Chronic Pain... Coping With.

mpillow · #21 12/31/11, 10:13 PM

I read about smoking catnip in Countryside mag a few years ago....it seems to make the cats lose their inhibitions....O.o

margoC · #22 12/31/11, 10:21 PM

There's kratom. It's suppossed to be like a mild opiate. I tried it. Not sure if it worked for pain. Here's the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratom

Common Tator · #23 12/31/11, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horse Fork Farm

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?

I wonder if they work as well as opium poppies and Mary Jane? I don't have those, but might come in useful if needed and nothing else was available. What if you need to perform surgery?

Horse Fork Farm · #24 12/31/11, 11:41 PM

Wasn't HT the place where they discussed making tincture from the California poppy instead of the illegal opium poppy? Scratch that. It was a for information only discussion on making laudanum from poppies. I am thinking of ordering that to tincture since it is supposedly not addictive/habit forming but still provides pain relief.

RE: smoking catnip... you supposedly can smoke the skullcap for more immediate pain relief. I'm just not real sure I want to smoke... think I'd rather tincture.

Horse Fork Farm · #25 12/31/11, 11:45 PM

Wow... my last post was about as clear as MUD. I'm planning to tincture the cali. poppy, which is perfectly legal and can be bought over the counter!

SquashNut · #26 01/01/12, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naturelover

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.

.

This is why I make teas and some powders..

Cyngbaeld · #27 01/01/12, 11:57 AM

I agree with the organic diet! You can't expect anything herbal (or goat milk alone) to be a magic bullet. Take the chemicals out of your diet and out of your home. Get rid of perfumes, cleaning chemicals, detergents, fabric softeners, smoke, incense, anything like that will aggravate your symptoms. Cut the sugar way, way down, out if you can. Even honey needs to be in moderation. Cook from scratch so you are not getting MSG and preservatives, dyes or other chemicals added to the food. If you have food animals for meat, dairy and eggs, feed them as organically as you can and avoid chemicals or antibiotics for them. Filter your water. If you are on treated water, get a filter that removes chlorine and fluoride. Both are very bad for fibro.

Horse Fork Farm · #28 01/01/12, 12:24 PM

Cyngbaeld, your post makes me feel kind of good. I just realized I am already doing most of that because its just how we live anyway. I clean with things like vinegar and borax. I make my own laundry soap, vinegar for fabric softener, cook from scratch and been using a Big Berkey for about 11 years. I can probably improve some more on the sugar issue but even there we don't use near as much as a normal house. I did a lot of grunt work for my dad as a kid and part of that was using chemical strippers and other goodies. I can't change the past but I definitely don't use those things now. Can you think of anything else to avoid? I thought about getting tested for heavy metals but my insurance prob would not cover it.

Somebody mentioned needing a distiller for EO's. I got one at a local thrift store this summer for $30.00. I have never used one before sowhen I try it I'll probably be on here asking for help again!

Wags · #29 01/01/12, 01:29 PM

Also check to make sure you don't have a gluten intolerance or a wheat sensitivity/allergy. Those two are different things and can present a different set of symptoms but either of which could definitely exacerbate Fibro symptoms.

kinnb · #30 01/01/12, 01:53 PM

also a chronic pain situation here...PHN, though, and on the max dose allowed of Lyrica...have run the gamut of every possible "substitute" or off-label use drug and have been put BACK on the stupid Lyrica again. I have permanent damage from the side effects already and am looking at moving to a legal medical MJ state because truly I'd rather do the MJ than the Lyrica, and I absolutely refuse to take narcotics.

so. I'm finding much comfort in seeing I'm not alone (again) among the HT community in figuring out the pain prep thing. I went over and checked out the Emergency Morphine thread as well, which gave me more things to think about. I have a high allergy problem aka I need to live in a bubble *rolls eyes*, so I doubly have to mind what I'm exposed to anyway, be it herbs, drugs, or just environment.

I already watch my food etc, chemicals, all that. this PHN crap is just the lovely results of shingles bashing me four times in one year. NOT polite of the virus whatsoever. anyway, thanks again for all of your various contributions and continuing stories, HT...wish I had something besides commiseration to add!
peace, Kyrie and Doppler the wonder dog

thesedays · #31 01/01/12, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horse Fork Farm

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.....

I know someone who was believed to have fibromyalgia for several years, and she was recently diagnosed with celiac sprue. She's been phasing out gluten and is already seeing an improvement. Have you been tested for this?

Statin cholesterol meds can cause body pain too; do you use one? Zocor (simvastatin) seems to be the worst in this regard.

