The Pain of being Overweight
The other evening I watched a movie about a teen who researched a school population on the issue of obesity. By wearing what was called a "fat suit" she was able to transform her slender proportionate body into one of a heavyset female and interact with various social groups within a local school. The students--some actually her friends--didn't recognize her.
She quickly began to realize the painful difficulties many heavyset people go through. The cruel jokes and rediculous comments kids spewed from their mouths, the non-verbal and judgemental postures often demonstrated by thin people cut deep and left lasting impressions. It was true -- slender people had no clue what it was like to be overweight. I felt it was a very good movie and really left the viewer with food for thought.
Pain patients are also seen through judgmental eyes. Just read the pain management and migraine boards here on WebMD and you can see and feel the hurt experienced by those in pain. Healthcare providers often label their patients and treat them with disrespect. People are denied treatment and accused of being drug-seekers. Employment opportunities are denied for capable and willing people because they are seen as more of a liability than an asset on their workforce. Loved ones and friends turn their back on family members in pain while others become accusatory and demonstrate their ignorance regarding issues of addiction, dependence and tolerance.
Unfortunately there are folks out there who are drug seekers and it is they who make it so difficult for true pain victims to find adequate treatment programs and physicians willing to manage their care.
It is not uncommon to find heavyset folks suffering from at least a couple of painful physical problems. It doesn't mean their weight was the cause of their conditions; however, their weight may be a contributing factor. Regardless of whether a person is heavy or light, they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. They should not be made to suffer any more than they already are.
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60 Comments:
My wife went through this (no pain management)for a ridiculously long period of time and was labeled a "doctor shopper" because she went from one doctor who refused to treat her pain to another. This went on for approximately 10 years before she found actual help in the form of an office that did nothing BUT treat pain. This was not a pain clinic, but a doctors office(about 8 doctors) with doctors who had degrees in things like "pain management" and the like. I guess it IS a pain clinic, they just don't call it that. All the other doctors she saw in these 10 years all wrote her off as "fat" and/or "crazy" saying it was all in her head. Well, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and her pain level is usually twice mine. Yes, she is very much overweight. Super Obese even. But that started as being a bit overweight to obese then to morbidly obese and so on, as she could no longer get any exercise after her disease progressed. The pain was too bad to move, let alone exercise. And SHE has the knee replacement, not me. She not only has degenerative arthritis, but Fibromyalgia(a condition most doctors still don't seem to recognise or even "believe" in)and a host of other painful conditions. And because no doctor would treat her pain for those 10 years,except for letting her kill her kidneys by taking massive amounts of Ibuprofen,(Advil,Motrin,etc.)which didn't seem to help that much anyway. So now her kidney function has to be monitored closely, and is. There were a few doctors during that 10 year period who would give her a "few" narcotic pain relievers(10 to 20 maybe) and she said they were the wonder drug she needed. But don't you DARE ask for a refill! Of course anytime you "ask" for narcotics, you are labeled a drug seeker or addict. She has mental issues over this, even though she is FINALLY being taken care of and being given proper medication.(10mg Norco usually) But she'll never get over the mental anguish of all those doctors not believing her when she told them she was in horrible pain. She is still, and I'm afraid forever will be, very angry and have the mental issues, over her "mistreatment." I had no problem getting pain relief because my diseases showed up in the blood tests. Hers did not. Even though she went in for some special test(I can't remember the name of the test) and it showed how "inflamed" her whole body was. But still no treatment other than stronger Ibuprofen.(800mgs 3-4 times a day! Yeah, lets keep killing her kidneys)These doctors who had to have known about these pain doctors and clinics, but never, till the last one of course, (Thank God!)suggested she see one of them. She would have committed suicide by now if she had not, after 10 years of looking for relief, been directed to her new "pain doctor." I will go to this same office when I get my Medicare I'm waiting for. For now, my Rheumatologist keeps me in Norco and a host of DMARDS and anti-inflammitories. I get my Enbrel for free because my wife knows who to talk to about these things. I always say that God put us(my wife and I) together for a reason, as we are both disabled. Geez! At least we have each other to lean on for mental support. So if a doctor reads this, and I hope many do,please don't immediately dismiss someone who says they need a narcotic pain medication as a "drug seeker" even if they have a record of "doctor shopping" because they are possibly just trying to find someone to treat their pain and don't know pain clinics or "pain doctors" exist, or can't get a reference to one. Tell them there are PAIN CLINICS! They actually have a name for this when someone goes from one Dr. to another trying to get pain relief. It's called "pseudo addiction" or something like that.