Re: New to Group and Work Questions/Poll

[Guest guest]

,

Yes! I discovered her earlier this year and almost contracted to work with her,

but she is very expensive and my budget is tight. Have you worked with her?

I agree that her blog is good. I would like more specific examples about what

people do for work that have chronic pain like me. I guess I want someone to

" fix " me, to find a solution!! I have concluded that the BuTrans patch just

isn't cutting it - I think.

All I know is I hurt so much that I am spending a LOT of time in bed.

Do you work? If so, how do you manage your pain and work too?

Thanks for your reply!!

H. wrote:

> You might find this website useful:

>

> http://workingwithchronicillness.com/

[Guest guest]

Hi, ,

No, I haven't worked with her. I do enjoy her newsletter, though, and found

her book encouraging, in that she really advocates continuing to work if at

all possible.

I do work, and it's often not easy. Some things that have helped me:

- I generally limit my use of prescription pain meds for times when I am

not working, when I can. If I need them at work, I take a smaller dose, and

try to take it early in the day.

- I take OTC pain meds as needed when at work.

- I take my prescription pain meds consistently in the evenings and at

night, so I get good rest, which helps with the pain during the day.

- I try to keep my non-work schedule flexible, so I can rest/recover as

needed.

- I have a couple of friends who serve as cheerleaders. I can email them

and tell them I need some encouragement when I'm having a bad pain day, and

they lift my spirits, which I find surprisingly helpful.

- I've told my boss what's going on. I was reluctant to share something

so personal at first, but found him to be quite supportive, and now I am

able to explain it if I feel like my performance is affected, or if I need

more time off than usual to rest or for doctor appointments.

Nothing groundbreaking, I'm afraid. Working with pain is a drag, and I know

lots of people have severe enough pain it's just not manageable. I am

thankful I can still work so far, but I don't think it's because I have

some magic fix. It's mostly just luck that my pain isn't that bad so far.

-

> **

>

>

> ...Have you worked with her?...

>

> ...Do you work? If so, how do you manage your pain and work too?...

>

>

[Guest guest]

> H. wrote:

>> You might find this website useful:

>> http://workingwithchronicillness.com/

,

I read her blog and some of the steps she does is done in biofeedback training

which was covered by my insurance. You are hooked up to a machine where you can

see your " tension level " and as they give you steps to " unwind " you can see your

body temperature go down, your blood pressure, etc on the machine.

They teach you techniques to use your brain to relax your whole body beginning

with your big toe to your head. I found this training very informative and

taught me exercises and the way to approach situations.

I also did training in Reality Therapy by Glasser that is a cognitive

behavior training, to re-think situations. I also found, " You are Not the

Target " by Huxley taught me staratigies and techniques in dealing with

difficult situations and people. Here are three things she talks about in her

book besides others:

At one time or another the more fortunate among us make three startling

discoveries.

Discovery number one: Each one of us has, in varying degree, the power to make

himself and others feel better or worse.

Discovery number two: Making others feel better is much more rewarding than

making them feel worse.

Discovery number three: Making others feel better generally makes us feel

better.

This lady who writes this blog is using techniques that have been around for

years and putting them in a format for people which is probably very good but

charging for them is helping her so it is a toss up for me, but her website is

very interesting. Bennie