New Member

[Guest guest]

Hey ,

Welcome to thr Group, you'll enjoy it here we all have a lot of the same

probs with Doc's, insurance and most of us fight with depression and pain too.

Take care, Terri

[Guest guest]

Welcome, . I'm sorry that you have the need for this group, but glad that

you found it.

I know how difficult life can be when you're in pain and you have young children

living at home. Mine went through countless surgeries with me, to the point

where they'd joke about Mommy going into the hospital again.

It was real hard on them growing up, but I have to say that now that they're 17

and (almost) 20, they've sure learned about compassion and sympathy.

Depression seems to go hand-in-hand with chronic pain. I've been dysthymic at

best, and severerly depressed at worst, for much of my life.

I just went through what was perhaps my most intense depression ever, which

included obsessive suicidal ideation. I found relief with Zoloft after telling

my pain doc merely that I " wasn't doing too well emotionally. "

Unfortunately, it's a vicious cycle--you have pain, which depresses you, and

then the depression causes more pain, which leads to further depression, on and

on and on. I strongly suggest that you look into taking an antidepressant.

I'm sure that the last thing you want is yet another pill to add to your

arsenal, but just as we need to pay attention to our physical health, we have to

work on our mental health, too.

By the way, my husband and I are determined to move to Vegas after my son

graduates high school in June. So you may hear from me off-list about different

neighborhoods, etc., if that's okay with you.

Hugs,

a

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Wow, 6 children and chronic pain for you and your husband...that must be a

struggle. I only have one and I know I struggle sometimes myself. I am 37,

married and have Fibro, chronic back problems/pain, cysts in shoulders,

neuropathy and arthitis. I work full time and go to school, which I know I'm

really lucky to be able to do but its very hard to keep going.

I know what you mean about taking narcotics and Drs shunning you for it. Some

say its the only options while others treat me like I'm a crazed maniac for

being on anything at all. Doesn't seem to make sense sometimes.

Welcome to the group but sorry you have to be here too.

Caitlin

---------------------------------

Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for the response. Absolutely, when you guys are ready to

start looking at homes here let me know. I have lived here for 26 years (I'm 36

years old) so I'm basically a local. I am so grateful to have found this site.

The responses I have gotten have really been wonderful. I too have older

children, my oldest is 18 boy, 16 girl, 14 boy, 12 girl, 10 girl and 7 girl.

The 18, 12, and 10 are my natural and the others are step children.

The pain doc here has me on fentanyl 25 mcg, and 20 mg roxicodone every 4 hrs.

They just added motrin 800 because of all of the swelling. I was in a car

accident on Oct 3 and due to that I just found out yesterday that I have a torn

meniscus in my knee and my sacroiliac is out of place and my hips are now messed

up from the seat belt locking up and my air bags not deploying. I was on the

highway going about 75 mph and some idiot ran me off the road. Typical las

Vegas drivers.

Anyway, thank you again for the response and I look forward to hearing from

everyone!

a wrote:

By the way, my husband and I are determined to move to Vegas after my son

graduates high school in June. So you may hear from me off-list about different

neighborhoods, etc., if that's okay with you.

[Guest guest]

Pope wrote:

> I have been living with chronic back and neck pain for 20 years

and I am 36 years old. I have 3 children of my own

>

Hi , Welcome to a great group with a wonderful bunch of people who

know what your going thru and really care. IM a chronic pain sufferer

also with many illnesses at the age of 51. You will find a lot of

support here and some very useful information on many different issues

concerning chronic pain. IM a little slow to post at times but its not

intentional, I have a lot going on and sitting at the PC is difficult

most of the time.

Wishing you a great day!

Fran

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone, my name is Terri. I joined the group a month or so ago

but am just now finding the energy to post. I have been dealing with

Fibro and CFS issues for about 10 years now, along with a multiude of

other frustrating health problems that may or may not be connected to

the fibro and/or CFS.

In some ways, I keep jumping back to the denial mode, partly because it just

doesn't make sense that I can have so much pain and fatigue without a real

specific cause.

I have tried a variety of drugs and supplements, have kept daily logs (food,

weather, pain and fatigue levels) and explored many theories. As with many of

you, many of the drugs I've tried work for periods of time and then just cease

to be effective.

I've read that these conditions are not degenerative and perhaps this may be

true on a strick physical level (although I think this is debatable) but over

time, the whole social/emotional aspect of chronic health conditions (at least

for me)has degenerated into a very reclusive lifestyle.

