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I dealt with a large amount of constant pain for my entire childhood, and ongoing but to a lesser extent. It was essentially persistent pain with spikes of imme

by ehnto 4y ago

I dealt with a large amount of constant pain for my entire childhood, and ongoing but to a lesser extent. It was essentially persistent pain with spikes of immense pain, all over my body. My doctor very early on told my parents not to give me opioids, as they would ruin my development, become ineffective and I would end up addicted. So my relationship with pain is very skewed, I do essentially what the author describes, observe it but I do not always experience it, especially for stuff I have felt before. One of my less healthy coping mechanisms when I was young was to make the pain worse, so that the relief was comparatively comfortable. It has made navigating unrelated health issues a bit more challenging, as I can't relate to pain cues very well, and I tend to refuse pain relief meds in emergency situations which is not always the right choice (broken bones fine, final stages of appendicitis, probably want the meds) One thing that I have sort of always recognized though is that the way others experience pain, emotional or physical, is unrelated to what I have been through, which I think everyone could realise. Just because I have felt worse does not mean someone elses pain is not every bit as impactful to them.

ramraj07 4y ago
I have led a life of almost no pain. The most painful experience in my life was me getting local anesthetic injection near my lips for a minor skin procedure. That’s it. Yet in college I was friends with a person who progressed in ankolysing spondilitis from our best soccer player to someone who couldn’t walk or turn anymore. He was and decades later continues to be the most cheerful person I’ve ever known. He is also in constant pain all the time. One time when we were hanging out in class, I, in all my blissful ignorant glory, patted him in his back saying hello. He curled up into a ball in pain. We all knew he was always in constant unimaginable pain and he would smile and talk like everyone else through that, but for HIM to curl up, I couldn’t imagine the pain he went through. Perhaps that’s what level 11 in the pain machine in Princess Bride went to? As he was curled up in pain I retreated to a corner with a wide stare and without motion with just uncontrollable tears for what I’ve done. He then came to console ME! Imagine that. I haven’t spoken to him in a while, but last I hear he has a beautiful family and is happy with them. From what I surmise at the same levels of pain as before if not worse. I cannot imagine the life of such people, and I sincerely wish we find a way to help them. I also wake up many days reminded of how lucky I am to not have anything like this. In some ways a painless life in a middle class family today is far more blessed than what these billionaires have. I just wish I can do something to help them out in this process. I and others have much to learn from folks like you and him for sure!
- tcoff91 4y ago
  How is it possible that an injection is the most painful thing you have ever felt? You’ve never fallen off a bicycle, or accidentally cut yourself while cooking, or any number of other minor injuries? That must have either been one seriously painful injection or you are incredibly careful about not getting hurt.
  - thrdbndndn 4y ago
    Anesthetic injection in sensitive areas is pretty bad though. Typical injection like IV doesn't feel painful at all, but the anesthetic ones I've done for dental or external trauma are very painful. I won't say it's the worst in my life, but it's close. It is, for me, at least 5x worse than cutting myself, probably 3x worse than falling a bicycle too. (For what it's worth, my worst pain is wisdom teeth removal after anesthesia wore off, and it lasted for days!).
    - _glass 4y ago
      (It was my worst pain, knocks on wood, so far, too. And I was not prepared for that. But I got my second tooth removed later, and it was not as painful, I think it's all about the positioning of the tooth. While in pain, I was thinking how can I ever forget, but, to my astonishment, I almost forgot.)
    - MandieD 4y ago
      Just now heading home from getting the pins out of the finger I broke last month, and can confirm! Local in armpit to numb while arm (hee hee, floppy arm) < Injury that broke finger joint < Spinal for c-section (aside from taking several times to hit the right spot) < Local for single finger (multiple shots, and the last did not hurt any less than the first!)
  - nsxwolf 4y ago
    Lidocaine into my big toe was the single most painful event of my life. Thankfully it was brief.
  - ehnto 4y ago
googlryas 4y ago
What's the cause of this pain, if you don't mind me asking? Did it eventually resolve?
- ehnto 4y ago
  A skin condition called Epidermalisis Bullosa, aka the Butterfly Children or cotton wool kids. I was lucky, though, I have an even rarer form of the already very rare condition that made mine localized and only present after initial trauma, so I have many very deeply scarred areas from repeated trauma but otherwise normal skin. All the people I knew from my support group as a child are dead, died in their teens or twenties. That is how severe the other version of this condition is. As I have gotten older I have gotten more resilient essentially, you really can't pick that I have anything wrong unless you see the scars. I lead a very normal life now.

