[Cherrios]

I am having the worst pain...in my freakin neck and shoulders, which is SO IRONIC and it makes me freakin ANGRY that this type of pain makes me feel so weak and tried.
I have a very high tolerance for pain, since I was in a terrible car accident when I was 11. But I have basically broken down in pain and consumed pain medicine, which I have always been against because I have wanted to feel the pain. I really HATE that my body is in such pain, and when my back and legs have been through various surgeries, aka MAJOR PAIN, I wonder WTF is the deal with my neck and shoulders, which have never hurt before. I puch myself consistently with running and working out, so my legs and back should hurt, but when my neck and shoulders hurt as they are now....I get pissed that I have this new pain and that it has so much control over me.
I have been concentrating on getting my physical self back to 100% so much that this new pain SCARES me to death. I feel that the control I have or thought I had is utterly pointless And the illusion of that, meaning me being so naive to believe that I had control over what I could do with my body, along with the pain makes me want to OD on all the pain medicine I have for there to be some ounce of what I can control. I am only 25, and I know that new pain and unexpected pain will occur more during the years to come. But I don't understand why this choice to stop fighting has entered my mind when every time before I have been so aggressive to beat back the obstacle in front of me.

Cherrios

[Leed]

Hi ~ I know all too well about the chronic pain, and having to give up control of your body. I'm so sorry you're hurting so badly.

You REALLY need an MRI with and without contrast material on your neck. I'd ask my doctor for this test so he can see what is going on. I would bet that the pain is originating from your neck. I might be wrong, but I doubt it.
Give your doc a call, and make an appointment.

I've been a chronic pain patient for 26 years ~ and unfortunately I've had to take medication for it just so I can WALK. It stinks ~ I hate taking them, but I just cannot function/move/walk without them. I've had several surgeries and they all failed - so this is my only option.

I hope you can find out the cause of your pain. Please let us know what you find out. You really need to know. God bless and take care. Hugs, Lee

[Cherrios]

Leed, Thank you for your response! I just saw my doctor yesterday where I thought an MRI of my neck is what she was going to prescribe. But since she didn't I was content with her response. Being content is something that I have always been, never questioning what doctors say which makes me MAD. I want to believe whole-heartedly that this person has the BEST interest for me, since they know so much more about medical issues than I EVER want to know. And since my medical chart is SO COMPLEX I never really want to know somethings...ignorance is bliss.
And although getting a confirmation of what I should do, aka your response, I find it literally impossible to pick up the phone. Any pain that I have ever felt has always gone away....I want to believe this will happen!!! I am totally messed up....I seek help from doctors, PC, etc. but then I try to give myself a second chance at beating back the pain. I literally make myself suffer because I am too proud to actually get the help I need. And I want to believe that I am strong enough to handle anything because I did survive a car hitting me at 70mph.
I am sorry you have been in chronic pain for 26 years.... And having to take medicine that allows you to walk daily must be difficult. I better toughen up!
Thank you again for your response!!! HUGS!!! Cherrios

[Leed]

Hi Cherrios ~ Please don't be so hard on yourself. I did the same thing myself many times. I would be all set to ask for something, and then I'd back down or chicken out. I never really knew why ~ I imagine it was fear of rejection orsomething. I didn't want to be made to look stupid maybe??? I really don't know.

With age, it's gotten easier. It's ok if I look stupid cause I'm getting old. LOL They probably think I'm senile anyway. LOL Trouble is, I know more than they THINK I know ~ but i can ACT stupid if I need to. LOL

Have a great day ~ and don't be so hard on yourself. God bless. hugs, Lee

[racee]

i too have had a high pain tolerance...but being in chronic pain over the years..along with p-medication breaks that down for you. i do realize now i did do more harm letting things go than fixing them
Even today i let something go for 7 months because i felt like i was bothering my doc too much wich i really don't...but i can handle things i always have than it turned into a disaster...and if i would have only taken care of it months ago it would have been an almost easy fix...althouh i didn't know how easy at the time.

i think we all just get so tired, and say to ourselve well what can the doctor really do for us...maybe i'm alone on this one but this is how i think.

don't do it on your own and get the help or try to push yourself to care for your body..i never listened because i was invincible, and i always only had me to look out for no one else did....you will litteraly be hitting yourself in the future when your body gives (not saying yours will...mine did)

hope all is a little better be nice to yourself, try a massage take some healing time

[(JD)]

To all.

Let me first say that a high pain tolerance changes over time, especially if you suffer with chronic pain. I know the myth (and believed it myself for a while) that the more pain you endure, the more you can endure. That's opposite. IDK if it's more understandable to think something along this line, that your body has a limit as to how much pain killing chemicals it can produce, and then you need supplement, but that's kind of how it goes.

