Pain management courses

[Kiki-frog]

I have an annoying combination of sciatic nerve damage and arthritis in my spine, which means that I am in constant pain, although some days are better than others.

The consultant I have been seeing is referring me to a pain management course. I have tried googling this to find out what is involved, but I can only find vague references to meditation and breathing techniques. I'm happy to give it a go and see if it works, but I'm wondering if anyone has been on such a course and could tell me (a) what happens, and (b) whether they got any benefit from it.

Thanks.

[Kiki-frog]

Thank you so much for for all the replies. That's really touching.

I've been for one introductory session, where the pain management team (nurse, physio & occupational therapist) each got up and talked about what it involves, then a woman who had been on the previous course spoke about her experiences. She had fibromyalgia and had been off work for 2 years, but after doing the PM course, she'd found ways of coping and had gone back to work. She looked amazing, was very bright and cheerful, and it was hard to believe that she had such a horrible condition. (The cynic in me wondered if they'd hired an actress for the occasion, but then I thought - NHS spending money on an actress? Nah!)

The next step is a one-to-one session mid-April, then a series of small group sessions, half a day for six weeks, and I'm feeling fairly optimistic about it.

The main benefit of that particular session was realising what a great leveller chronic pain is. The group comprised all sorts of people, ranging from a young guy in his 20s, who'd had a horrible sports injury, to a woman in her 70s, who had tubes up her nose and an oxygen tank to wear as a back-pack. That was so very humbling, seeing the pain that people live with from day to day. I got talking to the woman sitting next to me, and she'd been in a motorbike accident in her 20s and was still on crutches in her 50s. She'd been offered a pain management course years ago, but dismissed it because, like arwyn, thought it was all whale song and joss sticks.

Still in pain and waking up yelping every time I move; still having to tell the moggy he's going to have to wait until Mr Frog gets home to feed him; still alarmed at the weight piling on as a side-effect of the drugs; still taking it out on Mr Frog; still having to rely on Mr Frog to put my undies on (on me that is, not him. I assume). But feeling more positive. Watch this space.

[lcg]

personally, i found a similar course to be a pile of poo. i swallow tablets by the handful and wear a fentanyl patch and grin and bear the pain. nothing i've tried has managed to work. i have also had cbt and dbt courses (and i'm a psych nurse), so i really should know how to chill out and defend my brain against the pain....but no joy. sometimes, i just get horribly drunk - that works quite well! i haven't even got a proper diagnosis yet (two years and counting). from 'depression' to 'chronic pain disorder' to 'arthritis' to 'we don't know'. getting a bit fed up now. :-( i will watch this thread with interest and i wish you the best of luck x

[Kiki-frog]

lcg76 - I'm really sorry that your experience was not so good. Chronic pain is such a strange thing in that what works for person A might not work for person B. I'm still hoping that I'll be person A.

And I fully understand about the alcohol therapy - I do that myself. Even though it says on the pill packets not to. (I've come to realise that just means you'll get plastered more quickly - not necessarily a bad thing in our circumstances!)

Hope you find something that give you some relief. Likewise to arwyn, lottie and jenna. And thanks, woofgang, for the OT insights. What a lovely bunch of people you are. x

[lcg]

thanks, kiki. i still don't have a diagnosis yet, but had an mri scan and ultrasounds recently. i am seeing the rheumatology clinic again in may, so could get some answers then, but it is always a ridiculously long wait for an appointment inbetween investigations. maybe one day i'll find out why i hobble like an old lady (i'm 35!) and can't get out of bed in the morning x

[Kiki-frog]

lcg76 - that sounds really grim, but hopefully with the scans you'll at least know what you're dealing with and have some idea of what the future holds. I hope you don't have to wait too long for the results.

My MRI scan was a bit bizarre as they told me I could bring music to listen to as it's quite a noisy process. So I took a Paolo Nuttini CD as I thought that would be cheerful and upbeat, but I kept on tapping my feet in time to the music, so they kept on having to stop and tell me off!

But at least the MRI found concrete evidence of what was wrong. Sometimes with inexplicable chronic pain you feel like it must be a mental problem as there's no rational explanation for it. I think most of us go through the 'Am I bonkers and just making this up' phase. I do hope it all goes well for you. x