Can we have a chronic pain topic please?

[DunravenBadger]

I've seen a couple of threads about this where MN have said they're "interested" in what's being said but nothing ever comes of it. Posts get lost on the general health board and chronic pain / limited mobility doesn't come under "special needs".

I'd be interested, but I wonder if there would more 'traffic' in General Health?

I've posted in Autoimmune about painful inflammatory arthritis. That's had a couple of long, informative threads.

So very unhelpfully, I'm not really sure.

@TheLaughingGenome have you found Autoimmune or General Health more helpful for you to use? I'm not quite sure from your post, sorry.

I think Autoimmune, but I'll join in a thread on General Health if I happen to spot it and it's relevant.

Hi OP

Many thanks for raising this - we think it's a really good idea.

We open new topics once we're sure that they will be used.

We will keep an eye on this thread and if enough people show interest and would use the new topic, then we will discuss introducing it.

Thank you @LilyMumsnet. I've read a few threads over the years where people have mentioned it and a fair few people commented, including Mumsnet but nothing happened. Problem is when threads are in site stuff, it's not always seen by others as most of us (myself included) don't generally read this board.

I would love that

Hi OP

You're welcome to post it in the general health topic - flag it to us when it's busy and we'll take a look!

HI @LilyMumsnet, I started a chronic pain thread in the general health topic. There is a lot of interest in the chronic pain board so I was wondering if you'd look into it please?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/4161868-Would-anyone-be-interested-in-a-chronic-pain-board

Hi @DunravenBadger thanks, that's really helpful.

@soniamumsnet

Here is another thread with lots of people interested in a chronic pain board.

There's a thread in AIBU with nearly 300 comments asking for one - please can you do this!

This one. Lots of support.

AIBU in thinking that Mumsnet needs a Chronic Pain Board http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/amiibeingunreasonable/4177599-AIBU-in-thinking-that-Mumsnet-needs-a-Chronic-Pain-Board

I'd use it.

Oops! Thanks folk. I forgot to actually link the thread

I would love this please.

This would be amazing

Please do this

Me too

Count me in.

I would definitely use it. There are so many chronic conditions with a variety of symptoms that just having a thread isn't enough.

I've already noticed suggestions in the threads we have of things I've already said which haven't been noticed, but newer posts saying the same thing are, it's too easy to miss things in one thread and it makes it harder for new people to feel they can join in. With a board people can join in with the posts about things that affect them.

I don't claim PIP for example and I find every FB group I'm in about my condition end up just being neverending conversations about benefits and I feel like I then don't fit in. It's also hard to want to post about having a good day when everyone else is having a bad day, separate threads within one board then makes this side of things much easier for everyone to join in.

Please help us out @mnhq

Please please @MNHQ we need this

Yes please!

Can we have an update on this mnhq? There's two fairly lengthy threads now in general health and aibu so support is there for one.
I very much want it!

@MNHQ

Your response was exactly what you told me 6 months ago and 12 months ago, both on separate occasions when I tried to gather momentum for a chronic pain section.

Take responsibility and OWN THIS!!

Hi All,

I've just realised I've had an email from MNHQ regarding this. Sadly this was their response:

Hi DunravenBadger, and thanks for the suggestion for a new Chronic pain section. We're doing a fair amount of work to reduce the number of areas on the Talk boards and we're not planning on launching new boards for a while. However, it's great to see that the Chronic pain request thread has turned into a support thread and seems to be working well.

So for now, could we suggest that you start a thread called,
Chronic illnesses & pain support thread and see how it goes?

There's already a model for this type of thread from the Mumsnetters who are doing the Cancer support series.
The Chronic illness and pain support thread could go in either General Health or perhaps in the Autoimmune area (where we might be able to pin it).

Let us know your thoughts - we think the support provided in a thread or threads is a good idea, and there's definitely a demand for it. We'd like to check the popularity and usefulness of support threads for now and return to the idea of a new section once we've seen how these go.

Kind regards,
Michael.
MNHQ