Chronic Pain Support Group
Physicians and professionalsdefine pain as chronic if it lasts longer than three to six months and is persistent. It's distinct from acute pain that is a direct result of injury or trauma. This support group is dedicated to those suffering from chronic pain. Discuss treatments that have worked for you, find advice for your specific experience, and find support. You're not...
I'm confused by many of the people that come to this Board. I've never really been on a Board like this one. Instead of spending time talking with their friends, about how their day has been, about how they can help them or lift them up in their time of need, or help them find resources or ways to find natural meds, or help research information on Dr.s and Pain Management programs. Which is what people and friends usually do for one another on a Support Board.
I don't see much of that here. This Board seems to be devoted by most to griping about Dr.'s not doing things right, not doing what then said, not RX'ing the right meds, or the laws changing and the pain it is to have to pick up a prescription. Grumbles about the whole pain management system and how its not working or their shouldn't be contracts or testing.
This place kind of seems like the Chronic Pain Gripe Group, be warned if you actually have a Dr. who is good to you and treats you well, because you won't be well liked or received. Negativity breeds Negativity....seems like that chain needs to be broken somehow soon.
It shouldn't be like that! Regardless or Dr.'s or medications, people can still talk with each other and support each other. There are people out there who can't leave that computer and jut having someone to visit with and support with would probably be a big
blessing.
I hope that people can find away to not harp on the arguments of Dr.'s and medications and just get back to being supportive and friendly with each other. Go back to being supportive the way others need them to be.
I don't see much of that here. This Board seems to be devoted by most to griping about Dr.'s not doing things right, not doing what then said, not RX'ing the right meds, or the laws changing and the pain it is to have to pick up a prescription. Grumbles about the whole pain management system and how its not working or their shouldn't be contracts or testing.
This place kind of seems like the Chronic Pain Gripe Group, be warned if you actually have a Dr. who is good to you and treats you well, because you won't be well liked or received. Negativity breeds Negativity....seems like that chain needs to be broken somehow soon.
It shouldn't be like that! Regardless or Dr.'s or medications, people can still talk with each other and support each other. There are people out there who can't leave that computer and jut having someone to visit with and support with would probably be a big
blessing.
I hope that people can find away to not harp on the arguments of Dr.'s and medications and just get back to being supportive and friendly with each other. Go back to being supportive the way others need them to be.
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I recently heard a great 2007 song the other day, "Falling Slowly" because it popped up in my newsfeed, accompanied by the sad news that the male singer, Glen Hansard, just died in a motorcycle accident. I learned that the song won an award and was featured in an indie movie called Once. I just watched it, and it's really good. They made it in 3 weeks on a $100,000 budget. It's streaming on...
Nope not too creepy, most of the shows I watch are the "whodunit" types like Bones, Criminal Minds, CSI, etc. Some of the short 8 - 10 series murder shows they've done recently were pretty good with the plot twists. I like to try and figure it out before the end.
I get a little board with the "fairy tale, life ends all happy" type movies and shows....LOL...I guess I've figured out that's a bit unrealistic.
As has been shared by many before... myself included... chronic pain affects EVERY ASPECT of our lives... so everything is fair game for discussion... good or bad... the positive and the negative... and if we are supposed to keep our posts limited only to the positive... act as though there are no negative aspects to CP... well, then this just becomes one more place in my life where I'm forced to paste on a fake smile and pretend I'm just fine and everything's sunshine and rainbows...
If that happens, then I've lost yet another "safe" place in my life... and another group of friends I could open up to and who "get it"... and the plain truth is that would really suck!
Oh, and just for the record, I think that getting medication that effectively treats our CP should damn well be our right and that we shouldn't be made to jump through all the hoops we're forced to jump through nor be made to feel like a criminal or an addict just because we want to get the medication we require to treat a very real and debilitating medical condition...
Peace,
Dave
We all have probably posted an opinion or post that affected someone else by mistake, or we were in so much pain and not thinking too clearly. If we do, we just have to own it, say we're sorry, we were in pain and go on. Or we were in pain and took something the wrong way.
But we have to be supportive no matter how we disagree with someone else's journey as everyone has different and difficult situations.
We have also had trolls and people who show up just to bait people in arguments then sit back and fuel the fire. We had a bad one awhile ago (couple of years?) who after a couple of days we figured out what they were doing and their profile date was a day before. Long story short, we called their bluff and outed their lies and they left. It got ugly, but within a few days they were gone. Anyone can sign up and pretend to have chronic pain when all they want is attention or something else.
Another time people were getting vicious PMs from other members. Us old timers from the boards are fast to fish out the fakers and are very protective of our boards because we have gotten so much help here and we can fish out the trolls and fight starters pretty fast lol.
Vent away, scream at the family, friends and relatives or anyone we need to here. We all are in the same boat and need to be kind to each other and not throw them off the boat or they will drown. Grab their arms and help them get back into the boat.
Probably a corny analogy but all I thought of lol
but it is ok to VENT on this group. friends are not interested in that.
and it is OK> to ask questions of others. as we learn from one another
I hope you can read between the lines. and READ the good things.
