Chronic Pain... Coping With.

Horse Fork Farm · #1 12/31/11, 03:01 AM

I have an illness that is not fatal, but that causes chronic widespread pain. I do take one prescription med for it, which helps some. If the SHTF, I know I will suffer miserably without the med. I'm experimenting with a few things.... turmeric & skullcap for starters. Just wondering how you plan to cope with long-term pain that will continue indefinitely? Its a worrisome problem... Would you share your herbs etc... that you use?

naturelover · #2 12/31/11, 04:15 AM

Here is one topic we had about that, lots of good information there for herbs to forage or grow for making your own pain medicines: http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/sho...d.php?t=380810

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lonelyfarmgirl · #3 12/31/11, 08:04 AM

Please HorseFork, I am a chronic pain sufferer also. I am interested to hear about how those herbs work for you.

andabigmac · #4 12/31/11, 10:33 AM

Would you be willing to disclose what your illness is? I managed a health food store for a while and learned that with some illnesses you can manage the associated pain in a totally unique way. For instance, if you had gout I would suggest nutmeg essential oil on the affected toe. It doesn't cure gout but we sold a bunch of it to people because they recommended it to their friends and family after they tried it and it relieved the symptoms tremendously. I don't have gout so I can't personally verify this. I would never recommend nutmeg oil to someone with tennis elbow pain though. It just wouldn't work.
If you don't want to share that's okay but if I know how to help I'll try.

Horse Fork Farm · #5 12/31/11, 11:04 AM

Sure, its not a big secret really. Its just that a lot of people believe that Fibromyalgia is not a real medical issue. I've had people tell me its all in my head. Its not in my head, it is truly a real misery over my whole body. I guess I was afraid someone here would start telling me I'm nuts. I get tired of dealing with that.....

unregistered29228 · #6 12/31/11, 02:34 PM

I have a friend with Fibromyalgia, and I know for a fact it's not in her head. She's the type who wouldn't even take a Tums unless she really needed it. And she lives daily with pain and aching and flu symptoms. Luckily she has supportive family and co-workers, but she's also been told it's imaginary or that she's a hypochondriac.

I don't have any good advice, other than trying to stockpile a year or two of your meds. Get your Rx filled the first day you are allowed - usually 7 days before the bottle is empty. Then do it again the next month. That puts you 2 weeks ahead on medicine. Keep doing that until you get a year or two saved up.

Alternatively, you can look on AllDayChemist (which I use) or one of the other online foreign (reputable) pharmacies, and order your meds if they carry it. You'll save a ton of money, and can order as much as you want.

After the meds run out and there isn't any more to be had is a scary thought. I face that thought too - I'm asthmatic. I can live without my meds but life would be a lot more difficult if I'm wheezing all the time.

calliemoonbeam · #7 12/31/11, 03:03 PM

Horse Fork, unfortunately, you're in good company here, lol. There are quite a few of us on these boards who have fibro. We've had lots of discussions. The link NL gave you is a good one, but you can also do a search for fibromyalgia and come up with a lot more. A while back, there was discussion of maybe posting more reguarly in the alternative medicine section of HT, so there's some info there as well.

I'm in the same boat, with severe fibro, as well as other medical illnesses. Due to a mix-up at the doctor's office and being trapped in the country by a blizzard last year, I had to go 2-1/2 weeks without my meds, and I literally spent that time curled in the fetal position crying and sometimes screaming in pain. I couldn't work, couldn't do any of my normal homestead chores, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and couldn't even concentrate enough to remember more than my own name. So believe me, it is NOT all in your head. I used to be strong as a horse, had a very high pain tolerance, worked circles around everyone I knew, and never took so much as an aspirin...until getting the fibro.

I hate taking the meds with a passion, but given the alternative (being completely nonfunctioning) I do it anyway, but only take what I absolutely have to in order to get by. I haven't had a single day in over eight years without pain at some level, just some are better than others. Unfortunately, none of the alternative treatments I've tried help much at all, but I keep trying. In the meantime, I'm building a stockpile as I can, such as MOF described. I've tried several internet pharmacies, including AllDayChemist, and haven't found one yet that will sell me the medication I need without a doctor's prescription.

I worry about a SHTF situation too (that 2-1/2 weeks last year was more than I ever want to experience again), so I keep experimenting with herbs and supplements. Hang in there. {{{hugs}}}

SquashNut · #8 12/31/11, 03:05 PM

I find that chickweed or dandilion tea help alot. I have both in my garden.

marinemomtatt · #9 12/31/11, 03:39 PM

I've been experimenting with different herbs for pain relief...hubby has a 'bad' back which is said to be a chronic condition. Doc compared him to a hard driven '59' Chevy truck...~lol~...
Anyway I've been dosing him with Black Cohosh, Mullein leaf, St. John's Wort and Meadowsweet. He says the pain relief is much like what he gets from the Vicoden (sp?) and at the same time he feels like some healing is taking place.
We've also reduced foods that may cause inflammation in the body.

