A Letter To People Without Chronic Pain

[bhudika]

Excellence!

do any of you have any non-canna related relief techniques u wudnt mind sharing?

i dont suffer from physical pain, though i have family and friends who do.

when their tears start to well up and their faces start to show signs of suffering i often feel helpless.

offers of a massage or a hot bath or duvet & cuppa are often 'too little, too late?'

i love that the forum is open, and the topic is sharing.

ef.

sorry.

i have a 5 year old geman shepherd who i have trained to pick up anything i point at on the floor and give it to me, i'm gonna see if i can get her a carers allowance as she is getting a tad pissed off with getting paid in old cow leg bones and shapes biscuits now, but you would have to get your own dog, im not lending mine out to anyone

[chiliman]

I feel the same way, Eddie, about folks touting cannabis as a cure-all. Folks who tell me to chuck all my pills away and just stick to Skunk. Aaarghhh! And when I tell them it doesn't work, oh brother ... Oh, well obviously I'm addicted to my analgesics and in denial. You can't win with some folks!

I agree Arnold, yes I use cannabis for pain relief and to help with sleep and to ease the spasms I have but I use in addition to my morphine and assorted other meds as it really is not 100% on it's own, I know some people do get 100% relief from cannabis but I am not one of them.

I agree with you folks ganga is good but when combined with other meds ie opiates and barbs

absolutely useless on its own

properly gonna get some stick for that but i only speak truth my friends

[Arnold Layne]

properly gonna get some stick for that but i only speak truth my friends

.

No mate, anyone with chronic pain is likely to agree with you. Its a mix that's needed.

[Arbuscule]

I feel the same way, Eddie, about folks touting cannabis as a cure-all. Folks who tell me to chuck all my pills away and just stick to Skunk. Aaarghhh! And when I tell them it doesn't work, oh brother ... Oh, well obviously I'm addicted to my analgesics and in denial. You can't win with some folks!

I agree Arnold, yes I use cannabis for pain relief and to help with sleep and to ease the spasms I have but I use in addition to my morphine and assorted other meds as it really is not 100% on it's own, I know some people do get 100% relief from cannabis but I am not one of them.

I agree with you folks ganga is good but when combined with other meds ie opiates and barbs

absolutely useless on its own :wink:

properly gonna get some stick for that but i only speak truth my friends

properly gonna get some stick for that but i only speak truth my friends

.

No mate, anyone with chronic pain is likely to agree with you. Its a mix that's needed.

My own experience is that weed is invaluable for some forms of pain, to some extent - for me, it alleviates some symptoms of MS to a limited extent (specifically some of the muscular pain/ spasms).

Some other pain a mixture of opiates etc/ Canna works lots better.

Unfortunately some pain and other symptoms are hardly touched by any combinations of anything legal, illegal, whatever.

I'm really relating to the OP and many of the comments :wink: I'd add that it's a nightmare for our loved ones to live next to chronic pain. Ms A is a sterling trooper - dunno how the fuck she puts up with me - makes me reflect that some peeps are really decent

[Fearnox]

Hi all, before i start, thxz mintball for the post i have sent it to all my family, so they know i'm not an intentional grumpy sod!!!! My partner cried when she read it and now fears it will be like this forever, my brother (older) has just rung to say "he understand's now" but how long will that last. i have always tried to be open and honest about how the pain affects me but people soon seem to forget, so this was an excellent letter to send them. i was told a month ago by my specialist to come off the meds but with havin a daughter (15 months) and a boy on the way, i can't leave everything down to my missus to do, so it's back to the doc's and see what he can give me!!!! i'm one where the canna don't help on it's own, i was on tramadol but tended to get agressive, so we'll have to see. gonna go now (30 min till appointment and it's 5 min down the road which means 20 for me!!!) But again thank you mintball and everyone else in this topic you've lightened my day and my heart knowing there are others out there like me struggling.

