Helen.Martin@f192.n351.z1.fidonet.org (Helen Martin) (02/12/90)
Index Number: 6656
[This is from the Chronic Pain Conference on Fidonet]
I am relating to this discussion.... It feels quite strange. I
don't talk about my headaches much because I don't want to been
"seen" as a whiner, or a whimp...I appreciate the posts from other
folks a lot!!! It also helps me to put things in perspective, as I
become aware of what other folks are dealing with.
I get sinus headaches.
I don't know if its all headaches, or just the sinus ones that make
people feel so helpless, spineless, incompetant.... Even a fairly
minor sinus attach (in terms of actual pain) completely destroys my
ability to concentrate, follow a plan for the day, priorize, or
think clearly in any way. Sometimes I feel really scared. Its so
confusing, because I know that there's really not a lot wrong with
me, and I feel as if I "should" be coping better, but I'm not.
I finally demanded to be sent to an ear, nose and throat
specialist, who didn't have any words of encouragement for me.
When I said, all I needed was a surefire way to break sinus
congestion (none of the decongestants work for me), he said that if
he knew such a thing he would not be sitting in his office, but in
the harbour on a gold plated yacht. I was not heartened.
Life is better for me these days because of the public control of
cigarette smoking that is growing everywhere. The major trigger for
my headaches is tobacco smoke.
Doctors have seemed so willing to just give me pain killers, and to
have no time to work with me toward some other solution. At one
point, working in an office with 12 other smokers a few years ago,
I was going through 36 Fiorinal C1/4 every month, and the doctor
just kept dishing out the prescriptions. After I read in a book
what was actually in that stuff, I quit taking them...they are a
real witches brew of different substances. I used to wake up in
the middle of the night crying from the pain in the front of my
face...and then go through the days like a zombie because I
couldn't sleep at night because of the pain.
I walked away from that job, Calgary, and my husband all at the
same time and I am sure now that the pain contributed to the way I
made that decision...and how I dealt with the surrounding
circumstances.. These days, if I avoid smoke, literally like the
plague, I can often get through week and a half without getting a
headache. I feel like I have a new life sometimes...and then, sure
as anything, I'll get one of the attacks which lasts 4 or 5 days
just to remind me that there is no escape. It sure is nice to have
this echo to share some of this stuff....
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Internet: Helen.Martin@f192.n351.z1.fidonet.org