I do my research with them and know the pros and cons just fine. I live with chronic pain and sleep is a trial, not an escape for more than half the time. Sometimes I need need help and turn to a sleeping pill or Sleepy Time tea, but not enough to make it too habitual. My....dear...Mormon friends that still hang about even though I left the churh just can't understand me and my pain. "Oh, just go take a long walk before bed!" Yeah, great, I would LOVE to but right now walking is pretty difficult but I do what I can. They give me all these suggestions, like pray (haven't once since I left the church ), get a blessing (bad joke on their part), meditate.

My problem isn't so much going to sleep as it is staying asleep without my pain urging me out of it. When a long enough time goes by that I get less than four hours of sleep for a while, I turn to the Sleepy Time tea or some kind of pill from the shelves of Walmart. The second I do I get jumped on. Ooooh, the satanic addictiooon, the dependence! Good gawd...

And that is all without mentioning my meds (that I do noooot mix with teas or sleeping pills) that I try not to take much anyway. In their eyes, I guess this is all an excuse to get 'feel goods' since the mighty Blessing of Healing did not work on my faithless soul back when I was a member.

I have my own little system working out for me just fine, but the stupid comments about my 'habbits' never stop. Okay, so they arent in the friend list so to speak but....I'm sure there are others that are like me who have people in TSCC who look down their nose at you because pills work better than blessings.

(Posted with my phone; please excuse my mistakes )

People don't understand chronic pain. I see someone for pain managment and I take percocet and methodone for pain. When I have taken in the perscription for methodone I have had the pharmacy assistant tell me "we don't carry that" spoken in a tone of disgust because she thinks I am a heroine addict.

My suggestion is that you don't discuss it with those who disaprove. Granted sometimes you don't know that until they respond but with mormons you can make an educated guess. It is nice to talk about the details of your life but you often save yourself grief by keeping it to yourself. Sad but true.

I know what it is to wake up from pain, it sometimes is part of my dream before I wake up. It sucks. It rules my life. Sorry you have to endure it.

Anon -

As a fellow chronic pain person, I suggest you go to a hospital pharmacy for Schedule II narcotics, like oxycodone and methadone. Hospitals have much better security and they have to have Schedule II's for use in the hospital.

A lot of pharmacies aren't carrying Schedule II narcotics because of the possibility of robbery.

I manage with Schedule III & IV drugs - hydrocodone, mainly. I still get the judging looks and comments. The DEA has done a really good job of demonizing people who use 'pain meds.' Hospital pharmacists, usually, don't have enough time to be judgmental.

I am a paramedic and have worked in emergency departments for years. If it is any consolation, some people get judgmental when you give a patient with a broken arm pain meds...

I feel your pain, literally. I have Fibromyalgia and sleep is a problem for me as well. I am up every 3-4 hours because my pain meds wear off and I wake up. Then I have to wait 30-45 minutes for them to start working again before I can even TRY to go back to sleep.

I will tell you that prescription sleep meds are not the way to go. They become less and less effective the longer you take them. I stopped taking them because they just weren't helping and the side effects were making them more trouble than they were worth.

Dr. Oz recommended Rooibos tea at bedtime but it doesn't seem to help much. Herbal sleep products with Melatonin or 5-HTP can help too. Benadryl, which is the active ingrediant in most over-the-counter sleep aids, leaves me feeling hungover the next day.

Do what works for you. If it works for you, that is all that matters.

Let these so-called friends get some pain and see how they feel. I've had pain for several years now, the latest thing being sciatica. I take tramadol and flexeril and do OK most of the time with those. Now and then I need a vicodin for breakthrough pain. I hate that, but that's life for now.
If someone gave me crap about it, I'd probably put them in their place.

Susan

I too have sciatica issues and sleep issues.

Tell your Mo "friends" to MTOFB. OTC sleeping pills are NOT narcotics. Sheesh.

Break through pain, generally, means that, despite the use of agents to control it, it 'breaks through' them.

That's what they taught us in school, anyway...

I assume it is inevitable that I will have to manage my pain with pills in the future, so this info is very useful.

Just don't mention your decisions to your so called friends. It's none of their business what you ingest to help you sleep.

Yea, keep it to yourself or those who understand. I have a messed up leg and a messed up back, and now shoulder surgery rehab. I take a tramadol and something to sleep at night and I don't give a rip what people think. The day will come when they will understand. And then they'll sing a different tune.

I think you need to stop telling your "friends" what you're doing.