Sunny in Melbourne
This post is just my opinion, and it was more about the negativity towards Dr.'s and medication's etc. I'm not proposing that anyone stop venting, or that any type off "happy only limit" should be imposed. I believe that everyone should be able to vent or post whatever they want or need to post about. I had a need to get those things off of my chest, so I posted about some negative things that I felt here, once again, MY OPINION. :O)
I would never suggest that someone do something to alter or change their safe place. I am incredibly PRO therapy/ist and PRO Psychiatrist/Psychologist....I encourage others to find a safe place and Support Boards can be good ones.
I volunteer on a Suicide Hotline one night a week and we push "safe places" big time.
As for the jumping through hoops and such to get meds or being treated like an addict.....
I believe in Pain Contracts, they protect all involved and they assure me that my meds will be there each month and always have. I've had the same Dr. doing my pain management for 17+ yrs. now so I do maybe 1 urine check a month, just so there's something to put in the file. I've never had a pill count. I go to the ER quite a bit at least twice a month, every month and I've never been treated like an addict or a Dr. Shopper looking for drugs. I'm also a mental patient, I have severe Suicidal BiPolar and I've been Inpatient in the Psych Ward at the same Hospital where I go to the ER, I've went through 3 months of ECT at that same Psych Ward/Hospital/ER and once again I've never been treated like a drug addict or a crazy person looking for drugs. I've only ever been treated with compassion, respect and caring. The Dr.'s and nurses at that hospital are very professional and very caring.
One thing some people probably don't know....when I started pain management I was 17, that was ummm...30 years ago. 30 years ago there was no such thing as Pain Management, there weren't long acting narcotics that you could take home outside of the hospital. If you had surgery you went home with Vicoden or Percocet enough for maybe a week. Then you got over it. If the pain hung on you'd get a script for Tylenol 3 and that was it. There was no taking Fentanyl, Morphine or Oxycontin at home. Controlling Chronic Pain back then was pure hell. Unless you were terminal and in a home care/hospice type situation you didn't get any kind of heavy narcotics for long term use. You just dealt with the pain. Hell you didn't even go to Therapists back then. So, the Pain Management and medications that's available today is amazing, there is so much you can be given to help keep your pain under control, to help you deal with the stress and anxiety.
So when I speak about the negativity towards Dr.'s and griping about it being to hard to follow the laws to get meds, etc. I'm remembering how hard it was then and how lucky we are now....but once again that's just my opinion.
OCP
This Thread was my opinion, my feelings, my freedom of speech, it was not aimed at anyone, didn't attack anyone, was not intended to run anyone off. If someone is offended by the Thread or me, there is an ignore button.
This Thread was not posted by mistake because I was in too much pain and didn't realize what I was saying. I said exactly what I intended to say. No apologies forth coming.
I am not a troll, nor have I showed up to bait people in arguments so I can sit back and fuel the fire for my own enjoyment. That's pretty sick behavior.... And my medical history and mental history are very real, not made up.
Now that, we have that straightened out.
For now I'm pretty offended, so I'll chill for a bit and decide what to do about it, that was a bit much.
I was one of the people that took this very personally because I do complain a lot.
OCP-
I find it very interesting that you have had such positive experiences with doctors and even mental health facilities. I think that might be unusual. So your experience of doctors is very different than what many of us have gone through or are going through. Trying to find a doctor that doesnt think we are crazy can be difficult.
I have a mental health history as well and I am amazed that you were treated so nicely over the years. About 20 years ago in Atlanta I went to the state psych ward 3x and a nice, fancy Behavioral Modification Unit for folks that had insurance- they sent me to the state place pretty quickly. Both places how can I put a positive spin on this- um I cant they really, really sucked. The nice one was actually worse than the state one. I was 24 and they sent me to the rubber room for screaming and crying. I did not threaten anyone. I had just woken up from trying to kill myself 2 days before and they thought it would be great to meet with my father and me right away.
Anyway, my long-winded point is that my experience with doctors and staff people of any medical/mental health kind has been mostly bad. So when my specialist starts saying now that she thinks some of my pain is psychosomatic because of my anxiety and depression it concerns me that she isnt even going to look for a medical cause.
My feet are enormous- thats not in my head!
But my other point is- I can understand that from your perspective and experience we are negative and gripping too much. But thats what we need to do to vent and get it out. Which OCP- I dont think you are against- this is the place for that! I think you are wanting folks to go back to the positive after that. I think going through this hell that is what we all want to do, right?
I tend to live my life that confrontation and disagreements are BAD and should be avoided at all costs. I was taught a long time ago that if I disagreed with people I was wrong and they were right. Im realizing now that they were WRONG and insane and Im not actually as crazy as I used to believe I was!
I am learning that respectful disagreement can be productive and we dont even have to agree to get along and to like each other.
Soap box done. Thanks for listening!
Up until very recently I volunteered for a suicide hotline as well, I needed a brief break to manage my own health. I have also had 2 friends die by completing suicide so I know what it's like on both sides of that. I'm looking forward to getting better and volunteering again.
