Clarification (by )

Ok from some of the reactions I got from the previous post about depression I thought I just needed to make it clear that there are mulitiple pains that I suffer - some of which have known cuases like the pain from the scar tissue/inflammation in my shoulders and the disc in my lower back that likes to squeeze its way out.

However, around the time I came down with the impedigo ie a few weeks before the strip of red rash I begain to get other pains - in the joints like flu and burning skin and stabby pains that suddenly bubbly burned (if that makes any sense).

These have continued even though the possible shingles rash has gone.

Previous to this bought of illness I had the localised pain of my shoulders (a worsoning condition I've had since a teenager), lower back and pelvis (which still clicks if I do too much). Plus the arthritic wrist joint and all the associated refered pain from them. Now where the refered pain sits in the medical world is complecated along with secondary problems of if I stress my muscles clamp down and go into spasm. I know about most of this and have been doing my pain management stuff for them but these new pains have just added ontop.

Increasingly in the last few months I have also been even more tired than normal for me. Last time I was tired all the time they said it was becuase a muscle had gone into spasm and just hadn't come out - resulting in the upper half of my back being ridged and therefore not flexing properlly. I have also been waking up with pins and needles in my hands and feet resulting in stumbling first thing in the morning. I have also been falling over lots. My joints have always been weak especially just after I had Jean so I have alwasy stumbled more than most poeple. The pins and needles have been there since the pregnancy and they say they'll follow it up and they decide there's no point as I'm managing.

Depression is a complecated subject and what is cuase and effect can always be argued but people with chronic pain end up depressed becuase they are in pain lots especially around flare ups. IBS also has this as I assume any chronic illness does to be quiet honest.

In the past I have also lost the use of my hands for extended periods of time and obviously there was the wheel chair stuff after the pregnancy. Dealing with this sort of thing is an all to common occurance for me.

I was taken into the hospital the other week becuase I was dehydrated the other week - I felt I wasn't sick enough to go even to the Drs but when a Dr says you need to be on a drip and is offering you an ambulance - you go to the hospital. I had an infection that was acting up the IBS and if I wasn't so scared of drs and hospitals I would have gone and seen him sooner. I hate Drs and hospitals so only tend to go when Alaric forces the issue this last lot started with the impetigo thing and I only went - becuase I couldn't actually open my mouth to eat.

Now I don't know what is cuasing the skin sensitivity but the back pain is not cuased by depression - but chronic pain can be made worse by stress becuase your muscles clamp down and there is more strain on you body. If you are stressed you don't relax properlly etc...

Stress is also a known trigger for IBS. Now I am the sort of person who gets stressed so I have to be careful about how I manage things - now there are different types of depression so sometimes it can be there with stress and be mixed up with the stress and sometimes not.

I also got myself run down and exhorsted which didn't help - and I didn't notice it happening until the Dr said.

Anyway the point of this is that the pain (at least the old pain) is not cuased by depression but can be made less managable and more server by stress, some with the IBS. The dr was very admimant that I've been doing too much. He also said this was not something that could be solved over night. So to minimise my very physically symptoms I am supposed to be avoiding stress at the moment, now how mind works over matter is a very intracote subject and there are shelves and shelves of books on the subject.

So I don't propose to go into that in depth becuase its really not going to help my situation.

1 Comment

  • By Carina, Fri 22nd May 2009 @ 10:30 pm

    Dear Sarah,

    It sounds like you have so much stress you body is losing its capability to function. I too have been experiencing this, and it is the worst thing. There is nothing you can do to reduce your physical symptoms except rest, and gets lots of it. You must do less and allow your body to recuperate so it can begin to function properly; then you will be ready to livenormally again. If you do not do this, you will continue to be ill and it will become something serious that will impact on the lives of those you love. You must define some serious boundaries in terms of work, relationships and responsibilities. Personally the less you have to do right now the better. Meditation would be one key way to get some much needed rest and teach you to listen to your body. If you are interested I can recommend a really good centre for vedic meditation techniques. You must take care of yourself; every week there is something new and it can't go on like that!

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