If they give you unsolicited advice on what to do, simply reply with "I'm doing what works best for me in my medical condition." And don't pursue it further.

If the comments don't stop, call them on it and tell them how insensitive and unkind they are, and demand they stop.

If they don't, stop spending time with them.

Don't talk about your pain with any Mormons anymore. They refuse to understand and it will just hurt your feelings more.

I don't have chronic pain per-say, I get migraines that last for multiple days and make it very difficult to function. They affect my vision, my balance, my appetite... Life cannot resume until the migraine is gone. I swear to God there are people who think migraines are imaginary. I have had wonderful friends constantly suggest various remedies they use for their headaches, as though they could possibly grasp what I experience. It's infuriating. I've learned to just stop discussing it with anyone except to inform my husband when I am having problems. When someone asks me now about headaches (haha, which shows right their they have no idea what they're going on about. I wish they were just headaches) I just lie and say I don't get them anymore. It's easier than being disrespected.

Sometimes I get snarky and when someone is really trying to convince me to "just take an Excedrin, that always works for me!" I ask to see their medical degree. People who do not have a pain condition can not understand what it's like.

Man I wish midrin hadn't been discontinued. I hear you about the migraines. Nothing else works for me like midrin did.

I used to think that a migraine was just a REALLY bad headache --- until I got my first one! Whoooole different animal.

Sad state of humanity -- quick to judge and slow to understand.

Don't let anyone tell you how to manage your pain, except your DR. Never discuss your meds, with people. I only talk to my spouse and my DR.

The only people who understand your pain are other people who are in the same situation.

The reason they make pain and sleeping medications is for people who are in pain and can't sleep. Being woke up by pain every few hours is a miserable situation. You can't get enough rest which then puts you in more pain. Do what you need to do to manage that. It's nobody else's business.

Most people don't know that people in chronic pain have a very low incidence of addiction. It's less than 1%. When you're in pain your body metabolizes pain meds different than when you aren't.

The other thing they don't understand is that pain meds don't totally kill your pain. It eases it, but seldom completely gets rid of it. People in pain very seldom, if ever get high on pain meds. Pain overrides the ability to do that. There are some exceptions, but they aren't the norm. People who are in pain and are taking meds for it ARE NOT having a good time. In fact, it's a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone.

I've been dealing with this situation for 20 years. Also, if you aren't already, keep your meds under lock and key. You might be surprised at who would take them. Don't discuss them with anyone. People gossip. You never know where that information is going to end up.

Take care of yourself. Be kind to yourself. Do what you need to do to make your life manageable. I''m so sorry you have to deal with this. It's not a fun way to live.

I also have had migraines for about 50 years. I've tried all kinds of things. Ironically what works best for me is ibuprofen. I have to take 2 as soon as I realize a headache is coming on. I get the disturbed vision, so it's obvious when one is coming. If I wait even 10 minutes into an episode the ibuprofen doesn't work. Tylenol is useless.

I had to go on a low dose methadone for a different pain problem. I was only on it for 6 months, but I didn't have a migraine the entire time. I usually get about 3 a month. I don't know if that has happened with other people, but thought i'd put that out there. If you have to be on a low dose pain med for another issue, you may want to give methadone a try to see if it cures the headaches.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2012 12:42PM by Mia.

Thanks everyone :D but I don't just give out my pill information. Been a long time since I did. I don't just 'tell' them about it. A simple question of one of them asking if I'm in pain will automatically lead to the assumption I'm clinging to the pills instead of going for Bleeeesssings and Praaaying.

That's what gets me most and I bite back when that stuff starts. Not many ask me anymore, but there's still the assumption I'm addicted. Screw them. Like many of who have said, those who don't have the pain just can't understand it. Same with migraines.

Funny, my TBM bros and sisters are the biggest pill-heads I know. I guess they don't broadcast this info to others in the church.

Next time ask your 'friend' to step outside, then ask her/him to place their hand in the car door and tell them you will slam it in their fingers (they won't do it of course). Then ask them if they are able to go right ahead and try to sleep while their hand is being crushed by the car door.
Then let them know that the day they are able to do that, they can offer you pain advice, but until then they can keep their words, like their hands, safely guarded.

+1

For muscle pain I take prescription Tizanidine. It's a muscle relaxant. It can make you sleepy. Many doctors are not familiar with it.

I'm always amazed how mormons think pay, pray and obey should solve all your problems, and if it doesn't, it's your fault.

I stopped going to church when sitting there became painful, physically and mentally.