How do others live with the ups and downs of pain

Hello I am new here. I was wondering how others live with this condition? My hands, back and pelvis are sore most days but today is a bad day and standing is difficult. Typing this message causes pain in my hands. The colder weather seems to really cause me to want to hide to stay warm.

Comments

  • CCM
    CCM Member Posts: 113

    Greeetings @Lovelylou

    Welcome to the Forum. I am sorry to learn of your pain in those most awkward of areas. You may find these links of use:

    Keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

  • Airwave!
    Airwave! Member Posts: 2,458

    See www.coudywithachanceofpain. Some research a number of us took part in which linked OA pain to low pressure systems (bad weather). I expect this will lead to more research in the future?

    its a grin, honest!

  • As I've aged it's all gotten worse and side effects from hip replacement, made it all worse.

    I use a lot of topicals, and some are great homeopathic solutions and keep saying to myself, tomorrow will be better.

    Some days are harder, and yesterday I just about cried talking to a friend ... then I lay down and rub my pain areas and it helps....learned to live with a lot of pain, have to, not willing to drug myself with a lot of heavy duty meds.

  • Lilymary
    Lilymary Member Posts: 1,740
    edited 22. Sep 2020, 16:30

    Hi Lovelylou

    I'm afraid I'm the opposite of jaminhealth, I up the presription meds when the pain gets bad as well as generally cossetting myself and resting. Hot baths and heated wheat bags also help on the affected joints, and if it's a weather-related flare, simply keeping warm also helps.

    But distraction also helps, as does moving about so you don't seize up completely. I was feeling awful on Saturday and all I wanted was to stay in bed or at worst, sit on the sofa and watch box sets. But the weather was so inviting, and I had just one or two simple jobs to do in the garden, so I forced myself out there. Four hours later, I was still enjoying being outside and plugging away at the garden, staggering about grunting and muttering periodically, and the pain and fatigue had been pushed into the background. I paid for it the next day of course, but it felt worth it when I went out and looked at what I'd achieved, small as it was. When the pain really starts getting you down, I can thoroughly recommend finding something to do that you can enjoy and engross yourself in, be it a great movie, a bit of knitting, baking a cake, grooming the dog, whatever you love and whatever you can manage.

  • Kezzacare
    Kezzacare Member Posts: 7

    I take strong pain killers but they don't always help I use ice and heat method sometimes on my knees ankles and hips. I don't know if you have tried this but you use a ice cube and hold it against the joint or area ie knee move it gentle over the area till the skin is numb then replace with a heat cloth I use a flannel soaked in hot water not hot enough to burn or scold and place this over area till the cloth is cold and repeat this process about 4/5 times it helps me sometimes my physiotherapist showed me this process. But mostly i have had to learn to live with the pain its hard, very hard but everyone here is brilliant and someone is always around to help or just listen when you need someone to vent or talk to and mber we understand.

  • Mike1
    Mike1 Member Posts: 1,992

    I just take ever increasing amounts of Morphine! Even that only knocks the edge off pain, most people will tell you that none of the meds out there actually get rid of the pain. I also use distraction which is basically doing something that you enjoy and can actually do; in my case this is making models, train layout, making bird boxes for charity etc, the only problem is that whatever I do I can only manage 10-20 minutes until my pain levels increase and I need to rest. Tickling the cat helps too! 😸