You are probably exactly right. I guess I am so used to feeling better using them. I definitely realize the many reasons for not using them but I've lost some confidence in mustering through 'on my own'! If you have any other advice, please send my way and thank you so much for responding to my conversation. CSS
You can do it. You can do this without using highly addictive medications that are much worse for you in the long run that you can even imagine.
You need to put your mind to it, though. That's really hard to do. I know, believe me. but if you come here you will find a lot of support and kindness from other people who are going through the same thing.
Here's what I know helps me:
(Not all of these work all the time and some work only for certain kinds of pain and not for others. You gotta experiment because what works for you will be different)
--medical cannabis (I know this is not available in TX, but I am mentioning it because it's made a huge difference for me)
--heating pad
--relaxation techniques
--the combination of a muscle relaxant called Baclofen with Advil
--The use of a TENS machine
--Getting enough sleep (for me this means 9 hours)
--Pacing myself through the day - giving myself permission to sit down and rest after doing one thing, then get up and do another
--Doing my very best to maintain a positive attitude.
For me a lot of this is remembering every single day how rich and fortunate and privileged I and most of us in the country are because we have enough food to eat and a place to live, and clearly everyone on this forum has internet access. that is more than 95% of the rest of the population of the world has. Hundreds of millions of people will never even have a glass of clean water to drink in their lives. And you better believe that many of them suffer greatly from health problems for which they have no medical help at all. Remembering how lucky I am doesn't make the pain go away, but it reminds me I am grateful to be who and where I am, and it puts it into perspective which helps.
--Getting enough exercise. this is crucial!
--eating a healthy diet with fruits, vegetables, protein in good proportions. Whether you are vegetarian or not is an individual thing, just eat healthy and cut way down on or remove sugar entirely.
---avoiding alcohol
---avoiding stress as much as possible. I cut people from my life who caused me undue stress, and have never looked back!
Most importantly, don't allow yourself to go into thoughts like "I'm so over this". Because you aren't over it. Unfortunately, you don't get to be. You will wake up tomorrow and still have pain. So, I have found that to the degree that I can manage not fight it, get angry about it, get frustrated, or let it ruin my day, to the degree than I can simply accept what is, that is the degree to which I can make myself feel better even when in pain.
Try to take responsibility for this for yourself instead of depending on heavy drugs.
I was where you are. The pain I felt I thought was unbearable and I took opiate medication to deal with it and used that as my way to get through the day. I learned that is not a good way to do things, and I decided to do it differently. The pain actually is bearable, and I can handle it in healthy ways. Now, three years later, I have far less overall pain and I manage what I have without the terrible emotional toll that it was taking on me when I was always fighting it.
