Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam
Pain and fear are a difficult cycle to break. Especially when you don't have answers. Finding a diversion helps some. Whether is coming to the forum, reading or a good show on the tube, anything to get your mind off the pain for a bit. Talking yourself through it may help as well. Its easy to be consumed by pain and fear if you let it. I wish I had something more tangible to offer, but I haven't figured that one out for myself, let alone be able to stop someone else's pain.
I'm in Indiana. Not being raised here, it surprised me when I finally found a pain specialist here. He's great and his staff is nice too. It was only luck that I stumbled upon his clinic. There may be someone in FL. that you just haven't found yet. Don't give up. If you have a good friend or spouse, just venting to them can make a difference. I'm glad you found this forum.
Sam
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About Keeping your mind off of pain - or "Escapes"
as they are called.
Here are some things that help me personally. ...As it is, I have flare ups of bad days when the pain is very annoying and almost unbareble, but then days when I certainly feel it fading away...times where the pain is far "less frequent" and "less painful" - the 2 ways I judge my healing. I can only hope these are good signs.
I keep a "daily journal" of how I feel each day & what I've done. This helps me figure out what irritates my symptoms as well as what heals them, i.e, bad weather, exercise, new vitamins, whatever.
I started eating better and lost nearly 30 pounds in 3 months. (quit Fast-Foods) I will continue to try to be a healthier person, even when this neuropathy stops - better for life in general I think .
Escape #1: Dreams
On an odd note - I practice some strange "escapes" that keep my mind off of the pain. First off, I take no medication for the pain at all. I only take 0.5 mg of Clonozepam/Klonapin twice a day for the anxiety - the rest of the stuff I take are vitamins. So I'm always looking for an escape.
-- so, back to the escapes - I realized I dream every night and I kind of live a 2nd life there (in the dreamworld that is - like most of us ) where the pain can NOT follow. So that's something we can all look forward to EVERY night.
In the morning, I write down the dreams in a daily journal so I can remember them as life-experiences. We literally spend half our lives sleeping, so I figure remembering the dreams (no matter how odd or silly) owes the same as remembering real experiences at times.
Escape #2: RPG Video Games
I also got into playing certain types of Video games. Yes, I'm 42 years old, but I noticed that playing "RPG" or Role Playing Games (On X-Box or PlayStation, or whatever) provides a weird escape from real life. RPG games don't require much rampant button pushing as most video games; so it's not so bad on your fingers - and after a while playing them, they place your mind in an alternate world so to speak.
This might seem downright stupid. It certainly sounds stupid, but it's not. I actually got this idea when I heard that video games are banned from prisoners -why? Not because its entertainment (many prisoners have TVs) but because they make time pass quicker and provide a kind of limited alternate reality that Wardons don't want prisoners to have.
It seems to me, that your mind can only focus on certain things at a time - playing video games for a while during your day or after work in your personal time WILL relax you and take your mind off of depressing thoughts -plus they are just fun in general.
There are many RPG games for women, too like any of the SIMS games. I play Fallout 3 -an apocalyptic game & some cool Star Wars ones, too. ..Is this immature? -- it probably is - does it work as mental therapy? - I KNOW it does for me.
In my therapy group other people use TV shows to pass time and for similar reasons (any Netflix or cable TV Series to be specific) to get their minds off of negative things - I think gaming may be similar, just more interactive. The difference being, games place YOU in the show rather than just watching it.
Anyway, that is my two thoughts regarding "Escapes".
