Young dad struggling to keep going with chronic pain

[soupcxan]

Unfortunately sometimes for these kind of things there is no remedy..I have a dear friend who has struggled with an issue like this for over a decade. She just did a 3 week inpatient chronic pain clinic...where the mantra was..it's part of your life, let's help you cope with it.

Telling people to just keep looking because there is a fix out there can be frustrating to someone in pain with no end in site.

Despite the last 5 years of evidence to the contrary, I am not yet ready to accept that there is nothing I can do to at least get the pain down to a manageable level. I am still in the bargaining stage (I will accept some pain, just not all of it).

Going to one of the inpatient chronic pain clinics has been floated before but is a last resort right before quitting my job. I still have some avenues to explore before I get there.

 

[ivinsfan]

And all the best to you as you continue to look for a solution that helps you. As a friend trying to support someone, encouraging them to continue to look and stay hopeful, is supportive. Saying just keeping looking because there is a cure somewhere, was not helpful to my friend, because things are much more complicated then that.

 

[eytonxav]

Soup,

How is your posture, do you hunch your shoulders? How about exercise, if you do some exercises with bad form it can also result in problems.

I agree with your thinking to try every possible avenue before resorting solely to pain management, although that might be helpful as you continue to explore different potential things to fix the problem.

 

[ivinsfan]

I also wanted to say, the pain clinic was very helpful to her and she commented she should have attended years sooner. Going to a clinic doesn't mean throwing in the towel or that it's a last resort, you have pain interfering with your quality of life right now.

 

[soupcxan]

Soup,

How is your posture, do you hunch your shoulders? How about exercise, if you do some exercises with bad form it can also result in problems.

I agree with your thinking to try every possible avenue before resorting solely to pain management, although that might be helpful as you continue to explore different potential things to fix the problem.

I do hunch my shoulders a bit, but have been paying attention to them as well as doing exercises for posture plus the ones from PT (most of which are variations of each other).

I also wanted to say, the pain clinic was very helpful to her and she commented she should have attended years sooner. Going to a clinic doesn't mean throwing in the towel or that it's a last resort, you have pain interfering with your quality of life right now.

Good point, I sort of dismiss the pain class as "giving up" but that's not what it is. If it could help, it's worth looking into.

 

[BackcountryMe]

Soupcxan, it sounds like you've tried nearly everything. This may sound odd, but instead of adding more treatments, devices, prescriptions, have you thought about what you could remove from your life?

I assume you're not a smoker, but that would be the most obvious one. My friend had terrible food allergies manifesting in dermatitis. He spent over two years systemically removing certain foods from his diet and he only recently triangulated to the source of the problem, which is now entirely resolved.

The things you can remove aren't limited to food and drink (e.g., sugary drinks, alcohol), but also other routines or even chores (exposure to household chemical or allergies from yardwork). You mention depression too and there are studies that link habits like gambling (or even porn) to depression. Perhaps the pain is related to something like that.

I'd bet your wife and son love you immensely. Keep that in mind. It will help!

 

[simple girl]

Have you tried kinesiotape? I've seen some fantastic results with it. (Sorry if you already mentioned it.)

 

[soupcxan]

Soupcxan, it sounds like you've tried nearly everything. This may sound odd, but instead of adding more treatments, devices, prescriptions, have you thought about what you could remove from your life?

I assume you're not a smoker, but that would be the most obvious one. My friend had terrible food allergies manifesting in dermatitis. He spent over two years systemically removing certain foods from his diet and he only recently triangulated to the source of the problem, which is now entirely resolved.

The things you can remove aren't limited to food and drink (e.g., sugary drinks, alcohol), but also other routines or even chores (exposure to household chemical or allergies from yardwork). You mention depression too and there are studies that link habits like gambling (or even porn) to depression. Perhaps the pain is related to something like that.

I'd bet your wife and son love you immensely. Keep that in mind. It will help!

Not a smoker, and I drink less lately, when I am dealing with the pain I don't like to add anything on top of that.

If there is a pattern I just cannot figure it out. Doesn't seem to matter whether I do more chores or less, more yardwork or not. I have cut back on nightshade foods lately but starting to go through elimination diets of everything under the sun would be difficult.

If it were more of an inflammatory response I don't know why I wouldn't have problems in my other joints/muscles. It has to be at least partly mechanical/physical given that the pain confined to one area.


I just don't get it...recent activity...although I had more "good" days clustered together here than I usually do (which would be great if this turned into a trend of % more good days, but I have no idea):

Friday - woke up ok, did stretches/light exercises, went to daycare/work, low to no pain most of the day. worked out at lunch. a good day
Saturday - woke up with mild ache, did stretches/light exercises, ached all day until the evening, relented
Sunday - woke up ok, did stretches/light exercises, felt good all day until the evening, started hurting again
Monday - woke up hurting, did stretches/light exercises, daycare/work, continued to hurt all day, pain got worse by lunch and then relented a bit after that. worked out after lunch. overall, a bad day
Tuesday - woke up with mild ache, did stretches/light exercises, pain let up, daycare/work, low pain most of the day but was moving around the office most of the day and presenting in several meetings which seems to distract my brain from the pain. a good day.
Wednesday - woke up with mild ache, did stretches/light exercises, went to dentist then daycare/work, off and on discomfort throughout the day. Not as bad as Monday, not as good as Tuesday.

Have you tried kinesiotape? I've seen some fantastic results with it. (Sorry if you already mentioned it.)

Haven't mentioned it but I did go to PT in 2014 where they taped me for a month...didn't notice any difference.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

When I am in pain I have to stop even yoga, stay off the computer and do the miracle or massage balls lying in bed where ever I have trigger points. When I am out of pain I can go back to gentle stretches, then work my way up to yoga. I can never lift weights. I always get sore from that so I gave up. I am happy just to not be in pain these days and able to do yoga, hike and dance again.

Coffee sometimes make the pain worse, so then I drink green tea. I have two tennis balls taped together I roll up and down my spine and that really helps any neck, back or arm pain. Hot water bottles wrapped in towels on the trigger points also really help.

 

[zerogravity]

Soupcxan:
Thank you for posting about your chronic pain. The responses you are receiving are helping me too!
I have intermittent pain in the front of my shoulder. I am reading along all of the advice and tips you are receiving. It is very helpful to have so many points of view. Thanks again and please continue to let us know what works and what doesn't. Pain can really drag one down if there's no end in sight.


--ZG