HELP! Living with Chronic Pain

Just to clarify...

reply to post by Charmeine


DISCLAIMER: The following is not intended to advocate the use, sale, or distribution, illicit or otherwise, of any biologically-active compounds or plant materials, is not intended to be considered medical advice, and is provided solely for educational purposes. To the best of my knowledge, this post does not violate the Above Network's terms and conditions.

Hello!

Okay, so I'm going to quote section 16e of the Above Network's Terms and Conditions.

16e.) Illicit Activity: Discussion of illicit activities, specifically the use of mind-altering drugs & substances, engaging in computer hacking, promoting criminal hate, discussing sexual relations with minors, and furtherance of financial schemes and scams are strictly forbidden. You will also not link to sites or online content that contains discussion or advocacy of such material. Any Post mentioning or advocating personal use of illicit mind-altering drugs will result in immediate account termination.

i) Narcotics and illicit mind-altering substances: Due to abuse of the subject matter by some (promoting various aspects of personal use, and discussing actual personal use), no new topics on this subject are allowed in any form.

Now that's out of the way; I will try to word this accordingly.

Firstly, and not in regard to pain, I am under the impression that you have a clotting disorder that is treatable with Warfarin. If this is not the case, the following may still be of interest to you.

A nootropic compound called piracetam has been demonstrated to be a safe and effective -- standalone or in combination with warfarin -- antithrombotic therapy (1). For everyone else reading this, antithrombosis translates to "against clot formation within blood vessels."

I use piracetam on a daily basis in order to achieve a nootropic effect. That being so, I feel that it's important to note the following. I also have a rare clotting disorder -- factor VIII deficient hemophilia. Essentially, my blood does not clot as efficiently as the vast majority of the human population. Despite my medical condition and the antithrombotic action of piracetam, I have not noticed an exacerbation of hemophilia-related complications. The absence of hemophilia-related complications, from my personal experience, is consistent across the dosage spectrum of piracetam -- nootropic-level dosage to antithrombotic-level dosage. Therefore it may be reasonable to infer that while piracetam acts as an antithrombotic agent, it does not have a detrimental affect on the coagulation cascade to the extent that an individual's normal clotting abilities drastically altered.

Now, on to pain. Pain sucks. That being said, you may find the following informative. Before that, I'm going to write the opening to my reply again in case it was overlooked.

DISCLAIMER: The following is not intended to advocate the use, sale, or distribution, illicit or otherwise, of any biologically-active compounds or plant materials, is not intended to be considered medical advice, and is provided solely for educational purposes. To the best of my knowledge, this post does not violate the Above Network's terms and conditions.

The following plants have been demonstrated to exert antinociceptive effects: Corydalis yanhusuo, Mitragyna speciosa, and Picralima nitida (2). Keep in mind that these plants are, at least in the United States, not approved for medical use. They are generally legal to possess if not intended for human consumption.

(1)

Aporphine and oxoaporphine compounds and pharmaceutical use thereof, Section 1, MingJai Su et al

Platelet anti-aggregant and rheological properties of piracetam. A pharmacodynamic study in normal subjects, Moriau M, Crasborn L, Lavenne-Pardonge E, von Frenckell R, Col-Debeys C.

Piracetam: A Review of Pharmacological Properties and Clinical Uses, Bengt Winblad

The treatment of severe or recurrent deep venous thrombosis: Beneficial effect of the co-administration of antiplatelet agents with or without rheological effects, and anticoagulants, Maurice Moriau, Edith Lavenne-Pardongea, Luc Crasbornb, Remy von Frenckellc, Christiane Col-Debeysa

(2)

Effects of Corydalis yanhusuo and Angelicae dahuricae on Cold Pressor-Induced Pain in Humans: A Controlled Trial,

Chemistry and Pharmacology of Analgesic Indole Alkaloids from the Rubiaceous Plant, Mitragyna speciosa, Hiromitsu Takayama

Ihibitory Effect of Mitragynine, an Alkaloid with Analgesic Effect from Thai Medicinal Plant Mitragyna speciosa, on Electrically Stimulated Contraction of Isolated Guinea-Pig Ileum through the Opioid Receptor, Kazuo Watanabe, Shingo Yano, Syunji Horie and Leonardo T. Yamamoto

Pseudo-akuammigine, an alkaloid from Picralima nitida seeds, has anti-inflammatory and analgesic actions in rats

Edit to add: If you require any further explanations, feel free to PM me.

You could give nattokinase a try to tackle the underlying problem of blood clots.
Please read this article:

You don’t need Coumadin to stop blood clots and poor circulation

This may seem too simplistic, almost laughable, but it works well for me. It's simply a mind-over-matter technique.

I have three torn lumbar discs and arthritis in my hips and lumbar spine. (The result of years of heavy construction work)
I was on heavy-duty opiates for 14 years. I quit them six months ago after a long tapering-off. I will never demonize prescription narcotics, as I believe they can be a Godsend to someone in severe pain.

Here's my pain treatment: I constantly tell myself: "I feel fantastic." "I feel terrific." I swear it works. I'd be lying if I told you I'm never in pain, but there are times when I just know there is a "disconnect" from the pain, and it's due to these mental suggestions. After a while, your body will "surrender" to these suggestions, and "obey" them.
You might want to try it.

