Pain pay off

There seems to be a decision when living with chronic pain. How much do you put up with the pain? How much can you distract yourself and what quality of life do you have?

When I take medications (and I have taken Topamax, Endep, Lyrica to name a few) there is always a pay off. Usually part of me, the part that relates to others, disappears a bit. Sometimes I get new symptoms like weight gain or I can't think clearly and I wonder is it all worth it. At the moment I am not taking prescribed drugs for pain and have coped for about 6 weeks using over the counter pain killers. I start to wonder what is worse - the effects of prescribed drugs or panadeine, codeine etc. Then I wonder about quality of life as I can't seem to judge if I am better off.

I want to talk to my pain specialist about my pain treatment options, maybe trying TENS or something else but the way I am feeling today just GIVE ME THE DRUGS.

P.S. I am also very frustrated at not being able to talk to anyone or make an appointment for 3 days with the pain specialist. I find this totally unacceptable for people living in chronic pain. Don't you?

IMAGE Thanks to UnderworldStargazer

Ningling and Tumbness

My symptoms are so distinct tonight i thought i better record them.
Tingling and numbness are not new to me - just the pattern of where it is.
A new symptom - tingling in just the left side of my tongue goes now together with tingling numb feeling in all my left fingers and all my left toes. At the same time the night sweats have come on very strong - i am someone who never use to sweat .
Also the pain and bubbling in both my calves is severe. The neck pain and shoulder pain has not subsided for 3 days. It usually weakens overnight.
i know this all sounds a bit depressing but i am still here banging it out on the computer.
Today I had 1 coffee and went for a nice walk.

Good News No shoes

Some days I am only good for sitting on the computer to distract myself.

I don't want to bring myself down so I look for humour or good news.

I often visit the Network for Good to see positive news updates from around the world or Good Giving which allows me to help others, and not focus on myself, right at my computer. (There is always some one worse off. As my father use to say "I thought I had it bad 'cause I had no shoes until I saw a man with no feet"

Thanks JMeganSnow for the art

Listen up.

There are a thousand chirping birds in my head most nights - in the day they reduce to a high pitched group of crickets singing in unison. I am a nature lover but this is ridiculous.

Some people might think it would be lovely to listen to these constant companions but I wish they would get out of my head and leave me in peace and quiet. They are sometimes so loud it is difficult to hear other things like what the children are trying to say to me.

I think people who have tinnitus may become lip readers without really knowing it. I noticed this when a new doctor was speaking and I had to work really hard to listen as I could not read her lips - she had a strong accent which makes lip reading difficult to the novice. I have only had tinnitus constantly for 6 years now. It is just added to my list of symptoms and no doctor (in the many that I see) has ever investigated it further.

To tell the truth it is only really annoying on those nights when I cannot get to sleep easily and I lie there listening to the sound of a thousand chirping birds...

(BREAKING NEWS: Henry Ford Hospital offers hope to the more than 50 million patients with tinnitus. )