(most insurance companies don't cover pain clinics so you have to find the "pain doctors" like my wife finally did. At least my old insurance didn't cover the "clinics" but DID cover the "pain DOCTOR"!Go figure.) Give them enough Vicodin or Norco or whatever your choice of pain treatment for them is, and send them to a PAIN CLINIC or PAIN DOCTOR if their pain is chronic. My wife's pain was not only chronic, it was also acute! Now,a story of my own: I once went to a doctor when I had a gout flare in my knee and he gave me Daypro and Prednisone but told me to fill the Prednisone only if the Daypro didn't work.(this was a doc-in-the-box because I had just moved to a new town and didn't have a "regular" doctor yet)I asked if I could have a "mild" pain reliever like Vicodin or Tylenol#3 and he told me the "Daypro," an anti-inflammatory WAS a pain killer. While this is true to some extent, I needed some Vicodin or SOMETHING as my knee was twice the normal size and the pain was unbearable!Oh, did I mention he refused to believe it was gout even though I had had gout a million times, because it was in my knee and not the "big toe" as gout usually is. I knew more than the DOCTOR! One problem was that I TOLD him so.LOL He said it was probably RA,which was undiagnosed at the time. But after getting my knee drained a week later at the Rheumatologist he sent me to,(who also gave me Percocet at that time)it was indeed gout as I had suspected. No! I KNEW it was gout, having had it about 15 times before in DIFFERENT joints. I'd had gout in my big toes, where most people get it, but also in both knees, both ankles, and once in my elbow. I told this "quack"(sorry docs, I just can't call this guy anything else) this was a reccurring condition I'd had many times and my doctor in the town I just moved from always gave me Percocet or at least Vicodin. He thought I was looking for drugs or maybe he just didn't prescribe narcotics at all. I don't know which. I DO know doctor shopping IS a problem with drug addicts or a patient who just wants to get "high". It was funny though, because my wife went into the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions (I couldn't walk very well at the time)and noticed she was filling two anti-inflammatories,even though I now take Indocin AND Prednisone when needed. The pharmacist called the doctor and told him I was trying to kill pain and needed a "pain killer."So this reluctant Dr. decided giving me 20 Tylenol #3s might not be a bad idea, thanks to the pharmacist! I am now very good friends with the pharmacist. I still use that pharmacy exclusively and became good friends with the pharmacist because he has the exact same conditions as I do,(RA,gout,diabetes,high blood pressure+cholesterol)right down to the fibromyalgia that goes along with men with RA. But I'm happy to say I no longer have to break the law by giving my wife one or two of MY Norcos when she wanted to kill herself because her pain was too much to handle. Oh,now that she has her own pain doctor they've tried many pain killers out on her, some that are supposed to be stronger like morphine and methadone but they don't work as well for her. And I must agree with her on this. I too, have taken time released morphine in the form of Kadian,Avinza,etc. just like my wife but we have both found that Norco and Percocet work much better. Oxycontin would work fine if the second dose you're supposed to get at 6.9 hours after taking it would kick in, but it doesn't.Or doesn't seem to.(I do my research and know how ALL my medications are "supposed" to work) Something with time released pain medication just doesn't seem to work for me.(or my wife) So doctors: Unless you've actually taken these drugs, you DON'T know what's best. Your patient knows what works for them, not you. Morphine and methadone are NOT stronger than good ol' hydrocodone or oxycodone. And Oxycodone is NOT really much stronger than hydrocodone. I've tried them all. One 10mg Norco is equal in pain killing power to one 5mg Percocet. Personally, I prefer Norco to Percocet as it works just as well. And why use Vicodin at all when Norco comes in 5,7.5, and 10mg doses? Vicodin has too much tylenol in it for a patient that has to take one of these drugs for an extended period of time. I'm no doctor but HAVE taken about every pain medication out there. For some reason morphine works fine in your "IV" when you're in the hospital, but the time released kind like I mentioned before didn't work at all for me. Nada. No pain killing power. Nothing. And how could that possibly be? Now, I was taking six 10mg Norco per day and switched to one 30mg Kadian/Avinza that didn't work at all. Now that's just me. But my wife agrees because she tried the very same medications so it must be true for more than just my wife and I. Maybe the stronger 60mg extended release morphine capsules would have worked better but I chose to go back to the Norco. When I DO have to change to something stronger it will have to be Oxycontin more than likely. Probably 40mg twice a day. Now. There's a lesson for all you pain specialists. Please don't take offense at my arrogance but I HAVE tried almost every pain med out there so please use this as a reference. Let your patient tell you what works and what doesn't! Don't tell your patient morphine is stronger when it may not work for them.
