I begin by telling you about my background with chronic pain - I am 48 years old - when I was 12 I had severe S shaped scoliosis - a 85 degree curve on top and 78 on the bottom - I had 9 major surgeries as a result stemming from harrington rods that never fused, other rods that were drilled into my vertebrae, many diskectomies, laminectomines and fusions in cervical (C4-6), entire thoracic is fused, two lumbar fusions and pedicle screws in sacro lumbar - and cages/plates in cervical collar.....

After many years of being an athlete and exercising at competitive levels everyday - many other problems have arisen - arachnoiditis, severe stenosis throughout entire cervical and lumbar spine, severe arthritis, many impinged nerves etc, etc, etc...

I have had the pain pump installed and removed three times - it is now removed permanently as of last year. I have had SCS - which works through the external TENS but not internally - and only temporary - I have been on every class of drug including but not limited to NSAIDs, drugs for depression that are used for pain (have not suffered from depression), muscle relaxers, seizure meds (I do not have seizures), anti convulsives, neuropathic drugs like neurotin, Lyrica etc, every narcotic at every dosage known to man, you name it I have not only tried it but tried to work through horrific side effects and a tendency to be allergic to everything....

I have been on an on-going physical therapy on land and water (regimines (which I highly recommend to everyone in chronic pain from any source on their bodies), accupuncture several times (meaning for more than six months at a time), massage therapy, meditation, pain psychology, biofeedback etc. I was hoping to get into hypnosis for pain but I could not be hypnotized - bummer. (This is known to work very well for some people.)

I have had every conceivable procedure, keeping up with the technology of the times since I was 12 - which is about 38 years worth of procedures each year - epidural injections several times a year since I was 12 with no effect, myleograms, discograms, nerve blocks, trigger point injections, nerve ablation procedures and the list goes on and on....pain pumps, SCS installation and removal, TENS unit, ice and heat etc.

The reason I wrote all this is because I am now without the pain meds from the pain pump which I had from 2003 - 2011 and I got as high as you could go on the narcotic in the pump(there really is not a "highest" level just guidelines in my state.) While I had the pump I was on 60mg of Oxycontin and 40 mg oxycodone each day -

Due to severe reactions to narcotics I had to reduce and I am now on 30 mg of Oxycontin and 50 mg of oxycodone each day and going down weekly if possible -

My point is that somehow my body keeps adjusting - based on the pathology of my spine - doctors are surprised that not only am I able to walk - I exercise each day and do physical therapy daily and I am highly functional for the amount of pain and stiffness and nerve pain that I have......

I am finding that you can "perceive" pain differently - it takes a huge amount of discipline and dedication and working through the pain - but it is totally amazing....

As I have been on this journey I ran across recent discoveries that show that people suffering from chronic pain have a brain disease - this has been proven over and over in clinical trials that highlight the brain in chronic pain patients....

Chronic pain is NOT a symptom it is a brain disease. And the brain can rewire itself - just like nerves can grow back if diseased or ablated - the brain is capable of doing the same thing....thus allowing people with stroke, blindness, deafness etc to train the brain to work differently to help them.

This means that people in chronic pain - can retrain their minds as to how they perceive pain - and ultimately - control it better or totally ( I am hoping) by changes in environment, brain exercises, meditation etc.

They do not know yet exactly how to rewire brains in humans with chronic pain - but I can tell you from experience.....my personal journey - that something fantastic is happening - to allow me to continue to function, dare I say function better, on less and less pain medications and with less pain.

It is work looking into - the key words would be neuroplasticity, brain, neurons - if you want to start learning about what's been happening recently in science as it applies to all of us....google these words and start reading....

You may get some ideas that work for you on how to cope with pain in different ways -

It is interesting that Buddhists monks are able to control their minds through meditation and contemplation daily exercises - and totally block out pain - meditation was very difficult for me to get my head around - and it is still difficult for me to do daily - but the benefits not only help my chronic pain but all aspects of how I deal/cope with life.

Hope someone can get some help from this information.

I pray that everyone in pain can through perseverance find the help that they need even if it comes from within!

Kelli from WIS