It is really wonderful how my MS family shares their thoughts on their symptoms and tries to help with someone else’s symptoms. One of the things we all have in common is that we have a lot of things going on with us that the medical profession does not recognize as existing.
Only recently, say the last 10 years, have doctors acknowledged the fact that the majority of MS patients deal with pain every day. For years, pain was not considered an MS symptom.
One of the common types of pain is a feeling of severe burns. My back often feels like someone has scraped it with glass until it is raw and then rubbed salt or alcohol on it. I guess another description would be like having a severe sunburn.
When my back is burning, clothes are nearly impossible to wear. If someone touches me, tears immediately form in my eyes. The air moving in the room hurts. It is like having shingles. There is nothing that comes near the area that doesn’t hurt.
Since MS is a neurological disease, ointments, pain killers and such often do not help. As one internet site put it, “it is all in your head and nothing we give you will help very much.” Gee thanks!
Many MS patients also have fibromyalgia. Talk about adding insult to injury! When my back is burning and nothing will stop it, I think of those poor people who deal with this everyday and my heart goes out to them. And even more than that, they often deal with this feeling all over their body.
One of the things that most of us try to do on our MS site is lift each other up. I know that there are many chronic ailments that people have, not just MS. But MS is what I am dealing with and can only speak from experience on. When we offer each other comfort and “hugs”, it means a lot. Dealing with pain and disabilities on a daily basis takes a lot out of one physically and mentally.
My mental state, as I’ve said before, comes and goes! Some days I am dealing fine while other days I cry at little to nothing. Since MS is a brain thing, I guess my brain just gets enough some times and has a meltdown!
The problem with this burning back deal is that it makes me depressed and I would love to be held and coddled. Since at that time it is impossible to be held, I just have to do without that comfort. What a bummer! J
No comments:
Post a Comment