Thank you
Chronic Pain Patient
I know what you and your wife are going through. I always sought help from chiropractor and other nontradional methods. I hate to take any medicine. almost two years ago now i was rear-ended and i have been dealing with pain that did not respond to months of physical therepy and months of chiro..I finally had to go for steriod injections last year, they only helped for about two months. I was in so much pain that i was taking 2400 mgs of advil with that only taking the edge off. drs kept trying me on different anti-inflamatory pills, just like advil only take off the edge..my one dr prescibed vicodan but only for two weeks. my orthopedic would not refill my prescription. I dont know of a solution, supposely my back is not bad enough for surgery but i know i cant live the rest of my life like this. Im only 41
Hey, Anonymous: CPP here, GOE to one of the pain clinics! Or better yet, a pain doctor. Your regular doctors know of these places and just TELL them you can't live this way and mention that it makes you want to die. Be dramatic. Overdramatic if you have to. They just don't listen and you have to make them listen. I don't know where you live but I live in Boise and know of pain clinics and my wife's pain doctor, who will soon be mine too, when my Medicare kickes in. Pain medication is omong the safest of all drugs. They just worry about dependence. I am completely dependent on mine and will never be off them. So weigh the good and bad because chances are you will become dependent(we're not allowed to say "addicted" because there is a difference.) If you need pain relief, you deserve it. I thought the "nerve root injections" did me a world of good. But the epideral injections did squat except for the day I got them, then they helped till the "caine" they used wore off. There was also the dpomedrol(steroid) in the shot that did no good. Of course my problems are different than yours. I take my pain meds daily for "agressive" RA and Fibromyalgia(yes, I'm male). Most of the time Fibromyalgia is a women's disease but for some reason, men with RA get it. It's very painful. I call it my "body throb" because it is relentless. It never stops and I would have wanted to end my life if not for opiates. So, MAKE your doctor listen to you. Keep going back or go to a different doctor till you find one who will send you to a pain clinic or a pain doctor. Try "Googling" pain doctors on the Internet. You may be able to put in your city or if you live in the country an adjacent city and you may come up with something. Thing is, you ALWAYS need a referral.Are there ANY days when you are pain free or relatively so? I hope this helps. See, unless these doctors have been through it themselves they just don't know, even if it's their life's study.
CPP(chronic pain patient.
