Chronic pain affects everything you do because when you live with pain you don’t have as much energy to complete basic tasks. People with chronic pain have days when we are not in as much pain, but most people are in pain constantly and you can’t wait until your pain is a zero to start being productive because that will never happen. I live with chronic pain and most days I think I am pretty good at hiding it from loved ones because a lot of people can’t even tell that I am in pain unless I happen to mention it. I am always in pain, but the severity varies from day to day, and there are some days when I barely notice it but that doesn’t mean it’s not there and it just means that some people aren’t very good at recognizing it. Pain changes you because you don’t have as much energy as someone without pain and there are some things that you didn’t know I did because of pain that you may think are laziness. You have to constantly people be thinking about how different task affect your pain levels and make accommodations as needed to avoid more pain. In this post, I am going to share a few things that you didn’t know I did because of chronic pain.
Wear sunglasses when I am not outside- Some people with migraine disease are not sensitive to light but about eighty to ninety percent of migraineurs have reported light sensitivity. When I get a migraine lights are painful because I am sensitive to light and sometimes you may see me wearing sunglasses indoors or I may shut off all the lights in the morning while drinking my coffee. Light can be painful when you live with pain and can make pain that I might have been able to get rid of even worse. Luckily, I haven’t had a migraine attack in a while and have been able to handle a little more lighting than I would be able to if my migraine pain was flaring but I am still light sensitive all the time even when I am not experiencing pain. If I am able to, I will turn off all the lights when I have a migraine, but I don’t live alone and can’t always do that which is why sunglasses are a migraineurs best friend because you can’t always turn off the lights, but you can wear sunglasses and dim the lights on your computer for less pain. It can be tricky to tell if I am in pain by how many lights I am turning off because sometimes I am not in pain and just want to sit in darkness.
Sometimes I may skip a couple of workouts– Exercise can help improve pain but it’s usually only recommended as a way to prevent pain, but it is not something you do when you are in a flare because it can make it worse. I struggle to be consistent with my workouts because I live with migraine disease and also have chronic pelvic pain that I think might be from endometriosis which can affect the frequency of my workouts. I wish I could be consistent with my workout routine but if I am on my period and I can barely get out of bed or have a migraine attack it’s not happening because you need to prioritize rest and getting better. Most of the time when I skip a workout it’s not because I was lazy, and I didn’t want to, and I had no choice. I do not build muscle as quickly as someone without pain because sometimes I can’t be as consistent with my workouts and sometimes will go two or three weeks and barely do any exercise but there is not a lot, I can do to change that. When you live with pain you can’t always force yourself to exercise because sometimes your body needs rest more than it needs physical activity. If skip a lot of workouts it could be because I am lazy but it’s likely due to pain. You should never shame someone who lives with pain for doing less exercise because sometimes our bodies don’t allow us to move more.
I may take more naps- Insomnia is common for people who live with pain because sometimes severe pain prevents you from getting good quality sleep. Medication can help you sleep, but it’s not a cure, and there are days when you have severe pain, and your medication is not doing much for you. Some days I have great sleep and sleep eight hours, but there are a lot of days when I wake up multiple times during the night and sleep maybe four hours. When you live with pain sometimes you need to take longer, more frequent naps to catch up on all the sleep you lost throughout the night because pain often prevents you from sleeping. My medication is not supposed to make me fatigued throughout the day, but it often does, and I have no choice but to sleep it off because pushing through fatigue only causes more pain. Naps are beneficial for everyone but often they are necessary for people in pain because we don’t always sleep well throughout the night, and if you are tired enough, you can’t always push through fatigue. If you see me taking more frequent naps or waking up earlier than usual, it is likely not because I pulled an all-nighter (although that could be true), but pain preventing me from sleeping.
I may skip meals- Skipping meals is not recommended for people in pain because it can make it worse, but it is hard to get up and motivate yourself to make a meal when everything hurts. I try not to skip meals when I am in pain because I know how important nutrition is but the last thing you want to do when you are nauseous and everything muscle in your body hurts is get up and make a meal. I try to eat something when I am in pain because I know it will help me feel better, but I don’t have the greatest eating habits when I am in pain because sometimes the fatigue will cause me to skip meals, or I will make something quick that is not the best for me. I skip meals sometimes not because I am stuck in diet culture and afraid of the calories but a lot of the time I don’t have the energy to make a meal.
Chronic pain sufferers can live normal lives, but sometimes it causes you to do things at a slower pace and make accommodations that someone without pain wouldn’t have to consider. Most people in pain have invisible pain and you won’t know someone is struggling by looking at them but even though someone may not tell you they are in pain a lot of the time there are visible signs and it’s not as invisible as you think. People in pain often move at a slower pace than they normally would, skip workouts, and sometimes don’t eat as consistently as they normally would because you don’t have the energy to get up and do basic tasks which is something a lot of people take for granted. If you notice someone is moving slower it doesn’t always mean they are in pain, but it most certainly can be a sign of pain, and it can never hurt to offer assistance because the worst that can happen is they tell you they don’t need help. I hate that people in pain are expected to function at the same capacity as someone without pain because it’s an unrealistic expectation and we need to stop holding disabled people to the same standard as non-disabled people. What thing have you done because of pain that you wish people knew? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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