r/ChronicPain

Ive been realizing how automatically I reach for advil anytime my neck, back, shoulders etc start acting up, not even huge flare ups sometimes, just everyday soreness from gardening, sitting too long, sleeping weird, existing apparently lol

My doctor recently told me I should probably try not to rely on oral pain meds so much unless I actually need them, especially for the smaller day to day aches. I kinda brushed that off at first because I figured pain is pain, but I’ve been looking to try more topical stuff instead. I ended up getting a pain gel from ketro after searching around a bit and it has been good for muscle tightness/stiffness, enough that Im not automatically taking pills every single time something hurts.

Now Im curious how other people here handle this balance, do you still take over the counter pain meds for everyday pain or do you mostly try to save them for the really bad days now?

CW: suicide talk

This is probably a very common post here, sorry about that, but it just hit me again for the who knows how manyeth time. I'm 24 and have had chronic pain in my hands and legs for about 2,5 years now. Its not even the physical pain that kills me anymore, its the mental. I've had to quit every hobby and now I just sit inside all day. I used to be an artist and a gamer, those were all I really needed in life.

I doubt I'll make it very far in life. I can't talk about this to anyone because I don't think people realize how badly this pain affects me. My family still keeps talking like I'm gonna get better and my friends just ignore it. I know its sad and difficult to accept, I don't want to die either, but I some how wish I could just say it and make them understand that they will be attending my funeral sooner or later. I have literally lost everything even before my life fully started and I know there is no hope for recovery.

Like I know I have a tendency to think of the worst possible outcome and be depressive but this time just logically thinking about it, I don't see a way that I can live my life. I doubt therapy or meds will work. I doubt I'll find something that replaces art and games. I doubt I'll find love. I'm just clinging onto the last little pieces of happiness but I don't know how long I can keep it up.

I don't know what I'm looking for with this post, probably just venting but if you have similar thoughts or hopeful stories I'll gladly hear them.

Hello, I am desperate for any advice! My shoulder has been causing me so much pain at night that I am becoming sleep deprived. I am a side sleeper, and usually switch sides throughout the night. Unfortunately my left ribcage is out of place and I have no desire to further mess it up, so I’ve been sleeping on just my right side the past couple weeks. I cannot for the life of me find a position that doesn’t cause horrible pain in my shoulder. It has been months of this, I am so tired. I am waking up numerous times throughout the night, and am up by 6am everyday when the pain gets unbearable. It prevents me from being able to fall back asleep, which results in a lengthy nap during the day, and no restful sleep at night. I am desperate for some relief. I have tried adding cushion in between my armpit, but find no relief no matter what I cushion with. I have tried hugging a pillow, still just as painful. A new mattress is unfortunately not an option. All damn night it feels as if my shoulder is going to shatter under the weight of my body, I just want to get some restful sleep

I went to a massage and soft wave session yesterday for my shoulder and my back. It offered immediate relief and according to the therapist it will be a lot better after 2 days. Not sure that it will work for every person like it did for me but it may be worth a shot if you can find it near you.

I’m supposed to be putting a warm, wet washcloth to one of my joints multiple times per day. But I can’t even handle a minute of it because it’s so frustrating and labor intensive. I put the wash cloth on and within 15-30 seconds it’s cold to the touch. So I have to stand back up and go to the sink and make it hot again. It might not sound like much but when I’m already really tired I just can’t get up 10+ times in a row. I just want to put it on my face for the few minutes and get it over with. It’s unpleasant, I can’t breathe through the cloth because it has to go over my face, I don’t like it already but this whole shit with trying to keep the cloth warm makes it 10x harder. Is there any way I can keep it warm for several minutes at a time without it getting cold so quickly? It has to be wet heat specifically, so a heating pad won’t work

My back is hurting really bad the last few days and I also have had this for years. I also suffer from OA in my left knee but have injections init every three months.

