Question for those who have had chronic pain...?

Question

Do you find that you're exhausted most of the time? When it hurts less due to medication or any other reason (just having a good day, just had trigger point injections, etc.), do you find that your level of alertness and energy increase dramatically?

I think I see a connection in myself... I don't take my pain meds (not opiates, other stuff) every day, but I've noticed that on days when I don't take them if I'm in pain, I feel extremely tired most of the day. This is also true on days when I take them, but they don't really do the job because it's just a particularly bad day.

I guess I'm trying to figure out the cause and effect relationships.

Maybe I'm hurting because I'm tired? Maybe I'm tired because I'm hurting? Maybe there's a different reason for both? Maybe the correlation is in my head? lol

Answer 1

Same question, but I think I have the answer. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibro plus a few other forms of Arthritis. However it goes like this. When my body is exhausted, my brain tends to be 'wide awake' therefore I have to take a drug to relax me and put me off to sleep, or I have to do something to mentally drain my brain. I have to go to sleep when my body/mind tells me to go to sleep. Once asleep I am never to be woken up, have to be allowed to wake up naturally. It also applies if I an mentally exhausted but physically energized! Then I go to bed but my body keeps me awake. Therefore I have to ensure both the physically side and the mental side are exhausted, then sleep. If I am woken up before I am ready to wake up, then I never get back to sleep, forget it no amount of drugs is going to help. If I am allowed to wake up naturally, having had my hours of sleep then I can stay up for a good 14 hours and do twice the amount of work than most people, but that makes the health worse so right back to where I started. It really is a balancing act and if for example I go to a Party Friday evening do not get home to say 3am, it takes 3-4 days to recover. Find a routine and stick to it and then you will see the improvement. However stray out of that routine and you are back to pain, exhaustion, pain and exhaustion. It is life but not how others know it.

Answer 2

I have had chronic pain and it is, and can be mentally draining, which in turn is physically draining on a person. Depending on where your pain is you will use other muscles harder to make up for the lack of strength in say a back or arm.
I have had those trigger point injections in my neck and shoulder. As well as 2 more of some other stuff injected into the back of my skull for the occipital nerve. The next day or two I was tired I found.

Most pain killers make me tired. I am also bi polar. If the pain is depressing you also (as it does many people) that can add to the tiredness or lack of energy. I have talked with others with chronic pain and their DR.s recommended lower doses of anti-depressants that helped.

Many people don't know that if you suffer from depression you will feel pain worse than others. Its real pain.( not like your imagining it.) Check further with your dr if you feel you may have a touch of depression because of the chronic pain.

Answer 3

Everything you said is true. Not taking your pain meds regularly is not good though. You need to PREVENT the pain if you can so you need to take your meds exactly like your pain management doc prescribed them. If you don't take them you wind up in pain and it takes much much longer for the pain meds to work to get your pain back under control than if you take the meds exactly as prescribed by your pain doc to keep the pain under control at all times.

Answer 4

you are tired probably because being in pain actually drains whatever energy you have left. sometimes our bodies tend to shut down certain functions such as being awake or alert when it is dealing with extra stress. for instance, when you eat aheavy meal you will get tired because the body is trying to digest food.