SquashNut · #10 12/31/11, 04:44 PM

Willow bark has the same ingredient in it as asprin

mekasmom · #11 12/31/11, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horse Fork Farm

Would you share your herbs etc... that you use?

Spruce essential oil is a good pain reliever. In fact all the fir tree oils and "christmas tree" type oils help with pain.

where I want to · #12 12/31/11, 05:49 PM

If it really is a situation where you are on your own, both pot and opium are crops.

naturelover · #13 12/31/11, 06:15 PM

Okay, just a very important reminder here for everyone who may be recommending essential oils and for those thinking of trying essential oils.

If the SHTF you will need a still and you will need to only use EO's from herbs that you can grow in your location.

There's only 2 ways to take advantage of any essential oils - you either have to buy them from somebody else who makes them - or you have to make them yourself.

If the SHTF and there's no prescription pain medications available to buy anywhere then that means there's very little chance of any essential oils being available to buy anywhere either. That means you have to make the EO's yourself and you may have to grow multiple 100's of pounds of the herbs just to extract 1 ounce of essential oil. So it's advisable to stick to herbs that will grow in your location.

If you're going to make EO's yourself you also need a still and you need to learn how to distill the oils out of the herbs.

If you elect to make tinctures from herbs instead of EO's, then you need alcohol to tincture them in. And unless you have already stocked up on gallons and gallons of alcohol before the SHTF then you will still have to learn how to make alcohol and you will need a still to do that too.

So don't forget the still. You will need that just as much as anything else.

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HeelSpur · #14 12/31/11, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mekasmom

Spruce essential oil is a good pain reliever. In fact all the fir tree oils and "christmas tree" type oils help with pain.

How does one use these oils?

livinzoo · #15 12/31/11, 06:42 PM

This site has a lot of info. http://mgwater.com/results.shtml?cx=...lgia&sa=Search

Cyngbaeld · #16 12/31/11, 08:40 PM

I've found lots of raw, fresh goat milk helped more than anything else in relieving the pain and inflammation of fibro.

Wags · #17 12/31/11, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyngbaeld

I've found lots of raw, fresh goat milk helped more than anything else in relieving the pain and inflammation of fibro.

I don't have fibro but I do have chronic pain and have found the goats milk to be very helpful.

andabigmac · #18 12/31/11, 09:37 PM

I know its not in your head at all! I was being tested for fibro last year because I became unable to function. I lived on my couch for 6 months because it felt like someone replaced my joints with broken glass. They said it wasn't fibro because I was also breaking out in severe hives, had heart palpitations, and my liver was failing. I went in for allergy tests and they didn't find anything major. They told me I was just sensitive and to take zyrtec and pain killers.
I googled all of my symptoms together and it said to try removing all sulfites from my diet. I have been eating organic for a year and the relief I feel is amazing. I ate a fun sized almond joy at Halloween and within 15 minutes I had hives and was down for the next day with joint pain.
If you were to walk into my store I would tell you to start with a cleanse that especially targeted your liver. I would also suggest that some supplements that support nerve function may be beneficial. Sam-e, 5-htp, MSM, B-Complex vitamins especially B-12, CoQ10 and magnesium would be things I'd try.
Honestly though, that's a bit expensive. If you have cash to blow, go for it. I didn't. What I did was make a dandelion tincture and a milk thistle tincture and took a few droppers full a day for a few months to cleanse my liver. If you don't like alcohol you can make them out of vinegar but they don't last as long.
In the meantime I bought the Nourishing Traditions book by Sally Fallon and the Eat For Your Blood Type by Peter D'Adamo and combined the two philosophies and try to eat the way that is suggested in them. I drink raw goats milk, try to get some raw goat milk kefir down my gullet daily, cook with whole grains, eat grass fed meats, use natural sugars, eat a lot of raw organic (homegrown) veggies, and lots of fermented foods etc. The only junk food I can eat is Santitas tortilla chips and Lays yellow bag. Seriously sucks. But I'm doing so much better. It has taken over a year of trial and error and copious amounts of emergency benedryl to get me on track.
I don't know if you know about muscle testing (You Tube has videos) but if you go to the health food store and muscle test with the supplements you've been recommended to take by everyone you could possibly save some time and money. Your body knows what it needs to get well. You just need to listen to it. You can then take that knowledge to Costco where most of these things are sold and save some money.
It probably sounds daunting to do all of this when you feel like heck but I am so glad I did. Keep in mind too that you usually need to be on natural remedies for months before you start to see relief.
I'm off my soap box now.

Sonshine · #19 12/31/11, 09:42 PM

This thread caught my eye. I also suffer chronic pain, but it's from nerve damage. Anyone have any suggestions on what I could do about this? Right now I take soma (muscle relaxer) and loratabs, but that may change on the 12th when I go back to the doctor because it doesn't seem as effective when the weather changes.

andabigmac · #20 12/31/11, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeelSpur

How does one use these oils?

Some people can get relief from just smelling them but most people mix them with a carrier oil and rub them on affected areas or on reflexology points.

A few other essential oils that help for pain are black pepper and elemi. If it were long term pain caused from an injury or arthritis there are always plasters made from chiles, mustard, or horseradish.