What do you weigh Today

It seems like everyone is always complaining about their weight.  America has always been weight conscious and thin is in.  People in chronic pain struggle with weight just like everybody else.  The only difference is that we often have outside influences that play a major role in whether we lose or gain weight.

Some of the medications that we take to control our pain have some interesting side effects.  Sometimes a medication will make you ravenous and you cannot seem to get enough to eat.  You find that you crave certain foods, like sweets, and you cannot seem to stop eating.  Nothing that you do seems to help; you keep eating and eating and eating. Other times the medications take away your appetite.  I find that I will cook dinner only to pick at it and then either save it for later or throw it away.  I will eat breakfast at 6:00 am, usually 2 toaster streudel and a bowl of fruit, and then eat a small dinner at about 8:00pm. 

Sometimes medications are not the issue at all.  The issue is swelling or edema.   Edema is defined as;

“Edema is the medical term for swelling. It is a general response of the

 body to injury or inflammation. Edema can be isolated to a small area or

affect the entire body. Infections, pregnancy, medications and many

medical problems can cause edema.  Edema results whenever small blood

vessels become "leaky" and release fluid into nearby tissues. The extra

fluid accumulates, causing the tissue to swell.  Numerous medications can

cause edema, including:

·         NSAIDs (naproxen, ibuprofen)

·         Calcium channel blockers

·         Corticosteroids (Prednisone,Methylprednisolone)

·         Pramiprexole  “

The loss of potassium in your body can also cause edema.  Edema can be related to all sorts of medical conditions and there are a variety of types.  Check with your doctor if you have any type of swelling that is accompanied by pain or that is not relieved using ice and elevation.

The traditional treatment for edema is to elevate your legs above your heart and diuretics.  I was hospitalized twice because the potassium had disappeared from my body and I swelled to enormous proportions.  One night in the hospital with iv potassium and I was back to my regular swollen self.  The doctor tried putting me on diuretics to help me lose the fluid.  I thought that diuretics were going to be my godsend because I thought that I would lose the water weight but no such luck.  All I got were numerous trips to the bathroom. 

So, now I have 3 sets of clothes; normal, puffy and fat, and three sizes of shoes: 7.5, 9 and 11 and my dreams of weighing 130 or less are in the dust.  I just have to learn to live with my weight and the yo-yoing.  It’s a hard thing to accept and I am not there yet but, I will keep trying to like my new body; regular, medium, or supersized.            

But You Don’t Look Sick?!

I hate those words and unfortunately, I hear them quite often.  RSD/CRPS, and other chronic pain diseases like Fibromyalgia and Neuropathy, is called the invisible disease because there are few outward symptoms.  Most people think that because we are not screaming in pain or if our face is not screwed up in agony that we are not in pain.  Well, I have news for them!  People who have chronic pain diseases learn how to mask the way that they are feeling.  We develop a “poker” face that we allow few to see past.  It is one of the ways that we have learned to cope. 

When we smile or put on make-up or even dress up; people assume that everything is okay.  People tend to make comments like,”You must be feeling good today”, and even the hated “You don’t look sick”.  When we hear those comments we get angry and want to scream at them that “WE ARE SICK!   I HURT!    I AM IN PAIN, IT NEVER GOES AWAY!”  There are times when we question whether we should bother at all with this type of coping method; that we should just show those people how we really feel.  We question whether coping with the pain in this manner is a good idea and we wonder what would happen if we let these people see how we really feel.

Personally, I believe that it wouldn’t make a difference.  When people make those comments to me I tell them that I am in pain; I am always in pain and that I have learned to mask the way I feel in order to make them more comfortable in dealing with me.  I have learned that coping is better than floundering and as long as the people who count: my doctors, case manager and family, know that though I look good that I am still in intense pain then the rest of the planet can go hang! 

Everyone wears a mask of some sort.  Those of us in chronic pain have developed it into an art.  We just ask that the next time that you see us and we happen to be smiling, laughing or even looking good that you watch what you say.  Instead of saying “You must be feeling better” try “You look nice today”.  Ask us what level our pain is; using the typical scale of 0-10.  Tell us that you know we are hurting but seem to be coping well today.  Realize that the mask we are wearing today is simply that; a mask and understand that pain is something that we have learned to live with.