Dealing with more chronic pain in the winter--how do you deal?
Hey all,
Since developing chronic pain in my back in my 20s (due to cerebral palsy), life has been...an interesting journey to say the least. 😅
Thankfully, losing weight has taken a good chunk of it away, but some of it will always be there--especially in the winter/colder temperatures. So, like the thread title states, how do you all deal with enhanced pain in the cold?
For me, it's a mix between my heating pad, hot baths, the very occasional pain killer, and just trying to keep myself in a positive mindset (music seems to help a lot with this one).
So yeah, I'm definitely open to suggestions. :)
@sereneSunset26 I do a lot of similar things to you! I
get a lot of joint pain when I get to cold so I make sure I always have plenty of layers, particularly gloves. I try to be really patient with pacing myself to reduces the chances of triggering a flare. Warm teas often help emotionally a bit and they can warm me up from the inside out.
I've recently found some help recently from a weighted blanket although it can be difficult to move around.
Having friends (through cups, social media and to a lesser extent irl) that I can genuinely talk to has been helpful in reminding me that I can cope with the more intense pain because I have before, but also that it's okay to be upset when it's near unbearable. Being isolated makes it much worth so I'd definitely keep reaching out to places like here!
I liked the chronic pain self help guide on here for coming down from the point of feeling like you have no control at all. It has its limits, but I thing it's useful for learning to reframe those panicked thoughts.
Good luck, I hope something here was useful or at least helped you feel more understood :)
@sereneSunset26
Hi i have back pain due to ms.
Im on opiods, but someday even this dont shift it and im always cold too, this could be due to my neurological condition.
I try and pace myself but when i do chores and then rest my other half wants me to do more even tho they know my condition amd the more i do the longer and more im in pain
I just dont know what to do for the best anymore.