Videos and Painkillers Do Not Mix
Over the last 6-8 months I have noticed a bit of pain in my joints. During that time I have had flu, a bad fall with a broken wrist and then covid. I of course thought that my pain was due to all of these things at the time they happened.
Unfortunately, the pain has increased to the point I am now struggling to get up out of a chair without yelping, struggling to do things in the kitchen and turning over in bed is agonizing. This has now disrupted my sleep so much that I have spoken to the doctor.
I have an appointment in the next couple of weeks to get checked over but in the meantime I got a prescription for painkillers. These painkillers are a tad stronger than what you can buy over the counter and as you may notice in tonight’s video, they kicked in rather quickly.
Hopefully this will give me a restful night and I will be able to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time.
So far the options that are presenting themselves as to the reason for the pain are – arthritis, as I have that in my hands but not to a great extent – long covid which seems to affect ladies of a certain age in the joints or – whatever my mum had that meant she had to have a double hip replacement.
It will probably take a while to find out for sure but hopefully until then, I can do something about the lack of sleep with the painkillers.
There is now a “note to self” these painkillers kick in pretty quickly so videos will have to be made before I take them.
OK -this could be regarded as a bit woo-woo – but here goes.
Have a look at the work of American Doctor John Sarno. There’s plenty of stuff on YouTube. He is a pain specialist. His theory (and practice) is quite simple: anger suppressed in the body = pain. Get rid of the anger – get rid of the pain. In November last year my hubby started with pains in his leg and by New Year could not walk, sit, lie down without massive and agonising pain. Sleep? Not happening.
Saw GP – examined, prescribed gel for pain relief and referred to Physio. Saw Physio. Poked around and manipulated – given “prescription” to walk 4 times a day and do sets of exercise 4 times a day. No Way. Could not walk to my neighbours driveway 10 metres without tears and pain. Couldn’t get into the car without screaming (yes loudly) in pain. Paid to go to Chiropractor off own bat. 1st visit slight improvement but didn’t last. 2nd visit ditto. 3rd visit – nothing – then given brush off over telephone by Chiropractor because he had done all he could.
Now desperate he turned to Sarno ( I’d kept a cutting about it from years ago – now I know why!) He has a book – cheap on Amazon but we got from library at first. Read book. Started practising the contents – by listing everything that makes you angry – and it can go back years. It is surprising what comes up! By acknowledging the emotion it dissolves away the pain. By the end of March he was walking again. Has not looked back and is pain free.
Sorry this is a bit of a saga but I wanted to put it into context and chart the experience. There is a UK organisation SIRPA UK which is Sarno based and has lots of resources – but all you really need is the book (“Healing Back Pain” and “Mind Body Prescription” is also useful) both cover pain generally – and a notebook. ( Some libraries have the books – ours did then we bought our own as we were hogging it). You have to come to believe that the mind can influence the body. Doctors generally don’t and love their science and technology so can be dismissive of this approach. But there are lots of testimonies on line.
Full disclosure – Having seen this first hand I am a convert. It sounds daft, it sounds far-fetched, it sounds weird, it’s impossible, it won’t work …….but it truly and honestly does – hand on heart.
If all else fails – it’s always worth a try.
Hi Debbie,
Thanks so much for that, all help gratefully received. I will go have a look and tell my work colleague who is also suffering but is less willing to take painkillers than me. I shall let you know how I get on.
Take Care
Karen
Totally agree with you! I had my grandad often say ‘ Beware your anger. Internalise it and you’ll grow a tumour’.
I watched your latest video and you did seem to be feeling some effects towards the end – hope you get a good night’s sleep.
I have Fibromyalgia, along with both Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis so you do have my sympathy. My Rheumatologist is very plain speaking – no cure – learn to manage – and keep moving! And she’s right. Listen to your body – there are times when you will need to cut back on what you do – it took me a long time to learn to “pace myself”. You are of a “certain age” but look at the schedule you keep – up very early, a long day of working through the week – and the radio show on the weekend. Then there is always the cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry etc. etc. etc. – no wonder you are tired and achy!
And yes, it could also be long Covid – but more than likely it’s your body telling you that it needs a bit of a rest – or at least it needs you to find a new way of doing things. All the prepping and the canning and the organizing and the blog and the vlog – I’m getting tired just listing it all! 🙂
Give yourself a wee break – try to limit the pills – I actually find that one arthritis strength Tylenol before I go to bed really does the trick on the days when I’m really in pain – you might find that this is enough rather than a stronger prescription. A nice hot bath doesn’t hurt either.
Take care of yourself and congratulations on all the new subscribers! Your rants have found an appreciative audience – (from a fellow ranter).
Hi Margie, Thanks so much for that. I have to say the two docs strength codeine kicked me on my ass last night lol. However, I got a much better sleep so all good. I think a lot of the problem has been the level of pain and not doing anything about it. The difference last night made was huge.
Take care and speak soon
Karen
I have a horrible time sleeping. I take a sleeping pill, and sometimes it still isn’t enough. My doctor said my inability to sleep could be caused by pain. I have always toughed it out and endured, so I am not certain if I am in pain or not because I no longer recognize what normal is. Slowing down a little does help. Stress is not the friend of sleep!
Hi Linda
I know what you mean. Stress definitely does not help sleep. Thankfully, every so often a blitz of painkillers is enough to make a difference for a few nights.
Take care
Karen