Pain

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I'm writing in answer to Heidi's questions about pain patterns. I

think this is a particularly interesting topic. Ever since I was a

little girl I have wondered if other human beings ever shared the

bitter, wild abdominal pain I went through from time to time. At

that time I had one or two week-long attacks each year of vicious

pain. I had NO medication at all as a child (apart from useless

peppermint indigestin medicine.....this was the 1950's!!). From the

age of 15, codeine (2 x 8mgs)and aspirin helped me to get through

attacks by giving me a breather from the pain. Later I changed to

codeine/paracetamol as being safer.

I can honestly say that in the 1980's when I had very, very frequent

additional sharp pains with diarrhoea/steatorrhoea, nothing helped

me. I was ill everey day by 1988. I suppose these pains were more

akin to enteritis-type pains but I still sometimes got the old upper-

abdominal ones.

The pain became more settled in the 1990's although it never went

completely. From 2000 - 2003 I had severe pain again, much more

frequent than in childhood (a day or two most weeks) but a bit less

severe. The same codeine doses just about took the edge off the pain

but less and less effectively as time went on and the pains became

worse. The pains could be at any time but were often worse in the

afternoon. I was taking some codeine most days.

Since I started taking Creon, the pains are rather better but I

still get them, coupled at times with overwhelmong weakness and/or

nausea. Sometimes I feel as if I will pass out or die immediately.

At other times I feel as if I imagined the whole thing and have

never been ill. The pain strikes suddenly, like a thief in the

night. I can never be sure. Nowadays I can't really notice a pattern

as to when the pain is worse. I still take the same

codeine/paracetamol when I need it but also have stronger 30mgs

codeine tablets which I take when the pain is severe. They do help

but do NOT take the pain away completely when it is really severe.

The pain I am talking about is a belt or girdle of pain around the

upper abdomen and through to the back. It is still, after 53 years,

very hard to endure. I suppose I could best describe it as a fierce

migraine-type pain but in the abdomen rather than the head. It

emanates from the centre but encircles the whole abdomen. I call

this my " old enemy " . After all, we have been battling together for

53 years. I feel like St and this pain is the dragon which

refuses to die. Hell for me would be the severe version of this pain

all the time. When I was little and heard of hell, this was what I

imagined.

Somtimes I get a more localised upper right quadrant pain before or

instead of a more generalised attack. This pain tends to be quite

bad and also needs codeine.

Quite often now I need no pain-killers. I don't know whether this is

chance, burnout or simply thanks to Creon.

I would be very interested in knowing about other people's pain

experiences and perceptions. It may seem an odd topic to discuss but

I do feel it is important to categorise pain if we can. At the very

least, I am interested in knowing of we can.

This is probably not helpful to Heidi as it doesn't address the

question of WHEN each day the pain arrives. However, I hope it may

open a further discussion.

With good wishes to everyone,

Fliss