[bigguy]

hi, i hope no one mind's me putting in my bit, i'v had arthrhitus since a teenager and am now in my 40's, i had a near death motobike smash, broke an lost a few bit's, an have smoked herb since 20 ish, i find it doesn't help with pain relieve at all, not a jot, but what it does do very well is help to keep me sane an calm an help to deal with pain, without it i'm a horrible irritating bastard when in a lot of pain, but if i have a 3 bar i can cope with same situation without losing my temper an being a prick

[troy]

hi, i hope no one mind's me putting in my bit, i'v had arthrhitus since a teenager and am now in my 40's, i had a near death motobike smash, broke an lost a few bit's, an have smoked herb since 20 ish, i find it doesn't help with pain relieve at all, not a jot, but what it does do very well is help to keep me sane an calm an help to deal with pain, without it i'm a horrible irritating bastard when in a lot of pain, but if i have a 3 bar i can cope with same situation without losing my temper an being a prick

Hey dude, whats a 3 bar ?

[Pinball Wizard]

thanks mintball, a real find is that and i appreciate you sharing it. a great deal of that applies to me right now and it's nice to have someone else put it so coherantly. i'm lucky, i just broke a few bones and will hopefully make a full(ish) recovery but realise that for many other people this a lifelong condition - after just one year of pain i really feel for them. it's funny, this accident has made me so grateful to have the life i have and has opened my eyes to the inner strength that people living with daily chronic pain must have. anything that anyone has written that can help those around them to better understand any of this is a blessing in itself - bravo for bringing it to 420

[FlowwolF]

Arbs:

My own experience is that weed is invaluable for some forms of pain, to some extent - for me, it alleviates some symptoms of MS to a limited extent (specifically some of the muscular pain/ spasms).

Some other pain a mixture of opiates etc/ Canna works lots better.

Unfortunately some pain and other symptoms are hardly touched by any combinations of anything legal, illegal, whatever.

--------

After my slapping out at the over-touting of cannabis, I must say my experienes and those I have gathered from others, agree with you here - it has a very important, if not vital place in many a 'medicine cabinet'.

But what's gold for one may be dirt for another - individul experience to any medication can vary wildly, hence it isn't the be-all and end-all of cure-alls, for all.

I know there's no contradiction in my attitudes, just wanted the chance to straighten that up in this thread - cheers Arbs!

[Bungi]

I feeel exactly the same day in and day out sometimes i just want to end it all but then i think off those people ill hurt .But sometimes the urge to just end is so intense and the shittest thing about it all is that i think im a failure .There were people that were prepared to help us but you cant relate to someone without the intense pain that we suffer .

[GRIM REEFER]

I couldn't agree more

[tony89]

I feeel exactly the same day in and day out sometimes i just want to end it all but then i think off those people ill hurt .But sometimes the urge to just end is so intense and the shittest thing about it all is that i think im a failure .There were people that were prepared to help us but you cant relate to someone without the intense pain that we suffer .

what is this intense pain you speak of?

tony

[Farmer C]

I feeel exactly the same day in and day out sometimes i just want to end it all but then i think off those people ill hurt .But sometimes the urge to just end is so intense and the shittest thing about it all is that i think im a failure .There were people that were prepared to help us but you cant relate to someone without the intense pain that we suffer .

what is this intense pain you speak of?

tony

Chronic Pain

[Puff Adder]

I've just found this article on chronic pain, thought I'd post it here for y'all, as this appears to be the most appropriate thread

Scientists rethink chronic pain

hxxp://www.news24.com/Content/SciTech/News/1132/5314dbbc603b43b285c415e2f7342b9c/21-03-2010-10-30/Scientists_rethink_chronic_pain

2010-03-21 22:30

London - Barriers to understanding pain are starting to fall and scientists and drug firms say a fresh approach is producing potential new drugs to hit where it hurts.

Millions of people across the world suffer chronic pain - such as nerve, joint or muscle pain that lasts weeks, months or years - and many fail to get adequate relief, partly because doctors have a relatively scant grasp of what causes it.

But new imaging techniques, a recognition that the brain's responses are central to pain and a growing realisation of pain's cost to society, mean the scientific community is now pushing for it to be redefined as a disease in its own right.

As pain moves status from symptom to disease, interest among some of the biggest drug firms is picking up.

All in the mind

Pfizer, the world's mightiest drug maker, has a large pain research team working on a portfolio of drugs, some of which are generating excitement in the field.

