describing pain
Feb. 26th, 2007 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brightrosefoxDescribing a nebulous pain can be difficult, naturally, especially when it is widespread and chronic. There are so many names for pain, so many types of pain. When a doctor asks me what kind of pain I am in, this is usually my response:
A deep, burning ache all over my body, concentrated in my head, arms, lower back, shoulders, legs, and hips. It migrates sometimes. I feel it in the muscles, the tendons, the ligaments, sometimes the bones. It's not like it goes away for a while and comes back. It is always there in some form. Sometimes it flares up into stabbing pains at certain points on my body. I have migraines. I am tired constantly. I feel weak. I feel like I am running a low grade fever some days. My head is foggy. My jaw hurts. I have trouble sleeping. My eyes burn. Sometimes I can barely move, I ache so much. Some days it is an effort to talk without garbling my words. I feel easily sensitive, emotional. I have physical sensitivities to light, sound, touch, smell, pain. I feel tender all over, moreso in certain spots. My memory fades in and out. I mix up words. I feel sluggish and drained. There are times when I'll have sudden bursts of energy and stamina, almost a "high" feeling, that won't last more than a few hours. I will want to move, fidget, walk long distances, talk rapidly, jump around. Afterwards I ache like I have run for miles.
There is no time when I am not in pain of some sort.
"Non specific widespread chronic pain." Is that all they can come up with?
This is not normal, is it.
A deep, burning ache all over my body, concentrated in my head, arms, lower back, shoulders, legs, and hips. It migrates sometimes. I feel it in the muscles, the tendons, the ligaments, sometimes the bones. It's not like it goes away for a while and comes back. It is always there in some form. Sometimes it flares up into stabbing pains at certain points on my body. I have migraines. I am tired constantly. I feel weak. I feel like I am running a low grade fever some days. My head is foggy. My jaw hurts. I have trouble sleeping. My eyes burn. Sometimes I can barely move, I ache so much. Some days it is an effort to talk without garbling my words. I feel easily sensitive, emotional. I have physical sensitivities to light, sound, touch, smell, pain. I feel tender all over, moreso in certain spots. My memory fades in and out. I mix up words. I feel sluggish and drained. There are times when I'll have sudden bursts of energy and stamina, almost a "high" feeling, that won't last more than a few hours. I will want to move, fidget, walk long distances, talk rapidly, jump around. Afterwards I ache like I have run for miles.
There is no time when I am not in pain of some sort.
"Non specific widespread chronic pain." Is that all they can come up with?
This is not normal, is it.
