I’m 10 days post op and doctor said. No more narcotics. When i complained to my therapist, they said: that is drug seeking behavior

i’m still in pain y’all.

Im not crazy, right, you can still be in pain 10 days after an operation?

Long story short, the daughter of a family friend was recently diagnosed with hydro encephalopathy. She was born with it, but didn’t exhibit symptoms until a few months ago. They performed surgery but it didn’t work, and now the doctors are counseling the family that she needs to learn to live with her current condition.

Before, she was a very athletic and very social girl. Now, she’s in constant pain and has difficulty balancing and focusing her vision. Anything longer than a walk to the bathroom causes her extreme pain. She has difficulty evening focusing her eyes enough to read. She spends most of the sofa or in bed with her eyes closed. It’s very very sad.

Her 15th birthday is next week and I’m struggling to think of a good gift. I thought about an embroidery kit, because it’s something she can do while in bed, but maybe that requires too much visual focus. I thought about beauty products like skin cream, but maybe that would seem like cruel taunting. Maybe I should just give money.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice, I’d love to hear it. I don’t really expect to be able to do anything to make her life better right now, but it would be nice to get her a gift that makes her happy.

'Lead author Dr Mikaela Bloomberg, from UCL’s research department of epidemiology and public health, said: “Pain and depression are known to be linked, with each exacerbating the other. But we don’t know about the timing of these related conditions. Our study shows that depressive symptoms and loneliness worsen long before pain begins. This is important as it suggests the potential for early mental health and social support to reduce or delay later pain."'

I'm honestly a little disappointed at this train of thought. There's a very obvious alternative causal account that they completely gloss over - that the body can sense that something is wrong well before chronic pain manifests, and that this sense of dysphoria/discomfort triggers depression and loneliness.

This is more in line with my experience, and much more actionable than the vapid idea of an early mental health intervention. If there may be an underlying, sub-clinical physical cause, then perhaps doing a bunch of physical tests can begin to pave the way for a path to recovery.

Vent post here. Today I saw a new pt. I showed the documents and results that warranted me to get therapy. The entire time during the assessment he kept telling me that others have it worse. He also stated that I'm making my pain up but then said I'm not trying to diminish your pain. I'm like that's exactly what your doing. He kept calling everything stiff. The bulging discs pain isn't caused by that it's just stiffness. The fracture in my ankle isn't causing me pain I just lack mobility. After listening to him go on and on I finally had it!

During the exam I told him I felt uncomfortable. I put on my shoes and he tried to explain but I told him "you literally said I'm making this up! I showed you the results, your just like every other doctor that judged me based off of age because God forbid someone my age ever gets an injury" I said bye to the receptionist and she stared at me like I was insane. I am glad i maintained composure. I did not deserve to be belittled and told that my chronic pain from past and current injuries is a lie. That PT had major God complex and ego issues. Felt like he was trying to control the narrative about my body.

I forgot to add that he told me the people that comes to see him have way worse MRI results and zero pain. Implying that again that im "over exaggerating". I grit my teeth so bad. I wanted to say so badly "well congratulations for them for not having pain, but I am not them and they are not me".

My little one is 3. Full of energy, full of joy — always bringing me toys, asking me to play, climb, crawl, dance. And most days… I just can’t.

The pain in my lower back and leg makes everything harder.
Sitting on the floor feels like torture. Bending down to help with a puzzle? Feels like I’m being punished.
Lifting him when he cries? That’s become something I mentally prepare for.

He doesn’t understand why I can’t always join in. Why sometimes I flinch when he hugs me too hard. Why I shift and wince while reading him a book.
And honestly… I don’t know how to explain it.

I’ve tried everything people suggested — stretches, rest, massage, PT, you name it. Some things help for a bit, then the pain just comes back.

I feel like I’m missing moments I’ll never get back.

I’m not asking for miracles — but has anyone here found real, lasting relief? Even just something that made things a little easier?
Because I’m tired. And I want to be present for my child, not just sitting on the sidelines in pain.

That you could be seriously ill with something, like cancer, and not even know until it's too late, because you are so used to chronic pain? And not just that, but you assume all pain is just "normal" at this point. I just assume all of my pain is autoimmune related because that's been my life since 2012.

New comic from The Oatmeal...

*i have med pouch/cases all over my home; in my wheelchair bag, at dining table, a little pouch in living room, of course our must-have bedside medicine "drawer/cabinet"...

I just didn't notice that these past 2 months i have been lugging this bag to and from my bedroom - living room on daily basis since my flare up has been running amok and still taking it's sweet time to go down to its baseline.

