Living with Chronic Pain

Pain is the body’s natural response to an injury. Everyone knows that if you smash your finger in a car door that you are going to experience intense pain. Fortunately the pain will eventually stop and the wound will heal. Those who suffer from chronic pain are unable to gain permanent relief from their pain. So imagine smashing your finger in the car door every day and you can get a glimpse into the life of a person suffering from chronic pain.

When chronic pain persists, the pain becomes only part of the misery. Depression, anxiety and anger all become components of chronic pain. The pain takes control of your life and starts affecting every part of it. In my opinion, this is where the anger sets in. You get angry with yourself first. You just want to be normal again and it’s easy to get angry at your body for feeling the way it does. It may sound crazy to someone who doesn’t know how chronic pain feels, but you begin to blame yourself for not doing the things you use to do and for losing yourself in the pain. Then the anger tends to project onto the doctors for not being able to tell you why you have chronic pain or not even believing that something is wrong with you. You know you’re hurting and that your life is hell, but if they can’t see it, most doctors don’t believe it. Dealing with friends and family usually brings about more anger. If they don’t understand or are not even willing to try to understand it makes you angry…very angry. How can you make someone else understand what you’re going through, when you don’t even understand it and it’s like a big circle, you become angry at yourself again. It’s never-ending.

The depression and anxiety go hand in hand in my world. You get to the point where you just want to give up. Nothing stops the pain, you feel like nobody believes you and you can’t do everything you use to be able to do. The bad thing with depression is that it actually causes more pain, so you are stuck in this vicious circle that is destroying your life. What are you suppose to do if even the doctors can’t help you? The anxiety causes you to become a recluse and the little outings with friends and family seem more and more like torture than fun. When you’re by yourself you don’t have to worry about trying to make someone understand that you are really in pain. You don’t have to listen to anyone’s criticism. This isn’t a good place to be. It’s lonely, but it’s the only way you can deal with it.

Pain, depression, anxiety and anger are a dangerous combination, but it’s the reality of chronic pain. If you suffer from chronic pain don’t stop searching for answers. You can’t give up on your life and you can’t let the pain win. If one doctor won’t listen keep searching until you find one that will.

What Are Your Health Issues?

I think it’s fair to say that everyone deals with some kind of health issue. It may be allergies or it could be cancer. Health issues can certainly change our lives no matter how big or small. The one thing I have found in dealing with my health issues is that talking about it helps me make a little more sense out of it. What health issues are you facing and how to do you deal with it? It doesn’t matter what it is. Someone else may be going through the same exact thing and your story could help them in some way.

Labrador Lung

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Symptoms of Labrador lung are lung opacities, pleural thickening, impaired lung function, lung fibrosis, breathing problems, cough, tight chest and wheezing. There may be no symptoms during the early stages of the disease. Read More...

Klein-Levin Syndrome

Klein-Levin Syndrome is a rare sleep disorder that manifests in adolescence. The syndrome is characterized by episodes of excessive sleep and altered behavior. The symptoms are a lack of concentration, mood changes, anxiety, excessive food intake, disorientation, lack of energy and hypersensitivity to noise. Some people may also experience hallucinations and an abnormally uninhibited sex drive. Read More...

Signs and Symptoms of Paine Syndrome

Paine syndrome is a rare genetic condition that is present at birth. A baby with Paine syndrome is born with a smaller than average head. There are also several abnormalities in the brain that cause severe mental and physical retardation, movement disorders and vision problems. Babies with this syndrome rarely live past a year.

Signs and symptoms of Paine syndrome are poor swallowing, physical and mental retardation, myoclonic jerks, opisthotonic fits, seizures, disinterest in environment, small head, low birth weight, low birth height, spastic limbs, increased reflex response, optic atrophy, underdeveloped cerebellum and mild aminoaciduria. Read More...

Symptoms of Progeria: The Rapid Aging Syndrome

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Progeria usually begins to show around 6-12 months. The first noticeable symptoms are a failure to gain weight and skin changes. Other symptoms of Progeria are failure to grow during the first year, narrow, shrunken or wrinkled face, baldness, loss of eyebrows and eyelashes, short stature, large head for size of face, delayed, absent or abnormal teeth formation, open soft spot, small lower jaw, dry, scaly and thin skin, limited range of motion, prominent scalp veins, high pitched voice, prominent eyes, hip dislocation and loss of body fat and muscle. The symptoms of Progeria strongly resemble normal human aging. Signs of Progeria include the presence of insulin-resistant diabetes and early atherosclerosis of blood vessels that causes abnormal stress tests of the heart. Read More...

Symptoms of Orthostatic Intolerance Syndrome

Have you ever stood up and felt extremely dizzy? This is caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure and something those suffering with Orthostatic Intolerance Syndrome deal with on a regular basis along with a multitude of other symptoms. Those who suffer from Orthostatic Intolerance Syndrome may also have difficulty taking showers, brushing their teeth or doing the dishes.

Approximately 5,000 Americans suffer from an Autonomic disorder that is not understood. Orthostatic Intolerance Syndrome or Dysautonia is caused by a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which controls the involuntary bodily function. Orthostatic Intolerance Syndrome causes an excessive increase in heart rate when standing up. This causes the cardiovascular system to work harder in order to control blood pressure and blood flow to the brain.

Orthostatic Intolerance Syndrome affects people under the age of 35 and it affects women more than men. The onset is usually sudden and can majorly affect lifestyle and the ability to work. There are three categories that are used to describe Orthostatic Intolerance Syndrome; Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, Mitral Valve Prolapse Dysautonomia and Idiopathic Hypovolemia. Read More...