I'm not really sure where to post this. Chronic pain? Here? I feel really low tonight and I know that part of that is sleep deprivation. last night I only slept for 2 hours because the pain was so bad.

As some people will know I have a severe pain disorder and I have gone through the hospital system and come out the other end no better. there are no more drugs to try. I live in New Zealand so the options are more limited. I haven't been seeking to be pain free, just to have reduced pain. I'm usually about 6/10 pain score but that has gone up to about a 9/10 in the last few weeks. Especially my hands and feet. A great way to disable someone. I know meds are only part of the solution but if I can't get the pain lowered it's almost impossible to do all the other things that can help.

before i developed this condition I had a long history of very serious depression, since I was 18 and now I'm dealing with this. I know there's lots of other people struggling with equally difficult things. I just don't know where to go from here there is no quality of life and I see little hope of that changing. I can't see a way forward and I'm steadily getting worse. Have other people found a way to live with severe pain??? All I feel is despair.

Indigo,

Thank you for sharing that with us.

Living with the intensity of pain that you are going through can easily deepen someones depression, especially for those that have been dealing with depression before they had to deal with pain. There are so many places that you could have posted, but this board is probably as good as any of the others. There is not a whole lot that I can suggest for you but I did want to offer a little support.

It was recently suggested to myself to try some relaxation techniques. This is something that does work for some people, but not for others. Have you given that, or any other stress relief techniques a try at all. It has not worked for me yet, but I am not yet ready to give up on it, as I know it is something that takes some time and getting used to doing.

I hope you are able to find some relief from both your pain and depression. Please keep us posted if you should find anything that works for you. Until then, please know that there are plenty of us here to offer our support along the way.