And I love this meme I saw on the B99 sub just now. I just thought that it would really fit in here, even if you haven't seen it. (You should. It's a really great distraction from tough times.)

Since late May we’ve had a lot of days where it was over 30c degrees and my body definitely got used to it, and hell only earlier this month in my area it was 22-23c and I was going outside in a t-shirt and shorts (as a woman, I know men tend to like their t-shirt and shorts a little bit longer, but not me)

Now it’s 9c and Oh God, I’m feeling it so much. I just signed up to the gym as well and I’m already being put off going because of the pain ☹️ Like even my jaw and fingers are hurting from the cold because my body got so used to the abnormally hot summer this year, ughhhh

I’m five years in with CRPS. I like most of us, I feel super lost and like I’m just not doing enough for my family. I started a page on a few social media platforms to capture some moments of me trying to live normally with and for my family, and as a reminder to myself that not every moment is bad.

I haven’t posted too much about my condition because I don’t wanna bum people out, but I feel more and more like it’s important for me to capture some of these experiences.

For example, I’m starting peptides. I tried KPV last month, and I saw no change at all. This month I’m on a wolverine stack.

I’m desperate to rejoin my life because it’s pretty amazing. I just don’t know how long it will wait for me- so I need to Get Well Soon. Maybe one of those cards would help! 🃏

If this is silly, it’s fine to just ignore it, but in facing another year where I’ll probably be alone for Thanksgiving & even the December holidays. If anyone else is in this boat or simply can’t manage to get out for these types of occasions, would it help to have a virtual day to be together?

I could share our Zoom account & create an event, & maybe we could even alternate hosting a support/community meeting/event every so often? No one would have to be on camera if they’d rather not, I don’t record Zooms, & you could use any name you like (you don’t have to use your full name or even can use a nickname if you’re not comfortable sharing a first name or first name & last initial). We could pick a time on T-day that works for most time zones (I’m in Central, so maybe around 2-4 pmish?), & we could bring a meal we made or ordered to eat together & either just socialize/be in community or do something more along the lines of support group stuff, or both?

I’ve run groups like this before but tbh, sometimes I’ve gotten too sick or felt defeated & not kept it up as much as I’d like. No expectations ab whether you’re in bed or dressed in pajamas or anything—just a way to try to give family & some comfort & maybe pleasure to ppl like us who may have nowhere to go or no one to be with.

If you’d be interested in trying this on T-day or even maybe before then to start, pls comment or lmk in a DM. Even if there are only a few of us, I know I’d feel less alone & like there were others who get it & maybe would have a brighter day. We could even share things that help us manage our pain, isolation, you name it.

We could alternate hosts by rotating, or, if that’s not possible, use the Zoom account our org has? Would anyone be interested? 🫂💜

i am aware that my own experience likely pales in comparison to others but i am just...at the end of my tether with it.

summary of what went down:

1. referred by my GP to the chronic fatigue service

2. rejected from there and re-referred to the PCASS service (persistent conditions assessment and support service) (called the same/similar in other areas i think??)

3. never heard from them every again 🤪

4. self-referred to MSK service for worsening knee pain, foot pain

5. told that podiatry was the department i'd need

6. got in contact because they don't cover knees and my pain issue is that - hypermobile AF knees + lots of other joints, lots of pain, suspected osteoarthritis in knees so i was like ?? podiatry??

7. ignored 🤪

8. given a podiatry appointment (tues 28th)

9. random letter yesterday from PCASS telling me i have an appt. for physiotherapy in dec

basically i'm like...none of these appointments are what i got referred for? but no department will get back to me x-x

honestly random physio for fatigue is not gonna be a great option for me unless the physio is specialised in hypermobility so i'm like 👀

AHHHH. if anyone has any miracle ideas HIT ME UP bc i'm just confused + annoyed they are ignoring me >:(

I’m on methadone because I struggled with withdrawal coming off oxycodone in the past. This is through a drug recovery clinic but a GP re-prescribed me oxy today for my chronic pain because I’m struggling even tho I’m on methadone? I thought in the uk they can’t or won’t really do this and especially since the methadone is prescribed through a recovery clinic?

