Share Your Pain Story

997 Replies to “Share Your Pain Story”

1. I’m a 64 year old female with chronic pain for more than 20 years. I have severe scoliosis that is s-shaped that has caused disc degeneration throughout my spine. There is severe stenosis and bone spurs at every level of my spine. I have osteoarthritis throughout my body that has affected my hands and shoulders as well as the spine. I’ve taken a dozen different anti-inflammatory medication’s ( since 30 year’s old) and recently had to stop using them because of stomach ulcers. I’ve had injections in my hands shoulder’s and lower back for over 20 years. I’ve had surgery to joints in my right hand and my left shoulder and now I need a total left shoulder replacement. I have done physical therapy on and off for year’s, taken antidepressants and anxiety medication, lyrica and neurontin as well for fibromyalgia symptoms. I retired and went on disability at age 56 due to all of the chronic pain and related suffering. I have chronic insomnia, depression stress and anxiety. I was also treated with opioids for the last 20 year’s and that was the only thing to give me relief. Now with the opiate crisis in this country I have been cut down to next to nothing on the dose of these medications. I have only ever gotten these medications from my primary care doctor and only went to specialist for injections and Orthopedic surgeries. In the past 2 years I have been from one doctor to another trying to get some help. I can’t sleep or function anymore and I am seriously for the first time ever having thoughts of ending my life. I need to find a place that can help me emotionally and physically to deal with all of my problems.
   I am feeling so defenseless and hopeless with no where to find help.

2. I have had chronic pain since I was a child. I had a few injures as a child that were never addressed. I could not sit still in a chair all through elementary and high school due to back and leg pain. Since I had it most of my life I thought it was normal and that I was just a poor student and not able to learn as well as everyone else. In addition by 8th grade I was dealing with menstrual cramps, migraines, and all-over aches. None of these were addressed until I was a young adult. It was not until I had become ill with flu and landed in the hospital that I realized the extent of the pain. I had been given an opiate and for the first time in years I felt what it was like to not feel physically horrible.

   There were times that I had so much inflammation/nerve pain that I just wished I was dead. I started to be able to verbalize to my doctor about the pain. Now I knew everyone does not have almost constant pain. I was able to address the issues behind the pain and was treated for them. One major problem was osteoarthritis. I was treated with pain controlled pain medication as well as just about every prescription medication. Some things helped, but then the side effects were too severe. Narcotics helped a lot, but it took a while to find one that didn’t have some of the annoying side effects.

   By the time I was in my forties I was getting hives along with full aches, and migraines that seemed to correspond with my menstrual cycles most of the time. To make the story short, after many tests, in the end, medical doctors couldn’t figure it out. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at about age 45. I continued to see various doctors accordingly and tried more medications. The only thing that helped consistently was narcotics

   A few years ago I had a series of surgeries that I elected to have as even the narcotics could not relieve. Two hip replacements and two shoulder surgeries. During this time I still experienced occasional bouts of full body aches etc. The doctors withdrew the narcotics while I was still healing and in a lot of pain. This was during the big government narco purge. I did manage to stop them all together, but I still have all-over aches that slow me way down.

   Between the arthritis and fibro I feel like I have some kind of flu most of the time. Even on the rare occasions that the aches aren’t so prevalent, I am usually exhausted. When I was able to have the narcotics I never at any time took more than directed and I only took what I felt I needed. When I had that medication I was much more rested and functional. It is so true that people that don’t have persistent pain issues, don’t understand. They don’t get why you can be in bed for fourteen hours and not feel rested. They don’t get why you lay awake most of the night unable to lay still and then finally fall asleep as the sun is coming up. Then only to get up feeling unrested, exhausted, and in pain.

   I had a doctor that treated me from age sixteen to forty-nine. In my mid-twenties when he started to regularly prescribe narcotics along with trying other meds, it was the time the government started giving doctors hassle about them. He had a law degree as well. He said to me, “What right does the government have to tell me what to prescribe my patients?” Now doctors are not prescribing them, often even in some of the worst situations, and patients are suffering. They aren’t prescribing them because they are controlled by a government that doesn’t care about peoples health issues. They don’t care about those people that want to be functional members of society, but are denied that.

