GypsyGirl
Senior Member
- Messages
- 165
- Location
- North Carolina
Hi all,
A bit of a weird question (but aren't they all?)...
Background:
A new doc asked me where I was in pain the other day, and like usual - I have to stop and assess ("There is burning pain through my legs, there are diffuse flu-like aches throughout my body, sharp intermittment pains at the back of my head, etc").
He's not the first doctor who's been surprised that I have to stop and focus on the what/where the pain is. Because it's constant, and there are multiple kinds of pain, I just find it really, really hard to focus on. It sort of drowns out my thinking. And in a way, as a coping skill, I'm okay with that - instead I focus on anything that feels okay, functional, fine, and put pain out of my head.
I'm realizing this isn't new - I can think back to before I was chronically ill and remember that I was similar in handling acute illness or injuries - I couldn't process pain or sensation really well. I just felt "off" (sometimes when things were truly in emergency mode, with broken bones or extremely high fevers). For example: At one point when I was getting sick enough to consider quitting work, (but also wondering if I was somehow "making it all up in my head"), I had a bone biopsy to screen for cancer. They used some sort of drip opiate, and rather than making me "high", I was shocked because I felt normal - and I realized how much pain I had actually been in for the first time. It had come on slowly and constantly and until I had a comparison, I couldn't describe it.
So my question is - are you constantly aware of pain? How do you process sensation/pain? Does any of this sound familiar to you?
This is a frustration I run into with certain kind of doctors. That they think I must be imagining or exaggerating because I have to stop and think, stop and force myself to "process the pain". I'm curious as to whether I'm actually unusual in this.
A bit of a weird question (but aren't they all?)...
Background:
A new doc asked me where I was in pain the other day, and like usual - I have to stop and assess ("There is burning pain through my legs, there are diffuse flu-like aches throughout my body, sharp intermittment pains at the back of my head, etc").
He's not the first doctor who's been surprised that I have to stop and focus on the what/where the pain is. Because it's constant, and there are multiple kinds of pain, I just find it really, really hard to focus on. It sort of drowns out my thinking. And in a way, as a coping skill, I'm okay with that - instead I focus on anything that feels okay, functional, fine, and put pain out of my head.
I'm realizing this isn't new - I can think back to before I was chronically ill and remember that I was similar in handling acute illness or injuries - I couldn't process pain or sensation really well. I just felt "off" (sometimes when things were truly in emergency mode, with broken bones or extremely high fevers). For example: At one point when I was getting sick enough to consider quitting work, (but also wondering if I was somehow "making it all up in my head"), I had a bone biopsy to screen for cancer. They used some sort of drip opiate, and rather than making me "high", I was shocked because I felt normal - and I realized how much pain I had actually been in for the first time. It had come on slowly and constantly and until I had a comparison, I couldn't describe it.
So my question is - are you constantly aware of pain? How do you process sensation/pain? Does any of this sound familiar to you?
This is a frustration I run into with certain kind of doctors. That they think I must be imagining or exaggerating because I have to stop and think, stop and force myself to "process the pain". I'm curious as to whether I'm actually unusual in this.
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