A Letter to those without chronic pain

[olderthandirt]

I have tried to 'splain to my wife the ins and outs of the chronic pain I live with.
I think I've done a good job of it but the letter in the OP does it much better.

My wife sez she understands. I believe she wants to understand. Mebbe she actually does.
Doesn't keep me from feeling guilty about all the things I can no longer do. I swear, the psychological ramifications of the sudden loss of abilities is worse than the physical pain!

 

[Frankthetank]

I swear, the psychological ramifications of the sudden loss of abilities is worse than the physical pain!

That is a very true statement my friend!!!! It took a few years before the depression of not being "the old me" wore off.

 

[budelee]

Ya know,there nothing worse than the doctors telling you,"it might be time to slow down" when your only 38,,the two specialist said i should be wearing a diaper and in a wheelchair,i said i would not quit till i lay down to die,so after years of opiates,i had the back surgery that made things worse.and more opiates,a near death reaction caused from more dimestore doctors scrips left me cold turkey,after a month of being out of the hospital ( and clean)i knew i was as good as id ever be, went back to work,and yes in pain with every move,put on the fake smile and make a paycheck..i reinjured an already bad back a few months ago,and am seeking a pain management doctor who will not pit me on opiates and push me to the side,I want a treatment that will work,and i know its not with the doc i am seeing now,he says,i see no reason u should be in this kinda pain,we need to do some injections( which ive had,they dont last) and take these pills..not the cure for me..ill keep living with the pain till i find my cure,i hope everybody finds their cure as well..btw im 47 now,i still have a long life to live or a long life to suffer....

 

[VitaMan]

I found this on another forum and thought it may help some people.

Great letter. If I can find it, I will upload a pdf from a support organisation

I would just like to add a couple of things:

It takes a lot of energy to try and look "normal" when you are in pain.

We don't talk about it because people don't like "whiners"

Work quality and productivity are affected.

Lifestyles change- my life became a cycle of: "Try not to show pain at work - Drive home hoping I don't have to pull over - Spend the rest of the evening dealing with the pain that working worsened- Hope I can sleep- Repeat M-F and collapse on the weekend so I can work Monday"

Most hobbies and activities go out the window. It is boring. When you don't socialize much, people forget about you. I can't sit or stand in one position long enough to play a guitar. You feel guilty that you can't do your share around the house. Even after years, it is embarrassing to need help.

We grieve over lost abilities and activities.

Sometimes you wonder if you can go on this way....really.

 

[olderthandirt]

...You feel guilty that you can't do your share around the house. Even after years, it is embarrassing to need help.

We grieve over lost abilities and activities.

Sometimes you wonder if you can go on this way....really.

A huge obstacle to deal with, perceived need for guilt. As unfounded as that guilt actually is it's damn difficult to lay it aside.

I make myself do one thing a day around the place. Minimum. More and more often now I actually do more than just the one thing once I am up and moving. Thems the good days (-:

 

[VitaMan]

It is difficult. Mindfulness helps me, kind of like a "reset" button.

 

[Kakarot]

I just came out of the hospital for 15 days, My left lung collapsed and I had to have 2 major surgeries and one minor to fix it. I just came home yesterday... I cannot smoke anymore in turn I am looking into making oils to rub on the skin and edibles I already have chronic pain from my kidneys and now when they had to cut me open for this he has to sever a major muscle and nerve in my side.. I thought I knew pain, I had no idea, I have been on Oxycodone for 7 years already and it is time to get off or lower the dose or something, I cannot deal with the constipation anymore not to mention the physical dependence. I am down to 106 lbs I could not get out of bed after the Lung surgery for about 3 days and I just feel so frail. If anyone could point me in a direction for Oils to rub on the skin or a good recipe for Cannabutter I would greatly appreciate it.. prayers guys and thank you.

 

[olderthandirt]

Hard row that one @Kakarot .

@Root would be one o' the better ones to give you direction. Hold on!

 

[Kakarot]

Hard row that one @Kakarot .

@Root would be one o' the better ones to give you direction. Hold on!

Thank you @olderthandirt

 

[Root]

Hi @Kakarot
So sorry to hear about your issues.

We have a whole section on Hash oil and Edibles where you'll find recipes for tinctures, cannabutter, canna oil, and some canna cookies (and other) recipes.
Here in the Medical Section you can find Medicinal Cannabis Recipes / Articles with recipes for topicals, tinctures, oils and more edibles recipes.
@BayLee420 has several recipes in BayLee420's Cooking with Ganja (this link takes you to page 2, at a recipe for Canna Oil.

Other options are juicing, making RSO oil...and simply eating cannabis.

Feel free to contact me. I'm here to help.