Pain Interferes With Your Life & There’s No Magic Wand

Whether it is saying, no, you can’t go shopping or meet your friend for a coffee, pain often completely interferes with your life. And, unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about it. There is no magic wand to make it better. You need a lot of patience and you have to listen to your pain do what it needs you to do.

Another blogger, Sheryl, from A Chronic Voice shares writing prompts every month. You might remember Sheryl. She was the lovely lady who interviewed me on her podcast a few months ago. If you didn’t see that podcast, you can find it here: Sick Lessons Podcast

Anyway, this month I have decided to take part in her writing challenge. The writing prompts for November are:
Finishing Fatiguing Easing Comforting Wishing

If you live with a chronic health condition and would like to take part in Sheryl’s writing challenge, you can find the details here:
November Writing Prompts

When Pain Interferes With Your Life, You Need to Listen

October was Facial Pain Awareness Month and, as usual, I was busy. I had made a video in an attempt to show what trigeminal neuralgia looks like and I had plans to write and share lots of posts on my blog and social media.

As I Was Finishing Working on the Video, My Pain Stopped All My Plans

Just as I was finishing making the video, my pain stepped up a gear and really interfered with my life. I kept trying to ignore it because I has so much that I wanted to do but I had to eventually give in and listen.

Due to having scoliosis, I always have back and rib pain and I regularly have sciatica in my left hip. That’s normal for me and I simply need to put up with it. If I am having a really bad day, I rest more and hope it eases off. Sometimes it does fairly quickly but sometimes it takes a few days to get back to my normal pain levels.

But in October, it decided not to ease off. And as the month went on, things got worse. I had probably developed an awkward posture due to the sciatica and the knock-on effect of that was more pain elsewhere. Suddenly, I developed extremely severe back and rib pain on my right side. I think the muscles had gone into a spasm.

The Pain Really Interfered With My Life

Chronic pain is awful to live with – it’s there all the time and really interferes with life. You get used to living with it to a certain degree, but when it decides to step up a gear, it can catch you off guard.

Pain is Fatiguing and Frustrating

Living with pain is normal for me. I take medication every day to try to help me cope. I have to rest throughout the day because pain is fatiguing. But it’s also extremely frustrating. If I don’t pace myself, I’m in trouble. Simple tasks like washing the dishes can take five times as long as normal because I need to keep sitting down.

Pace Yourself to Keep Your Pain Under Better Control

But this episode was different. I could hardly walk at all. Sitting was too painful. I couldn’t use my laptop, so my to-do list was scrapped. No matter how well I paced myself, I couldn’t do a simple task. Even lifting a kettle to pour a cup of tea was impossible. I couldn’t reach up to get a glass from the shelf. Pushing the flush button on the toilet made me squeal out in pain.

I had to lie almost flat and take strong pain medication to get a small bit of relief.

The Sciatica Started Easing Off

It wasn’t a nice position to be in but I could do nothing about it. Nobody was going to come along with a magic wand. I know the drill – listen and do what your pain needs you to do.

Eventually, my sciatica started easing off which made walking slightly easier. But that pain in my back and ribs was awful. I still couldn’t lift the kettle. And sitting was still so painful. When I sat for longer than ten minutes, it felt as though my rib cage was pushing down into my pelvis and I could feel the sciatic nerve niggling again. So I spent more time lying flat in order to get the most relief.

Things That Helped

Medication and Lying Flat

I needed extra pain medication on top of my normal every-day meds. I had to fill in an e-consult form for my GP. Thankfully, they didn’t request to see me – that journey would have been a nightmare. But they issued another prescription for more pain medication which my husband was able to collect.

Lying flat was the most comfortable position but not ideal for trying to sleep at night. I’m normally a side sleeper, but I couldn’t lie on either side. Thankfully, the pain medication relaxed me enough to let me sleep even if only in short bursts.

Heat Was Comforting

I used heat pads in the hope that heat would help. I always find heat comforting and it does help a bit.

Breathing

Breathing exercises were painful but I know how important it is to breathe properly. It’s tempting to shallow breathe when you have rib pain but that can lead to other health problems. Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing is much better for you and it can actually help people cope with pain.

Breathing Techniques

Mindfulness

I tried to use mindfulness techniques. Sometimes I failed completely and my mind went straight back to my pain. But I kept trying. When I managed it, it put me into a better mindset.

Mindfulness Exercises You Could Try

Distractions

Distractions are always important when you’re in pain but when the pain is severe, it can be difficult to find something to hold your attention. I watched so many Netflix dramas but I cannot recall a single one. Obviously, my brain wasn’t in the mood to take in anything like that.

I also played lots of games on my phone just to try to put my thoughts into another place. I am a big fan of word games. My latest favourite is a game called Wordzee. I now have way too many game apps on my phone!

My husband still tried to amuse me with his usual silliness and kept me well-fed. And of course, my dog, with the cheekiest but most concerned look on her face, kept me company.

Distractions You Could Use

I Am Still Wishing For Better Days

The pain in my back and ribs has improved a fair amount but by no means is it back to my ‘normal’ pain levels. I can sit in my chair now, but after a short time, I feel the sciatica creeping back and that muscle spasm feels worse. I can also manage to lift the kettle as long as there’s only enough water for two mugs of tea. So, I am improving, but I am definitely still hoping and wishing for better days again.

I know from many years of experience how much pain interferes with life. And I also know that wishes don’t always come true when you live with chronic pain. There is no magic wand.

Patience is needed and, as much as I hate its voice, I will need to keep listening to my pain and doing what it tells me to do.