · 21/04/2011 20:04

canei, does the injection really only last that long? I've been waiting 12 months for mine and was hoping for at least 3-4 months releif. In fact, I've pretty much got every thing pinned on it. Bugger.

I've stupidly run out of cocodamol and am in huuugge pain tonight, so I'm off for a rummage through the medicine cabinet tub.

Take care.

canei22 · 21/04/2011 20:17

Hi pantaloons, when they give you the injection they say it might work well or not at all there is no way of knowing who it work for.

Hopefully you will be one of those people it works well for.

Hope you find something in your medicine box to help with your pain.

KatyMac · 21/04/2011 21:18

Hey chaps my Dad just had his 4th Discectomy & is out of hospital on just paracetamol 24hrs later

Wow - major surgery & paracetamol; he says the pain is so much less than before

CatPower · 21/04/2011 22:16

Fantastic news about your Dad, KatyMac! Fingers crossed his recovery continues as it started. :)

I'm just going to take my tramadol and go to bed. We're off to the Lakes tomorrow for the weekend and I volunteered to drive. Can't take the pills before I drive so the journey could be an absolute bundle of laughs. I'll keep you all posted. Hope you all manage to enjoy the good weather and self-medicate with tons of chocolate/wine - I know I plan to!

KatyMac · 21/04/2011 22:30

Thanks - he has been in such pain since it 'went' last year - it was soon after he had the last discectomy

Be careful tomorrow

HerRoyalHighnessPrincessCervix · 21/04/2011 22:38

evenin all.

i haven't taken any pain killers for a week Shock i decided they weren't doing much so stopped. and feel pretty much the same.. back still niggly and a bit crap if i have to sit for any length of time but not bad.

osteo has discharged me - not because i am fixed but because i wasn't improving any more (and i'm skint). and i went back to the gp and asked for a referral (end of june) to orthopod.

am going to bed now but will flick back and see how you are all doing.

pantaloons · 22/04/2011 07:27

HRH, I do wonder about pain killers sometimes. I try to take as few as possible, but find that when I get to a certain point the pilss make no difference. It tends to be the niggly pain they help with and I try to live with that for fear of pickling my insides!

Katymac, glad to hear about your Dad. Only taking Paracetamol must be brilliant and I guess before long he won't even need that?

Good luck with the driving Cat, I'm really missing it Tramadol or no! People keep saying "it won't feel like that long" but it bloody does and I haven't even started meds yet.

Have a lovely day everybody. My eldest (7) has decided she is going to throw us a party, so I she will be preparing that and I really need to try and get some weeding done. The house is on the market and the garden is starting to look like a wilderness!

helibee · 25/04/2011 20:48

Hi all hope you've had a good easter. My neck/shoulders are very sore but enjoyed an afternoon in Largs with ds and dn's this afternoon. I went in the wheelchair so was able to enjoy being out for longer.

confuddledDOTcom · 26/04/2011 00:41

Sad Really fed up! I've been sat at the kitchen table probably longer than I should, playing WoW for the first time in about 3 months as we had some friends over. Got up, walked about 4 steps and realised I can't weight bear on my right leg (the bad one with sciatica) had to shuffle/ hop/ lean on OH to get to the stairs then pull myself up backwards, he pulled me to my feet at the top and helped me shuffle/ hop to the loo and got me into bed. It really hurts Sad I'm a little scared as I've never been non-weight bearing before. I know it's probably from how I was sat but I've done it before and not felt this bad. Usually that leg is just numb, doesn't belong to me numb, not painful.

SparkyDuchess · 26/04/2011 00:44

Please can I join?

I'm 40, and have crohns disease and rheumatoid arthritis, both diagnosed formally 7 years ago although RA had been around in much milder form for a few years before that.

Areas affected are both shoulders, neck, hips, knees, feet, hands. Spine just starting to get involved.

I get so fed up with hurting all the time, particularly with not sleeping because of it. I'm dying to go to bed, but my left hip is driving me mad and I know I won't sleep and will keep DH awake while I try to get comfy.

I take 8 x 30/500 codeine/paracetamol daily, 8 x 50mg tramadol plus oramorph as and when I need it. Can't take anti-inflamatories due to crohns - could cry, a couple of voltarol would sort things out so quickly! 2 days later though, I'd be glued to the loo and struggling with Crohns joint pain.