I also have fibromyalgia, but I find that pain meds are not nearly as effective as treating my sleep cycle and stress management. I need around 9 hours of sleep a night, and when things are bad, I take a muscle relaxant a few hours before bed to force my muscles to sleep at the same time as my body. I'm probably only on over-the-counter pain meds about 25% of the time now, where I used to be on prescription pain meds 100% of the time. Granted, other painful conditions can reenforce the fibro, so whenever possible treat your other conditions agressively.
pponpsHello All,
Reading your stories has brought up a lot of my memories and present problems. I too am a chronic pain patient and have been since I was 17. At that time I got many "get up and go to school" comments (senior year of high school - already graduated) which really tore into me. I have spent months in hospital with no true diagnosis. I have been through my share of doctors and was very pleasent about it all at first when they told me I was looking to get 'high'. Yeah, I was the elite athlete over-achiever - definately not looking for the 'high'. As a matter of fact I absolutely hate the side effects of medications. I have tried the controlled release meds and found they were more sedating then pain-killing and refuse to take them. The Pain Clinic does not understand this on my level. I do. After causing a stink in the hospital about a few doctors one came to see me that is absolutely amazing. He has saved my life in more than many ways. Not only is he the one who got my pain as under control as Im sure it will ever be but he cares for my whole being. He trusts me and I trust him. I respect him more than any doctor who has all the credentials offered (although Im sure he has his own). Because of him I was able to finish university, continue being an athlete and go on with my life. I still see all kinds of doctors in search of the magic 'cure' yet have not found one (out of about 50) that even comes close. He is the first to refer me to another 'specialist'. I guess my point in this is that the trusting doctors are few and far between but they are out there. I respect him so much that when my pain got too much to bear I would even think of using 'his' meds to 'check out'. Now I still have my bad bad times but I am comforted in knowing that a real doctor cares for me and my illness. I wish all of you the best in finding someone as great as this man!
If your primary problem is fibromyalgia - get thee at once to one of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers of America - fibroandfatigue.com. They actually diagnose and address the multiple causes (yes, there are causes) and will move you toward a much more normal life!
I have CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue and IMMUNE DYSFUNCTION Syndrome) -- I was diagnosed by one of the two doctors who identified this syndrome and put it in the major journals, and got it a diagnostic code, etc. The IMMUNE part is really important, because like RA, it causes your immune system to attack your own body if there is no "beastie" infecting you to attack. Sometimes it's on full-blast, so you feel like you have some horrible illness, sometims it's almost gone, so you catch anything you're exposed too. I also have RA, osteoarthritis in my spine, knees, and hands, and lupus. I have found very few doctors here (I've moved away from where I could be treated by my first wonderful doc) who understand any of these conditions; I find that I often am better-informed and more knowledgeable than the physicians, because I read everything I can find about my problems. You MUST do this, whatever your illness, or you won't get the help you need from your doctor(s). They don't have time to study everything, so YOU have to study your own illnesses so you know what to ask for. My Family Practice doctor is wonderful; he actually admits when he doesn't understand something, and either learns about it, or sends me to a specialist. The rheumatologist he sent me to didn't believe me; she seemed to think I was a lying malingerer. After my FP doctor tried a number of different drugs (Percocet, Tylenol 3, etc) he sent me to a Pain Management specialist, who is a godsend. Now I'm taking a narcotic, and yes, I'm dependent -- but I can function now. I've had three epidural injections of steroids, and while they have helped the back and hip pain (from arthritis and disk problems in L3-L5, not ready for surgery yet) as others have found, they aren't very good for a long term solution. Even with the pain meds, I still have the back and hip pain. It's not bad right now, but I can feel it getting worse. I know my weight isn't helping (I'm not morbidly obese, but am overweight - like so many others, the pain limits exercise, and so my formerly active life has become sedentary), and I am trying to eat a healthy diet -- not a fad, or pills, just a healthy way of eating that I hope can last a lifetime. I fear that this will get worse, and that my kidneys and liver will suffer in the long run, but I am so thankful to have found a doctor who understands my condition, has other patients with the same or similar problems, and who treats me with respect, instead of the disbelief and scorn I've gotten from some doctors and even some family members. So my advice to ANY with chronic pain, from whatever reason, is first to learn everything you can on your own, so that you know as much or more as your doctor, and second, demand that you be referred to a pain management specialist. They really can help, and they will believe you. And I too have "mental issues," but with the pain managed (not gone, but managed) I am much healthier mentally as well. It's hard to feel good about yourself when you're in constant pain and overweight. And about migraines, I have found a wonderful doctor who has a subspecialty in accupuncture, and one accupuncture treatment makes my formerly 3-a-week or more migraines go to next to nothing for about three months. If you have migraines and haven't tried accupuncture, please give it a try -- it was a miracle for me, and might be for you too.
