The pain of chronic pain!

I am struggling. I am sure anyone with chronic pain struggles with discouragement. I am also struggling with self image and self esteem. My pain shows and there is nothing I can do about that. I walk with a definite limp/hitch in my step. My right hip and right knee are painful with walking and sometimes just standing still for a length of time (as in when I am working in the kitchen or worse stopped at work to chat with a patient). The pain increases significantly.

I even had a patient ask me 'how long have you been crippled'! I have never considered myself crippled. Geez. Very depressing! Getting up and sitting down are difficult for me. I used to be an athlete. I ran 3-9 miles a day in high school. Had 5 children and was always very active with them. When my children left home I continued to be active. About 15 years ago my right knee started hurting once in awhile. And once in awhile it was bad enough I sought help from a chiropractor who said my knee was fine, adjusted my hips and off I went feeling better. The frequency of my pain increased with frequency and intensity to the point where about 10 years ago I began to experience pain every day. I began seeking answers.

I am unable to take any of the opioids, they make me deathly sick. I would rather be in pain. So I sought PT, therapeutic massage, chiropractic, supplements, ND's, DO's, Orthopedic advice and at present I am going to a special kind of Physical therapy called restorative muscle balancing. I had prolozone therapy and stem cell therapy. I've taken Ibuprofen 400-800mg experementing with combining the ibuprofen with some tylenol. Everything helps for a little while but nothing seems to help for the long term. My present supplement program consists of NAC three times a day, methyl folate once a day and methyl cobalimine B-12 once a day and just a week ago I started taking the collagen chews with  Hyluronic acid for bone support once a day.

At what point will I feel better? Is that never? I do try to compensate for and deal with the pain in healthy ways. I distract, I also do mega research on how to address the underlying cause of my pain.

Pain, depression and discouragement serve as an impetus to research deeper, more intense and revisit some research. I use my discouragement to spur me to renew my search for answers! I seek out new research and revisit old. Just this last week I took a hard honest look at my diet and found I had let some processed foods and sugar sneak back into my daily eating so I stopped eating sugar and once again removed processed foods from my diet! I do feel better without the sugar.

I revisited Acupressure  and trigger point therapy! I have started doing acupressure on key points and I seem to be finding some pain relief. I also researched cobblestone walking. The internet has sure made research so much easier. Thank goodness. I don't have cobblestones to walk on but I do have a wooden roller I can use to massage my feet!

My point with this post is to encourage. I know chronic pain is discouraging! There may be no answer but you will never know if you do not look. I refuse to say there is nothing I can do about my pain. There is a lot I can do! Most of it take effort on my part and I constantly have to battle wanting a one pill solution. Dealing with chronic pain and health issues is a multifaceted adventure. 

Till next time. Keep your chin up and never give up!

Healthbug

Supplements and Chronic Pain

This has been a hard post to write. The subject of vitamins and supplements is huge. Just as with diet, what we put in our mouth and thus our bodies, does affect every part of our health!

 If you think the foregoing statement is not true, just try eating only protein, sugar, or ..... well anything single food for even a few days. It is a safe bet that you will feel the affects of whatever mono diet you are eating.

 One item to note is that any diet, supplement or vitamin regimen must be followed for at least 3 months to be able to tell if the new regimen is of any benefit! I know three months should like a long time, but less that that is usually really not enough time to tell anything. You don’t want to waste your efforts!

There are always exceptions to the above, when I stopped eating anything with aspartame! was able to tell within 1 week that I felt a lot better without it and a lot worse when I ate anything with aspartame in it!  

The only time I would quit a regimen before the 3 months is when I felt much worse after starting the diet or supplement. Then, of course I stopped immediately.

I have determined I cannot take Alpha Lipoic Acid on an empty stomach after only 3 doses.  I just seems to explode in my stomach about 5-10 minutes after I take it and causes severe stomach pain. Use your common sense when trying new supplements. 

MSM helped my sleep tremendously. With better sleep, I have a better chance of healing my bones, muscles, etc. Vitamin C is my good all around go to vitamin for preventing and staving off infection and  general all around feeling good vitamin. However, MSM did not help directly with my pain.

I have tried many supplements and vitamins to aid with my pain. Most have not yielded the results I wanted which was some good pain relief. I seek supplements that will heal versus supplements that will cover up the symptoms. 

Dr Sherry Rogers has written many books about taking charge of your own health and give numerous suggestions as what to do in the various situations. Her book on chronic pain is chock full of suggestions. Of course, you will need to try each supplement one at a time, otherwise you will not know what it was that made things better or worse as the case may be. 

To be honest, I have not found any supplement (yet) that helped much with my pain. I have tried MSM, curcumin, turmeric, glucosamine, chondroitin.  What I have found the most helpful is the not eating something. Like not eating anything with aspartame, not eating sugar,  not eating anything with high fructose corn syrup. 

My supplement regimen now consists of NAC (N Acetyl Cysteine) one, three times a day. Methyl-folate 1 a day and methyl B-12 one a day. As I suggested, I am giving it a 3 month’s trial. This regimen was suggested to me by Dr Neil Rawlins who practices in Richland, Wasington. I have been taking these supplements for one month. Hows it going so far? I don't see a down side ans it no negative side effects. I do think they are helping, but in all reality, it is just too soon to tell. Some changes are so subtle that I keep a log of how my pain is doing so that I can look back and note more objectively whether my pain is better. The placebo effect can sometime convince myself something is helping when, in the long run it is only a brief, in my mind, so to speak. I’ll let you know.

So until next time, be healthy, never give up looking for your health answers! You are your best health advocate and only you know you like you do.:-}

Healthbug