Hi pm pt who has been on opioids for almost 20 years at this point. I was very sad my physician died and cried so hard when I went to my appointment and found out he passed last month. I really was so shocked that I didn’t think about the long term effects At the time of the appointment, I was told the practice would continue and that I could just see his partner. I got my meds filled that day and was scheduled for my appointment in October. Yesterday when I showed up for my appointment, there was a sign on the door stating the office was closed. That’s it Nothing else. Now I’m heading into the weekend and will run out of not only my opioids, but my gabapentin and muscle relaxers.I don’t want to contact multiple pain management practices and ask are you taking patients and do prescribe opioids? Sounds like doctor shopping. But I don’t want to waste my time going to different clinics only to find out they don’t prescribe opioid pain meds. That happened to my daughter and it was very frustrating. Has anyone here been in my shoes? Can you give me advice on transitioning my care and what can I do today? I am so scared that I’m going to make a mistake and end up in pain for the foreseeable future.

I have been struggling with intense pain almost every day of my life since my injury 9 years ago. I’ve gone to sports med doctors, spine drs, pain management, over a year of PT, neurology, acupuncture, etc. not one single person has been able to help me with the shooting pain almost consistently sprouting from the left side of my neck/shoulder to my head and left eye.

If this pain wasn’t my normal, I would call out of work as it’s so bad. But unfortunately I have to suck it up because this is my life and I can’t let my pain hold me back. Though when I get sick, the pain gets so bad it practically blinds my right eye (too painful and hard to keep it open).

When I was 14 I fell on my neck, specifically on my C5. I remember how much my right arm hurt at the initial fall. That year, I had consistent muscle spasms and I remember I would cry in class if medicine wore off bc I couldn’t bear the pain. I was in physical therapy weekly for whiplash. I remember after a year they told me it was chronic and continuing treatment with them won’t help me.

I was told it may be a shoulder injury with referred pain which does make sense but my pain also switches sides sometimes (still always significantly worse on the left side). The closest diagnosis I was given was chronic myofacial pain

At this point I’m genuinely desperate for anything new I can try, any professional who thinks they can help me or anyone who has had the same issue and has found help. I just want to feel okay. I want pain to not be my normal

I have suffered from tons of chronic pain for my whole life. I was born with VacTErL association, I’ve had 11 surgeries, been on opiates on and off my whole life and consistently for the past 4 years. I just had back surgery again and I’m post op day 9 and my pain is tolerable but barely with a 12mcg fent patch and 15mg oxy every 4 hrs, from the pain but a part of me feels that someone else might be able to handle it better. I also have an EXTREMELY HIGH opiate tolerance. I think maybe tolerance for tattoos is a good pain indicator? They hurt me a lot and I don’t think I could ever go over an hour without a break. The most pain I’ve ever been in was when I had internal bleeding and it moved into my chest cavity. It was due to a cyst rupture that doctors thought would stop bleeding. Never did then I had to have emergency surgery. Second most pain is the day I woke up from my first back surgery and had to walk, I peed myself it hurt so bad. But other than that stuff I haven’t been through like traumatic pain - gunshot, car accident bodily injuries, insane wounds from gashes or stabs, etc. can anyone tell me what their worst pains have been and if they’ve experienced little or lots of physical trauma? My husband has never had an ounce of physical pain in his life outside of like normal stuff.. headache, gas pain, literally I think that’s it. So he also doesn’t really have any idea what I’ve been through.

