Cronic Pain Leading to Depression

Welcome lassieluv, I'm new here too and so far I have found only good people with a lot of compassion and caring in spite of their own issues. It's like a nice family who don't judge you or ignore you. All the things you mention in your email, depression, bewilderness and isolation are stages we all go through. I've been a cp patient for a very long time and my advice to you about your dr. is this, talk to them, be honest and if something isn't working let them know. I use fentnyl patches as well but I also have other oral meds for break-through pain. I'm also on an anti depressent which is a big help. You should look for someone to talk to about your depression if you already haven't and make sure you mention it to your p.m. dr.

It's hard for me to imagine any one who suffers from cp to not also have suffered from depression. To me it is much like the 5 stages of grief and depression can crop up at any time.

So, talk to your dr., talk to the many fine people here and you will begin to feel better.

Now I know I've said this before on other threads but something I do on a daily basis is look for something, anything that will make me smile. A new flower in your garden, a childs laugh or a beautifull sunrise or sunset, it could be many things, you just have to look for it. This site has given me quite a few smiles in the short time I've been here so I'm sending you a big smile right now! Have a tolerable day lassieluv and I'm out, Toritoo 

 

p.s. I used to tell my daughter, when she was younger, that the sunset was like a gift from God and you got a new one almost everyday. I still feel that way.

Welcome, Lassieluv (great name!),
Yes, many of us have felt that deep, deep depression and even hopelessness at times. How could we not? But I and I think others are here to find some hope, some way to move forward in our lives. I don't yet have answers for myself, but reading other people's experiences - especially those who have learned to find meaning and smile despite their pain - is helping me more and more each day.

I wonder - what is your diagnosis? If it's just poor pain management, then you need to talk with your doctor and all your caregivers and fight for your life. I don't know if there is something so serious, though, that makes it impossible for you to walk. You mentioned a psychiatrist and being on anti-depressants, which is great, but do you have a therapist to talk with? Your psychiatrist or pain management doc may be able to recommend someone who has experience with chronic pain. Then you at least could have someone help you work through your journey in addition to us here.

Yes, depression is very common with chronic pain, and it's not just in your head. It has a lot to do with what pain does with neurotransmitters - the same ones that cause depression. Of course, all the losses and changes we have to adjust to contibute, too.

You've come to the right place!

Ye everyone has been where you chronic pain and depression goes hand in hand. Everyone has been where you are it will get better. Best thing to do live day by day,

Hi hopelesssgirl. Oh, I know exactly where you are coming from. Same for me when it comes to the patches. Third day nothing but pain. A friend of mine with back pain gets to change her 100 mcg patch every 48hrs and has 10mg Lorcets to take every 4hrs for break through pain. And I know of people with much less symptoms than we do that are prescribed much more pain meds than we are. I don't under stand this.

I have come to the conclusion that my doctor has never been in pain and knows nothing about how it feel or how to treat it. Of course the patches & Percocet are not relieving the pain anymore. Our bodies have gotten used to this dose and a person needs a periodic increase in meds for them to be effective.

I wish pain had a color that lights with the area and intensity of the pain we are feeling. I wish there were anything that would make people know my pain is real and I hurt!

My neighbor had the same surgery as me with little positive results. Her pain management doctor put in a Spinal Nerve Stimulator and now she is virtually pain free and can do most anything she wants. When I see her walking around in her yard, driving,playing with her grandson, etc. I get so depressed and want the same thing. How this thing works is a small transmitter is surgically inplanted to float around in your spinal fluid. You have a remote control that is programed so that when you feel pain you press the remote control to where the pain is and the result is a tingling sensation rather than pain. The idea is to block the pain sensation before it gets to the brain. I know this sounds silly and almost unbievable but I have seen the results and it works. Of course the whole procedure is much more complicated but I explained it the best I could. Before talking to her I had never heard of anything like it but doesn't it sound great?! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm sorry for both of us that our pain meds are not working. Again, I wish the ones who determine how much pain we are in would experience our pain for just one day and I sure they would change their mind on the dosage.

Good luck to you hopelessgirl. I'm trying my best to believe things aren't hopeless but it doesn't help the pain go away.