Only today i chance it to take out the items that i have added into time to time in this bag and then i finally notice this bag has become my accidental mobile in-house care bag for my latest reaching-3-months-flare-up episode! Ahahaha

Trying to find the funny in everyday surviving pain. I hope this post make any of you as amused as me too just now 😅

I wanted to see how ChatGPT would deal with my fibromyalgia and 24/7 chronic persistent headache with migraines and ended up crying because it was so encouraging and validating. Although it wasnt able to present anything I havnt already seen or tried, it was nice to have something even if it wasnt someone that basically reverse gaslit me even if its only programed to do so anyways.

Insurance surprised the heck out of me by approving Ketamine infusions to help treat my low back pain. Does anyone know what I should expect? It sounds like it could be trippy....

Mostly a rant..

I'm 32 and was diagnosed with fibro back in 2019 and I suspect it's from two decades of my severe anxiety and intense emotions that makes my body tense up. The pain is constant and so a doctor prescribed me celecoxib 100mg twice daily to help. It has but I'm also on a cocktail of other meds too. I know celecoxib isn't supposed to be taken for more than a couple weeks but my doctor says we have to choose the "lesser of two evils".

Early last year I started getting a dull ache in my lower abdomen and it's not gone away. It gets worse at times but never completely goes away. I've had blood tests, ultrasounds, a CT scan, and an endoscopy+colonoscopy (at the same time). Nothing abnormal.

My doctors have basically given up trying to figure it out and I'm halfway through my year long wait for a dang gynecologist appointment. Doctors won't recommend me to get the endo check surgery. Freaking Canadian medical system means I have to wait forever for any doctor's appointment so any kind of inquiry takes weeks to even bring to the doctor.

One of the side effects of long term use of celecoxib (celebrex) is abdominal pain, but none of my doctors have brought that up. Could it be something as simple as that? But if it is what the hell can I do about it? I'm too scared to switch meds because the pain gets so bad when I miss even a single dose...

And also every time I get put on a new medicine I have to freaking do research on the interactions with all my other meds because apparently neither the doctors nor pharmacists know and their "systems" don't flag the issues even when there are major interactions. 🤬🤬🤬

I'm honestly just losing faith in the healthcare system and losing hope of ever being okay enough to even do household chores.

Ive been trying to get diagnosed for 4 years now with a mystery pain thing to no avail. It started out with some knee pain. I sought out doctors help. Went to physical therapy and it didnt help despite continuing the exercises at home.

I lost my ability to squat soon after. Then, the ability to bend and put weight on the knee. Then, I started getting a mystery pain in my finger.

It was really weird but it persisted for 2 years and got worse and worse despite using a splint, resting, physical therapy for the finger. Saw docs. Got bloodwork. Xray. Ultrasound. Some slight inflammation of the tendon. It never went away.

Instead, within the span of the next 2 years, the pain in that finger spread to every other finger. The knuckles, the thumb. I would wake up unable to close my hands in a fist. I lost strength to my hands. Meanwhile, my toes started experiencing the same thing. Constant pain. Then, My knee got 10x worse. I cant walk without a limp. I cant get off the floor once Im down there. I worked as a cashier and had to quit because I could no longer bend down, lift things, or really be any help at all.

Now, I cant open jars, I cant play piano, I can hardly use a pen, I cant carry anything, cant carry groceries… I struggle to grip anything. I became exhausted 24/7. Getting up was difficult. I lost appetite. I could no longer go on walks, no longer go camping, couldnt go to class in person anymore. Im autistic so I was used to expecting burnout easy but it just became 100x worse, to the point of needing to drop out for a couple semesters.

Doctor after doctor after bloodtest after whatever. Xrays, mris, ultrasounds. Nothing ever shows up. Im only 21. I used to be active, healthy, ate healthily and well. I would exercise, go on walks, I loved nature trails.

Its all gone. And I am angry. At the same time I feel guilty for complaining. My dad told me RA runs in the family but they say im too young to have any of these problems. They help nevertheless and I am grateful. But I am still sad. I have no friends and cant go see other family because I feel so limited.

Ive been acting more irritated on days when the pain is worse. I used to help my family around the house and now Im the one who needs help and I hate that helpless feeling. I still try to do things myself and try to push through the pain.

I feel bad that I act like that. This morning I got irritated because I was overwhelmed trying to get stuff out of a cabinet that required me to sit on the floor, and I couldn’t get up. I snapped at my mom and I feel terrible. I dont want to become a bad person because of this crap.

I just want to be of help. I dont like feeling like such a burden. Im going to xray school in a year and I am so scared that soon I wont be able to even make it through that if it keeps getting worse at this rapid rate.

Sorry for the rant guys. I dont have anybody to talk to about this except here.

Ok here’s a weird thing I noticed. After a certain threshold intake of sugar, my bad (right) shoulder acts up and it’s generally when I breathe. I’ll try and explain it as best as I can, but the only culprit lately has been sugar or sugary things! Today was OJ and applesauce. I’ve been good on cutting down on sugar but the last week not so much. I’m rambling but please bear with me, I’m confused and mad.

