Introduce Yourself Here.....

G'Day Kieren,

Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately you are right about the problems most of us have to endure, but it is what it is and we have to make the best of our bad situations. You will find a bunch of people here who understand you and are very caring.

We can't give you any clinical advice. You will always be re-directed back to your doctor for any clinical advice. However, we do pass on tips on things that we have all found helps us out with our own situation, which can sometimes assist others.

I'm sorry that you have had such a bad experience with HIPS, because many others have had very positive experiences with them.

Please be aware that we do need to be very careful how much we say about doctors and health professionals on this forum. This forum is very public and we do not want to be shut down and also hit with law suits, so please be aware of this if you decide to write up a post that is a rant over some issue that has upset you.
And Kieren, you are very welcome to rant all you want, if it helps get the crap off of your chest. We all here have ranted over many topics, many times.
Just watch the language and don't direct it at anyone else.

You aren't our only young chap on the forum. We have another guy I think who is around 21 years old.

Please join in with any discussion on the forum.

Peter

Hi Kieren and welcome!

Visit us often, especially when you feel the need to vent. You won't be judged here, because we are all in the same boat and we understand what you are coping with on a day to day basis.

As Peter said, it is bad luck that you had an unhelpful experience with the HIPS as they do have a good reputation with pain management. The principles of pain management do tend to be simplistic, but they take practice and sometimes, with practice they can lead to significant improvement in the quality of people's lives.

Have a good read around the forum and the archive thread anyway. You may find something useful in there!

We do have some younger members, so you may be able to support each other in that respect.

Mary

Hi Kieran, I'm Tom..you are definitely right on many of those issues unfortunately, but the thing about chronic pain is that at some point we have to take ownership of our pain and work out our best ways to deal with what we have, some people do need antidepressants t help there moods, sometimes the A.Ds have painkiller and sedative like affects that can be beneficial to some.personally, I hate the bloody things altogether, but some swear it helps them.because chronic pain is such a wide category, many program's are pretty basic, but can provide good structure for people who may be rebuilding their lives from a trauma.generally much of the stuff is common sense, but I guess the basics, then move to more specific care/strategies or excersises once your condition is being looked at in closer detail. I know it's easy to be cynical of these program's, but they can really help you with the right course.a pain management team is your best bet, but we are all here for support and any advice you need.take care mate, Tom.

Hi Kieran and welcome to the forum, I would have to agree with Tom AD's are not only used for depression, some have pain relieving qualities and others can be used for those who have trouble with sleep, so there can sometimes be a misconception of them being prescribed. While a lot of doing a pain management course may seem basic, going through the course in a structured format ties all the lose ends together so that you use the tools to maximum capabilities to control pain and having a good pain management team supporting you is a must.
Anyway feel free to keep posting, we all live in pain and understand how this affects every day life.

Don

Hi to everyone 🙂

I have stumbled across this forum tonight and have shed a tear or two reading the previous post but also get great comfort in reading them as it makes me feel there are people that know my pain too!

My journey started at 14 when a fall injured my lower back - 21 years later, 3 10 pound babies lol and a few too many pounds accumulated it is now at the stage I need fusion of four levels.

I also have been blessed with hyper-mobility syndrome that the first major casualty has been my posterity tendon (the one that supports the arch of your foot) thus making my foot collapse.

Thanks to the extent of this (made worse by the public waiting system of course!) after 12months of waiting I had a triple antithesis, breaking the ankle and moving it over - and fusion of the foot - which of course didnt take at first so another operation was needed.

This 18 month adventure come after a 12 month extreme flare up of the back - so after 2.5 years I have finally surrender to not juggling full time work and being a single mother of 3 with no family near by to assist.

This of course has brought along problems of its own. Financial of course - but now depression and loneliness has stepped in to add to the party.

I read somewhere recently a lady wrote she "MOURNS HER OLD LIFE" omg this is me!

I have never been without some degree of pain but i still had a life!

I was active, motivated, social and well on the way to rebuilding my life after my ten year marriage ended. Now I am virtually house bound and rattle when I move from the amount of pills I take

I have overcome so many mental struggles in my life and now i feel this physical one one top has been the hardest of all

I look forward to reading more and hopefully establishing some lovely friendships with people who truly "know how i feel!"

Thanks and hope to talk soon
Lyn 🙂

HI Lyn,

Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you have been on a rough journey and don't bother making the mistake of thinking that there will be others who are worse off than you are. We are all individual and our suffering is the same with the same end results. So, it matters not what is wrong with you. The fact is, you suffer pain and this alone is the one single thing that will drive you to leading a lonely existence, even in an intact family. I am a single father and live in a small country town with no family or friends or any support network. Yet, I survive. So will you, because yours and my children depend on it.

There are many in our positions who lose marriages and I guess we just have to work our way through it for the sake of the kids and keep moving in the right direction. Just do your best to keep yourself healthy and happy. Easy said I know, especially with a 'black dog' barking at the door.
Every single member here has had to deal with depression and some still are depressed.

You are not alone in your journey, so please join in on other conversations and share more of your story with us. I'm sure there will be others along tomorrow who will drop in and say hello. In fact, we have a few who don't sleep well and may be in during the night.

Please make sure you look at the very top of this page at the 'resources' tab where there is information for you to browse through.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay here and make it as long as you wish/need.

Take care!

Peter

Thank you both for the lovely welcome 🙂 I am also a night owl so will be around more in the PM than AM
Look forward to chatting
B) may you have the best day u can !

