Pain causing depression or depression causing pain?

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Permalink Reply by Leenda on April 2, 2008 at 11:09am

OMG AUNTIE!!!! I was going to call you later or this weekend and talk to you about this!!!!

Sooooo insync. Ok it's a wierd day,I've been feeling ,so stick close to me and I you.I'll be in Fresno,text me.

Either way,(we'll talk more later) We got to find some mood elevators to start with.St Johns wart? ask our csc life coach..yeay,yea that's it as her,she'll for sure know
:o) :o) :o) :o)



Fr

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Permalink Reply by Sherry on April 2, 2008 at 11:11am

Great question! I don't have endometriosis, but having had two kids, I can relate to the pain. I have my own...bone pain in the hips and low back and its almost constant. I have been reassured by my onc that its not canser-related...but a side effect of chemo-induced neuropathy/arthritis. It is always there, some days more aggravated than others and I think depression/moods only make it worse (along with the damp weather and cold). I believe its a vicious cycle where one feeds off of the other...you think about it and it the pain worsens, which makes you more depressed, and so on. My doc recommended PT and exercise to help alleviate the pain, get my mind occupied and focused on other things. Right now, I'm focusing on spring/summer activities and plans. Don't know if that will help...I know its a neverending battle - keep fighting warrior girl!!

xo Sherry

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Permalink Reply by Leenda on April 2, 2008 at 11:17am

Sherry you and I have to talk as well.Pain in my hip,etc I mean on the pain scale average of 6 and worse on other days,walking aggreviates all the pain.so does sleeping,standing,sitting.I'm really frustrated.So I've turned to yoga,too soon to know if that will help,for some reason,I belive it will.Accupunture is on my list of things to do.I missed my appt and intend to rescheudle.
What summer plans do you have?

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Permalink Reply by Lauren on April 2, 2008 at 11:19am

Goony, I'm sooo sorry you're in so much pain. I'm no expert, so I'm not gonna try to be. My personal experience is limited, but I do always get stomach pains when I'm stressed or nervous. Even when I don't realize I'm stressed, my stomach will let me know :) Like silly stuff when I start a new job, my stomach gets a little wonky.

But all that pales into comparison to what you're going through, so sorry if that wasn't helpful. I think when you work through all the pain of losing your FIL, your physical pain will probably lessen. Oops I said I wasn't gonna try to be an expert.

I'm actually taking a class on Loss and for some people a symptom of grief is physical -- stomach pains, nausea, headaches...etc.
So I would imagine grief could exacerbate your endometriosis.

Good luck I'll try to do some Reiki on you. I've been attuned, so we'll see!

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Permalink Reply by Helen on April 2, 2008 at 11:55am

I'm sorry you are in so much pain. Have you tried heat? I know sometimes that works for me. I really think pain leads to depression and depression can cause pain. I think like someone said already its a vicious circle. Give yourself some time to grieve your fil's passing. Maybe meditate? How is your diet been? Maybe that is aggravating symptoms too? I wish I had more advice...just wanting to throw some stuff out there that might strike a cord. Living with pain is horrible. ((hugs))

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Permalink Reply by Katrina on April 2, 2008 at 12:11pm

I am sorry you are in so much pain both physically and emotionally.

I can relate to pain. I have trigeminal neuralgia and I live with migraine like pain almost everyday. Pain that makes me want to crawl into a hole. So yes, I get depressed. I feel like I can never be present enough for the kids (when I am in pain having them even move near me makes it worst) and things in the house get behind and the days I am feeling well I spend stressed just trying to catch up. So, it is a vicious cycle...perhaps the pain would be less if I was less stressed/depressed but I can't be less stressed/depressed because of the pain.

I am sending much healing light your direction. Have you been doing anything to try and deal with the pain...herbs, aromatherapy, warmth, etc? I do suspect as you begin to heal from your loss you pain will subside too. Our bodies know how to make us slow down and take care of ourselves. Take this time to be gentle with yourself, hun.

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Permalink Reply by Casey on April 2, 2008 at 12:30pm

I believe the depression is brought on by the pain not the pain by the depression. Sure you can get aches and pains from depression, but when you have chronic illness there are so many more factors. I know that when my pain leaves, if only for a few hours, I feel fine. When it returns it starts my emotions roaring and everything to kick into high gear (i.e. I can't live like this, why me?)

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Permalink Reply by jennfirst on April 2, 2008 at 1:08pm

From my personal experience I think pain worsens depression. I was in a jet ski accident last June which led me to my 2nd shoulder surgery with severe nerve damage this time. The pain is still unbearable at times, but the depression the first 3-4 months was really bad. My physical therapist said this is very common in people that experience pain. Pain is hard to control and is so frustrating. Oh Goony, I'm sending you great big hugs right now.

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Permalink Reply by farmgirlErin on April 2, 2008 at 6:09pm

My experience was that pain made depression worse. I had excruciating leg pain from my chemo that kept me from EVER being comfortable, so it also messed up my sleep. I had quit taking my pain meds b/c I knew I'd be having more bone marrow biopsies and surgeries and I didn't want to develop a tolerance to pain stuff. When my social worker at the cancer center got wind of this, she convinced me to start taking my pain meds again, and presto! depression subsided, I slept better, and who doesn't enjoy getting jazzed up on pain meds from time to time hahaha. But I think everyone's different and the 2 do go hand-in-hand. Also exercise helped me too. The only time the pain was bearable was when I was walking my big-best-friend puppy.

