Thankfully I don’t live with chronic pain, but living with tinnitus has a very similar cycle
It’s chronic, and it’s a nuisance; so it certainly counts.
I’ve had mine since I was probably a teenager. My 9-year-old has it too. He and I are not sure how he got it, and I feel bad for him having to deal with it so young.
Some days are better than others, in so far maybe I’m busy enough to not think about it. Other days, it’s front and center (like right now) and feels louder than usual. It’s the same feeling as with my chronic pain (broken elbow never quite healed right and constantly hurts).
This is like when someone tells a depressed person ‘just dont be sad’ but I’ve had tinnitus for over a decade, mine could potentially be minor.
Dedicating a good amount of time to telling myself over and over that the noise didn’t exist in my head really helped my ability to deal with it. I don’t ever think about it or notice it unless someone says the word tinnitus and my brain keys in on it. If you haven’t heard about it before, the drumming on the back of your skill trick is also a real (if very temporary) fix for me and a lot of other people I’ve talked to.
They may be related: https://www.vice.com/en/article/vvb99x/now-we-know-what-causes-tinnitus-that-never-ending-ringing-in-your-ears
Chronic pain and tinnitus, the incessant ear ringing that affects up to 30 percent of the adult population, may share a common source, new research shows. The finding may bring millions of people who suffer from both conditions a step closer to finding relief.
I feel this I’m my bones… and I mean that both figuratively and literally.
My wife has had a chronic neuropathic pain condition since 2008, and this is pretty accurate. One of the interesting aspects of chronic pain is that there’s no way to measure it - no way for a doctor to know how much pain a person is in other than to ask, and the answer is inherently subjective. I’ve seen with my wife that clearly the pain itself can vary, with one day being better or worse than the prior, but also her ability to deal with it varies. If she’s tired, emotional, or cranky, the same amount of pain can be untenable.
They sometimes use antidepressants for neuropathic pain, and as I understand it the thinking is that they influence how pain is proceeded in the brain, but I always wonder if part of the success is simply that people on antidepressants get less derailed by a given level of pain.
I have genitofemoral neuropathy. This is a totally accurate description. The location of the pain sometimes causes me to kick into fight or flight without awareness. I take Neurontin just to keep the edge off and reduce the reaction to the pain. Sometimes I think my pain is only a 4 or 5, but my blood pressure reading will prove otherwise. It’s oddly tolerable at times, and “lock myself away from the world so I’m not a total asshole” other times.
I have genitofemoral neuropathy.
Oh, man, that’s a tough one - sorry to hear it.
It is. Thanks. It’s improved over the years. Either it’s healing or I’m becoming more tolerant. My neurologist said either is possible, so I’m optimistic.
Wouldn’t it be cool if there was some sort of gauge they could use to see which of those it was?
There was a while when I thought my wife was getting better. Then one night she took off her socks and one of her toes was black and swollen. It turned out that she had stumbled on the stairs earlier in that day, and apparently had broken her toe, but she didn’t realize because the constant pain in the other leg and foot was enough that the broken toe didn’t really stand out.
I do think she’s gotten a bit better over the last year or so, but it’s so hard to know if it’s that or she’s acclimated to the pain.
Oof. That sounds awful. I also understand how that would happen. My damaged nerve services the lower portion of my abdominal cavity, groin, and upper thighs, so I tend to have problems dismissing gastrointestinal issues. A couple years ago, I suddenly became super distended. Like a skinny guy with a basketball under his shirt. It turned out that I had an intestinal intususpeption that basically closed off my tract and inflated me like a balloon. I would’ve noticed the pain way earlier if I didn’t have jumper cables on my nuts. Lol
It’s amazing how little neurologists are willing to commit to certainty of any kind. I’ve gone to several, and all I get is speculation and hope. Has your wife had the same experience?