Phoned the doctor and they have prescribed me some diazapan but I just can't carry on like this anymore. I feel for everyone of us going through chronic pain every single dqy

L4-L5 herniated disc with nerve compression. Fell and triggered whatever the fuck. Decided to finish nursing school and now can't work due to not being able to stand and ambulate.

about 12 weeks ago I got a Caudal steroid injection and it worked great for 6-6.5 weeks. Had my 8 (actually 12 week) follow up today. Found out I have stenosis in several vertebrae in my back along with wear on some vertebrae and neuropathy.

Anyway, I was told that my only option aside these injections is to have the disc removed. The clinic doesn't do nerve ablations when dealing with nerve pain in the legs. I went to see an orthepedic surgeon and he didn't want to remove the disc and suggested losing weight. I can't move, sit, stand or lay without pain. I went to my car to get some water and was nearly in tears by the time I returned ot my room.

I have 10s of thousands of dollars of debt for a degree I can't use (I have no experience so I Can't travel or do WFH) and the likelihood of me being pain free again is low.

I don’t even mean that in a dramatic way either. It just slowly changes how you think and move through life. You stop looking forward to things the same way because everything comes with a cost afterward. Going out, working, cleaning the house even sleeping wrong can ruin the next few days.

The physical pain sucks obviously but the mental exhaustion is what gets me most now. Constantly pretending you’re okay while feeling drained and uncomfortable all the time starts wearing you down after a few years.

I’ve tried a million different things at this point just trying to make daily life manageable. Some help more than others. Lately I’ve mostly just been trying to avoid feeling completely useless on bad flare days, whether that’s stretching, caffeine, kratom, natural 7oh, whatever works that week

Mostly wondering if other people feel like chronic pain slowly changed their personality too because I barely feel like the same person i was before all this started.

I was prescribed Tramadol for my chronic pain, and I'm very nervous about forming an addiction. I've never had an addiction before, but my birth father was a drug addict.

I was/am still taking Marijuana gummies for when my pain is unbearable, but sometimes I use them when my pain is simply mild & annoying.

I'm worried I'm taking them too often or that addiction is starting.

I take my tramadol exactly as prescribed and do not mess with the dosage or timing (aside from yknow sleeping hours).

But like, I don't know i keep feeling haunted by the concept of addiction and the fear of becoming like my father?

He used to tell me stories about his drug addiction years from ages 5 all the way up through when I was 16 in highschool, so yknow that definitely adds to it.

TLDR: afraid of drug addiction, mostly from weed, slightly nervous about tramadol.

Thank you for your time

Title pretty much says it all. I think it’s highly inappropriate. Just like you should separate church and state, you should also separate church and medicine. YOUR RELIGION has no business in MY PAIN MANAGEMENT. Honestly, it makes sense as to why I’ve been so dismissed about my pain. It feels like they’re trying to tell me to “pray my pain away” and it’s disgusting. Honestly, it’s unethical IMO. I’m going to call and make a formal complaint to the office manager. Altho I doubt that will make a difference. Just wondering what can actually be done about this. It seems super unprofessional at the very least.

I have been suffering from constant, nonstop chronic pain for the last 4 years, and we have been milked by hospitals and passed around by doctors. I had an incomplete segmentation on my C4-C5 right side of my neck, causing constant pressure and a tear to my C5-C6 to the point it made me suffer constant dull, achy, and tight shoulder and neck pain. The first time I went to a neurosurgeon with this pain, they basically told me they could not do anything, and my neck became more poppy, and I started cracking it daily to relieve it.

Fast forward to 2026, and I went back to the same neurosurgeon, and after getting a third MRI, they finally suggested surgery. I wanted surgery back in 2022 when this whole thing started, but they said it was not bad enough, so they basically wanted me to wait until it got absolutely fucked and then finally suggested surgery. IF THEY HAD LISTENED TO ME WHEN I TOLD THEM SOMETHING WAS WRONG, THEN MAYBE I WOULD BE BETTER OFF. I got done with a "C5-C6 anterior cervical microdiscectomy with structural allograft and plate fixation" 4 years after I started hurting, and I am 5 weeks into it, and I am in complete hell. I don't feel much better; my neck and shoulders are so constantly achy, dull, and tight. It feels a little different from before surgery, but not in a good way. It feels like someone was beating the fuck out of my shoulder for the last 4 years; like doing a small task feels like I did it 20 times over. Like, I am 24, and the people that get that surgery are usually 40 to 60. According to my research, this surgery won't affect my life experience, but I wish it did. It's only been 4 years, but it feels like I have been feeling it for 40.

