ME/CFS South Australia Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members. Disclaimer ME/CFS South Australia Inc aims to keep members informed of various research projects, diets, medications, therapies, news items, etc. All communication, both verbal and written, is merely to disseminate information and not to make recommendations or directives. Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed on this Web site are not necessarily the official views of the Society or its Committee and are not simply an endorsement of products or services. |
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'Just breathing makes it hurt more,' chronic pain sufferer saysTuesday 1 November 2011 From Canada's The Vancouver Sun:
'Just breathing makes it hurt more,' chronic pain sufferer says As long as the pain holds steady, Maggie Bristow can function. She can dress herself; she can tie her shoes and brush her hair. She can make a meal. She can walk more than 30 steps without the pain in her hips crippling her. But even then, the 51-year-old Ottawa woman can't bear to have her arms or legs touched, and when the pain spikes, it feels as if someone has peeled away her skin, and every nerve ending is exposed. She can't even stand to have clothes on. "When it gets really bad, you question your continuing existence," Bristow says. "You feel useless." She shifts in her wheelchair, lifting one hip slightly. She grimaces, briefly closing her eyes. Bristow has fibromyalgia and spinal stenosis, a narrowing in the spaces in the spine. The former administrative assistant can no longer work because of the pain. She receives a disability pension of less than $10,000 a year. The pension doesn't cover all of her medications. It doesn't cover the acupuncture or therapeutic massage that can sometimes make the pain more bearable. It started with a dull ache in her lower back, a pressure that made it feel as if someone were sitting on it. Then the pain moved into her neck, her legs, her arms, hips and jaw. New places just started hurting. "The latest is the shoulders and chest," she says. "My chest feels like a knife is being jabbed into it repeatedly." She sleeps propped up, on a hospital bed. She hasn't slept on her back for more than 10 years. It sometimes feels as if her back is broken into a million pieces. "Just breathing makes it hurt more." There are days she feels sore everywhere except her head. "You know how everything hurts when you have the flu? Take that and multiply it a few times," she says. "It doesn't ever stop." She has tried Tylenol 3s, oxycodone, morphine and Dilaudid. Nothing worked. "It was like popping Lifesavers." The medicines she takes now are helping control the pain, but they make her thirsty all the time and play havoc with her digestive system. "The worst part is you can't see pain, everyone wonders, 'What's wrong with you? Why aren't you working? Why are you in a wheelchair? is she faking?'" "If you don't have pain then you have no idea what it feels like."
The above originally appeared here.
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Registered Charity 3104
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