I am facing a now familiar quandary, do I take the strong pain killers that make me feel seriously rough and slightly mental or do I just lay here and try and wait out the invisible torturer who's currently pushing sharpened pencils through my wrists, elbows and ankles???
Decisions, decisions .....
Can I be honest with you Viki? I used to be in your predicament. I suffered with minimal to no sleep for a good solid year. I am unable to take heavy pain medication due to severe allergies. So, I thought I could be tough and make it work. I was running on so little sleep and so much pain that I actually had a mental breakdown that required a psychiatrist. She told me that without sleep, your brain starts to get grooves and nitches that did not exist before the lack of sleep and that pain actually changes the topography of the brain. I had an MRI, it really did change. Both the psychiatrist and my Rheumatologist decided to put me on a sleeping pill regiment which is not as heavy as pain medicines. My pills shut down my brain and allow me some sleep. I can function a bit better the next day. I despise relying on these pills, but I have to be honest. They have helped my RA some. Just give it a thought. I hope you are feeling better tonight (your time).
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Thanks A. It is all so new at the moment, I think a lot of what is keeping me from sleeping is just that there is so much buzzing round my brain, I cant switch off. Yesterday was the first increase of my sulfasalazine and I needlessly got myself in a bit of a state about that too. As a result I was exhausted last night, so the tiredness beat the pain and discomfort and I got a fairly decent nights sleep!
ReplyDeleteYou won't get addicted to pain meds! With real pain, we might become dependent on them but that is a huge difference. Hopefully this weekend will bring you relief and some well earned rest.
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