For the last 8 years or so, there has not been a day when I’ve had no pain. I have pain 24/7. My pain level ranges from mild, tolerable to excruciating, crawl-up-into-a-ball pain. Before I reach for pain medication, I try a series of distractions. Work, my cats, my dog, exercise, healthy eating, walks outside, warmth from heating pads, ice when that feels better, music, meditation…all distractions. I noticed after a long week’s work, I felt more pain on Saturday morning that I had all week. Why? I stopped moving. Rheumatoid Disease and rest don’t always go well together, as counterintuitive as that sounds. Despite my best efforts to minimize pain naturally, I need pain medication.
Fortunately, I when I have asked for refills, I have been granted them without an inquisition.
I’m lucky to have a team of rheumatologists who listen, but they also know that I regularly try to minimize pain and they recognize that no matter what some RD patients do, they may still need a type of pain medicine. Today at my appointment, my rheumatologist listened as I described my inability to use my left thumb and forefinger without immense pain. I was offered a steroid shot which I gladly received knowing I was at a breaking point.
Do other patients feel guilty for receiving steroid shots or pain meds?
Why should I feel guilty? Is it the media’s portrayal of the pain medication user? People living and breathing pain every single day should not be feeling guilt for wanting to have a better quality of life. Sometimes it’s impossible to be distracted. Pain has a way of growing like a wildfire and consuming any piece of clarity still lingering inside. Why would I not take pain medicine in order to function? By function, I mean get out of bed, take a shower, make meals, shop at the store, and hold a job that requires me to think and move constantly. I know many people who are not as fortunate to be offered pain meds and actually fight regularly for prescriptions. This might be me one day but not yet, not today.