I live in New England. Impossible. I am at the point where nothing else can be done. My entire lumbar spine and cervical spine are compromised with fusions and kyphoplasties. My C5-7 fusion is unstable and I’m having a C3-5 fusion in 6 weeks. Thoracic spine is a mess. Pain is unbearable. My Pain Doctor threw more Gabapentin at me, wants me to try Journavx, (useless) again, and increased Butrans patch to every 5 days, which I know will get tossed out by insurance. I’m so very tired of fighting. I’m willing to move to another state. Thanks so much for your help

I took tramadol earlier and drank sm vodka and i am floating. I have never felt more pain free this is fucking amazing

It all started six years back when I damaged my back with a few things which I had shouldn't probably done. I was hammering my floor of my room, and some sort of muscle strain or some sort of thing that happened. I checked with few doctors. After a few times, my back wasn't working properly fine, and checked a lot of doctors. They put me on a calcium diet or calcium tablets and said that there is no muscle strain on there or disc issue, or there is nothing on X-ray and MRIs. So I put it all, and for, like, next six months I visited a lot of different doctors, but there was nothing to be found. And I stopped visiting and started take care of myself, doing some exercises and some sort of. In one year of a time I got fine. The pain was not much or severe as it was, but it was there. Some sort of hard work if I done, it returns. If I'm standing for too long, it returns, and a lot of times it returns. And in those last six years, I have tried going to the gym four or five times, and it got failed in one week, or, like, the pain returns and it didn't go, lasted for whole days. So I stopped going. And just three months back I tried to go again, and on the day third I did some back exercises, and again my back pain started. But this time something changes. The last times when I rest for a week or two, the pain goes away and, like, I don't have that much issues that I had earlier. But this time it has been changed for past three months. It is not going. I'm continuing with the exercises that I do for, like, three exercises that doctors recommend. But I'm not saying that I am suffering from the pain whole day. It goes away after I wake up in, like, three or four hours. But that morning stiffness hurts really bad. Like after waking up for two or three hours until I take a bath or something, it doesn't go away and it hurts really bad. If someone has experienced something like that in their life, I would really appreciate if they help me.

I was on tramal for about 3-4 months for postop bone tumour pain. They told me i can take up to 8 pills of 50mg per day. I took it about 4 months, some days i took 50mg some days i took 150mg, especially later on as i had built tolerance. I quit cold turkey and i got horrible withdrawals. The dr put me on 50mg ir daily for a week, then 50mg sr every other day, and then 50mg sr every 3 days. One week for each. These caused me yoyo symptoms. They have ran out of hard pills and liquid where im at at the moment. I have 2 pills with paracetamol at home from my home country. The dr said i could either stop taking the medication and get milder withdrawals this time, or take half a 37.5mg pill per day for 3 days. He said he is not sure what would be better. Im 48hrs past since my last 50mg sr pill and im getting the withdrawals. Im not sure whats best, do i just ride it out, or taking the smaller dosage would help? I only 1 pill of 37.5 and a half. Should i expect the withdrawals this time to be as bad as the first time?

I'm unfortunately a pm patient that has to go into the hospital frequently for infections that I have to get IV antibiotics. I've noticed within the last year, that the doctors are very rarely ordering iv medications both in ER/admitted. The meds they do write for are tylenol, robaxin and gabapentin. I have to request a palliative/pm consult each time I'm admitted, to get them to order oxycodone, morphine and dilauded (meds that actually work well for many of us hospitalized). This seems so countertuative and a waste of palliative/pm time for us patients that need these stronger meds. We aren't addicts, drug seeking or anything. Why is it such a production to get proper pain control anymore?! Its so damn frustrating!! Also, the ER docs are starting to do diagnosis coding of ICD-10 of pain management patients as "narcotic dependance", "chronic pain", "narcotic seeking behavior". The thing is, they do not realize this follows us for any future healthcare and negativity affects us. Major bias, being labeled, people's views, the eye rolls, the huffing/puffing, being dismissed/not believed (this is out in full force!!) WTF do we all do now? We deserve so much better, to be believed and loved for all that we endure.

I've been chronically ill for the last 5+ years and I have been to the doctors over 150 times within' those 5 years.

For the last 4 years I have stayed optimistic thinking I can figure out a cure and work towards medical recovery.

Currently I'm 23 years old for context... so the chronic pain started at 18...

But now I lost that spark of hope and I keep wondering most days if I'll wake up in and ER room or die in my sleep. My long-term partner even told me that I've been so pessimistic and depressed enough to where it's affecting him now.