I have lots of days where all I want to do is curl up under my duvet and hide, but I can't do that - family, job, etc.

Hopefully this is a nice place to have a little rant?

pantaloons · 26/04/2011 10:40

Hi Sparky, rant away, I know I do!

confuddled - Is there anything you can do, or is it just waiting and resting? Not sure what to say really, I know new symptoms are always a worry, but hopefully it will ease off over the next couple of days.

I've just done my daily round of telephone calls trying to get a date for my spinal injections and have been told it will be July - probably. It seems like a long way off, but at least it's a start. The lady I spoke to said they hadn't reinstated me from last years date, only from 3 weeks ago. So it's a good job I rang again.

Take care everyone.

thequeensspeech · 26/04/2011 13:18

so sorry to hear that so many of us are still suffering. pantaloons that is awful that you have to keep ringing to try and sort out the injections. I know from my own experience that trying to sort out various appointments be it with gps, consultants, x-ray departments etc make an already stressful situation worse.

sparky I know what you mean about wanting to curl up under the duvet. I wanted to do exactly that this morning and the thought of doing the school and nursery run and then going to work made me so depressed. All have been fine of course if I wasn't in pain. I have appointment with physio this afternoon, hoping she'll be able to help. After seeing so many people including throwing money at osteopaths I am not holding out much hope.

CatPower · 27/04/2011 20:29

Sparky, you have my sympathies, especially with the hip pain and never getting comfy in bed. Rant away, I've been finding it soooo helpful when I've ranted to DP so much I feel guilty.

I've not been too bad lately... well, in the sense that I managed a long weekend in the Lakes which involved a lot of walking with minimal discomfort (thanks to the tramadol, no doubt) and the few days since we got home have been a wee bit achy but nothing too bad... that is until tonight, when it's all I can do not to sit in the bath and cry. My hip is aching no matter how I sit, my knee and shin are throbbing and burning, the limp is ridiculous and no matter what I do I just can't get comfy for more than a minute at a time. I've taken 2 x 50mg tramadol and will take more very soon before bed, but right now I feel like I could happily take a chainsaw to myself and end this sorry mess. My next appt with my surgeon isn't until the 19th and I don't know what to expect at all. I'm still dieting/doing pilates, and I'm sure all the walking etc on holiday will have helped, but I'm just in a really moany/upset cycle and feeling like he'll delay my operation and tell me I have to lose half my body weight or something.

pantaloons · 27/04/2011 20:36

Cat, there must be something in the air. I spent half of last night awake with pain exactly the same as you describe. At the moment I'm trying hard to stay positive and keep telling myself that at least it's nothing life threatening, but then I think broken back, epilepsy and now my eyes going haywire. Surely that's enough already?!?

CatPower · 27/04/2011 20:55

Pantaloons I'm the same, I keep thinking I shouldn't be whining because hip dysplasia isn't life threatening but that doesn't stop it hurting. Moan moan moan.

In good news, my cat is due to have her kittens any day now so I'm hovering around her, waiting for the first signs of kitty labour. Nothing so far, other than washing herself a lot and being a huge lazy barrel-cat. :)

pantaloons · 27/04/2011 21:20

Cat, that's nice about your cat. Our 2 ewes are due this weekish. I had to my midwife bit on sunday as one of them had a prolapse. She's now got something not unlike a big plastic t up her bits holding it all in. Poor love!

helibee · 01/05/2011 02:59

I'm in lots of pain, just taken more meds but want to saw my knees off! :( and I want to sleep. I don't think that's too much to ask for! Sorry for moaning, I'm just so fed up of pain and lack of sleep at appropriate times, like when the rest of my family are sleeping [cangry]

Anyway hope everyone has had a good weekend and is enjoying the lovely weather. Ds may or may not have chicken pox. He has very tiny spots and some seem to have scanned and are pus looking but they are not much bigger than pinpricks. Its very weird and I'm not sure whether to keep ds home from nursery or not on Tuesday. This has been going on since wed lunchtime!

shitmagnet · 01/05/2011 11:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mandy2003 · 01/05/2011 19:55

SparkyDuchess - I just saw your post from Tuesday and I wondered - doesn't taking opiate painkillers freeze up your bowels and therefore aggrevate the Crohns?

helibee · 11/05/2011 23:05

Hi everyone. How have you been? Ive had a bad few weeks pain wise and had some bad news from the gynaecologist. My Fallopian tubes are blocked with adhesions caused from the emergency c section and the miscarriage. So now only hope of having another baby is either IVF or getting them to try and unblock my tubes and trying clomid again (conceived ds with clomid)! :( feel very sad and in pain. Anyway hope you've all had a good few weeks and a good bank holiday weekend

CatPower · 11/05/2011 23:19

Oh helibee, what horrible news. Sad Have some unMumsnetty hugs from me. Take your time to decide what course of action would be right for you. xxxx

onlyjoking9329 · 17/05/2011 01:02

I posted this in general health but thought here might be a better place.