I used to have a high pain tolerance, but after 24 years of chronic pain (due to my disabling industrial accident) I can barely suffer with very much at all. Well, I can tolerate more than I would normally now because of the neuropathy (numbness in much of my extremities )

Now, as for your neck etc, since you know you haven't injured it, I might suggest that it's posture related...and that might also be stress related. You might not be holding your head correctly enough when you walk or jog or exercise etc. A good physical therapist can put you on a tread mill for a few minutes and determine this, and maybe fix the issue completely! I would hope so for you, anyway.

Try ice and rest--or heat and rest with adequate support. Oh, you might also consider buying new bed pillows to give you better support, they may be worn out and now causing the neck issues?

[Cherrios]

Originally Posted by Leed

Hi Cherrios ~ Please don't be so hard on yourself. I did the same thing myself many times. I would be all set to ask for something, and then I'd back down or chicken out. I never really knew why ~ I imagine it was fear of rejection or something. I didn't want to be made to look stupid maybe??? I really don't know.

With age, it's gotten easier. It's ok if I look stupid cause I'm getting old. LOL They probably think I'm senile anyway. LOL Trouble is, I know more than they THINK I know ~ but i can ACT stupid if I need to. LOL

Have a great day ~ and don't be so hard on yourself. God bless. hugs, Lee

Hi Leed

Thank you for your advice! I don't know why I am so hard on myself...maybe it is because I feel in some way the accident was my fault even though I was on the sidewalk when the guy fell asleep at the wheel. I want to believe that I could have gotten out of the way, but I know in some part of my brain that there was no way for me to move out of the way. Maybe this part of my brain is still recovering!
I had a closed brain injury and was in a coma for a month, so I already feel that doctors assume many things with me from this fact alone. Meaning that when I try to say something that goes against what they have said/diagnosed, they already give me this what does she know look. So I guess I act stupid all the time, so as to not make the doctors feel uncomfortable. SO STUPID!
We should go to a doctor appointment together, the brainless and the senile, to show these doctors what we know!

Hope you have a GREAT day as well! I will work on not being so hard on myself! But I am the easiest target to blame when things don't go as I had planned.
Cherrios

[Cherrios]

Originally Posted by racee

i too have had a high pain tolerance...but being in chronic pain over the years..along with p-medication breaks that down for you. i do realize now i did do more harm letting things go than fixing them
Even today i let something go for 7 months because i felt like i was bothering my doc too much wich i really don't...but i can handle things i always have than it turned into a disaster...and if i would have only taken care of it months ago it would have been an almost easy fix...althouh i didn't know how easy at the time.

i think we all just get so tired, and say to ourselve well what can the doctor really do for us...maybe i'm alone on this one but this is how i think.

don't do it on your own and get the help or try to push yourself to care for your body..i never listened because i was invincible, and i always only had me to look out for no one else did....you will litteraly be hitting yourself in the future when your body gives (not saying yours will...mine did)

hope all is a little better be nice to yourself, try a massage take some healing time

Hi Racee

Thank you for your response and advice! I come off very determined and resilient in the doctor's office, so when I complain that I feel pain I think the doctor is disappointed in me for giving up. I hope that I can withstand the pressures I put on my body for all eternity. I mean doctors have already told me that I should not run, but if I listen to them than I feel as if the accident has won! I can't accept me if this happens, so I run and I suffer the consequences. But I always have HOPE that I can get better.
Totally will work on being nicer to myself...and I will DEFINITELY try a Massage (GOOD IDEA!) And I have incorporated down time into the half-marathon training I am in....I just feel it is getting harder!

Cherrios

[Cherrios]

Originally Posted by (JD)

To all.

Let me first say that a high pain tolerance changes over time, especially if you suffer with chronic pain. I know the myth (and believed it myself for a while) that the more pain you endure, the more you can endure. That's opposite. IDK if it's more understandable to think something along this line, that your body has a limit as to how much pain killing chemicals it can produce, and then you need supplement, but that's kind of how it goes.

I used to have a high pain tolerance, but after 24 years of chronic pain (due to my disabling industrial accident) I can barely suffer with very much at all. Well, I can tolerate more than I would normally now because of the neuropathy (numbness in much of my extremities )

Now, as for your neck etc, since you know you haven't injured it, I might suggest that it's posture related...and that might also be stress related. You might not be holding your head correctly enough when you walk or jog or exercise etc. A good physical therapist can put you on a tread mill for a few minutes and determine this, and maybe fix the issue completely! I would hope so for you, anyway.

Try ice and rest--or heat and rest with adequate support. Oh, you might also consider buying new bed pillows to give you better support, they may be worn out and now causing the neck issues?

Hi JD

Thank you for your response and advice! I guess I like to stay in make-believe land where I never have to look at the truth. Even when doctors tell me something negative, I think I have selective hearing because I don't like the truth half the time.
I am sorry to hear about the accident you were in! Thank you for the ideas about the posture fixes!! I have been told that it could be posture-related by some friends, but since my doctor did not say so I did not question it. I am totally going to call the physical therapist I see, and see what she thinks I should do. And I have been under much more stress lately!
Getting new pillows sounds like the way to go too! Thank you!!!

Cherrios