physiology of pain, crying (to Vickie)

[Guest guest]

Hi Vickie,

From: pvjack@...

I am crying right along with and for you. I can only relate from my own

perspective, but I know that for me, there have been times that I just did

not feel like I could take the pain and other 'strange' symptoms for

another day...

Thankyou so much for your empathy, it really does make a difference to know

that others understand what you're going through. I've found that some of

the information that I've been given about the " physiology of pain " has

been conflicting. There seems to be one school of thought that says, don't

take pain killers, teach the body to make it's own endorphins to deal with

the pain and use non medicative treatments that encourage the

parasympathetic nervous system into dominance - eg. meditation, relaxation,

biofeedback. While there is another school of thought that seems to be

saying that continuos chronic pain

(a) leaves scarring on the brain

( tends to confirm and strengthen pain pathways

© leads to the recruitment of neurones into the pain cycle

all of which worsens the situation the longer it goes untreated and

unrelieved.

I fully sympathise about the " strange symptoms " that you mention ... I have

my fair share too. If you ever would like some support, comfort or just a

cyber-shoulder to cry on, feel free to email me personally. )

My heart goes out to you. Please try to hang in there. It might not be

feasible but is there a possibility of looking for another doc who might

know more about this illness? ...

I have been thinking about getting a new doctor, but quite frankly the

effort of starting all over again with someone new is horribly daunting.

I've been collecting journal articles and research papers about the safe

treatment of chronic pain with opiates and am going to be discussing this

with my doctors in the near future. So I guess at the moment I'm still at

the " suck it and see " stage. If anyone is interested in copies of some of

these articles, I have copies in Word 6 format that I could email to

individuals.

Othertimes, I just sit down, have a little chat with God and have a good

cry. Crying often leaves me with a very peaceful feeling although it also

leaves me more tired. ... It is as though I have fallen into this dark pit

that I cannot crawl out of. ...

Crying is well known to produce endorphins (the body's natural opiates) and

it often really does help just to let it all out. I'm not " religious "

either, though I have found some comfort in Buddhist meditation in recent

years. I know about the " dark pit " ... so remember, next time you feel

like that - there are others in there with you, and no matter how small our

candles of hope for a better future, we'll light the darkness with them

together.

Again, thankyou for your caring reply,

hugs,

Kit.