I would definitly be leary about telling my doctor something like: "I want to die", as CPP suggests. Along with rapidly progressing psoriatic arthritis which causes painful compression of the nerves that does not respond well to NAISDs I have been diagnosed as Bi-Polar. If I were to say, "I want to die" it is entirely possible that I would end up being subjected to a 72 hour preventive detention and having the pain medication (fentanyl) which I am prescribed removed. One needs to be careful about unintended consequences of our statements.
Unlike many, my medical diagnosis was extremely well documented as I had Lymes Disease and it seems to have triggered a series of medical conditions which snowballed to the point in which I am now on full disability having been a supervisor for a state agency just a few years ago. Having full insurance when things hit the fan certainly helped - I know of others who did not have as good of insurance coverage and it seems to have made a world of difference in how we are now treated due to the documentation trail of our medical conditions.
Unfortunately, tolerance and dependance are disregarded all to often. I am on a constant narcotic treatment, but even with a pain specialist treating my condition the doctor seems to believe that the amount I need should go down over time rather than increase with tolerance. Part of the problem I created as previously I was prescribed extended release morphine (which did work, to a point...). After a while the morphine did not cover the pain, and I do not expect to be pain-free, rather I hope to not live in constant pain that is to the point of complete physical intolerance. My morphine level was not increased, even though I requested this and stated my reasoning for months - and it was documented in the doctors notes (get copies of your medical records! I can not stress this highly enough! Know what your doctors are documenting about you!). After a while I began to crush the tabs, and finally to use them in a non-prescribed manner with the optimal delivery system. Obviously this was a mistake on my part, an incredibly horrid one. Luckily my marriage survived and I received treatment. I was taken off the morphine and given fentanyl patches under extremely monitored conditions. Now, close to a year later, I find that the level of fentanyl no longer provides adequate coverage - yet when I said this to my pain management specialist (who is also an addictionologist) my fentanyl level was LOWERED! The fear of addiction was highlighted, not tolerance or dependance. Having misused the morphine it is "assumed" that I am now "drug seeking". The fentanyl level was lowered two months ago, last month I was given some tramadol... but it is under controlled conditions and I can only have 100mg every 12 hours, and there certainly is not enough to take every day.
I do not know what the future holds, but I am scared to say that my current fentanyl level and the meager amount of tramadol is not sufficient to treat my pain. I fear that my levels will be reduced even further... and since I made the horrible mistake of misusing the morphine I do not have any doctor to turn to, the one treating me currently is one whom I aquired while being detoxed from morphine and who specialized in pain management for those who have "issues". He is basically the end of the line for me.
My pain is not going to go away, it is only going to get progressively worse. But I may not be able to find a doctor willing to treat me... this sucks, and it is for life.
Be very cautious in how you phrase statements to your physicians, make sure you get copies of your medical records and be willing to challenge anything that is blatantly incorrect, do not lecture your doctors though as this is an ego-threat and certainly going to bring about a backlash rather than the respect you would think you would get for doing the research on your health condition, and finally be sure not to misuse your medications or ever state that you shared any with another pain patient.
I am a 51 year old female with fibromalysia and cervical disc disease, and up until 6 months ago, was 80 lbs overweight. I have been on pain medications since giving birth to my second son 28 years ago. I ended up with chronic deep vein thrombosis, blood clots, headaches, chronic pain. Back in those days, You could not get pain medication without being accused of being a drug addict, or doctor shopping. I had a hard time finding doctors who would give me pain medication, and when I did, it was a few here and there, and they were not strong.
I used mary jane as a pain medication when I could. It helped me a great deal, along with xanax.
Thank god when pain manangement came into existence. I had to sign a contract not to use recreational drugs. I said that in the past, I had used mary jane to help alleviate pain, when I had nothing.