by ehnto 4y ago

ramraj07 4y ago

I have led a life of almost no pain. The most painful experience in my life was me getting local anesthetic injection near my lips for a minor skin procedure. That’s it. Yet in college I was friends with a person who progressed in ankolysing spondilitis from our best soccer player to someone who couldn’t walk or turn anymore. He was and decades later continues to be the most cheerful person I’ve ever known. He is also in constant pain all the time. One time when we were hanging out in class, I, in all my blissful ignorant glory, patted him in his back saying hello. He curled up into a ball in pain. We all knew he was always in constant unimaginable pain and he would smile and talk like everyone else through that, but for HIM to curl up, I couldn’t imagine the pain he went through. Perhaps that’s what level 11 in the pain machine in Princess Bride went to? As he was curled up in pain I retreated to a corner with a wide stare and without motion with just uncontrollable tears for what I’ve done. He then came to console ME! Imagine that. I haven’t spoken to him in a while, but last I hear he has a beautiful family and is happy with them. From what I surmise at the same levels of pain as before if not worse. I cannot imagine the life of such people, and I sincerely wish we find a way to help them. I also wake up many days reminded of how lucky I am to not have anything like this. In some ways a painless life in a middle class family today is far more blessed than what these billionaires have. I just wish I can do something to help them out in this process. I and others have much to learn from folks like you and him for sure!

tcoff91 4y ago
How is it possible that an injection is the most painful thing you have ever felt? You’ve never fallen off a bicycle, or accidentally cut yourself while cooking, or any number of other minor injuries? That must have either been one seriously painful injection or you are incredibly careful about not getting hurt.
- thrdbndndn 4y ago
  Anesthetic injection in sensitive areas is pretty bad though. Typical injection like IV doesn't feel painful at all, but the anesthetic ones I've done for dental or external trauma are very painful. I won't say it's the worst in my life, but it's close. It is, for me, at least 5x worse than cutting myself, probably 3x worse than falling a bicycle too. (For what it's worth, my worst pain is wisdom teeth removal after anesthesia wore off, and it lasted for days!).
  - _glass 4y ago
    (It was my worst pain, knocks on wood, so far, too. And I was not prepared for that. But I got my second tooth removed later, and it was not as painful, I think it's all about the positioning of the tooth. While in pain, I was thinking how can I ever forget, but, to my astonishment, I almost forgot.)
  - MandieD 4y ago
    Just now heading home from getting the pins out of the finger I broke last month, and can confirm! Local in armpit to numb while arm (hee hee, floppy arm) < Injury that broke finger joint < Spinal for c-section (aside from taking several times to hit the right spot) < Local for single finger (multiple shots, and the last did not hurt any less than the first!)
- nsxwolf 4y ago
  Lidocaine into my big toe was the single most painful event of my life. Thankfully it was brief.
- ehnto 4y ago

googlryas 4y ago

What's the cause of this pain, if you don't mind me asking? Did it eventually resolve?

ehnto 4y ago
A skin condition called Epidermalisis Bullosa, aka the Butterfly Children or cotton wool kids. I was lucky, though, I have an even rarer form of the already very rare condition that made mine localized and only present after initial trauma, so I have many very deeply scarred areas from repeated trauma but otherwise normal skin. All the people I knew from my support group as a child are dead, died in their teens or twenties. That is how severe the other version of this condition is. As I have gotten older I have gotten more resilient essentially, you really can't pick that I have anything wrong unless you see the scars. I lead a very normal life now.