A to Z Challenge: P is for Pain #atozchallenge

Well, of course I'm gonna choose Pain as my day "P" post!  I mean, this is fibromyalgia!

What does pain mean to you?

To me, pain is just part of my life.  Like some people might have had allergies their whole life, I've had pain my whole life.  It's been with me almost as long as I can remember.  It started with chronic headaches (migraines) when I was 10 years old (they still continue today); and a year later progressed to severe dysmenorrhea.  There were also, of course, so-called "growing pains" which many doctors feel are a precursor to fibromyalgia.  Growing pains indicate a susceptibility to developing fibromyalgia later in life, in other words.  Or so they say.

My teen years were punctuated by these painful episodes each month.  And then, when I was 20 years old, I got in a car accident and busted my jaw and got whiplash.  That began the cascade of chronic, widespread pain that continues today.

Quite frankly, I am so accustomed to being in pain, that I consider it a secondary feature of my fibromyalgia.  I consider the fatigue to be much more debilitating than the pain.  I know that is not true for most people with fibro.  I've sort of learned to take pain for granted, and just pop an over-the-counter pain reliever and I'm pretty much good to go.  Pretty much.  Not great, but it's ok.  Like you, over there, with your allergies.  It's just a part of my life.

I know I am fortunate in that way.  It's so weird, I can barely remember a pain-free day in my whole life.  Of the few that I have had, I always remark to myself wondering what I did right, and wow, does this feel great, I had no idea I could feel this way!  Unfortunately, those days are few and far between.

There are far too many articles online about pain in fibromyalgia, so I'm not going to post any links here.

Tell me about YOUR pain (or lack thereof??) in the comments, and thanks for reading and sharing.


Comments

  1. I am fortunate in that I do not have fibromyalgia, and haven't experienced what you do. But this is one thing that makes me admire people who have to deal with that, in that you endure pain every. single. day. Just that you simply endure it. My pain tolerance is pathetically low, and I can't even imagine being in pain all the time.

    You are amazing and you are strong!!

    Stopping by from the A to Z :)

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  2. Kathleen, I sympathise and empathise. I can't imagine living with chronic pain. As you say you've accommodated to it, but will the day come when you're pain free? On those days you're free from pain, can you find a link as to why? Maybe look a bit harder and find the correlation? Food stuffs? Kindness? Good luck.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. I've tried to figure out the correlation, but there is no rhyme or reason to it. If you do something strenuous you think "oh, that's gonna make me flare up", and then it doesn't. Conversely, if you take it easy, you end up in a flare! It's a crazy syndrome, that is for sure. Thank you for your kind words :)

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