living with pain

Jan. 7, 2023

I have been blessed with arthritic pain for the last twenty years. I have discovered there are at least two ways to deal with pain. The first, and most obvious, approach to pain management is medical, ie, to consume pain medication, subjecting yourself to nerve-blocking procedures, etc. The second approach is more difficult and requires much more personal commitment. I refer to this method as the mental, or spiritual pain management approach. I will contribute blog entries on these pain management approaches in the coming days.

I am a writer, and writing is a mental exercise that can be influenced by one’s surroundings and psychic state. Pain can overshadow any psychological environment one happens to be in and completely dominate your thought process. I have, therefore, found it necessary to find a dependable method of dealing with the, at times exquisite, pain in my daily life. I hope you find this line of discussion helpful in creating your writing milieu.

First, a few notes and comments on the medical approach to pain management. It is not uncommon to have two pain management drugs prescribed. One drug for long-term maintenance such as Gabapentin, and one for breakthrough pain. A drug commonly prescribed for acute breakthrough pain spikes is the opioid Hydrocodone HCL (5MG, 7.5 MG, or 10 MG) combined with 350 MG of Tylenol (Acetaminophen).

My prescription is considered fairly low. I currently take 600 MG of Gabapentin three times each day. For pain spikes that break through the Gabapentin, I have Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen (5MG/350MG) which I can take as often as three times each day.

In the past, I have had, in addition to the Gabapentin, prescriptions as high as 7.5MG/350MG Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen as often as every six hours. At the same time, I wore a 100 mcg/hr. transdermal patch of Fentanyl

In addition to the pain control medication, there are several pain nerve procedures the staff at the Pain Clinic can perform on-site. These procedures include Variable Radio Frequency Ablation, Spinal Blocks, and Steroid Injections to name the most common. In the treatment protocol I have designed, the purpose of the breakthrough medication is to bring the pain level down to where I can deal with it Spiritually or Mentally.

As my ability to mentally compartmentalize, or spiritually accept my pain grows stronger, my need for breakthrough meds decreases.

We will explore the Mental, and Spiritual approaches next week. I look forward to seeing you then.

January 14, 2023

Spiritual and Mental Pain Management

One form of spiritual pain management is to view your pain as intercessory pain. Intercessory pain is the pain you willingly suffer for someone else, or for some intention outside of yourself. As an example, there could be a critically ill child who is much less capable of enduring pain, confusion, and fear. You could, by requesting the intervention of Christ, offer your pain in place of the child’s. Or, you could offer your suffering to Christ for intentions known to Him alone. You could say, “Christ, let my suffering be of help to someone.”

Christ sanctified suffering by suffering for us. When He said. “Pick up your cross and follow me,” suffering became a sanctified tool to act out our love for one another. Don’t let your suffering go to waste.

One of the most successful methods of mental pain management I call compartmentalization. I have known individuals who could compartmentalize their pain and then distance themselves from it. One old Native American had perfected the technique so effectively that he was able to undergo facial surgery without anesthesia following an auto accident. He told me that the pain was the concern of his body and had nothing to do with his spirit. He said that he would push the pain down to his body, and imagine his spirit getting on a train and leaving. Periodically the train would return to the station. If the pain was still there his spirit would stay on the train and leave again, if not, his spirit would get off.

There is one major difference between these two techniques. Intercessory pain management involves accepting your pain, mental techniques are designed to reduce your pain as much as possible. With either technique, you must seek medical assistance for diagnosis and treatment. Personally, I have a Primary Physician, a Rheumatologist, and a doctor who specializes in pain.

When I wake up in Pain, I know I’m alive Tuesday Morning, March 14, 2023

I’m getting ready for work and my pain level is between 8 and 9. This would be a great time to bring up another aspect of personal pain management. This is a mix of the first two mentioned above, and actually builds a synergistic path on the strengths of both. I’ll call this the Lazarus approach because when you arise from the bed you feel like you’re coming out of the tomb!

With the Lazarus technique, you take just enough pain medication to reduce the pain level to where you can handle it spiritually. Anyone suffering from chronic pain will know how much that is. (The temptation is to take more, and completely overwhelm the spiritual part.)

Note: Like many chronic pain sufferers, there is a short period after I first get up in the morning during which the pain is exquisite. I am forced to take into account that the morning pain will drop down on its own (in my case) in about an hour. If I medicate at a level sufficient to eradicate the morning pain, in an hour I will be over-medicated. Again, the goal is to take the pain down to a level where you can use your spiritual approach to deal with it.