Mainly because of my inability to lead a normal life and also because 95% of my

family and friends can't comprehend what I go through. And when I do find the

energy to touch base with thses individuals, quite frankly it wears me out to

explain to them over and over.

Why I can't go out on the town for the night or why I couldn't show up for a

family function in another state, expecially since I've explained it to them a

hundred times before.

I'm thankful that I have discoverd this group and hopeful that it will lessen my

loniness to some degree. And I applogize for venting so much, but I just really

needed to do so.

On the positive side, I am forunate that I have been able to maintain

an income that pays my bills and keeps me fed. I have enough good days

scattered through out the month to play catch up and to keep my

depression at arm's length.

Thanks for listening!

Terri

[Guest guest]

Hi Terri!

Welcome to the group. I think a lot of us deal with what you are going through.

I know that I often live in denial. I want to be " normal " so badly that

sometimes I will sob for hours. Some in my family also don't understand what is

going on with me. A couple of family members even told me I was a

hypochondriac! One of which is my mother. Oh well.

Feel free to vent. That is one of the reasons we are here! As well as offering

comfort, excellent information and such are shared often.

Love,

Becky in SD

[Guest guest]

Hey Terri, Welcome to the Group, I have the same problem with 95% of my Family

and Friends who don't understand, how I feel and what I go thur every single

day. And it is exhausting to try to explain it to them as you say over and

over again. I was happy to find this Group too. Make yourself at home.

Take care,

Terri

[Guest guest]

I have been on Topamax for one year. I take it for migranes. It has not caused

me to lose weight and it does not help with pain at least not that I have

noticed. I would not have an amputation until I got at least three opinions.

The reason I say that is I am a pastor's wife and we have had several amputees

in our church, over the last several years, without exception all of thenm wish

they had gotten more than one opinion before they had it done.

In the casae of three of them they would never had to have it have it done if

they had another opinion. In many cases it is a learning thing for a doctor.

Do not do it without more opinions. They do not need to learn at your expense.

We live with an military base in our town and you should never have this done

without three opionons telling you to. There are tons of pain jmeds out there to

help you. Topamaz helped me but it does not all people. Sounds tl me like you

need a nother doc with a different perspective just so

that you have another idea to come from. Gwen

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Welcome to the group. I'm sorry you are in so much pain! What did the

Cleveland Pain clinic do for you?

Love,

Becky in South Dakota

[Guest guest]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the group, and I'm glad you found us.

First off, I have to say, I can't believe you suffered with back

pain for so long before having treatment done! That's a LONG time

to suffer. Did you have any other treatments during that time, like

medication?

I suffered a back injury in an auto accident in 1999, on Christmas

Day no less--what a Christmas present! I went through 4 weeks of

chiropractic treatment for what turned out to be whiplash, but I

continued to have on an off pain over the years, and then the pain

came back with a vengeance and stayed about 3 years ago. My PM

doctor has so many different dx'es for it. I have sacroiliitis,

lumbar radiculitis, spondylogenic lumbar facet arthritis and facet

syndrome. Lots of big words that add up to one thing--PAIN!

I've also had several bone spurs, though none in my back, thank

goodness. I had one in my shoulder that fused together with a

ligament, so I lost the ligament when they removed the spur, and

that was more than enough for me! But I will never, ever forget how

much that hurt!

Another thing we have in common is Bipolar Disorder (manic

depression). I'm really happy for you that just one medication

helps. I have to take both an anti-depressant and a mood

stabilizer. I'm glad to hear that you have faced your demons (your

drinking problem) and are in AA. It's a strong person who can fight

their addictions and win.

A pain management specialist can help you so much if you work

together with them. I really like mine, and I guess it helps that

he's a really open and funny guy who takes the time to listen

closely to what you are saying.

Acceptance of this life is not an easy thing, but once you come to

terms with how your life is now, rather than dwelling on the past,

or how life " could be " , you start to learn what like " can be " .

First you find a way to tame the beast called pain, then you can

start to focus on the things you can still do, and look at what your

strengths are. Being in pain doesn't mean you have to roll over and

quit. It just means you have to make adjustments. And we're all

here to help you along the sometimes bumpy path!

So again, welcome, and keep us posted on how things go at with the

PM doctor, and if you ever need anything, just let us know! Someone

is always around!

All my best,

Jen 1 (there are several Jens here!)