Pain Scale

Most people don’t think that much when asked what your pain is.. “10 being the worst pain imaginable” Ok…but some people have an active imagination others not so.much…

Some people would think a broken arm is the worst feeling imaginable – Seriously?!?.. Some choose childbirth & yeah that hurts like an Fkn S.O.B…Or so I’m told.. Similar pain levels as Kidney stones.

Ok.. I’ve had kidney stones – they severely suck, but I only rated the kinda pain as an 8/10.. Cuz there’s worse pain that I could feel.. Like having limbs cut off with a chainsaw without the benefit of anesthesia.. Yeah, that would be my 10..

So when I go to the ER & I say I’m a 7/10.. They think yeah ok.. then I tell them what I consider to be a 10.. then they look at me differently.

So think it through the next time you talk to your doctor or someone asks your pain levels… & Clarify what you consider your 10 to be.

My Types of Pain

With all the different medical conditions that I have, several of them are chronic pain conditions. Now you must think, because there are so many issues, that the pain would just bleed through, but it doesn’t. Each pain for each condition feels uniquely different from the others. Being able to differentiate between different types of pain and their causes is advantageous in that since I know what is causing the pain I know which treatment would work better

Fibromyalgia Pain – tTis is more muscular and joint pain. I have tropical rubs, muscle relaxation and pain medications to help deal with this

OsteoArthritis Pain – This pain is exclusively in my lower back as I have osteoarthritis in the entire lumbar and tailbone area of my back. Topicals will help this to a point, but anti-inflammatories tend to be the most productive treatment

Myofacial Pain Syndrome Pain- This one just sucks because it is hard to tell between what is the my official pain syndrome and what is just stress. And sometimes they’re both. Treatment for this type of pain is the nerve and trigger point injections that I get from my pain management clinic. Massage therapy also helps me with this .

Endometriosis Pain- Fortunately while I don’t experience this as much as I used to I still get shots from this . Currently I will feel the occasional shot down from my ovary to my leg. Other times is when Demetrio tissue adheres to the bowel and then the bowel moves as stool processes through causing the bowel structure to shift, causing years in the Endo tissue, causing pain. This is typically dealt with using anti-inflammatories and pain medications.

IBS Pain- initially because the endometriosis was located on my bowel I did not have problems differentiating initially between IBS pain and endometrial pain. Having dealt with this since my teen years I have been able to determine the difference between the two. And do a sharp whereas IBS is more crampy. The easiest way to resolve this is to have the bowel movement.

Arthritis Pain – I also have the normal form of arthritis in both my hands and in my knees. Anti-inflammatories typically help but support braces are also advantageous for both my wrists and my knees

Kidney Stone Pain- the first time I dealt with this pain it knocked me off my feet. From what I’ve read this is one of the most painful forms of pain that the human body experiences. It took three lithotripsies and several other false starts to get these treated. Drinking lots of fluid did help in that it would help float the stones away from the ducks so it was not impeding the function of the kidney.

I have experienced other forms of pain such as a pinched nerve, pulled or torn muscle, spring, bone break, concussions, etc. These forms of pain fortunately are short-term, typically less than 3 months unlike the chronic conditions above.

When it’s Not Fibro Pain

Over the years I’ve dealt with a lot of different kinds of pain. I’ve had broken bones, pulled muscles, sprained ankles, torn muscles, chronic Charlie Horses/nasty muscle spasms, concussions & even thrown out my back. Each of those feels different from each other, right? Before a Fibro diagnosis, they are dealt with appropriately.

I’ve also dealt with pain due to endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome, CFS/ME, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, regular arthritis, kidney stones, gallstones… And each of those feels different from each other. I can even differentiate between IBS pain & Endo on my bowel pain.

I’ve dealth with all sorts of different types of pain..

But once you hit that one diagnosis, many doctors don’t bother looking past it. This happens way to often for those of us with Fibromyalgia & even ME/CFS.. When you go to the ER or even just to your family doctor with a new pain issue, many of us are spoken down to and even dismissed saying the pain is due to fibromyalgia. The one time I’ve have a pain that I said wasn’t fibromyalgia but it actually was happened when I had chest pain. It was costochondritis & while this is a Fibro issue, it’s understandable the first time or three that I freak out & head to the ER thinking heart attack.

Now, I’m lucky. I have had a great support system & have over recent years learned to be my own advocate without being a bitch about it.. I have not experienced this problem much with fibromyalgia. I did however experience this at the beginning of my medical journey in my 20s.

I kept having abdominal pain.. After being put off by my GP once or twice, him thinking it was just gas, he sent me after a 4 month wait, to a gynecologist. She did an exam & sent me back to my GP telling him to send me to a GI doc.

So, GP sends me to a gastroenterologist.. After a 6 month wait there, I was scheduled for a colonoscopy (that was fun..not) and was determined to have Irritable Bowel Syndrome.. After getting it settled down by diet & medication, I was still having abdominal pain. GI tells my GP to send me back to the gynecologist.

I had another 2 month wait to she her agai,n over a year after my previous appointment. She tells me, “you don’t have endometriosis”, because my symptoms were atypical, despite still being consistent with Endo. She did agree to do an investigative laparoscope to shut me up & “just in case” she was wrong. She Was Wrong. I had Stage 3 Endo across my abdomen. So the investigative laparoscoped turned into a treatment laparoscope where she tried to in size and burn off any visual endometriosis cells. She has to go back in 6 months later to get the remaining endometrial cells higher in my abdomen that she missed the first time because she “didn’t have long my enough tools”.

So I learned early on to be an advocate for myself, with support from friends & family. If you feel your are being dismissed, say so. Cuz yes, your pain *could’ be from your fibromyalgia, but it ‘could’ also be something else.

So, my doctor’s know that if something’s not right, I will stand up and say so, not taking no for an answer.

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Those who know me personally, would probably say to me, yeah, but what about that issue with your shoulder? To be honest, that is still a work in progress. Now that physio is back available, I’ll be asking my GP for a prescription & get that set up. Yes, it started in March, and I’m just getting to treatment now. But remember, alot of things closed here in Canada for quite awhile, so yeah, it’s taking a little longer to get things dealt with in this issue.