(Not related at all- totally addicted to Netflix and lots of crime shows! Love Criminal Minds, Nikita, Leverage...)
Love and hugs to everyone!
NY
(or anyone who fely I was being negative)
I am so very sorry that you're offended and I hope it wasn't me I certainly did not have any intentions of saying in any way that you were negative I enjoy your posts I was just explaining how in the past we have had really bad people I think you're an awesome person and I agree you have every right in the world to say whatever you want to say and we learn from your experience. If I offended you in anyway please accept my sincerest apologies I was just basically explaining how it used to be so we're all aware that there can be people like that out here in this board that may do this in the future not at all that that's what you were doing.
I am very happy for you to have found an awesome p.m. Dr and other doctors to help you I can't imagine the hell you went through it 17 it makes me feel like I'm a big pussy because I thought I was dying when I was 40 from it so I can imagine the hell you went through at 17 when you should be enjoying life and be carefree.
I am not against p.m. doctors at all. I myself went to one for over 7 years until I lost my insurance. the only problem I had was my own experience with the meds he gave me without telling me how bad they were to get off of and then suddenly losing my insurance and having to detox all by myself. Once they found out I lost my insurance I was scared I was going to die because I was on so many meds and all they told me was you won't die and that was basically the end of the phone call so all I was was dollars to them so it was just a bad experience for me but I highly recommend p.m. doctors.
I myself was seeing a therapist but again no insurance and no therapist so I sit at home all day long alone depressed stressed about money stressed about if I don't win my disability stressed about losing my wedding rings just plain stressed and in pain off and on like a roller coaster all day long. all I have is my organic supplement and thyroid to keep me going.
in no way was I responding negatively to any of your posts I was responding in general the only person I mentioned was one person who felt personally attacked on this board and probably either left or is leaving that's the only experience I was referring to was the one I knew of. and the bad people that used to be on the board in the trolls was just to let everyone know that the Internet is secret and you never know when someone may come and just try to get us to fight just so they can get a few laughs.
much love to everyone on this board no matter their journey whether they're on medicine or not I try to be supportive to everyone especially when no one gets an answer to a post I will chime in. as I said everything I said was just in general not to someone specific.
may everyone have a better day and hopefully a pain free or at least a manageable day.
Hugs to you and your journey.
Everyone's opinion has been amazing to read and I thank each of you for sharing.
I find it hard a lot of the time to share this type of information even though I know this is a safe and understanding group.
OldCPer - I think you have much to offer people like me. I have had CP for 2 years so I am still sort of a newbie. But how you have managed your CP for all this time is incredible and I feel lucky that I get to hear your thoughts.
Happy pain free day to all.
Hugs
I'm not sure if you've ever checked, but most counties or cities have Mental Health Social Services that are usually offered at a very, very cheap co-pay or free depending on income. And they can be very good Dr.'s, I know in my State the Universities staff them. After my divorce I went without health insurance for a period and had to use those services and they were a lifesaver.
@NYgirl: Believe me thoughout the years I have had sucky Dr.s, really, really bad ones. I've been through 17 Psychiatrists in my 27 years of BiPolar. I think one thing that is different about me, and many BiPolar patients, it's a disease that you either embrace and learn to live your life with and keep stable or you fight it and your life is hell. I'm the typical A personality, OCD, over achieving, geek student, who never broke the rules and live my life very organized and very regimented and ruled. So I sought out the good Psychiatrists so that my BiPolar could stay managed, so I could get my med cocktail right and be stable. My career was important to me, and I had to work that around all the medical stuff, the suicide attempts, and kids and marriage and all that crap. I have to have control of my life and everything in it....so when I got bad Dr.'s, I said, "nope" and went and found better ones. I was having 2 - 3 surgeries a year for 17+ years.....I had to be able to trust these people and to do that they had to be good Dr.'s. I got plenty of the bad ones, I just didn't stay with them. That's my hangup. I couldn't even count the total number of GP's, Neurologist's, Nephrologists, Oncologists, Orthopedists, Internists, Cardiologists and Physical Therapists I've seen over the years.....lol...that's a really big number.
When I've gotten incredibly fortunate and found the right Dr.'s I don't leave them, I follow them (some might say stalk) I've followed my Psychiatrist through 3 job changes over the last 10 years, my main Dr. over 2 job changes.....I'm just one of those weirdo's who has to keep things in my control. When you get your mental med cocktail right and your medical med cocktail right and they all finally play nice together.....I just can't afford to mess that up, I take 19 meds a day right now.
So, yeah it hasn't all been puppies and rainbows. A few unicorns here and there. Oh yeah and I love to have debate type conversations and get people talking, keep those brain cells regenerating.
Controversy, conflict, speaking my mind....I have no problem with all that...lol...really I don't. I work in Finance, I babysit a group of International folks who hale from Germany, Turkey, Holland, and the U.S. who all have strong opinions and sometimes act like spoiled toddlers....quite a bit of the time act like spoiled toddlers.
So, Yay I'm glad people are talking and learning more about each other. Now we just need a new movie to tear apart!