RE: All this talk about nerves and pt (was levator ani muscles)

[Guest guest]

I actually think a good pt CAN diagnose certain

problems...fortunately we don't have to rely on doctors only to

diagnose us, if we did I know I would be up s#@t creek without a

paddle! My two pts have known a lot more than most of the docs I

have seen about what this is and how to treat it. I also have found

that pt is not always a band-aid but curative depending on the

situation. If you are not in acute pain (ie-pain that is caused by

an injury, infection, etc.) but are in chronic pain (the initial

insult is gone but the nerves are somehow still firing) then pt can

be very helpful at teaching those nerves how to calm down, just like

neurontin, elavil, etc. does. Everybody's body is different and

there are many different causes for v pain so I think that's why one

person might do great with elavil, another needs neurontin, somebody

else does great with pt only, and somebody might need a combo of all

three.

I also want folks to think about this, too:

ALL PAIN HAS NERVE INVOLVEMENT! :-) You cannot experience pain

WITHOUT your nerves being involved. That's the nature of pain. And

while acute pain is a body's response to an insult CHRONIC pain is

our nerves over-firing when they no longer need to be. The body has

an amazing ability to restore and heal itself and nerve pain CAN be

healed, but it can be a difficult journey. That's why pain relief is

incredibly important no matter what form it is (pt, medications,

topicals, even opiates if needed) because it re-trains your nerves,

helps your muscles relax so healing blood can circulate freely, AND

helps you decrease your level of stress. So some of us have acute v

pain that signals " something is wrong " (such as rare yeast, pne,

etc.) and some of us have chronic pain that tells us our nerves are

wigging out and need to calm down-there is nothing there that is

actually injured other than maybe the nerves themselves.

Just my .02 based on the research I have done and what has worked for

me.

Lindsey

[Guest guest]

LINDSEY: excellent observations!! EXCELLENT! " teaching the nerves to calm

down " . Sincerely, I take my Lyrica seriously. Also, I know when and how

often to take the tramadol when whoever that nerve is decides to rear it's

ugly head. My goal is to get down to 75mg nightly of Lyrica and eventually

off. It is a slow process and I LISTEN to my body. thank you so much for

sharing, Lindsey. hugs, ML

<<<

I actually think a good pt CAN diagnose certain

problems...fortunately we don't have to rely on doctors only to

diagnose us, if we did I know I would be up s#@t creek without a

paddle! My two pts have known a lot more than most of the docs I

have seen about what this is and how to treat it. I also have found

that pt is not always a band-aid but curative depending on the

situation. If you are not in acute pain (ie-pain that is caused by

an injury, infection, etc.) but are in chronic pain (the initial

insult is gone but the nerves are somehow still firing) then pt can

be very helpful at teaching those nerves how to calm down, just like

neurontin, elavil, etc. does. Everybody's body is different and

there are many different causes for v pain so I think that's why one

person might do great with elavil, another needs neurontin, somebody

else does great with pt only, and somebody might need a combo of all

three.

I also want folks to think about this, too:

ALL PAIN HAS NERVE INVOLVEMENT! :-) You cannot experience pain

WITHOUT your nerves being involved. That's the nature of pain. And

while acute pain is a body's response to an insult CHRONIC pain is

our nerves over-firing when they no longer need to be. The body has

an amazing ability to restore and heal itself and nerve pain CAN be

healed, but it can be a difficult journey. That's why pain relief is

incredibly important no matter what form it is (pt, medications,

topicals, even opiates if needed) because it re-trains your nerves,

helps your muscles relax so healing blood can circulate freely, AND

helps you decrease your level of stress. So some of us have acute v

pain that signals " something is wrong " (such as rare yeast, pne,

etc.) and some of us have chronic pain that tells us our nerves are

wigging out and need to calm down-there is nothing there that is

actually injured other than maybe the nerves themselves.

Just my .02 based on the research I have done and what has worked for

me.

Lindsey>>>>

[Guest guest]

Hi Lindsey,

I do agree with you about what you said – the correlation between

nerves and pain. Anyone who really wants to know the definition of pain

should join the Yahoo Chronic Pain Association. On that group, pain has no

limits, no boundaries. There is no discussion about “V” pain, and

how it relates with any other kind of pain. The funny thing about pain is that

it is really indescribable. My pain is not the same as your pain, or someone else’s

pain. My husband is a rare type of individual who does not experience pain. He never

has had even a headache. Over the weekend, I tried to explain my pain to him –

and it was literally impossible. I said how would you feel if you had a blow torch

on your (you now what), and he just looked at me blankly. When I go to my pain management

doctor and tell him my pain is worse – he does not know what that means –

worse than what … and nerve pain is one of the worse kinds of pain. Worse

than end stage cancer pain.

My doctor originally told me that narcotics did not work very well on

nerve pain – muscle relaxers, valium, anti-seizure drugs worked better. Because

these drugs calmed the nerves so they stop firing the signals and the nerves can

heal. But sometimes the pain gets in a never ending loop and cannot stop

firing. That is when surgical intervention became necessary for me.

I would not have had any kind of vulvar pain if my pelvic nerves hadn’t

started sending the signal to the surface. And there they are firing away

in a never ending circle. That is why I am having a vestibuectomy, because even

though my pudendal nerve surgery is going to relieve the entrapment, it will

not stop the pain signals from firing to the perineum, as they are stuck. And everything

else I have tried has not helped.

So for me, surgery is the only answer. And even after surgery, I will

still need PT to help the pelvic muscles spasms stop. So even though all of

these things are connected, they still are separate. All I know is that I have

terrible pain, unexplainable to everyone, and I have to do everything possible

to try and fix it. And no one should tell anyone that just PT will fix

it, or just medications will fix it. There is no one fix for everyone, so try

everything – at least you know then that you have tried your very best.

And nerve pain, even with everything you try still takes a long time to

heal – eighteen months to two years. And even after you start feeling

good, you have to remember that the nerves are healing and they can be

reinjured in a second. My doctor told me after surgery I am going to start

feeling good – so good that I will see things that I haven’t done

in the last year since I have had this condition. All of you know the feeling –

wash the windows, sweep out the garage, etc. He told me even if I felt like

mountain climbing to stop and climb right back on the sofa with a book. I will

have 5-6 months of virtual bed rest (except for PT) before I can do much.

So please lades, do all you can to try and treat your pain and your

nerves, but be careful and you will get well.

nne

[Guest guest]

Hi nne: and I agree with you as well as Lindsey. I feel so much better than last year and even better than the year before. However, I know mylimits. And I know to stop and rest. It does FEEL GREAT to feel good again. I had almost forgotten what that was till just lately. That is one reason my doctor says take it slow, dont rush getting off the Lyrica. She was willing to go along with my dropping to 100mg. She was leary of my dropping to 75mg. She cautioned me. And so I am not going AS FAST as I had intended. That is okay. Pain of a migraine was the only pain I ever knew besides child birth and monthly periods. So when my husband talked about his pancreatic pain and his degenerative spine pain, well, I was not really in tune to that kind of pain. THEN this came along and humbled me to understand the pain of others. I consider that a real blessing in the lesson of compassion! I am not able to have PT under my insurance unless I am hospitalized. So trusting in God is my strength. love, ML