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Many folks have a hard time understanding chronic pain. I did too until I suffered from it for a period of 6 months. I injured my neck and my right arm went num

Many folks have a hard time understanding chronic pain. I did too until I suffered from it for a period of 6 months. I injured my neck and my right arm went numb. The pain from my neck down to my finger tips was a constant 10 out of 10, 24/7, even in my sleep. There was no amount of pain killers that would help. I freaked out my whole family telling them that if it doesn't go away I don't think I can make it. There was a point where I got an axe and asked my wife to hack my arm off at the shoulder. Miraculously, it finally healed somehow and I just remember thinking how wonderful it felt to have a second chance at life. I understand now why people with chronic pain want to end their lives. For some poor souls it seems like the only way to get rest/peace from the constant and exhausting pain.

bserge 6y ago
I often sit and wonder "why the fuck do I need to feel the pain all the time". I'll literally feel it until I die. What's the point? If it was a machine with problems, I'd just set it to generate a report/warning once in a while and not waste energy probing the sensors every second. Remind me once every few hours that yes, my back and knees are still fucked (doctors' advice: just live with it...oook). I don't need it 24/7 (OK subtract a few hours when sleeping without waking up because of it), it's literally pointless.
- treeman79 6y ago
  Trial and error. I ran a constant 6-9 pain level. Down to 1-3 most of the time. But took years of trial and error, and so many mistakes to get here.
- numpad0 6y ago
  I don't think you are supposed to live indefinitely under chronic conditions. We're so outside of design scopes.
  - treeman79 6y ago
    People put way to much trust in doctors. I have family members we are clearly suffering exact same issues I have. I keep telling them to go ask for X,Y & Z test. Everyone of them as assured me their doctors don’t see any reason to run those tests. Then they complain about how hard life is. Blows my mind.
    - abfan1127 6y ago
      Trusting "Experts" is a pandemic. We see it everywhere. They ubiquitous "They say..." Trust economists that we can print trillions and its fine. Trust military the war is "almost over". Trust politicians that they will fix our problems. Trust teachers to teach our kids (Teachers need parents support at home!). Trust Coaches to teach our players (you gotta play catch at home to be good at baseball!). Trust doctors... trust priests... trust police... The list goes on...
      - bserge 6y ago
        You have a good point, blind trust is never good. Should not be downvoted imho. Sadly, it seems that the majority of people who start researching things on their own often arrive to completely wrong conclusions. And that's dangerous, for them and for everyone else. An economist, for example, would have years of information and training in the field. And that forms a knowledge base in their brain that's (mostly) accurate, so anything they research and learn will be more correct than what an electrician/programmer/politician by trade would find. To put it simply, they have more information and experience. Of course, there are exceptions, some people are smart and can run circles around experts, but as I said, the majority of people are likely to arrive at the wrong conclusions. I don't know how this could be fixed, perhaps more oversight and checks over the experts (many cases where people are just winging it or are complete frauds). But going off on your own and not trusting experts at all is a bad idea.
        cookiengineer 6y ago
        It could be that a lot of other professions don't have the same reflection rate as scientific areas. In science and engineering, we are constantly being forced into realization that we were wrong, and we constantly try to fix things where the fix is just yet another problem we created. I mean, even if you can code for 20 years, if anybody asks you whether you can program or not, you'll probably answer "nope I don't know anything about programming"... and that's a sign for an experienced person in that profession. On the other hand, a lot of professions can get lucky with social camouflage, where they can blame others and it doesn't stick out for a controlling person. A lot of people that made it this way never were forced into reflecting on their bad decisions.
treeman79 6y ago
It does reach a point that living is worse than death. Had a similar final. Intentionally became a lunatic at ER. Refused to take prescribed blood thinner, which is a quick death for me. They finally listened and gave me a different one. Life drastically improved after that’s.
mumblemumble 6y ago
I absolutely do not want to minimize your experience, but I also want to point out that pain doesn't have to be excruciating to be life changing. Even 1 out of 10 pain can make it harder to concentrate or sleep, and, without proper management, can be debilitating. Chronic excruciating pain is, of course, oh so much worse. But even mild pain, when it extends out across months and years and decades, is not something you can appropriately manage by just rubbing some tough on it.
- antisocial 6y ago
  I do not want to minimize your experience either, as somebody suffering from chronic pain for the past two years myself. Chronic pain sensitizes you further, having this awareness helps you deal with your condition better. I highly recommend reading the following article. https://www.painscience.com/articles/pain-is-weird.php https://www.painscience.com/articles/pain-is-weird.php And as Dave Chappelle says - Got to find a way to find joy in your existence in spite of that feeling.
jacquesm 6y ago
I know a girl, my 'Viking friend' that landed upside down with a tractor on top of her. Just about everything that could be broken was broken. She ended up a thrill seeker because anything that would have killed her was also a blessing in disguise. Constant chronic pain at the maximum of what you are able to endure and live. The choice: painkillers and zoned out, unable to do much of anything or no painkillers, continuously in pain but at least conscious. She eventually learned how to deal with it, found a job that took her all over the world and is now happily married. One very impressive person.
verelo 6y ago
Highly relatable. I've never considered taking my own life, but there were certainly moments where I thought "i need to get this fixed, i cannot live this way for the rest of my life".