3. I am allergic to so much medication. I have tried almost everything out there for pain control. I have degenerative disc disease, fibromyalgia, sjogren’s . i have been suicidal from the pain. My only option is pain medication, I have tried all the non narcotic meds and ones for controlling fibro and I am allergic to them. I now get enough medication to keep my pain levels around a 7 a good part of the time but i have flare often and when I do the pain is so bad that it pushes me so close to the edge is scares me. I am only prescribed 3 aday and I do everything possible not to take it ( I’m not successful most days) I am so afraid what I will do if they decide that people like me cant get pain relief. I do know that I have been fighting this pain so long that with nothing at all to help control the pain I really don’t think I can do it.

4. My personal Chronic Pain Journey has been going on for almost 17yrs. I’ve had back surgery & needing another one, the sciatica in my right leg is unbearable. I had my right shoulder replaced, which has been deemed a failed surgery. I was a very compliant patient to a Pain Specialist who decided to “retire” on my last visit. Since then, this opioid crisis has made any kind of pain relief obsolete & my life Hell.

5. I suffer with Diabetic Neuropathy in both hands and both feet. For those that don’t understand chronic pain let me help. Imagine a toothache, the worst one you’ve ever had… Take that pain and spread it all over your hands and feet, now imagine being told that your pain has no cure, you’ll live with it until you die. Now imagine there are people that want to take away the only thing that makes it possible to function. Without my pain meds I can’t eat, sleep, walk, read a book, carry on a simple conversation. I can’t pick up the phone, tv remote or knife and fork… It’s too painful.

   You can’t tell by looking at me or watching me that I have this disability and that’s because I have help, but you need to know that if you take away that help you’re as good as killing me… I can’t live in that kind of pain.

6. I have been in chronic pain for 5 years. Ive had 30 steroid injections, 3 epidurals, chiropractic treatments, 12 rounds of physical therapy, nerve burning, several antidepressants, anti inflammatory meds, massage therapy, exercise, 2 failed back surgeries, I currently have a spinal cord stimulator, and the surgeon that put the spinal cord stimulator in put the battery pack in the middle of my back and didn’t stitch it into the muscle and it twisted and pressed against my spine, so I had to have it moved. Im a military spouse and have had all these treatments in 3 different states starting over with new drs who pulled me off of medications that were working every time. I was medically denied to move overseas with my husband who is serving our country because of lack of medical facilities. He is on a two year tour and I had to stay behind in the states with my kids without his help. I have been pulled off all of my meds 15 months ago, as soon as I moved and said Goodbye to my husband. I was able to function with the meds I was on in Idaho and had an amazing dr. I had to move by family and they all are very busy with their own families and they help when they can. The family is also convinced by all the stuff in the news that narcotics are for drug abusers. Ive gotten yelled at at several pharmacy’s and embarrassed in front of other people for trying to fill legitimate perscriptions over the past 5 years when I was on them. I am not able to function and I did resort to alcohol to try and numb the pain, but I no longer drink because of the health effects. Every day is very hard. Its hard to shower, get dressed, do laundry, cook dinners, try to grocery shop because thats a horrible experience every time. My kids see me in pain every day and there are days the pain is so bad it feels like my bones are being twisted and pulled apart and all I can do is sit on the couch and cry. When I was on controlled meds my dr checked my urine and every time I saw him and every time my medication was measured in my system it was with in normal range and some of those appointments were not planned. There are things drs can do to be safe. Every patient is different and metabolizes medications differently. Not one size fits all. Drs could fill perscriptions one week at a time if that would help. They could also do random urine tests like my pain dr did. Its not ideal, but if things like that would protect both patient and the dr then it could work. It is sad that these medications have been abused and Im not down playing the dangers or people loosing their life because they over dosed. But taking all pain meds away is not going to save lives. Cars kill people, alcohol kills people, food kills people, tylenol kills people, cigarettes kill people, vaping kills people, people kill people. Where do we stop. If the patient is in chronic pain, they should be treated for it just like any other disease. Taking the medication away from me has made me miss out on everything in life. I just exist at this point. Please can we find a way to make this work.