Lake here again---sorry to bother you some more & PLEASE forgive the typos, etc as those daily dilaudid/Vailum cocktails wreak havoc w/ one's fingers, too!
But here's the detail info on specifically, depression and CP back pain/spine pain, from that article I read: (just found my cc of it)
CP is very common for those w/ back pain b/c:
* The pain makes sleeping difficult, leading to chronic fatigue 7 irratibility during the day
* then, during the day, people w/ back pain have difficulty w/ most movement & often need to move slowly & carefully, thus stay home & spend most of their time away from others. This leads to social isolation and lack of formerly enjoyable social activities.
* Due to the inability to work, there may be $$ problems that then impact the family & cause guilt feelings
* Beyond the physical pain itself, many of the medications cause gastointestinal problems & a general feeling of mental dullness/forgetfulness/brain fog, etc.
* The CP is constantly distracting, leading to concentration problems, memory lapses & reduction in "clear thinking" & reasoning
* Normal "love-life" activities are often the last thing on the person's mind, and if attempted, cause more discomfort & that can lead to a breakdown and more stress in the person's marital relationship

These things then may lead to feelings of despair, hopelessness and other symptoms of major depression.

Your ability to even do the simple household chores, take care of ones children & engage in enjoyable leisure activities w/ spouse/other family members is severely limited and further strains relationships. Add to that a feeling of the CP patient's anger over what can't be controlled or changed, and it is no wonder that we feel an acute sense of loss &gried, which further deepens the problem.

So there you have it...it's NOT in our heads! We CANNOT help it...we must just live w/ it, try to work around it, endure it, adjust for it & carry on..

BTW: the article came from a site called "spine care help" at www.spinecarehelp.com/depression-chronic-back-pain.htm, & there are other helpful things there to read & ponder.

Catch you all later---the previously mentioned medicinal aids have just kicked in & I need to rest...the cats are lurking...waiting for a horizantal surface..ME!

~Lakeside

Lassie,
I think we all feel that way here. Because most of us have gone through or are still going through losses - including friends and family that kind of stop calling, or just think we're being lazy, or whatever when we continue to decline invitations to do things we know will be too painful, cause flare ups, etc. It took all I had to go to my goddaughter's on Easter Sunday and I lasted all of 3 hours and was exhausted. At least I was able to walk around the yard with her two children and watch them find eggs, but as far as getting on the floor to play - or even sitting at the dining room table and talking....basic activities that most people can't understand why we can't do them. Loss of stamina to me is huge. So I'm glad you found us, just like I'm glad I found us, too. At least it lessens the isolation to some extent.

Hey Gramps! I can relate; I am currently being treated for bipolar disorder. My depressive episodes were more prominent than manic. But, like you, I do miss the manic times. I am on a few medications to keep this disorder under control. These have worked well in the past but with this CP issue I don't think there is any medication that will help. My depression has gotten much worse, of course. I might try your suggestion of cognitive therapy.

Thanks for the info!

I agree, I don't want to spiral any further down. I have had about 1/2 hour so far today w/out pain, yaaay! I will try to get the book you are talking about. We don't have a book store in this small town but possibly it will be in the library. I wish I could get this "mind over matter" thing to work again. Thanks for your prayers.

Welcome to HW for both of you ladies. As a CP patient, yes I became very depressed, not just from the pain. I saw a physcologist that was very famaliar with Auto-Immune Diseases. She helped me get things back into a better perspective. When I first started seeing her she said I was in a grieving process, which is normal when you health has changed and it forces many of us to not be able to work, sometimes its temporary or permanente that we cannot rtw. So between losing employment, loss of a lifestyle, loss of friends, not being able to do what we normally did, we really grieve for the loss of those things. I remember when the anger kicked in on me too. I was put on an anti-depressant and di better until after time it lost its punch.  

As hard as it gets sometimes, never give up on yourself. If you need an anti-depressant, please do not hink you are weak either. CPers are very strong willed individuals, not just anyone can endure what we go thru.

Luv, I think you are the one that may be getting stimulator, I sure hope it works for you. I have an intrathecal pain pump implanted. The pump was my last straw, orals meds do not work with well with me at all. The pump has made a great difference in my pain. I do feel that your CP is being undermanged to say the least. I would consider getting a second opinion.