Along with fibromalsia, cervical disc disease, chronic dvt, I had a few car accidents over the years, broke my fema, broken heal, had a few operations, had a pulmonary embolism, etc.
My pain doctor put me on methodone. I started on 30 mg a month, and progressed to 140 mg a month. even at that amount, it did not help much any more.
I told my pain management doctor, that a change was needed. So we started on Avinza, 30 mg, and each month we progressed up to now 120 mg a month, and 30 mg of break threw pain med. morphine, 3 times a day. which seemed to work fine for a while. but within the last 3 months, on 120 mg on Avinza a day, and 30 mg of morphine instant release, I was still having too much break-threw pain, so recently, my doctor, changed my breakthrough pain medicicine to 30 mg of oxycodone. I am glad that I finally found a good doctor of pain management that understands me, and does not question me. He trusts me on my words.
After like 20 years of trying to fight the medical system of doctors being afraid to prescribe narcotics to patients, I am glad that there is now pain management to help patients in need.
In August 2001 I had emergency surgery for my back. It wasn't what the surgeon had in mind - he was doing an x-ray study to send to a top-notch referal site so I could get a better outcome than what he could provide. Instead, the procedure precipitated a problem than required immediate attention least I become paralyzed from the waist down. So be it, he did the surgery instead. However, I have a compromised immune system, and I devloped an infection at the surgery site. No one beleived me when I said that something was wrong. The infection went untreated for six months. I was in unbelievable pain. My husband was going to leave me because I "wouldn't" carry my end of the household work, and I was very crabby. I complained constantly about the pain, but every doctor I saw kept saying that it was in my head. I tried to walk - my exercise of choice. I cried, and I walked; I cried and I walked. I was close to killing myself. Finally, I insisted that I be taken to the hospital, so my husband took me to the doctor's office instead. together, they got me admitted to the mental health unit through the ER because there was obviously nothing wrong with me physically. During the admission process, I begged that a nurse catheterize me. They would not beleive me when I told them that I couldn't urinate. The nurse doing the catheterization filled a small container, then a small basin, and finally an entire wastebasket with urine. Finally, someone was starting to pay attention. In the end, the infection was found only just before it abcessed and what a mess that would have been! After six weeks of IV antibiotics, the doctors proclaimed the infection gone, but my back permanately damaged. I am still in pain, controlled OK by epidurals every four months and a hefty does of oxycontin daily. I recently began taking Cymbalta for the combinination of depression and advanced peripherial neuropathy. As advertized, Cymbalta does relieve the problem of breakthrough pain very well. My doctors beleive me now when I tell them something is wrong. BUT, I am still angry, after six years, I am angry for the "it's in your head" treatment and the permanent damage to my back. Just thinking about it causes me to seeth with anger.
Reading these sound like my normal life. I fell when I was 16 and have been on some type of pain meds ever since. I actually collapsed in school as the codiene in Tylenol 3's would make me too messed up and I was taking them as the Dr. prescribed not by need. Once I realized that Dr. was a pill pusher and would give me anything without imforming me of consequences I started to read up on anything he gave me. At one time he gave me Haldol (I was 17)and did not tell me it would make me sleepy-I went to work and they called the EMT's as I keep falling asleep. They explained the med to me.
I was told when I was 18 that I would be in a wheelchair when I was 25 and moved because of it. After several months of pain I found a Dr. who understood and kept me on pain meds, steroids and what I needed. He was the one who found out I had Fibromyalgia before it had that name and helped me get treatment for it.
My problems stem from being allergic to the NSAIDS -they cause bleeding - my current Dr. tried to pass one off on me and I didn't even check what it was but 2 days later ended up in front of him spitting up blood so he wrote a note to NEVER give me NSAIDS again on my chart. He's been good and in winter or storm time when its worse has given me a stadol inhaler or other break thru meds when needed.