7. I have been a pain patient for over 20 years. I was finally getting my quality of life back then suddenly in March 2018, I was completely cut off of all opiates and sent into severe withdrawal! I suffered at home in silence because no one would help. My husband took me to the hospital and begged them to help but no one would! Although, they certainly had no problem charging my insurance $2000 for absolutely no care! Just use of room! The clock has now been turned back 20 years and I no longer have much quality to my life. I’m disgusted by the way this situation has been handled and those who truly are in need of opiate medication to survive were just thrown in the gutter and labeled drug addicts! We are drug dependent not addicted!! There is a difference!! It makes me so very angry that a very good doctor who treated me for over 11 years has lost his practice because of others who were in his employ were involved in illegal activity! Sorry, I had to get that off my chest!

8. My story starts August 9th 1996 with a fall on a construction site the breaks three vertebrae in my back I want no one to have two surgeries or rods screws cages were insider I tried to go along with what was the new Norm for my life I lost the ability to continue in a trade that I loved so dearly stonemason and bricklayer please excuse if I make any mistakes in this because this is truly a new format for me after a few years of jobs that just did not do it for me against doctor’s orders I went back to the trade that I love so much or something so rewarding and doing stuff that would probably be around for a hundred years after you’re dead and gone let you do things like that you may not understand I stayed under the care of a pain management doctor I told present time are there a couple years ago I was told that you have to go down to this magical 90mg however they formulate this I have no idea I was lowered to this level and my doctor scene did I was struggling immensely I was put back on all of my regular medication and believe that I had weathered the storm only to have my doctor disappear be put in the hands of another doctor who started the same regiment of lowering my dosages down to this magical 90 mg only now to be told yesterday that the best thing for me to do is to go into a 60-day program to get me off of my pain medication and it put me on the drug Suboxone which carries more stick message in pain medicines Carrie I want fortunately known people that go through this how this is supposed to help me with my pain I don’t have a clue I’ve never tried to hide the fact that I was on pain medicine frankly don’t care who knows it not the life I want but it’s the life I’ve been dealt been married 43 years to a wonderful one who’s put up with all of this and never withered and her support two beautiful children four grandchildren people that depend on me although our youngest job 25 is 4 years ago was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and has been battling I have no idea how I’m a supposed to live like the way they want me to live I’ve never asked for another pill from any doctors I will I haven’t had a parking ticket in probably 30 years why is my life being yanked away from me even more what could I possibly done as I jokingly say that I kill the priest when I was a child try to have someone sent to you were through all this but it’s becoming harder and harder to do if I feel like I say if I made mistakes in this I apologize yours truly Michael O. Rini AKA Corvette Mike 1954 at gmail.com

9. I’ve had chronic migraines since 9 years old. I have tried everything! The pain meds I was given 9 years ago (which helped), were recently taken away. Leaving me to go thru withdrawals on my own. Now I have NOTHING for the pain. I have considered suicide, as I cant live with this pain. I’m not a drug a seeker. And get tired of being classified as one by the medical community. The same ones who prescribed the meds in the first place. I am looking to take action against: doctor, insurer and go to media. I’m pissed and don’t wish this on anyone else.

10. I’m 63yr old chronic pain patient who is SUFFERING in UNBEARABLE pain. I’ve tried everything and spent a lot of money trying to get out of pain – NOTHING helped but PAIN MEDICATIONS. Please help me. I can’t take this PAIN anymore. i can’t even take care of myself and I live alone. with pain medication i was able to take care of myself and family and be useful and feel better about my self … and not suffer and wish I was dead.

    Why would any human possibly let so many chronic pain patients and veterans suffer so bad they take their own lives? Pain is the worst thing you’ll ever feel. Just hope your pain signals don’t fail you and your pain stops because you will suffer until the end too. We are not the problem it’s illegal drugs that are killing people and addicts, and we are the ones that are being TORTURED to death and not anything out there about chronic pain patients that are suffering and we are being hidden from public what’s really happening to us and the abuse we are going through… No help for us only the drug addicts.

    This is the worst crime in history against chronic pain patients and veterans.