chronic pain

Anyone else dealing with chronic pain?  I have had back problems for about five years now, but for the last year or so it's been a daily thing.  It frequently wakes me during the night.  Back in October I had steroid injections and had relief for about a month.  Those aren't something I can have done very often, though.  Maybe a few times a year, for several reasons.

Tylenol rarely helps.  vicodin does, but I don't want to take it every day.  And I doubt my doc would prescribe enough to take it every day, either.  I've tried physical therapy and tried chiropractic.

Tonight it just kind of occurred to me that this is probably going to go on forever.  My back is going to hurt every day for the rest of my life.  It's going to make things like taking food out of the oven, carrying groceries into the house, picking up baskets of laundry, etc difficult for the rest of my life.  It's going to wake me up at night every night for the rest of my life.  Minus a few weeks relief a few times a year if I get steroid injections.

So as you might imagine, I am thrilled to have realized this.  Yeah, right.  Anyone else have this issue?  How do you deal with it day in and day out every day and every night?

I am so sorry your going through this Kelly, i suffer from major knee pains, but since i have lost some weight it has helped and i am avoiding pain medications. but the reality of not being able to take NSAIDS after surgery did scare me because i feared having to live with pain forever. the good thing for me is that i dont ache that much but that doesnt mean it will go away, because this is genetic in my family... just hang in there and i hope you can handle it some other way.

My knees were bad before surgery and I used to get steroid injections every three months in them.  Since surgery, they feel great.  I don't think they've hurt once in three years.

Unfortunately, my back has gotten worse over time instead of better.

 Chronic pain is brutal.  I had it when I was 13 and I hiernated  a disc in my lower back when I was doing the high jump in track and field.  It took them two years to figure out the source of the pain since they didn't think a 13 year old could hiernate a disc so they never looked for this.  I had surgery at 15 and it solved the problem.

Now, at 42, I live with chronic pain from osetoarthritis in my neck, both hips and lower back.  I'm hoping that the wls that I have on Jan.18, 2012 makes a differencce and brings me some pain relief, but I realize there is no guarantee.

I've gone through stages of feeling sorry for myself and sometimes I feel defeated and depressed about it, but I try and focus on people that have even bigger challenges and that overcome them.  There are role models out there of people who don't let these things limit them. I have found that stress makes me more likely to feel acute pain, so I am currently trying to develop a daily meditation practice to help with relaxation.  I've also invested in assistive devices, for example, something to help me put the sock on my right foot because my range of motion is limited on that side that I can't do it myself anymore.  Deep water aquafit and stretching, some time in the hot tub at the gym and making the most of those days when my pain is slightly less, are also part of my goal of making the most of my life even with the chronic pain.

I think developing a positive mental attitude about it and focusing on the things that you can do to help yourself manage the pain are the best way to go.  Through trial and error, you can discover a self care toutine that preserve and enhances your quality of life even with the chronic pain.

Wishing you all the best!

I have the pain in my knees, especially the left one, that would qualify as chronic.   It keeps me from going to sleep some nights with the aching, it wakes me up at night with sharp pain if I move the wrong way while rolling over, it hurts to go up and down stairs (especially down), I frequently overtax my back muscles by bending at the waist to do things that would best be done by squatting (I stacked a full cord of wood by myself a few weeks ago, and the bending over picking up the wood left me with lower back pain and muscle spasms for the next three days), and during the winter it hurts just to walk or even to sit for too long with my knee bent.

I do Synvisc injections every 6 months (minimal help for the worst knee but really helps the other one), and the steroid injections every 3-4 months.  Like you, the injection helps only for a little while (for me, it is probably about 4 weeks though).  I take Tramadol 4x a day on the better days and now take Vicodin twice a day on bad days.  I have an appt with my PCP next week to discuss meds and get refills, and the pain meds are at the top of the list.  I, too, am concerned about continuing to take the Vicodin (I already have some tolerance after being on it for much of last year when I would have the abdominal pain).  Unlike your pain, however, mine could be treated with a knee replacement.  The ortho surgeon prefers to wait until a patient is at least 50 because the knees only last so long, but obviously does them earlier when necessary.  I turn 50 later this year {yikes!}, but *I* have been the one delaying the surgery just because I am a chicken.  When it becomes completely intolerable, I will give in and have it done... And pray that I am not one of the ones who has trouble AFTER the replacement.

I can understand how discouraging it must be to realize that you will have the pain forever.  I would be distressed by it.  With the restriction on NSAIDs, though, I am not sure what other options the are other than prescription meds.

Lora

I am discouraged right now.  The truth is, while it does hurt every day, it does not hurt every minute of every day.  Um, just when I move.  But it doesn't hurt every minute and some days the pain is greater than others.  Today it just sort of hit me and I was very discouraged to think that I would just have to live with it forever.

My knees used to hurt like yours, I think.  Just standing up from a sitting position made them hurt.  Getting in and out of my car was really hard.  It was both knees for me.  Losing weight has been so great for my knees.  I can't even remember the last time they hurt.

 Hi Kelly, I had such a hard time with my back for so long that I met with a back surgeon to fix my degenerated discs.  I went through the PT, chiro, acupuncture, osteopath, injections, discogram, etc.  The surgeon had a terrible bedside manner, so I decided to go another round with all of the different treatments (that, and the informed consent for the artificial disc was crazy scary.)  I decided to start working out with a trainer as well. My trainer turned out to be a godsend.  Yes, I have bad discs, but working out my piriformis muscle and IT bands made all the difference in the world.  I now have a ton of Vicodin left over and am thankful that I no longer need it.

I know my problem might be totally different from yours, but it never hurts to make a suggestion.  I had never heard of this stupid walnut sized muscle before my trainer.  Not one of the other health care professionals had ever mentioned it.

I really hope that it gets better for you.  I know how debilitating back pain can be and how awful it can make quality of life.

I can't afford a trainer but I will look up the muscle you mentioned and see if I can find exercises for it.  I'm willing to try just about anything.   I would try acupuncture, too, but can't really afford that either.

I was going to suggest acupuncture.  I had terrible sciatica with my pregnancies.  I tried everything the first time and the only thing that helped was acupuncture.  With my last pregnancy I got immediate relief and it never came back.
Where I live they use acupuncture to treat addictions since it helps reduce the cravings.  I found a place that did acupuncture for people in recovery and they took a sliding fee scale, which for me was practically nothing since I was low income.  It is also supposed to help with depression and anxiety, too.
She if you can find a place that treats addicts and see if they offer acupuncture.  The place I went to was a methadone clinic as well as offering other forms of treatment.  
If that doesn't work out check with some acupuncturists and see if they can offer a discount.  It can't hurt to ask.

I'll look for a place that does it.  That's great that yours never came back.