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It's that time of year again! Yup September is Pain Awareness Month!! I am going to try and really focus on that this month. So I want to talk a little bit about my pain and how I handle it. If you have pain or chronic pain conditions or a friend or family member I hope this helps you.
I have multiple conditions that cause pain. I have fibromyalgia, arthritis, gout, endometriosis and a back injury. I have several off-shoot conditions that spring from these like no cartilage in my knees, irritable bowel syndrome and costochondritis.
When I was 18, I fell at work and injured my back. Badly. I had to have 3 months of physical therapy and when I was done they said, well you will have pain the rest of your life...here have some oxycodone. I was like "can't I take something less intense?" So the doctor prescribed me 800 mg of Ibuprofen 4x per day. At 18 I started taking 3200 mg of Ibuprofen a day for the next 20 years.
I now have really bad GERD (aka acid reflux) and heartburn. Also when I take Ibuprofen now it raises my blood pressure very high. So I can't take Ibuprofen anymore. I have started taking acetaminophen arthritis aka Tylenol just 2 tablets which are 650 mg when I need them. They help a little.
I also have horrible muscle cramps from the fibro which are very painful. I take 10 mg of Baclofen a muscle relaxer 3 times during the day and tizanidine at night. The Baclofen doesn't make me sleepy so I can take it during the day fine and the tizanidine does make me sleepy so it helps me sleep at night which is another issue all these disorders cause.
In one of my Facebook groups, I am in I was told about magnesium lotion to help with cramps. So I started looking up magnesium lotion and I found Theraworks. I had seen advertisements for it but I was skeptical. It took me a while but I finally bought my first bottle. I am so GLAD I did!!
It helps stop cramps while they are happening and helps prevent new ones for a little while. I try and use it several times a day when my cramps are really bad. If I am doing something that is bound to induce cramps I try and schedule it a few times a day to prevent cramps.
My arthritis causes all sorts of joint issues. It has eaten away at my soft tissues and I have no cartilage in my knees and have torn ligaments. I love using a topical lidocaine product for my joints. It helps the pain for a bit. The nice thing about a roll-on is you don't have to touch it and rub it in. Less transfer of the product and less mess! I am all for anything that makes my life easier.
I also use non-medication coping techniques such as a heating pad right by my bed that I can grab and place wherever I need pain relief. Sometimes ice helps more than heat so I have ice packs in the freezer all the time.
I also have several funny movies on Vudu on my TV ready to go for when I need to lay in bed and cry. Because sometimes no matter what I do it just hurts too much to do anything else! I also normally have a can of chicken noodle soup on hand for those days because let's face it if you're in bed crying you need comfort food!
I also have my emotional support stuffy with me always! Disney's nuiMO's are just the right size to fit in a purse or a pocket and carry with you. They are posable and cute as a button. Very soft and cuddly as well. Pooh is my favorite character so he is the nuiMO I chose but they have Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Miss Piggy, Kermit, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger , Eyeore, Stitch and Angel and now Jasmine and Ariel! They are $21.99 on ShopDisney. They have outfits you can buy, accessories and even bundles of the toys and the outfits!
So do you have pain conditions? How do you deal with it? Tell me in the comments and it might help someone else!
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