Horse Fork Farm · #32 01/02/12, 12:38 AM

thesedays.... Zocor is exactly what started me down this painful road. I took it for 6 months 8 yrs ago. I had major muscle loss and my then doctor poo pooed at me when I told him something was wrong. He was aware (I was not) of the risks of Zocor, but never told me. I researched each of my meds myself trying to eliminate anything questionable. When I confronted him with what I'd read, he tried to tell me the muscle loss was temporary along with the weakness and pain. I can't sit here and swear thats what started all my trouble, but the evidence sure points that way...

I have wondered about celiacs too, haven't asked to be tested yet. Wouldn't it have been a problem my whole life?

fetch33 · #33 01/02/12, 08:59 AM

Try cutting back on carbohydrates. They can have an inflammatory effect. Years ago, I lost 50 lbs on a low carb diet. I felt fantastic, no joint aches and my back pain went away.

unregistered29228 · #34 01/02/12, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fetch33

Try cutting back on carbohydrates. They can have an inflammatory effect. Years ago, I lost 50 lbs on a low carb diet. I felt fantastic, no joint aches and my back pain went away.

I could have written your post - I used to scoff at people who tried specific diets (grapefruit diet, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Master Cleanse) as all snake oil, but I was younger and didn't have a weight problem.

I lost 55 pounds this year eating low carb, and I've never felt better. I didn't realize I felt bad until I felt better. But I didn't realize carbs had an inflammatory effect!

Cyngbaeld · #35 01/02/12, 04:58 PM

Good restful sleep is very important too. You need a soft mattress topper over any firm mattress. You don't want sagging, but you need good cushioning under all pressure points. I use a natural latex topper that is great.

If you lay awake at night, you will hurt more than if you get up and move around a while then lay back down. If you've lain in one position for long without sleeping, you need to shift around some.

If you have animals that sleep with you, make other arrangements for them. They will disturb your sleep and you may not move around enough to keep muscles from spasms if you don't want to disturb a pet.

NoClue · #36 01/03/12, 07:15 AM

I deal with chronic pain, not fybro, but related to a lifetime of hard work - and a degenerative neurological disease. I don't take anything specifically for them (although I have occasionally tried herbals and pharmaceuticals for short periods of time), but try to manage them with lifestyle.

The single greatest factor I've found towards maintaining my mobility and functionality is to get a good night's sleep. Unfortunately this is also one of the hardest things for me to acheive. There's just no position I can assume in which something doesn't hurt; throw in neurological symptoms, and I'm left waking up several times a night. Some things that help though are, keeping a large pillow up against my back. Good quality pillows for my head and neck to facilitate keeping my spine straight. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule (not entirely possible with my job, but to the extent that it's under my control). I've found also that taking a tums and a tylenol before I go to bed helps a lot too. A glass or two of wine doesn't hurt either, but I don't indulge in this very often.

The second biggest thing is to stay active and mobile. Make a point of getting up and moving around at regular intervals, but don't overdo it. In my case there's a fine line - if I'm inmobile for too long, it's difficult to get moving again; if I push myself too hard, or any muscle or group of muscles too hard, they seize up which is very painful and can be incapacitating for days.

One other thing that helps is to stay well hydrated.

Whisperwindkat · #37 01/03/12, 07:29 AM

Fibro here too. Low carbs is a definite must for me along with low caffeine. I feel better when I drink more raw goat's milk and get lots of Vitamin D. In the summer when I am outside more and the sun is stronger I feel much better. This time of year even when outside I am either covered up with heavier clothing or the sun is not very strong and so I don't get much in the way of Vit. D naturally so I have to take supplements or I simply can't function. During the winter I take 15000 units per day. Healthy food, nothing processed, no chemicals, no dyes etc. We raise as much as we can and then can afford to be choosy about the rest. Also, like Cyngbaeld said a good night's sleep works wonders. I have CFS also and sometimes even though I am exhausted I can't sleep...a glass of red wine helps with that. I also do some light stretching excercises before going to bed which help also. For me the pain never goes away, but can be kept to a manageable level that I can live with. One more thing that is important for me is to pace myself. Sometimes, when I am feeling great if I overdo because I feel close to normal then I will do more than my body can handle which then triggers a flare. I also lay down on the couch and rest for an hour after lunch each day that I can. It really makes a difference when I do get that hour to just let my body relax and those days that I don't. Blessings, Kat

Horse Fork Farm · #38 01/04/12, 12:06 AM

Lots of good advice here I think. Def want to read up on some things as well as lowering the carbs more and maybe upping my dose of vitamin D. I do still think we should have a thread discussing herbal remedies for pain though. There's just so many situations where pain relief is vital to a speedy recovery.

InvalidID · #39 01/04/12, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonshine

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.

Cayenne pepper. Works pretty well for the damage to my neck.

naturelover · #40 01/04/12, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonshine

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.

For nerve damage wear copper. Do some research on the health benefits of wearing copper or stones that have a high copper content - malachite for example. It won't hurt you to try it and may do you a lot of benefit.

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