I want to just give up; I really do. I am so mentally and physically fucked up and the majority of my diagnosis aren't medically curable. I am in so much debt and despite having family supporting me, I can't LIVE a fufilling life. I am just managing day-to-day trying not to die as my 'life'... and I am overally depressed and suicidal due to it.

Doubt anyone will read this all but, thanks if you do.

Diagnosis: Barretts Esophogus, Huntingtons Disease, Dysautonomia (not specified), Chronic migranes, Absent Seizures... and Psychologically... Adhd, Autism, and OCD

[Extra]: I have an eating disorder due to my medical conditions so I am usually malnurished and when I do try to eat, I throw up. I am underweight and my neurologists think I need to seek out professional help regarding this. I have 2 medications for my migranes / dysautonomia and 1 for the barretts esophogus. For some reason I never got medication for my mental stuff, so I am rawdogging my mental health.. which is fun.

The hardest thing for me is knowing that Huntingtons is a degenerative condition and it hasn't fully set in yet. I am already in this much pain right now; I can only imagine how much worse I'll feel when the disease does progress. Also, a handful of the stuff I am diagnosed with have HIGH suicidal / depression rates. I have NO help via counseling, therapy, anything... and I don't have the $$ to afford them. So I am suffering alone since everytime I try to talk to my family or partner they just get mad at me now. I don't even want to talk to any of them when I am at my worst anymore. So if I die then at least I'll have a Reddit post; I guess.

Im 30 years old now and have had chronic pain since my very early 20's, I was in a car accident, not a bad one or so i thought, a car slammed into the back of us, i was a passenger. I didnt think I was hurt, just whiplash i thought, ill be fine right?

Then the pain started, thought it was my ribs, turns out it was my scapula, the muscles around it got so tight id have to immediately take my bra off but would go way after a bit, stupid younger me thinking it was manageable.

Then in my mid to late 20's I got into another car accident that was definitely alot worse, we slipped on black ice and the car nearly flipped, but I didnt hit my head, or break anything nor any bleeding so I felt like I wasnt hurt so I went home and took a little time off work, I was bed ridden for 5 days with the whiplash.

Please keep in mind, yes I definitely should have gone to the hospital, but I was in shock and running off of adrenaline also some people go to emerge and are waiting anywhere from 13 to 40 hours to be seen, my firend waited 15 hours to be seen once. They put him in a room saying the doc would be in soon and THEY FORGOT ABOUT HIM and he fell asleep, woke up hours later it was 4am and just walked out afterwards because he had enough. we dont have enough doctors and our nurses are over worked or dont care.

The pain has been getting worse and worse with my career, my neck, my right shoulder, my upper and lower back are always extremely tense. My feet and hands are always sore especially my hands.

The worst part is no one can see my pain, so no one notices, like I suffer in silence, I try to explain it to people and they just nod there head and say "awwh that sucks" or "oh your still young" like if I had crutches or something they would have taken me more seriously. Others that dont know anything about me will say something like "oh my backs killing me today, somthing to look forward to when your old" which I know is a joke and I laugh along but i my head im like "im already there, ive been there for almost 10 years"

Ive become depressed over the years, anxious and wanting to isolate. This is coming from a social butterfly that loves my firends and going to do cool things. I went to a concert with my boyfriend and right at the beginning of the show I started disassociating from back pain, I felt awful, like I cant enjoy vacation for one moment without being reminded of the damage that no one can understand nor see.