I have crohns disease and UC. I am in a big flare with the crohns and have been down in bed since last Sunday. I had an appt with my gi this past Thursday that I missed, I was in a bad fever state. I was totally out of it when my daughter came to the house and got me out of bed and cleaned  me and the bed up. That was Thursday evening.

I do hope that you all will stay aboard here, its great plcae with caring people.

 

Quick thought re grief & anger over what we've had to change & the losses we've had to face.
I used to feel very guilty about these feeings, as I was thankful that my doc was caring & very skillful, and my PLIF so far has been OK, so I wrestled w/ not being appreciative, ect and tried to just move on....

But when I told my pastor about my grief & anger & how down I felt over my losses (job, lifestyle, health, etc) she said that I was just reacting normally to it, that by feeling the anger & grief it VALIDIATED how precious & important my previous life was to me. So she helped me "re-frame" my thoughts, to face them and respect them and use them to reinforce how much I loved who I had been, how precious my life was (still is) and how I am now in a "new" place, between "no longer & not yet". She called it a type of "miserable joyfullness", in that I can certainly feel miserable about my losses yet have a sense of joy over my procedure going well, etc. She added that St Paul always complained about a "thorn in his side" and even tho he prayed mightily to have it removed, it was not...and he went on, past it & with it, to write and witness to everyone inspite of his misery...hence the "joy" part.

I think we are, as I said previously, so very complex, in both body & mind, & the two usually work together. But when one is out of whack, the other suffers. By validiating our grief & anger & respecting it, perhaps we can use it positively somehow. I'm still working on that one, as some days are really bad yet. But as Lassisluv (a black cat!!! ) says "Better days soon" --- I cling to that & as the sun rises daily over the Lake, which is so lovely to see, I try to reflect on how it shows me how each new day is fresh & new and full of new hope....

Please, all my dears, have a hopeful day! I am off to a horse show w/ my daughter & granddaughter. I will "pay" for it dearly with increased pain I know---but ya just gotta do some "normal" things too! And not count the cost until later!

~Lakeside

Hi Gramps!

Got It!! Any help with my bipolar is appreciated. I agree, this forum is great therapy for me. The kind people I have met so far are much more supportive than I have at home.

Quick hi tonight to all, & welcome MarleneS & Lassieluv, I LOL'd at the MALE black cat!! Ha ha ha!! You are just too funny!

Marlene, I love how you ponder over your AM coffee how you will mete out your limited energy (both mental & physical) for each day, or portion thereof. That is marvelous that you know yourself so well and are so confident in allowing yourself to take control of your day, however you decide to "dice it up" so to speak. For me, My whole "back thing", the surgeries & the on-going CP constitute a lack of control now, compared to my previous daily routine, where I (not my BODY!) called the shots & I did as I wanted (work, fun, lots of physcial activities, great social life, etc). No more, at least now..and never again at the level I once was able. To lose control has been the most difficult adjustment for me and to admit to myself & others that I just CAN'T do many things as before has been a grief-point for quite awhile now. (see my post a page back...we are now on pg 2 w/ this thread, which means it's relevant to many people!)

So you are deciding each day what you will "spend" your alloted energy on, whatever its level is that particular day. I salute you! In fact I may emulate you tomorrow! I just might stay in my jammies all day & sit on my heating pad/ice packs (took my daughter & granddaughter to a local horse show this afternoon---something NORMAL!---and I can feel already, tonight, that my back is not happy. At all!) And I also agree about how you sometimes push to do as much as you can until you just can't anymore, but feel it was worth it, and worth "paying for it" the next day! How well you stated that!

Anyway, enough for tonight! Time for my muscle relaxants (also relax the brain!) and my 1st ice pack of the evening! Tomorrow I will be a slug for sure, but thank you Marlene for letting me know that's OK! Minute by minute---ain't THAT the truth, too! :) And no, you are NOT alone! We are always all here for you, and for each other. We "get it", and will always listen.

May you all find a comfy sleeping postition...sometimes THAT is all I want! Hope everyone gets one tonight!

~Lakeside