How do you deal with pain?
By sharra1
@sharra1 (6340)
Australia
November 10, 2008 7:26am CST
After a couple of hours of shopping I am close to tears from the pain of standing for too long and although I am close to tears at the same time I want to hit anyone or anything that gets between me and a chair.
I used to think that pain was something that was intense from injury or a bad headache. I never knew how bad low level constant pain could be and how it could drive me to the edge of rationality sometimes. My partner does and he has learned to cope with it better than I have but he still gets snappy when the pain bites.
How do you deal with pain? Do you feel the sheer desperation for anything that will relieve the pain?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@betsyraeduke (2669)
• United States
11 Nov 08
I do not handle pain well at all! I have a very low tolerance level for pain. There are times when pain, or even just discomfort of some sort, especially when it has caught me by surprise, has literally caused me to faint or black out!
Pain in general makes me very irritable and ready to snap at anyone who says the "wrong thing" or bothers me. I am not normally like that, but pain makes me like that just because I am so uncomfortable and miserable.
When I am in tremendous or intense pain and/or I have been in pain for several hours, I will be reduced to a whimpering, crying, tear stricken mess!
I do become very desperate for something to take the pain away. Though it may be healthier for me, I am not one of those people who doesn't like to, and tries to avoid, taking to many pain killers. If I have been in pain for a while, or I find myself in intense pain, the first thing I reach for, if available, is my strongest bottle of pain killers. If I don't have any pain killers and can't get any for some reason, best stay out of my way as I won't be happy.
I will go from whimpering, crying, forlorn mess to glowering, irritated, bite your head off if you annoy me, sort of person and back again in an instant. And when I'm in pain, most everything annoys me, I just want to be left alone!
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
12 Nov 08
I know that feeling of being reduced to tears and snapping at people. I never used to snap at all but when the pain stays around I snap at the littlest thing. I understand you not wanting to use pain killers. I was like that 2 years ago. I would only take them to ease the pain so I could sleep.
But as the pain got worse I started to give in and take them during the day. I would put up with it for as long as I could but eventually my ability to cope with the pain just disappeared. The last couple of months have been bad and the last 2 days the worst of all and my usage of pain killers increased. Today it seems to have eased a little and I have a little peace.
1 person likes this
@betsyraeduke (2669)
• United States
12 Nov 08
"I understand you not wanting to use pain killers.".....lol, actually, I said I am not one to not reach for the pain killers....
....anyways, I hope you feel better soon!
....anyways, I hope you feel better soon!2 people like this
@mercuryman3a (2477)
• India
12 Nov 08
When you are in severe pain, nothing matters and you do not think rationally most of the times.Anyone trying to give yo advice at that time comes at teh reveiving end. You blurt out what ever comes to your mind. Youmay shout rave or abuse at someone who tries to give suggestions at that time. Only wayto deal with a person in pain is to make them as comfortable a spossible an dleave them alone.
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
12 Nov 08
It does not even have to be severe pain. If the pain is constant it starts to wear you down and after a while you get tired and grumpy and less able to cope and then you get snappy and then you reach for a pain killer and that quiets it for a while if you are lucky. If you are not lucky it tones the pain down to a level where you can cope again.
Well that is how it has been for me for 2 years but the last couple of days it has been bad and my pain killer usage climbed. Maybe if I had taken 2 at once it might have worked but I do not like doing that during the day as it makes me sleepy.
Today it has eased a bit and I can function like a rational human being again. 
The problem with me is not the intensity but the constant nature. If you tap the same spot for long enough it will become unbearable. It does not hurt it just drives you nuts. Constant pain can be like that. You cope for ages but after a while it just drives you nuts. I long for a couple of days of peace.
The problem with me is not the intensity but the constant nature. If you tap the same spot for long enough it will become unbearable. It does not hurt it just drives you nuts. Constant pain can be like that. You cope for ages but after a while it just drives you nuts. I long for a couple of days of peace.1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
10 Nov 08
I take painkillers to help but what gets to me is the constant nature of the pain. It is the fact that the pain is in the same place at the same strength all the time and that not even a pain killer can kill it.
All can do even with the prescription painkillers is dull the pain so that I can cope with it.
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@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
29 Nov 08
I would rest. I think considering your situation. It is best to rest too. I hope that your pain has gone now or it had diminished.
© ronaldinu 2008
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
30 Nov 08
I do rest a lot. The pain fluctuates. Right now it has eased but my pain killer usage has doubled in the last year and that concerns me. My pain levels have increased but my tolerance has decreased.
I suppose that can be a problem with chronic pain.
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@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
11 Nov 08
I have a chronic, degenerative spinal condition called DISH, which is similar to Ankylosing Spondalitis (AS). I have been on heavy prescription painkillers for nearly ten years, and after fighting against using too many of them, I am now slipping into a constant 5-6 codeine based tablets a day. This can't be good for my organs, but I have another condition which will likely get me before the organs finally give out from the codeine, so I don't worry too much about it. If I were younger, it would a big concern.
It is difficult, at times, not to get snappy. The major effect is constant tiredness, the body fighting off pain all the time, and sleep deprivation becomes a real issue. Clear thinking becomes much harder, especially when really tired, like late at night when I'm MyLotting lol. Shopping centres have always brought out the worst in me, and I'm sure the checkout chicks at our main Coles pray to their Gods that I'll go to another checkout today. I do, no I mean it, I do try to be nice to them, but sometimes it's soooo hard.
Lash
1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
11 Nov 08
Damn are you saying that pain killers are bad for me. But I tried so hard not to take them but I lost that battle the last couple of months. I had a 5 pill day yesterday and it scared me. 2 years ago I was on 1 pill a day just to help me get to sleep. Now I find I am struggling to get through the day without a pain killer and now you tell me they are bad for me. Nooooo!!!! I am not sure I can get through the day at the moment without my pain killers.
Having said all that if you do not care why should I. Maybe by the time I am ready to die it will be ok to take the easy option and hopelessly painless option. If I get snappy I am in big trouble as it is something I just do not do and I am highly sensitive to you being snappy in my presence as I take it personally even it is has nothing to do with me.
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@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
10 Nov 08
I have had migraines before, they are awful. The pain I have at the moment is back pain, lower back and hips as well as upper back. Makes it painful to move at all at the moment and when I was cooking dinner I was in tears, especially after the pain from shopping.
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