With a blood clot I would try light movement but make sure you take blood thinners (at least aspirin) also. As to dealing with the pain you have to realize that pain is manifest in the brain and with training you can minimize the debilitating effects. Call it self jedi mind training or something. Study zen techniques for answers. All I can say is that when I was a grade schooler and waiting for the bus in the dead of winter and the wind would go right thru my clothing (wind chill trumps raw temp) I would think of what it felt like in the summer and use that mental sensation of heat to warm myself while the other kids shivered. I even tried the reverse of that during a heat wave several decades later when the temp was 115 (humid midwest) and I was in a suit (albeit poplin cotton). I wasnt exactly in distress like when it was freezing but I thought I would try the mind exercise in reverse and think of how it felt in the winter (cold) and that cool sensation kept me from even sweating. So try some mind exercises where you think of something pleasurable....it will at least take your mind off the pain and you may even (mentally at least) experience some pleasure if you get good at it. Good luck.

Nothing I could contribute could please your majesty!

I can't smoke anything. Severely allergic to smoke and my hematologist does not recommend smoking anything because of the blood condition.

secondly, as mentioned many times, I have not been put on blood thinners yet - I am hoping he changes his mind once he looks at my photos of how much I am swelling and bruising from the clotting.

Thanks all for you responses so far, I'm enjoying reading the different ways you all cope. And thank you for sharing your stories. Won't be on the computer much today, thinking it's a stay in bed kind of day.

reply to post by tidycat


I will upload photos later. I do exercise or try to walk every day but once I get home, there are more bruises on my legs from the clotting. The swelling also, comes and goes and makes it too painful to walk at times.

It sounds to me that all you want is pity. You have control over your diet and meds. You can't possibly have any underlying health issues contributing to your problem . So maybe my post reaches someone with other forms of chronic pain. You know it all. I give you pity with my thumb and index finger. Can you hear it? I know I sound cold but people reached out to you and you bit their hand with " I wish some people would read all of my post". Poor you. Poor poor pathetic you. I, Who suffers from arthritic pain and swelling am going to finish my laundry then clean the downstairs bathroom. Your problem is no sweat off my brow but I imagin it causes tears down the faces of the people who have to live with you.

reply to post by tidycat





If you spent your time to read through all the posts - and see that I have typed out my conditions several times - I also asked the mods to amend my original post to include more information. You will also see that I have been responding to each person individually, thanking them and asking for more information or to share their story.

If that makes me negative, then so. be. it. I don't need the lecture thanks.

reply to post by CosmicCitizen


Thanks for the kind words and for sharing your story.

reply to post by ColeYounger


When I was on tramadol - that's exactly how I felt!! lol... I still had a lot of pain but I sure didn't even think about it. Actually I didn't notice much of anything while I was taking it - it was a pretty good two weeks.

reply to post by SacredLore


Thanks for that. Coumadin is a nasty drug - my mother was on it for years, she too has had clotting issues. I was given heparin in 2005 for clotting issues but they wound up giving me too much of it and my blood wound up being too thin. We are still waiting for a few more tests to come in before deciding on the right treatment. There are lots of new ones out there.

But a warning to anyone with clotting issues - things get pretty pricey. Hopefully you have a good benefit plan if you ever need to take them.

reply to post by Sovvy


Have you tried low impact exercising? I found before the cramps started that Aqua Size (low impact shallow water) and Pillates really helped. I also loved sitting in the steam room after the class it helps with many issues. Pillates can be done laying on the floor with very little pressure on the knees. I also invested in a stretch band small weights for home use. If I feel up to it, sometimes just a jaunt through the building and taking the stairs feels good. It's a huge building with five flights of stairs so lots to walk around and see.

Hope you are having a good day.

I almost skipped over your post but just re-read and saw that you are part of the Factor Vish family...I'd love to chat with you further - are you on fbook? There is a support group there. I am going back to the hematologist in three months for further testing and he's added FVIII onto the list. I asked the mods to amend my original post to include my medical history - so I wouldn't have to type it out again. But I have Factor V Leiden with Activated Protein C Resistance, inherited from my mother's side who has Protein S Deficiency and my sisters - one has FVL and the other as Protein S Deficiency (part of the Factor V mutation).

Ain't it fun being a mutant?
Does anyone else in your family have the gene?

Self hypnosis gets me through bad days.

Oh look, another line: or hire a hypnotist.

go to your local smoke shop and buy some whip its (nitrous chargers)

do like 5 of those and pain will go away for a short time.. but then you just do 5 more until you pass out..

i did stay at a holliday inn express last night

Mods are amending my original post so I don't have to retype the info when I said, "I wished people would read my posts" I meant that - I wish I didn't have to keep retyping some of the info. Thanks again for all the responses so far, please keep sharing your tips and stories - as I said earlier, they may help someone else since there are many diseases we have covered in this thread that cause chronic pain.

Many thanks and blessings to you all - I hope you all have more good days then bad.

I'm a person who believes in taking care of the problem naturally instead of using drugs to cover up the problem . People tend to use legal or illegal drugs for pain . I can give you a perfect example why this is a very bad thing besides the drugs being toxic . My sister has arthritis in her left knee and used pain killers for many years . Now not only did her knee get worst for abusing it while feeling better artificially but she has other problems now which were caused by the prescribed pain medication . GINSENG is a natural root that has been used for maybe a thousand years . People see it as a sex cocktail . Ginseng actually has beneficial effects particularly in the blood and circulatory system . It acts as an anticoagulant , it expands artery size and increases throughput , improves circulation to all organs and it's a blood and liver/kidney cleanser . I would try it . I don't post much in theese forums but could not pass on the chance to help someone out .

reply to post by luiscomputech


Thanks for this. I believe in trying to find natural ways too. I find a lot of medications can cause other side symptoms or be hard on the stomach. And as mentioned previously, they are easily addictive.

I really enjoyed seeing my Reiki therapist and look forward to seeing her when she's back.

Thanks for the tip.