I've been ill and in bed since December, the neuro has done a scan and ruled out MS and brain tumours which was a Huge relief. They're still not sure what's causing the disabling painful frequent spasms on my left hand side.or that light, touch, movement and sound trigger the spasms. My right eye is bad as is locked shut due to spasms or to shut out the light
There are also points on my body, back of the neck and all of left side that cause spasms if touched, this also happens if I put any weight on my left toes, physio says that my tendons have shortened considerably meaning I can't straighten left leg and so can't get my left heel to the floor
Having doing some research we think it is Dystonia.
We've read about Dystonia on netdoctor and I tick all the boxes for it, but the neuro didn't consider dystonia and are trying to say it's a physiological neurological thing. I don't agree with him and neither do other people who know me well. It's looking likely that we will have to go private as I'm not able to get to the hospital and my current consultant doesn't do home vists.
Does anyone recognise my symptoms?
TIA.
Hope it's ok to post this here as I didnt get much response on the general health section and this looks more fitting.
Hello to all fellow pain sufferers.

CatPower · 17/05/2011 07:34

Hi Onlyjoking,

I wish I did recognise your symptoms as then I could offer you some proper help, but I'm afraid I don't. Sad What a nightmare it must be for you, not just the enduring the symptoms but also not having an "official" diagnosis and treatment yet. Can you get a second NHS opinion from another neurologist, rather than going private straight away? What are your GP's thoughts on it all? I really hope that you're getting decent meds for the pain if nothing else at the moment. Fingers crossed you also find a sympathetic neurologist very soon.

I'm seeing my surgeon again on Thursday morning, although I'm not too sure what to expect. At my last appointment I had lots of xrays taken, advised I would be put on the list for peri ascetabular osteotomy, and he advised me to try to tone up my waist muscles.

I've tried my best with that, have been doing pilates and changed my diet completely, but other than that I'm not sure what he's going to say. He did ask that I bring DP with me to this appointment as he wants to make him aware of the level of care I'll need post-op and at home.

DP and I have discussed everything and we're clear on the need to tell the surgeon just how debilitating the pain/limping is. At the moment I can't plan for anything - not even my car insurance renewal! - because we don't know when I'll get the op, how long I'll be off my feet etc (no point in insuring the car if it's going to be off the road for four months). Even longer-term things... I'd like to have another child, we are vaguely dancing around the subject of getting married "one day", things like me going back to work (or having another baby) etc etc... I can't make any solid plans for anything with this operation on the horizon. Then there's the fact that eventually my right hip will go the same way as the left one has, which means I'll need another PAO, then the pins removed after a year... so the cycle will just begin again.

Sorry for the moaning. I didn't realise really how much this is getting to me. I also need to collect more Tramadol from my GP (though may ask for the slow-release type - does anyone have any experience of it?) today so am a bit antsy without my beloved painkillers! Grin

Really hope everyone's doing okay this morning.

CatPower · 21/05/2011 11:40

Just a quick update. I saw a different surgeon on Thursday who insisted on examining my hip again. After a lot of poking, twisting and prodding, he thinks my muscles and tendons are inflamed due to the limping/trying to protect the muscles etc. He's referred me to radiology to get a steroid injection into my groin (where a lot of my tendon and muscle pain seems to be). Has anyone else had this?

I haven't lost enough weight, which I was pretty much expecting. The surgeon says I'm scheduled in for the PAO "at the end of the year" which, although it's a long time to wait, it's good to have a rough idea of when to expect it.

In the meantime, I've bought myself a rowing machine! The surgeon recommended it, says it'll help to regain some strength and help with my weight loss and fitness. It is just about killing me, but in a good way (I think!). Apart from that I'm just to continue with my tramadol and hope the steroid injection helps.

How's everyone else doing?