How Are We To Cope With Pain?

Work Issues and Pain. “How does pain affect your work life? Are you able to work? Has pain forced you to give up work?”

I was invited to address a topic related to these questions, along with several other people who blog about pain. You can read all of the entries on the blog carnival by clicking here.

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Coping with pain in illnesses such as Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be debilitating for many. Although I do have both Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, my CFS symptoms tend to outweigh my Fibromyalgia symptoms, but I still deal with pain on a daily basis. Some days the pain is worse and that symptom is first in my thoughts. Some days the pain is minimal. But it is always there. Chronic pain, even if it isn’t as severe as some acute pain, tends to take a bigger toll on our bodies. That’s because it is always there – it never leaves. It not only affects us physically, but our social lives and working lives suffer as well.

Many of us have had to give up our jobs due to chronic pain and illness. Although I have tried many methods to get rid of pain, I still haven’t found the magic bullet. I probably never will unless a cure is found. But we can relieve some of the pain through a combination of ideas.

Of course, you always want to speak with a physician before trying any treatment.

Some of these include:

– Relaxation
– Medication
– Yoga/stretching exercises
– Supplements
– Physical Therapy
– Chiropractic treatments
– Hot tubs/jacuzzis
– Joint and muscle rubs (Freeze-It)
– Hot Rock Massages (This is my favorite!)

Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried to continue working, due to the pain and severity of my symptoms from FM, CFS and IC Disease, I have not been able to work for about two years now. It was a big blow to my ego because I continued to try and carry on. I kept changing jobs and the type of work I did to accomodate my health, but my body just would not cooperate.

In some ways though, pain can be good too. I know – you are probably thinking I have taken too many pain pills because who in the world would say that? For me, I have found it productive at times to be in pain because I try to do things to keep my mind off the pain. Now if the pain is really bad that doesn’t work, but when the pain is minimal to moderate I have found this to work. So in some instances pain has been my friend.

Finding the answer to help cope with pain is a trial and error situation. What it boils down to is you have to do what works for YOU.