bserge 6y ago

I often sit and wonder "why the fuck do I need to feel the pain all the time". I'll literally feel it until I die. What's the point? If it was a machine with problems, I'd just set it to generate a report/warning once in a while and not waste energy probing the sensors every second. Remind me once every few hours that yes, my back and knees are still fucked (doctors' advice: just live with it...oook). I don't need it 24/7 (OK subtract a few hours when sleeping without waking up because of it), it's literally pointless.

treeman79 6y ago
Trial and error. I ran a constant 6-9 pain level. Down to 1-3 most of the time. But took years of trial and error, and so many mistakes to get here.
numpad0 6y ago
I don't think you are supposed to live indefinitely under chronic conditions. We're so outside of design scopes.
- treeman79 6y ago
  People put way to much trust in doctors. I have family members we are clearly suffering exact same issues I have. I keep telling them to go ask for X,Y & Z test. Everyone of them as assured me their doctors don’t see any reason to run those tests. Then they complain about how hard life is. Blows my mind.
  - abfan1127 6y ago
    Trusting "Experts" is a pandemic. We see it everywhere. They ubiquitous "They say..." Trust economists that we can print trillions and its fine. Trust military the war is "almost over". Trust politicians that they will fix our problems. Trust teachers to teach our kids (Teachers need parents support at home!). Trust Coaches to teach our players (you gotta play catch at home to be good at baseball!). Trust doctors... trust priests... trust police... The list goes on...
    - bserge 6y ago
      You have a good point, blind trust is never good. Should not be downvoted imho. Sadly, it seems that the majority of people who start researching things on their own often arrive to completely wrong conclusions. And that's dangerous, for them and for everyone else. An economist, for example, would have years of information and training in the field. And that forms a knowledge base in their brain that's (mostly) accurate, so anything they research and learn will be more correct than what an electrician/programmer/politician by trade would find. To put it simply, they have more information and experience. Of course, there are exceptions, some people are smart and can run circles around experts, but as I said, the majority of people are likely to arrive at the wrong conclusions. I don't know how this could be fixed, perhaps more oversight and checks over the experts (many cases where people are just winging it or are complete frauds). But going off on your own and not trusting experts at all is a bad idea.
      - cookiengineer 6y ago
        It could be that a lot of other professions don't have the same reflection rate as scientific areas. In science and engineering, we are constantly being forced into realization that we were wrong, and we constantly try to fix things where the fix is just yet another problem we created. I mean, even if you can code for 20 years, if anybody asks you whether you can program or not, you'll probably answer "nope I don't know anything about programming"... and that's a sign for an experienced person in that profession. On the other hand, a lot of professions can get lucky with social camouflage, where they can blame others and it doesn't stick out for a controlling person. A lot of people that made it this way never were forced into reflecting on their bad decisions.

treeman79 6y ago

It does reach a point that living is worse than death. Had a similar final. Intentionally became a lunatic at ER. Refused to take prescribed blood thinner, which is a quick death for me. They finally listened and gave me a different one. Life drastically improved after that’s.

mumblemumble 6y ago

I absolutely do not want to minimize your experience, but I also want to point out that pain doesn't have to be excruciating to be life changing. Even 1 out of 10 pain can make it harder to concentrate or sleep, and, without proper management, can be debilitating. Chronic excruciating pain is, of course, oh so much worse. But even mild pain, when it extends out across months and years and decades, is not something you can appropriately manage by just rubbing some tough on it.

antisocial 6y ago
I do not want to minimize your experience either, as somebody suffering from chronic pain for the past two years myself. Chronic pain sensitizes you further, having this awareness helps you deal with your condition better. I highly recommend reading the following article. https://www.painscience.com/articles/pain-is-weird.php https://www.painscience.com/articles/pain-is-weird.php And as Dave Chappelle says - Got to find a way to find joy in your existence in spite of that feeling.

jacquesm 6y ago

I know a girl, my 'Viking friend' that landed upside down with a tractor on top of her. Just about everything that could be broken was broken. She ended up a thrill seeker because anything that would have killed her was also a blessing in disguise. Constant chronic pain at the maximum of what you are able to endure and live. The choice: painkillers and zoned out, unable to do much of anything or no painkillers, continuously in pain but at least conscious. She eventually learned how to deal with it, found a job that took her all over the world and is now happily married. One very impressive person.

verelo 6y ago

Highly relatable. I've never considered taking my own life, but there were certainly moments where I thought "i need to get this fixed, i cannot live this way for the rest of my life".