Chronic Pain / Illness Support - Sharing Experiences and Coping Strategies, or bitching about pain lol

  • 🇵🇦 Nuestro primer dominio localizado está en español en kiwifarms.pa. Our first localized domain is on Spanish on kiwifarms.pa.
  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Destacado
dcss

dcss

On General Principle
True & Honest Fan
kiwifarms.net
Registrado
2 de Feb, 2025
Hello fellow kiwis,

Living with chronic pain or illness fucking sucks, and sometimes there's nowhere to turn without sounding insane. This thread is for people who suffer from any sort of chronic illness or pain.

Whether you're dealing with fibromyalgia, arthritis, migraines, or any other chronic condition, feel free to share:
  • Any new strategies or resources you’ve discovered?
  • How do you inhale copium?
  • Or just say how much shit sucks
Let's all support each other here, a house divided and all that.

I'll start. I got into a nasty crash some years back and I've had chronic back pain ever since, I even had to have surgery because the pain was so debilitating in the beginning. Nowadays I just accept it as a part of life, even though some days are definitely worse than others.

Looking forward to hearing from you all!
 
I guess I qualify, got bad cartilage from my mom so I have bad knees (right knee medial meniscus tear in high school, repaired surgically) and a bad back. Knee pain is whatever, shake it off and it feels better most of the time, but when the back pain flares up it's pretty bad.

What I believe happens is my poor cartilage makes the disks in my back weak and thin, and a shift of my spine can cause the disk to bulge and put pressure on nerves. Mine is mid-back, and when the nerves are compressed it's like someone puts an inner tube around my diaphragm so breathing is difficult.

I've lived with it long enough that I can feel when my spine shifts and if I catch it early enough, I can lay on a hard surface and force my spine down into alignment. That usually does the trick, but if not I can be down for a couple of days. Since it's nerve compression causing the pain there isn't much that can be done, especially since I need my nerves to send signals to my muscles and stuff. Digestion seems weird when it's happening too.

No surgical intervention exists to help so just trying to be aware of how my back feels can help. Parts of my back go numb when it flares up but that can be tough to catch. Working on my posture has helped as well, but sometimes you bend over to check what's in the pantry and your back decides it's a good day to fuck around.

Technically it's been diagnosed as Degenerative Disk Disease and since it's on the part of my spine supported by my ribcage, it was not the result of an injury. I'm lucky that stretching my spine down (think lifting yourself up between two poles so your legs dangle) or popping my back on a chair can help, but if the affected disk is too high up on my shoulders it's hard to get leverage to pop.

Glad you had a surgical intervention to help make it manageable :)
 
Sometimes I have severe back pain. I’ve also had a kink in my shoulder for years
 
Any fellow epileptics? Busted brain bros? It ain't easy bein' seizy. It's a really odd disease because it's an issue with the brain, but not a mental illness, so people are weird about it.


I was diagnosed this year out of nowhere and it sucks, but could be worse. Not being able to drive is inconvenient, feel like a child again. My coworkers treat me gently like they're worried I'm going to drop dead. Oh and everytime I drop something or make a loud noise someone runs in from the other room to make sure I haven't exploded or caught fire. I don't really care anymore, it's just my life now.


Don't know why I'm sperging on the Kiwifarms about it. I'm dangerously spergy and it will be my undoing one day.
 
#FF0000 dijo:
I have flat feet and it fucking sucks sometimes but at least I can't get drafted :)
Presiona para expandir...
Lucky for you they have a job for your kind
IMG_7012.jpeg
 
#FF0000 dijo:
I have flat feet and it fucking sucks sometimes but at least I can't get drafted :)
Presiona para expandir...
I can't be drafted either. Hell yeah.

I had very flat feet for years, and although it's still not fantastic, I've made good progress re-building my foot arch through years of physio exercises. Worth giving it some time if you haven't already.
 
I'm doing physical therapy for an acute ankle injury and my arch collapsing was something they were worried about. Our bodies find little shortcuts to work as-is and sometimes it makes dumb choices. My knee isn't moving straight over my ankle because my ankle pushes it inward lol
 
MerelyAPlateOfSpaghetti dijo:
I'm doing physical therapy
Presiona para expandir...
Any time I’ve had pt, it’s been a great experience. The first time they had this machine that went around my hips that pulled my back. I miss that thing
This last time they’d use a tense unit, put ice or heat on my back, and leave me there for ten minutes. I’d often doze off. Very relaxing.
 
I fucked up during my walk today.

So it's fall, tree nuts are strewn across many surfaces. Have due diligence, always watch your step, there's no absence of risk even if you take walks in boots and cleats for whatever reason, pecans in particular are unrelenting hazards.

On the steepest stretch on the street I was on, I tripped prostrate (unfortunate word, I know) downhill, missing my actual face but scuffing up my hands rendering my left knee swollen in the process. It fucked up the left toebox of my shoe a bit.

Needless to repeat: watch your step.
 
Última edición:
MerelyAPlateOfSpaghetti dijo:
Does it hurt?
Presiona para expandir...
If you want a genuine answer (this is definitely the most I've powerleveled), it never really "hurt", but it caused a lot of discomfort. These days, I almost don't notice it. Switching to abdominal breathing was the first and biggest step, then working on reducing stress by improving mental health; doing lots of sport, especially cardiovascular exercise, like running. I still feel it when I'm stressed out, just not nearly as much. Although I went from a shower to a grower, that never changed.
 
Have so much assorted shit, they diagnosed me with fibromyalgia T_T

I got prescribed Etoricoxib by general therapist to try, and, while I will only need to take it for 10 days, it has an incredible side effect: after I take it, 9+ hours I can not eat because I will be sick. It does not stop hunger, btw. Was ok on day 1 cause I fucked off for all day and that helped me save money on dinner, but is an absolute ass.
 
I have had trigeminal neuralgia for 8 years a long years of pain every time my heart beats, upper and lower jaw, teeth pulled, gamma knife, DMV surgery didn't work, nothing works. It's starting to wear me down, it's the first thing I feel when I wake up and the last thing I feel when I can sleep. I've thought so hard about just taking a hand full of pills (I have a whole pharmacy) and being done. Oblivion is better than this.
 
Destacado
Debes iniciar sesión o registrarte para responder aquí.
Atrás
Top Abajo