Welcome Lyn77 it's not until you find a site like this that you realise that there are so many who suffer in silence, pain is pain no matter what the cause and that has a dramatic affect for the rest of your life, we all wish to turn back the clocks so we could enjoy life as it use to be.
I use to be a night owl, for years I survived on 4 -5 hrs of sleep over a 4 day period, but thanks to modern medicine that is now in the past, I opted for a spinal stimulator, while it does not relieve all pain it is better than living with 10+ pain 24/7.
I know my foot problem is not the same as your's, but I suffer foot droop from long term nerve damage and have recently had a custom made foot splint to hold my foot up when walking, this has also changed my life, no longer to I have to concentrate on lifting my foot with each step or tripping over the smallest of objects in my path.
Anyway enjoy being on this forum, we all are a great bunch of people with one common trait, compassion, understanding and a whole lot of support is what makes this site great.

Don

Thanks Don
glad to hear you are getting some relief with your new shoe
i am only 8 weeks post op so i am not sure the full extent of what i will be left with
i know i have some crazy nerve damage as a result of the last operation that doc just seem to be ignorant of.
I would like to discuss my depression further but more so the drugs i am taking for this but maybe this isnt the right place in forum for this
What I have seen from peoples comments has been helpful - sleeping - this past 3 months this is all i have seem to want to do
I thought it was depression however I have also been on 2400mg gabbapentin but recently swapped to Lyrca just for financial benefit more than anything , i am now up to 75mg twice day - has this too contributed to my sleeping ??

Lyn77 the reason I went for the stim was because medication causes severe side effects including anything for depression, and living with permanent nerve damage was not fun at all, I just recently went back to hydro after the recovery period was over having the stim implanted, only to have all the good work undone, the physio insisted that I include twisting exercises even though he was told this was impossible, I am hoping this pain will settle soon, the stim has been reprogrammed to try and lesson the pain but it is not working so I have an emergency appointment for Friday to see the surgeon to see what may be done, not holding my hopes up as my back is a mess inside and I have been informed surgery would be a serious risk.

Don

Lyn77

Chronic pain is the same no matter the cause, depression is also the same, so most of us here have either one or both of these lovely treasures. I have both and am blessed, with many meds and doctors who don't know how to help.

The point is here we are all the same, people looking for support, help and some compassion, and you will find all of that and more here, I have been here two months I think, and have found some great people, good information, I am now on Lyrica to help with my pain, and I got into a pain management trial, thanks to another member Di if memory serves.

So, read, ask, vent and be welcomed and supported, we are a community of like minded people, I have yet to meet one who is not a gem, I think we are all polished by our adversity.

Any way welcome

Hi Lyn77 and welcome.

I hope that you find the same warm, friendly, supportive environment here that we all do. It is great to have somewhere to be able to talk (and vent if you want) about the issues surrounding chronic pain knowing that you will not be judged and everyone understands exactly where you are coming from!

I noticed that you mentioned in one of your other posts that you are 8 weeks post op. Does this mean that you have already had the 4 level fusion that you mentioned previously. If so, good luck with your recovery and I hope that your rehab. goes really well for you.

Keep us posted as to how you are going.

All the best,

Mary

Welcome Lyn,
So pleased that you found us, I hope that you find the forum and information helpful and supportive.

It is a hard journey that we take and it's those big changes that are the hardest to climb. I have just returned from a 2 week pain clinic which was amazing but also very intense. The hardest thing for me was realizing how much my life had changed but worse that I needed to changed it more. I have spent all my life around horses from when I was a baby being taken to events and been shared around; to pony club; to riding for pleasure after work and now watching my family ride. After 5 horse injuries that have lead to chronic pain the BIG change is needed no more horses, or at least at a distance. Oh my god that hurts!
Our lives are effected in every way by chronic pain but we just need to remember that we still need to learnt to live our life in partners with chronic pain. I hope that once you have grieved your past life you can move forward, not an easy but there is always another road to take in your journey.

Hope you find a smile today 🙂
Wendles

Hi Guys and Girls just found your wonerfull site :cheer: Just some breif stuff about me had a bad workplace accident 13 months ago fell 4 Metres on to concrete 4 fractued vertibrae broken foot thumb sternum collasped lung severe head injury etc etc spent 2 1/2 months in hospitail and at my wits end with pain and meds also have ptsd and depression from all the crap workcover and the insurers put you though have to fight and beg for anything you need regarding your treatment no hope of going back to my job and they want me to be retrained what as a stamp licker have done heavy manual labour my whole life in the building game know have to have a ketamine infusion to get off oxycontin 160mg a day plus anti deps and other meds already had a back op many years ago now no surgeon wants to touch me to much risk also had three ops in the last 12 months to fix other problems i am on another web fourum for injured workers witch has a bloody godsend for my sanity but like you guys here we have had change a lot of stuff in the forum to keep the imberciles out big shame because there are a hell of a lot people out there dealing with chronic pain every day. i just try to remain positive and keep smiling and don`t let the mongrol`s get me down.
Cheers Harry

PS sorry about my spelling not to flash with this sort of computer stuff

Hi Harry and welcome to the forum, we have a few on this site who are having battles with WC, as for surgery for back problems I have had 2 failed back surgeries, like yours mine is also in a mess, one option before the stim implant was a catheter inserted through the tail bone up the spinal cavity to deliver meds to the damaged site, but after an MRI it was ruled out to much scar tissue and damage to get it past. there have also been a few who have gone through the ketamine experience and if you look through the threads you can read through their journeys.
There is a lot of useful information under the resources and fact tabs, I hope you continue to post on this site, we have a great supportive bunch of people.

If you are worried about your spelling there is a free download called Ispell just type it into google and download sites will come up, after installing this program, when you type in a forum or any chat page just highlight the text you have written right mouse click on the highlighted area and in the menu that appears will be Ispell just select this option and it will check your spelling for you.

Don