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Permalink Reply by Lori on April 2, 2008 at 6:45pm

I think they go hand in hand. I haven't been online but maybe an hour since last week due to both. When I am in a lot of pain, I feel helpless and sometimes I feel like a burden to others and in turn, that causes severe depression. It had gotten so bad the month before last I had thoughts of death. Not that I planned to harm myself or anything, but I just had a feeling that I'd finally feel better and not 'bother' anyone else if I'd just 'expire' (in what I hoped to be a quick and painless method).

I have noticed recently that a combination of my pain, depression and hormones are really causing some severe reactions that were never a part of my life before. Sure, I've been depressed but not to this extent and nowhere near as bad as it has been for me where I am finding myself almost comforted by thinking about my demise. This seems to happen ~1 week before my cycles every time. I think that the pain and depression alone are bad enough but when I mix in any hormonal issues the results are catastrophic.

I find that when I am not having much pain, I feel a lot better emotionally and have no problems being my usual self and more often than not, poking fun at my pain, ailments, or whatever. When the pain is out of my control, the depression is soon to follow. I am personally not good with depression as it's something new to me and I am unfamiliar with it. I don't really know how to handle it and I just try my best to stay calm (although my first 'bad' thought I called my mom and insisted I was 'crazy' hehe).

I am in pain more often than I am not in pain, and the one thing I have realized is when I have some control over it I am much happier. I think pain causes depression, and depression makes the pain worse. When I let my anxiety get up, I start to feel out of control and then I tense up and make my pain worse (get headaches, etc.).

Sorry for rambling, I'm going to go back to bed now until this passes.

I don't have endometriosis, but I have a "sort of" variant of it (instead of the 'tissue/adhesions' I have cysts). I think having Lyme is what really did me in, because I can't control the pain at all anymore.

I apologize if I didn't make sense or if I was rambling, my brain is kind of foggy today and I think I have the flu or something.

I hope you feel better (physically and mentally) very soon.

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Permalink Reply by Goony on April 2, 2008 at 7:14pm

Lori, I think you hit it on the head. Pain causes depression, and depression makes the pain worse. I no longer have a uterus, which confuses people when I say I have endo. It is growing all over the inside of my abdomen, and I also get cysts. Mine are called endometriomas, or chocolate cysts. When they rupture, and the blood spills out into my abdomen, it is excruciating. This past month, I was already depressed. So it makes sense that the pain is feeding of of that. They feed off eachother. I too am a happy person when I'm not in pain. I am a completely different person. But when pain sets in for long periods of time, like the past month, I start to have similar thoughts of how much better life for my family would be if I weren't here. I forced myself to take my kids for a bike ride to the park today. How sad is it that I had to force myself?! And because I did that, I can barely walk now. I will be heading to bed here shortly, with my heating pad, and that will be it for me. I can not tolerate vicodin, which is what I was typically prescribed before deciding to fight this o'natural. The vicodin triggers panic attacks, so it's either deal with the pain, or deal with the terror of feeling like I can't breath and am about to die. I think I'll just feel the pain, until I pass out!

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Permalink Reply by Lori on April 3, 2008 at 12:57pm

It usually takes the edge off for me, I wish I had some last night and all I had was this crappy naproxen business. My primary problem in that region is they've done surgery so much I have to get surgery once a year to remove the adhesions and I guess last night was my reminder. I just had it done last May, sigh. My adhesions always land in the same spot and I end up with a small bowel obstruction. It was so bad last night I couldn't move (or have a movement, for that matter). The pain will linger for 2 weeks and refresh itself if I get another SBO. My GI doctor doesn't believe in pain medication and my Gyn always does naproxen for pain control and vicodin for surgery. I always end up having to go to the ER, have them diagnose a bowel obstruction, then ask why my doctors didn't give me anything stronger or schedule surgery sooner, then I go home with my vicodin that cost me an additional $250.00 for an ER visit! Bah.

I'm not insured at the moment, so I'm trying to 'suck it up' the best I can and hope that I can avoid any complications until I have the insurance part under control. It's just stinky having to deal with the pain because it's making me a miserable person to be around. I can always tell the difference because I go to bed early, wake up late, and am tired all day - not to mention, I'm averaging 10 crying outburts a day now and I think only half of them are from pain and the rest are self pity.

Thanks for the reply, while it's not nice to hear others deal with it or have the feelings of desperation - it's comforting in a way to know I'm not alone and while it's not "normal" - it's at least not a very uncommon reaction to long-term pain.

Also, with endometriosis I always thought it fancied other areas rather than the uterus (tubes and such). I don't underestimate what female-things can do. Like my mom doesn't even have a cervix but her last 3 paps came back for pre-cancer cells on her cervix she doesn't have.

I'm headed to the couch with my heating pad, I'll be thinking about you!! Just know that you're not alone in this.

*Hugs*

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