Yeah, similar. She has CRPS, and they just don’t understand that very well. Since it’s neuropathic, most drugs don’t do much and she doesn’t like the side effects anyway. They used to call it the suicide disease because so many people would just kill themselves rather than deal with the unending, untreatable pain. Treatments have gotten somewhat better though. Still, most doctors don’t know what to do with her.
Yup! Ehlers Danlos Syndrome is a BITCH. I was diagnosed in 2014 and I wish I could go back in time and scream at younger Shelby to quit gymnastics, quit cheerleading, and quit my job as a contortionist… on the outside, I look healthy and even do boudoir for a living, but my doctor says my ligaments are similar to someone in their late seventies. It’s hard when you look “normal” because everyone assumes you’re faking it.
My life right here. Good god. I know I’m annoying and I hate it.
This but with loneliness
Chronic Chest pains here and heart rate issues.
Every day, multiple times a day, I clutch my chest and gasp for breath/double over.
Its become such a common occurence I dont even have the “OH MY GOD IS THIS IT” response anymore.
I usually just angrily scream “god DAMNIT” through gritted teeth as my heart rate goes through the roof for the next 10 minutes to 7 hours.
Took me laying in the ER hooked up to a heart monitor and having one infront of a nurse that I was even remotely taken seriously, and even then it was just a "uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, okay take these beta blockers, bye "
when i asked what it was, they just shruged and said “its normal, weird you act like it hurts so much, but oh well”
20+ years later, i still got it, and it gets worse every passing year. yet i’m in perfect health according to the doctors and tests
Panic attacks? Too much caffeine? This happens to me when I’m going to sleep, it’s really frightening. If you have any insight let me know.
That doesn’t seem right. Sorry you have to deal with that.
I don’t have chronic pain but it’s the same with tinnitus.
Yeah when I first started hearing the ringing, I thought my life was gonna be awful from that point on and I just wanted to give up. Now I hardly notice it most of the time but it’s still pretty annoying when I do notice it and I’d love to hear silence again.
I’m sure the constant “noise” grinds down on your nerves just as much as constant pain.
Im sorry you are going through this.
Right there with you, my friend.
I don’t have chronic pain but this is my cycle of depression
Somethings gotta give sometimes
chronic pain leads to chronic pain meds. its the real doorway drug that ruins lives.
It has a large effect on mental health and depression, too. The pain becomes sort of like being trapped under a too heavy blanket or something, and you’re always fighting with it. Good things feel less good because you’re hurting, and bad things feel worse because you’re hurting. Pain meds help a little, but it sort of numbs everything else along with the pain. The only time you can get a bit of respite is when you’re sleeping, and you better hope nothing wakes you up because then you’re laying in pain trying to go back to sleep for an hour. Awful.
I went and took maternity pictures with my wife yesterday and she was having so much fun. I didn’t complain because I didn’t want to ruin it, but I was so mad at myself because it was all I could focus on.
I’d forget for a second and make a joke to make her laugh and then right back into focusing on the pain.
I’m about burned out with it. I’ll have a good week followed by three months of nonstop misery. I can’t take pain meds because I’m a former addict. I’m terrified to have surgery for that reason.
I don’t know. Sorry to put this here. I wish I were better at suffering in silence. I know I’ve gotta be driving her crazy groaning all the time. I try not to, which makes me super aware of it. It sucks.
It is what it is and we get what we get, but damn I wish I could get some real relief. I’m feeling alright at this moment because I’ve had 4 12% alcohol beers, but when I wake up in the morning I’ll probably spend the first 5 hours of my day wishing I could just be unconscious.
I appreciate that you shared it. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in the challenges I face with pain. I’m sorry that you have to deal with that experience.
I like to think that we’re stronger for having to go through stuff like that, but sometimes it just feels like suffering for no reason lol.
It’d be nice to not suffer from what I do, and therefore not have constant pain, but also that person wouldn’t be me ig? Idk maybe that’s stupid but I think all I can do to keep going is try to be as positive as I can be.
Sorry if I rambled here. I hope things get better for you somehow fr <3