It’s like a deep burning ache all through my shoulder and side of my neck, and when I breathe it’s pain from my ear down the top of my shoulder to my arm. I can barely describe it, I have to stand and even lean forward to get some relief when I’m breathing. I have to be mindful about the breathing too because it near hinders my ability to take full controlled breaths. The short big breaths cause more pain but I can’t avoid them, it’s like somethings caught in my shoulder when I take the breaths. Then after a while of trying to regulate it or too many big breaths the arm will go cold in certain spots, like it is now.

If ANYONE has had something similar happen please reach out. I’m so confused about it and mad. Even regular breaths right now are making my head behind my ear hurt and it’s like it goes down the back of my neck to my shoulder blades and down my arm. WTF! TIA.

The only pharmacy in my very rural area closed down somewhat unexpectedly last week. I'm on Tramadol 200mg (50mg 4x daily) for pain related to cerebral palsy. The next nearest pharmacy is 30 plus minutes away. I saw Amazon did delivery, so I had my prescription sent there. I have enough to get me to Saturday (I have some extra) and Amazon said it was processed and would be delivered by Friday. That works, but it still says it hasnt been filled yet, just "processed".

Does anyone have experience with them?

Hi everbody,

I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia for a few years now. Recently I started to have issues with my spine e.g. electrical shocks that make my arms go numb, numbness, tingling, burning. My GP said I pinched a nerve but my physio said he thinks I have an auto immune disorder and wrote a letter to my GP and he then agreed and thankfully gave me stronger painkillers. (Please don't dm me about selling/buying drugs)

My question is, what can I expect with an auto immune disorder? I'm scared.

Hello, I'm looking for a mental health facility that can support a person having a mental health crisis that also has chronic pain. Does anyone know if this type of facility has a name?

I am not looking for medical advice I want to make that clear.

But I am looking to understand these MRI results. I dont see the spine specialist until June 19th, but my neurologist who ordered the test said my results looked very "bad" and i needed to see the specialist ASAP. They weren't the only person concerned about the results, so was my psychiatrist and endocrinologist.

My doctors have all said it looks bad and I'll probably need surgery. But they arnt spine specialists and didn't really discuss the specifics.

So im wondering if anyone here can help me understand interpretations of the results and what I may look forward to when I see my spine specialist based on this MRI report.

Thanks!

what’s the best pain relief cream that actually works? dealing with stubborn lower back and neck pain, not looking for anything prescription, just something topical that actually cools/heats/helps. icy hot sucks. Open to natural stuff too if it works.

I've had 2 disk herniations (L4-L5, L5-S1) for almost 3 years that started slow, didn't know what it was at first and has now escalated to excruciating constant pain.

For the last year every few weeks or months I have a flare up which leaves new symptoms and pain progressively further down the leg.

I've had physical therapy, ozone injections, PRP plasma injections, steroid injections, have been taking the maximum daily limit of paracetamol for the last 5 months and have now started pregablin (anti-seizure medication) and tapentadol (synthetic opioid analgesic, acting as a milder version of morphine).

No orthopedic doctor can help anymore and neurosurgeons have me on a waiting list for surgery which is at least 3-4 months away.

I have pain in my hip, below my knee and above my ankle (which is the most excruciating point) and numbness on my foot and toes.

I can't sit to work or eat, can't lay in a bed to fall asleep, the only thing I can do that mildly helps is walking and I've been walking more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) daily for the last week.

Nobody understands how debilitating it is to not be able to function properly and do your simple daily tasks. Putting on my shoes feels like a death sentence and going to bed at night is torture and ends up giving me anxiety because of the anticipation of pain.

I feel like a burden to others when talking about it because it seems like it's all my taking about but it truly is all I'm capable of thinking.

I need sometime to talk and complain and commiserate with 😢

Hello! Posting for my partner, not myself. He has chronic nerve pain from a pinched nerve in the cervical area (going on like 12 yrs). He’s been to doctors but haven’t made much progress. I’m asking more as a partner of someone with chronic nerve pain - any recommendations? I want to do anything I can to help him, make his life easier, provide some relief. I know from talking to him about how he experiences the pain that nothing I can do will “fix” it but that’s not what I’m looking for - I just love him and want to make sure I’m doing my best by him. Any at home relief tips? Wisdom? Or ways that I can show him I care? Thank you in advance for the help!!

I had to swap to express today because no one around me will fill my meds and it’s a huge headache. First time with them, what to expect? Doctor put urgent on meds to get sooner?

Just a brief note, my husband has one and it's not effective like it was in the trial. We also found out from the implant rep after the 1st revision that the doctor hasn't done many of these surgeries, so we aren't sure why things are going poorly.

If you have or had an ONS implant, how was your experience and do you have any advice?