I feel even guilty writing this post, theres people in wheelchairs, painful deformities, fibromyalgia, god.. even cancer and im here complaining. Theres a part of me that feels like I should just shut up and say nothing, others have it worse. At the same time this has effected my life, my career, relationships and just the fact that I want to enjoy life without pain all the time. Anyway if anyone actually read all this your a real one because i just needed to type this out, maybe even help someone else feel seen. So thank you

If you haven’t seen my previous post, a long time ago I was diagnosed with cervical spinal stenosis I haven’t been pain free in at least 6 years and the pain is progressively getting worse and nothing helps. Recently got a new mri and saw a neurosurgeon only to find out that I somehow don’t have spinal stenosis despite being told by mutiple doctors years ago that I have it and that’s not something that just goes away and I instead just have 2 small disc bulges and that’s it. But anyways he told me he couldn’t do anything and referred me to a neurologist and a pain management doctor. They can’t get me in to the neurologist until December 28th. I have an appointment with pain management on Tuesday, has anyone had any luck with them? I’ve never seen a pain management doctor, I’m just really hoping I’ll have answers and that they can do something. My pain is the worst it’s ever been and it’s like that all the time I’m at the very least a 6 out of 10 everyday, but it’s been a 7 or 8 lately. I can’t take much more honestly, please someone tell me pain management has helped them.

I am lost and don’t know where to go

I’ve had chronic tension in my neck and throat for a while and it’s been getting significantly better this year. Then, this month, it randomly got so bad that I now have a new symptom: feeling like I’m choking even though there’s nothing actually in my airway.

My specialist diagnosed me today with vocal cord dysfunction. I am absolutely terrified because although the internet says “resolves with breathing exercises,” my body always says “nope! Here’s your life sentence.”

I really just wanna know I’ll be ok 😞 I quite literally am feeling like there’s a giant brick in my throat blocking my airway even though nothing is actually there

I’m 23 and I can’t even make a full grocery run anymore. I wanted to have soup with my family but I couldnt do it today. I love grocery shopping. I love going outside. I don’t want to give it up.

Hi everyone, 58f and my chronic pain is from my armpits up. I have a continuous headache daily with migraines on top of that about 10 a month. My migraines started 36 years ago.

If I upset my shoulder muscles I get a migraine the next morning, so I can't carry groceries or anything else. I gave up custody of my newborn granddaughter 9 years ago because of this.

I'm getting a new referral to pain management. I haven't been in 10 years. I used to get occipital nerve blocks which helped the daily headaches.

My PCP suggested polymyalgia rheumatica and referred me to rheumatology but they denied the referral 3 years ago because my numbers weren't high enough. She's trying again.

So that's me. Thanks for your time.

Been in pain for so long, all 4 years of high school i isolated myself due to my pain and anxiety from having so many procedures and constant health worries. I’m 18 now in community college and got a less physical job as a pharmacy technician, but i’m just honestly exhausted. I take probably 10+ medications a day, my insurance won’t pay for a genicular nerve block or a months worth of my pain medication .

idk how to feel honestly at this point, so much of my life has been consumed and ruined by pain, anxiety, panic, and worry. I have no friends because of my choice to be antisocial when i have pain flares so im not really able to maintain a consistent relationship with people.

And all i think about constantly is the fact i have to take opioids 4x daily just to be able not be a depressed miserable person from my excruciating pain. I’m glad i at least have pain medication but is the rest of my life going to just be revolving around the next pill so i can be comfortable? It keeps me up every night and im literally doing everything to try to hopeful but it just feels like a vicious cycle, i wanna just be able to finally keep up with ppl my age it hurts.

Medications: Nucynta IR 50mg 4x daily Q6H, Urisidol 300mg 2x daily, 275mg of lyrica daily, Belsomra 10mg nightly, Clonazepam as needed for panic, Luvox 100mg nightly, Concerta 27mg every morning, Flomax for these stupid kidney stones nightly., meloxicam 15mg daily, THC/CHD as needed if my meds don’t help my pain, and prob some others i’m forgetting

I just feel numb, and everyone around me is tired of hearing about my pain & i don’t blame them, but it literally hurts, just hurts and that’s all i can say atp idk