"The science has moved on considerably," Martin Mackay, Pfizer's head of research and development, told Reuters.

He said new technologies allow more objective measuring of pain, adding: "Our knowledge of targets and human genetics has taken a real step forward in the last few years."

Science is shifting attitudes too.

Irene Tracey of the Pain Imaging Neuroscience Group at Oxford University published a study last year which reviewed 10 years of imaging research and found chronic pain is linked to functional, structural and chemical changes in the brain.

So, pain is very much in the mind, and the brain's responses to it are key to what it feels like and how long it goes on.

Old medicine

"Pain doesn't exist until the brain gets hold of it. And one of the things brain imaging has been very good at is taking away some of the myths and cultural biases against pain," she said at a meeting of experts in London earlier this month.

"Chronic pain fits the definition of a disease," she said.

Pain, however, can be a tricky condition to medicate, as the numbers of sufferers show, and not all drug makers are convinced it is a profitable area. Britain's GlaxoSmithKline said last month it was cutting research in the field.

Many pain killers around today, from products like aspirin or paracetamol to opiates used for cancer pain, rely on mechanisms of action exploited since Egyptian times or were found as side effects of drugs developed for other things.

When it hurts

The sheer size of the problem shows the need for more effective drugs. Pain hurts, in more ways than one.

In Britain alone, it affects about 7.8 million people, about 13% of the population, and a 2002/03 survey by a group called Pain in Europe estimated that as many as one in five Europeans suffers chronic pain.

Studies show that around 22% of people with chronic pain become depressed and 25% go on to lose their jobs.

Pain is estimated to cost more than €200bn a year in Europe and $150bn in the US.

"It has huge ramifications, not only for the person themselves but also for society as a whole," said Beverly Collett, a consultant in pain medicine at the University Hospital of Leicester in central England.

In recognition of this, the EU's Innovative Medicines Initiative gave some of its first grants to pain researchers to work with pharmaceutical firms to try to speed up the process of finding new drugs.

The pain pipeline

Steve McMahon, director of the London Pain Consortium, said his group and several others in Europe were now working with about 10 major drug companies to push the field forward.

Among the most promising drug prospects is tanezumab from Pfizer, which McMahon says is "the first drug in a long time to have originated from basic science identifying the biological problem and suggesting a therapy".

Pfizer's MacKay is naturally upbeat about the experimental medicine - an antibody currently in late-stage trials for osteoarthritis caused by wear and tear of the joints. He named it among the firm's top picks for "blockbuster potential".

McMahon hopes it will be the first of many.

Another potential from Pfizer is a drug based on work by British scientists who identified a genetic mutation several years ago that prevents those who have it from feeling pain.

In the genes

The gene clue was found in a Pakistani boy - and members of three related families - who had become a local celebrity as a street performer, stunning crowds by plunging knives through his arms and walking on burning coals.

The experimental drug seeks to mimic the gene mutation and block a sodium channel which normally produces nerve impulses that convey pain signals to the brain.

"This is the way that pain (research) is going to go now, where you have very strong human genetic evidence and you're able to mount really large campaigns against tough targets and then take them through to the clinic," MacKay said.

For Tracey, scientific progress will only keep its momentum if society agrees pain is something scientists should fight.

"You can still hear it in the language, with expressions like 'no pain no gain'," she said. "These are real barriers that we have to get over in society if we're really going to accept that we should be treating pain and putting more money into it."

- Reuters

[Rainbows]

Hi -- this is my first post on the forum here.. I guess I should have gone to the intro page first really, but this letter in the OP is so powerful that I had to comment

I've been struggling with chronic pain too, like many of you, for about 30 years now - it's a frustrating beast and the frustration is made so much more unbearable sometimes when even people you know and love don't really have a handle on how it affects you, it is not their fault, they (thankfully) have never had to deal with it. The concentration thing... where was I? Oh yes, concentration.. this fades in and out on a monotonously regular basis, in fact, moments of clarity are a cause for celebration sometimes, as are days of lesser pain :wink:

Sorry to see so many others with chronic pain here, but look forward to 'meeting' you

Rainbows