I am now 46 and have had several MVA's, 4 back surgeries, 1 neck, left shoulder, left knee and I fell again recently. Went to the ER and after ages saw a Dr. who prescribed Tylox for me. Well I told him aobut triplicate C2 forms and no one listened. The pharmacy called him and said yes they had to have the form. That was Thurs, no one at the hospital had the form and he did not come in on Monday as scheduled -this is Tues and I am still trying to get with him to get the pain med prescribed. I've been back to the ER 2x trying to get someone to rewrite his script as I feel like someone is stabbing me in the back. This is crazy as he gave me the RX and even changed it from Oxycodone to Oxycontin (which I am hesitant to take) as that is what the pharmacy had BUT I still can't get the meds. I know I did some more nerve damage but am dealing with county hospitals and it will take 6 months before I get to a MRI machine. I have to go call to see if he made it in today.
Along with everything else I can't work and have been fighting with SS since 1992. They orig. gave me 3 yrs of benefits as I had 6 surgeries in those 3 yrs but then cut them off. I lost my house, my job and most of my life. I feel so lost most times but my current Dr. is pretty good with meds. He did give me a stadol inhaler RX 3 months ago but I can't afford to buy it - and that happened last yr too.
Cpp, reading your wifes story was like reading my own pain history, so much so that I had to double check that it wasn't my husband who wrote it. My problems started with a on the job injury to the nerves/muscles but after the first 6 weeks of pain the doctors said I was cured. The pain wasn't too bad then but once an area is hurt the more likely it will get hurt again. I didn't get hurt again for another 5/6 years then from that point it was a uphill battle for pain relief. I was labeld so much and told "your fat", "your hooked on pain pills", "your crazy", those were just a few of the things I was told was my problem. Nothing the doctor's tried helped the pain except for the few T-3's I could get and a treatment a German Doctor gave me in Belgium. I called it my "Novacaine" treatments. I couldn't understand what it really was but I was willing to try anything. Basicly the doctor shot up and down my spine and along my sholders and neck with little needles of novacaine then put MUCH larger needles in the same spots but thoses went deeper into the muscles up to 54 shots at one time twice a week for 6 months. Those shots helped but not for long only a few days each session.
I could write a book but I won't. I went from the early 80's to the mid 1990's before I got some regular pain relief. I found a family doctor who beliefed that "if your in pain yoou need pain relief and if your in pain you won't become addicted". However, if you have by way of pain pills been out of pain (or in less pain) you can be addicted to having that pain pill-- I'm addicted to being out of pain 70% of the time. But even with pain pills I have times when I can't deal with the pain and I pace all night long or my body says it "quits" and I passout for 6 to 14 hours at a time. So all this leads to finally being told I have fibromyalgia in the sholders and neck, plus overuse syndrome and a couple of other things in my hands. Well I'm rambling and thats not what I wanted to do. I wanted to tell you that your discription of the pain of fybromyalgia as a "Body Throb" hit the nail right on the head for me now i can discribe it more to people. One problem I have now that I have trouble with is I have gainned weight without eatting a lot but because it hurts to cook so I eat a lot of frozen micowave foods. Even my very best friend had a bit of a problem understanding that moving hurts (I don't want to move but I need to move). The only one who really understands me is my husband of 30 years. That's because he is disabled and in more pain than I'm in - not more but a different pain. Well Thanks all for this chance to vent
I can certainly identify with all of you chronic pain patients - and thankfully after about 8 yrs of "doctor shopping" and diagnosis like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, myofascial pain syndrome, lumbar and cervical stenosis, sponsyolosis, surgery, connective tissue disorder, arthritis, osteoarthritis, a host of autoimmune disorders etc. etc. I finally got a good doctor to refer me to a pain specialist and my life started all over again. Sure I'm sure some thought I was pill seeking or doctor shopping but nothing deterred me because I couldn't live that way - couldn't stand more then a minute or walk more then 2 minutes -- it was a nightmare, and then some. I was my own best investigator, research agent and advocate -- no one else would bother so I had no choice. Don't give up or give in -- there are many great doctors and places and you will find them -- persist and don't let anything or anyone get in your way. I now have a semblemce of a kind of life - a couple of days up and then a few down -- but that's better then not being up at all! Have been tried of many different opiates - it's