My question is how do I get my family prepared to grieve? That is what makes me cry the most: that I know it's going to affect them and so many people differently. How do I get them on board with me dying? I know it sounds stupid and there is probably no answer, but I can't take this anymore. After my buddy's wedding, which I am the best man in, I plan on ending my suffering. I wish I could ask for their permission to die, but I feel like it's more like going to ask for their forgiveness. They ask me how my pain is going, and I don't know how to answer since I have had constant pain for so long I don't know what's better or what's worse; all I know is that the pain is there. I feel like a loser and a waste of space. I would rather spend money on my coffin than spend it on these bills just to barely help my suffering. Thanks in advance.

what the fuck do doctors even do besides take turns passing you around like a NOLA twink on mardi gras between the same 5 different rooms in a clinic all just to shpiel the same shtick to you about lifestyle advice as if physical therapy and dieting hasnt been the only fucking thing ive been working on for the past, idk, my entire life? you telling me you can run the same 5 labs over and over and make me tap dance to a different part of the hospital each time as part of our fun trimonthly get-together again, but you cant MAYBE run literally ANY other diagnostic test i try to suggest as opposed to throwing pain relievers and antihistamines at my face? fucking DO SOMETHING

Probably a dumb question, but my doctor rx'd both (norco 7.5 and oxycodone 5). Does anybody else take them at the same time, and is it effective?

I've been somewhat disabled my whole life due to my mental health issues, but after having an infection seven months ago I've become house bound/partly bed bound with physical health conditions. I have been on job seekers disability stream (australian pension payment) and delaying appointments as I need to apply for the proper disability pension since i cannot walk now. It doesn't really feel worth me going through the effort to apply and fight for the pension or anything when it feels like I'm stuck grieving the ability to use my body properly. All of this stress has made me develop a pretty bad substance use habit, and I feel like my life is falling apart.

I need help to organize where to go from here. What do I do? What did you do when you first became disabled to actually get comfortable, financially and mentally?

Sorry for the rant style post. Thanks x

Hi everyone
I have been off and on Escitalopram “Lexapro” 10mg 3 times now in the last 3.5 years (currently off it) but I am thinking to go back on as I have developed a chronic pain condition and am having a real hard time sleeping as well as having a very negative mindset most days.

My question is, am I doing long term damage to my brain/seratonin receptors by coming on and eventually back off this drug for a 4th time?? just to help me get through this chronic pain, since I have come off and back on it 3 times in just a few short years, I worry that I’ll do irreversible damage to my brain when I want to come off again when this is all over

Thank you

I’m at my wits end. I am becoming less of a person every day and the doctors and nurses and friends and family don’t seem to care and apparently aren’t able to help. I know I could be doing more but my baseline is often gritting teeth to barely make it through the day. I’ve had multiple procedures including nerve ablations and steroid injections. Nothing has worked for more than a couple days. I have a small bulging disc between L4 and L5 vertebra and SI joint pain for unknown reasons (I suspect mild hyper mobility). My job makes the pain worse due to having to stand with bad posture and I have to bend and twist a lot. I try to rest when I can at work by sitting but I have to get up every few minutes and the constant transition from sitting to standing also exacerbates my pain. I can’t afford to not work even though it makes everything worse and I cannot find another job. I’ve been looking and interviewing for months and months. I’ve struggled with depression my whole life and I am spiraling even worse again. I’m not ok. I’m doing very bad and I just don’t want to keep struggling anymore. The medicines barely take the edge off and with this pain I’ve also had to endure familial and social emotional stress. My pain has reached so bad I’ve gone to the ER. I had a muscle relaxer injection in my thigh that still causes tiny ticks of pain randomly, months after the medication has worn off. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any hope because I am pretty hopeless at this point. Thank you.

I’m losing function of my hands due to my genetic condition and other issues. If you knew you were losing function of your hands, what would you make sure you did before you couldn’t anymore?