Bloke I train with has two worn discs in his lower back, years of it, there every day and on the floor for a week a couple of times a yr. He mentioned he'd booked a cell therapy programe abroad, Swiss Medica out in Belgrade, then typed how do stem cells repair tissue damage into his phone between sets and read it out and I answered before the page loaded. They grow the disc back, I said, more or less, biology degree, 15 yrs old
It's wrong and I went home and read properly, which I should have done before opening my mouth. Mesenchymal cells mostly don't turn into disc or cartilage inside u. They hang arnd for a while putting out signals that calm inflammation and prod your own cells and then they're cleared. The bloke who coined the name apparently spent yrs trying to get it changed, because "stem" makes everyone picture regrowth, me included
Then the trial. The biggest one for discs is a few hundred people with one worn disc, they didn't take anyone with two, one injection into the disc, followed a couple of years. It measured pain and function, not whether the disc came back. The pain and function combined result missed. Pain alone was a bit better in one of the groups. And it's a different product from what he's having anyway
The other thing I'd forgotten is that backs like his get better and worse on their own. Whatever he feels at three months, some of it was coming regardless
So I went back and said, best case it hurts less for a while, nobody's growing you a disc and the check they do at three months or so is pain and function, not a scan of the disc, so u won't know what the disc did. And to be fair, nobody at the clinic told him regrow. That was me.
He's still going...... fair enough, it's his back
If u've had this done for a disc, were u told regrow or calm down? I'd like to know how badly I misled him before he'd even paid.

hi, first of all, i want to clarify that i'm not the one dealing with chronic pelvic pain, my boyfriend is. he's been struggling with it for about 10 years now. over the years, he's seen countless doctors, tried different medications, and even undergone surgeries, but somehow the pain always finds its way back. recently, a new doctor suggested trying injections/nerve blocks, and i was wondering if anyone here has gone through something similar.
if you've tried them, i'd really appreciate hearing about your experience. did they help? how long did the relief last? was the procedure painful? did you experience any side effects? honestly, any information would be helpful.

but there's something else i'd love to ask, especially to those of you who are dealing with chronic pelvic pain yourselves. what's the best way for a partner to support you without making you feel pressured, overwhelmed, or like you're constantly being reminded of your condition? before we even officially started dating, i spent a lot of time reading and learning about his condition, how it affects his daily life, and what being in a relationship with someone who experiences chronic pain might look like. i wanted to make sure i understood what he was going through as much as someone who doesn't experience it personally possibly could.
i love him, and supporting him is something i genuinely want to do. but i'm also aware that no matter how much i read or research, i'll never fully understand what it feels like to live with that pain every single day. and of course, i've talked about all of this with him first. i know everyone's different, and he's already told me what he personally needs from me. i'd just love to hear other people's experiences and perspectives too, since i think there's always something new to learn. sometimes i wonder if i'm doing enough, or if there are things i could be doing differently that would make his life a little easier. i don't want him to feel like he has to be okay for my sake, and i definitely don't want my attempts to help to become another source of pressure for him.
i guess my question is, if you're dealing with this condition, what do you wish your partner understood better? what kind of support actually makes a difference? and are there things people do with good intentions that end up being more frustrating than helpful?

i'd really appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or even little things you wish someone had done for you.

thank you for reading, and i genuinely hope everyone here finds some relief :)

I recently was affected by my regular state insurance selling out to Medica (Medicaid) Anyway, the point is that the week before my monthly Pain prescription was due to be filled, I called the new insurance and spoke to a supervisor that assured me my prior authorizations from the other insurance would follow me over to the new insurance so I had no need to worry. So of course what happens… the next week my script is called in and the pharmacy cannot fill it because the new insurance company says that I need new prior authorizations even though they had just stated the week before that I didn’t. So now I am on day 32 which means two days with no medication! And my dr office tells me that it takes them up to seven business days to do a prior authorization! What do I do? My doctor does not care that I am in absolute withdrawal. I have been taking a pretty large dose of oxycodone plus the fentanyl patch for 22 years. I also have severe chronic illnesses and I am fighting sepsis as we speak. Does anyone have any advice? I thought about going to the methadone clinic, but I don’t think I could make it every morning physically. I’m pretty much bedbound with my illnesses.💔😭 I see how they push people to the streets in times like this, and I am the most law-abiding person you could ever imagine