The Circle Community Group
The Circle is a Chronic Pain Support room known to it's members for their faithful, generous and outstanding support. Throw in a splash of humor to help you get through your days. New members welcome.
Hello fine fellows and ladies:
I wanted to see how everyone in this fine group is doing. A temperature check so to speak. Please share what percent of health you feel you are at overall. For example, pre pain or injury you are at 100%.
Myself i would say I am at 50%. Maybe 51%. A majority owner of my body. What does 51% mean? good question Toni! I would say that I am BARELY able to go to work each day. I muddle thru 8 hours. I have to come home and lay down immediately.
I have serious severe headaches every day ranging from a 4-9. I have severe leg and feet pain that ranges from a 6-10 every day. I take medications that help but certainly do not eliminate the pain and are often ineffective.
With that being said, I try to have a positive attitude every day. If i don't Lisa bops me over the head with a foam finger! I just wish I could get back to 70%. 80 would be great.
How does everyone else feel overall???
Martin
I wanted to see how everyone in this fine group is doing. A temperature check so to speak. Please share what percent of health you feel you are at overall. For example, pre pain or injury you are at 100%.
Myself i would say I am at 50%. Maybe 51%. A majority owner of my body. What does 51% mean? good question Toni! I would say that I am BARELY able to go to work each day. I muddle thru 8 hours. I have to come home and lay down immediately.
I have serious severe headaches every day ranging from a 4-9. I have severe leg and feet pain that ranges from a 6-10 every day. I take medications that help but certainly do not eliminate the pain and are often ineffective.
With that being said, I try to have a positive attitude every day. If i don't Lisa bops me over the head with a foam finger! I just wish I could get back to 70%. 80 would be great.
How does everyone else feel overall???
Martin
I would guess 70 percent? But that's me being an optimist!
I have daily pain in my lower back, pelvis, hips; I cannot sit (my right hip won't bend, and if I force it to, scarring tears and I re-injure (long story, had a serious fall in 2011 that docs blew off for nearly 6 months).... I can walk maybe 1 mile total a day, or 1 1/2 if I count puttering around the house. When the damaged spine nerve or the damaged leg nerve act up, I lose sensation or get horrible was stings in my various areas----no ohter way to call it---and spasms and so on. I use heat, ice and OTC stuff b/c there's not much else to do. I have epilepsy so that rules out so many meds of me it's not even funny.
The post-accident PTSD unlocked the much nastier PSTSD from my childhood so.... I suffer from severe stuff from that. BUt mostly....
I tell myself I'm at 100 percent for today and tomorrow I will be at 100 percent for tomorrow and if I get really down? I remember that sinc the accident I survived flesh-eating bacteria, re-learned to walk, and walk now without canes 99 percent of the time. So... Am I able to be athletic and busy again? No. Am I grateful for what I can do? Yes! Being able to *walk* is such a blessing. And to walk without canes? I've worked hard to got there and I am not gonna forget it!
You have my admiration, Martin. You battle some serious stuff. I feel pretty lame complaining at all!
Today specifically sux, btw. Heat and humidity equal fibro flare for me. Ugh. But we have A/C and I'll just hunker down till it's the nice 9 months of the year here in VIrginia again.:-)
Me I don't know that I can put a percentage on it. I've dealt with health issues since I've been born so I have the mental stubbornness to cope with some of it.
I have a list of probs that keep me from working, but like Leo I've improved in the walking department and I'm very grateful for that one. My limb and back movements are limited though, but hey you do what you got to do.......just at my own pace.
Damn Leo sorry you hurt so much and have those limitations, but wow love you've worked those hurdles.
i'm in awe of the folks who work and you have a great attitude to be at 51%.
leo, i'm sorry you have to deal with PTSD along with the pain.
i'm more similar to toni having had physical problems forever until they mounted up to too huge to be able to work.
i'm glad you brought this up b/c i don't really allow myself to think about it.
I think if I didn't work, I would have my illnesses much more under control. I'm always running on empty.
Like a lot of you, weather plays a big factor too.
Good question Martin.
On my best days with the meds I have now my pain is a 7, if I move around too much it's an easy 9/10. I don't know how you do it with your pain level. At the same time I envy you for being able to go to work I just wish it didn't cost you so much to do so. Remember my friend that foam finger went out the window.....I have the voodoo doll now LOL!!
Wishing peace and low pain for all
Hugs & God Bless
Lisa
Where's everybody else? Just curious how people are feeling. I forgot to mention I get terrible fatigue and my wife is very angry and abusive. I don't mean to bring that up on this board but who would abuse a sick person? Like I just don't get it. I was at 70% before my minor stroke, since then I am one foot on a banana peel and one foot thru thin ice.
Leo- I'm glad you can walk some and I know about the PTSD. I'm sorry your meds are limited.
Toni- OMG, I keep forgetting to get a stool for work. I think it would help. Dont know where to find one! Sorry to hear of your lifelong struggles. You are pretty tough though.
Serenity- you always start our day off so positively, thank you!
vicky- I know the feeling. I can feel 65% one minute one minute and 35% the next. I hear Lupus is very tough so I am so sorry for you and wish you better health
Lisa, the sickest and cheeriest of all. I dont know how you do it. You have yet to bust out the voodoo doll on me but I'm sure its just a matter of time. I will sting you with my Scorpio tail sister! lol
I feel like sometimes my pain is nothing compared to others, But I do have some rough days. As the week goes on it gets worse.
I hope to hear from others. No need to compare, we are all in this together and no one is better or worse than anyone else, becasue I don't walk in your shoes. Thanks all.
Martin
Since I have had to adjust to this new normal, I'd have to say I'm at about 60% most of the time. Some days are worse than others as I know you understand. I am also in awe of anyone who can still work with chronic pain. People like you and Vicky have my compassion and respect.
I hope you're able to get that damned pain under control!
I don't know. Because I'm just coming off neck surgery, I guess I'm at 60% most days, but I have multiple problems from the time I was 14. Some days the pain is at 80% others its less, but iI'm not working either because of it. I try to workout every day on elliptical and stretching because it helps my back.
In the summer, when I'm sitting in a lounge chair with the sun beating on my bones, I feel the least pain, but with the skin cancer I'm limited in how much of that I do. I try to move every day, but since my neck surgery, that's been hard to do. I live by myself so I have to do errands once a week, clean my apartment, cook for myself, etc.
I try the best I can. I wish we all had a lot less pain to do things. It makes things a lot harder and the older I get the worse it seems.
Hugs and love,
Xoxoxo
Mary Ellen