all trial and error until you find one or some which help. No, you'll never be pain free - but you'll get from a pain level l0 down to a 2-4 and that's great! There are a number of wonderful associations - like pain associations with board members - you can always research them to find names of good doctors in your area - or contact you local hospital for names of pain specialists. Don't ever give up the good fight -- it's worth everything to get a part of your life back. I had to leave my pain specialist when I moved but when I relocated and asked my records to be forwarded, my new pain specialist was very familiar with his work and reputation and that was a blessing. He was the very first one who suggested I take an "anti-depressent" -- even when I told him "I don't think I'm depressed" -- he said, "you've lived with this so long you probably don't realize that pain and depression go hand in hand. He was right--but I only found that out when I took a "trial" anti-depressent (to satisfy him). After about 3 months I did feel much better and my outlook was much better. I guess that's why he has an MD after his name and I don't! You can and probably will be called fat, lazy, addict and a lot of other not so nice names -- but who cares -- YOU know what you're dealing with and that's what matters -- not the words of some less then compassionate people. And don't forget, our esteemed medical institutions only give doctors-in-training about 48hrs. TOTAL throughout their entire medical career training on "pain" issues -- and unfortunately in those 48hrs. they focus on "addiction" not on the real person or pain. And the DEA is thrashing the bushes threatening doctors/licenses about prescribing pain medication. Entire offices and clinics have been shut down just on DEA investigators orders for doctors prescribing medications to pain patients. Until our government enforcement branches dealing with medicine get educated, "regular" doctors who don't have pain specialist training are scared for their lives and practices to give out anything more then asprin. You can read up on these poor doctors who are jailed or lose their practices -- just trying to help chronic pain patients. Even if some want to help, there's always a threat over their heads of having the DEA come down on them - and it's very real. Fortunately in the past 5 yrs. or so, most cities/states now have "pain specialists" within a reasonable distance -- and only l0 yrs. ago that wasn't so. For those of you who haven't yet found a pain specialist, pull up those boots and start looking again - you'd be amazed at the resources we now have that we didn't a few short years ago.
I want to thank you all for sharing. I feel so alone most days because of my pain. I am blessed to have family and a few friends that try to understand and help, but if you don't walk in these shoes that we walk in, you don't truly understand. I am thankful to have a good doc - one that cares, is open to trying different things (although conservatively), and treats me with kindness and dignity. I am still working at this point, but I don't know how much longer I will be able to... that scares me. I had been proudly independent and strong until my back injury, which never really resolved, but worsened into neuropathy and Fibromyalgia. This was about 10 years ago. I have also tried numerous, numerous meds and treatments - the latest disappointment was Lyrica. I say disappointment, because at first it was nothing less than a MIRACLE! I weaned off 80% of my other meds: muscle relaxants, Neurontin, Vicoprofen - I was happier, more active and closer to living a normal life - not pain free, mind you, but a 2-4/10 rather that the 4-8/10 that I normally live with. Then the cardiac side effects hit - I thought I was having congestive heart failure - extremities with huge pitting edema - could hardly fit into any shoes, could hardly breathe, could not even walk up 3 or 4 stairs without being winded. Found out that I could not have my miracle. Since then, I am back to my 4-8/10 pain level, fighting my way through each day, thankful for my wonderful husband who still loves me, even though I certainly am not the strong happy girl he married. I can't think about the big picture, to be honest. The idea of being unable to care for myself, being unable to walk loom as large likely shadows in my future, and I can't bear to think of that. The pain is always always always there of course. Some days I can keep my mind on other things besides the pain, other days it is hard. Usually I put on a "good face" (stiff upper lip and all that) for my family and friends - I know it is hard for them to helplessly watch me suffer - but putting on "the face" is hard too. Some days I just can't talk to anyone, because I don't have the strength not to fall apart. It is hard in so many ways - I feel like my life is over, and yet I am only 44. I will keep on fighting as long as I can, keep meditating, keep trying different things, keep praying for strength to get through each day. I don't know what the future will bring for any of us, but I continue to hope.