Chronic Pain and will power??? HELP

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thepegasus
thepegasus Posts: 54 Member
in Motivation and Support
HI, was wondering if anyone else out there who suffers from chronic pain can help me with tips on how they stay motivated and keep their will power....

I suffer from chronic back pain, and normal day to day is fine, i can go periods where im ok and can stay on track.. I have a neurostimulator implanted in my back that help manage my pain.. but then (like now) ive hit a rough patch where ive been stuck in bed on morphine and Valium for 3 days.. its times like this that i find VERY hard to keep my will power going and not to cave..

any help and tips would be great!!

thanks

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  • 1newcat
    1newcat Posts: 75 Member
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    I have suffered (and still do) with terrible back pain. I actually took myself off all pain management about 18 months ago. Those awful days are just that... awful. But, if i literaaly cannot move, i try to make extremely good calrie choices. Motivation is simple logic there, no movement +bad eating = wrong direction. Lol

    On days i can move but not great i do some variation of yoga or stuff on the big ball for my core.

    On days i can move, i MOVE :) just can't beat yourself up over the limitation, workaround it. I found for me i had to get really stubborn and work through the pain because the weight was making my back so much worse, i needed to strengthen my core and when i did, i saw a lot of improvement (which gives me hope and motivation now). Please don't think i don't think you do wharever you can, i'm sure you do... just sharing what worked for me.

    Being bedrested can be extremely frustrating and mess with your head. Hopefully you can find a way to make a challenge out of it than let it bring you down. Continuous pain is a real mood killer, i hate it. Makes me depressed and feel guilty when i can't play with my kids, or cook or workout.... but staying in that place doesn't help me either.

    Hope you feel better :) friend me if you like, i've lived through similar circumstances.
  • thepegasus
    thepegasus Posts: 54 Member
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    Thanks hun.. no one can really understand unless they have been thru a similar experience... :)

    Im very limited on the type of excercise i can do, which pretty much is just walking and swimming.. a few years ago i fractured my T4, T8 & T9 but coz i wasnt treated properly for so long ive got nerve and muscle damage thats not repairable, and deteriorating arthritis on my spine... but i have done pretty well so far, ive lost just over 20kilos (but put on a few over the xmas period :-/ which im slowly getting back off!!)

    its just when i have a bad spill i do get depressed, my hubby works away so its just me and my 8yr old... so when im in alot of pain i will find myself just cooking xander something for dinner and i wont bother with anything for myself, so ill end up doing a couple of day without bothering to eat hardly anything....
  • 1newcat
    1newcat Posts: 75 Member
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    i just posted something similar last night. I don't eat very well if at all when i am stressed or upset. My sons were with their father for christmss this year and i think i choked down 4 or 5 pretzels over the course of three days. So the opposite of what i am trying to accomplish here. I understand tho, just cooking for the kids and saying forget it for yourself, then just never eating anything. I am trying so hard to change that cycle, i don't know that it's better or worse than over eating when upset.... but its certainly counter productive to what we're trying to do
  • babyworms
    babyworms Posts: 1,304 Member
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    Hey hey!

    I also suffer from Severe back pain - I have a stage 2 slipped vertebra L5-S1 and bulging discs, disc degeneration, arthritis all down my spine, as well as a double scoliosis and a pinched nerve giving rise to sciatica.

    I walk. I walk as much as I can when I can (when I'm on the wagon that is!)

    I find that the more exercise I do, even if it hurts and I can't do any the next day, the day after THAT I can do a bit more than the last time.

    Unfortunately I've been super lazy the last few months and I'm back to not being overly functional - Today I've cleaned two armchairs and now I don't think I'm going to be able to go for a walk later because of my back - But I know that if I keep going I'll get back to the strength and level of pain management I was at before.

    With food I just try and be EXTRA strict with my calories on days I can't move much - Which is hard as anything because when you can't move you get all bummed out and just want to mung down on something SUPER unhealthy, but that's where willpower comes in I guess!

    Hope this helps?

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