Pain level 10

[tempest]

I am dealing with pain all day and night long. I take methadone, marinol, and a muscle relaxer. The first two pills are for pain. I have an autoimmune disease called Fibromyalgia. It causes problems in the muscles and joints of the body. It is all over too, not just one location. I have a second autoimmune disease waiting and lurking in me...the doctor sees it just can't diagnose it yet.

Pain is a huge trigger for me and the comfort comes in various forms. I use natural remedies, traditional medicine, mediation, prayer, excersize, and guided imagry...but most importantly cigs and caffine are also things I try to use to comfort me. I am trying to give up smoking and should stop drinking caffine as well. they seem to go hand in hand. I want a cig when I drink a coke and vise versa. One of those never ending circles I am addicted to.

This is going to be hard for me...any suggestions would help.

(the title, for those that don't know, is the highest number on a pain scale. the scale runs from 1, being the lowest, to 10.)

[tony3]

Try tea for your caffeine. If you change the drink, you change the habit. If you don't like tea, you can try hot chocolate made with real cocoa, which also has caffeine and the warming sensation may help to ease your pain as well. You could also try to bump up your time with guided visualization and deep breathing, or find a yoga pose that doesn't hurt (my cousin has fibro, and she does childs pose and says it helps.) Also taking a hot bath for the first little while might be a good idea... it will be relaxing and the all overall heat will help stimulate your blood flow.
Good luck with quitting, I know fibro can be a HUGE hurtle to overcome, but if you have faith, you can do it.

[tempest]

Thank you so much for your resonse!

[jesse]

Hi

I just joined and have fibro too...what is marinol? never heard of it...but boy I know what you mean about wanting to smoke because of the pain. This is my first day trying to not smoke. Did any of Tony's suggestions work for you?
Jesse

[dessa]

Tempest, I, too, battle fibromyalgia along with some other auto-immune disorders. And when I am in pain, I reach for more smokes, so it is nice to know I am not the only one.

I agree with Tony about the yoga....child's pose helps me and so does happy baby. Check out www.yyogajournal.com for information on poses.

Take care,
Dessa

[dessa]

Thank you also for your post--I smoke when I am in pain & has been in a major flare-up since September. I had gotten my smoking down to zero for days in a row and then ruined it when I went into pain.

Yoga helps me.

Take care,
Dessa

[Lyndi]

I too am in pain 24/7 and have been for most of my life. I have several spinal disorders, arthritis of almost every joint, fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, autoimmune disease, etc.etc. I turned into a chain smoker in the last few years. Pain in the middle of the night has been a biggie. I've been smoking for 46 years. It's so insane.

I haven't smoked since late evening on December 31, 08, so I'm in the middle of day four smoke free. I've been using lots of hot packs, watching Star Trek dvds, fiddling with straws cut down to cigarette size, sucking on Committ lozenges, doing deep breathing exercises and drinking very hot coffee and tea. That horrible "little voice" in my head keeps insisting that I "need" a cigarette. That voice has been my downfall more times than I care to admit.

If anyone has a trick or two (besides time) to shut that thing up, I'd love to know what you did.

Lyndi

[Lyndi]

Thought I'd add a little update. My pain level is around an 8 today, but I'm at work and haven't had a cigarette for 10 days now! My pain level hasn't dropped with not smoking, but breathing has already gotten much easier. That little voice has been giving me the gears today - telling me that "just one" wouldn't hurt. I hope it shuts up soon. 🙂

[lisa78]

I have fell today with 3 cigarette. I have just sign up on this web site so I hope things will go better for me .

[lizzy2]

lyndi,
new to group. it was the way you described your "little voice" that reminded me of something my mother passed on to me. when you here the "little voice", imagine that it is in front of you and as it is speaking, take your (mental) hands and place them over its little mouth! to save me i can't remember why i was using this technique (it's been awhile) but it always made me giggle to think of the muffled sounds the voice would be making with my hands over its little mouth--and i would ONLY hear the muffled talking sounds instead of the little voice words. i hope i didn't explain this to death!
#2 i have bipolar disorder and a friend of mine used to have a horrible time with depression--she sheepishly told me one day that a therapist had suggested that she respond to her mental conversations that were suggesting suicide--that she verbally/out loud say"no" to the ideation. she confided in me that sometimes she would actually fairly yell "no". these two ideas, plus gummy life savers and whatever else i can find are going to help when begin my quit on feb 9.

i really appreciate your comments. not only did they remind me of some things that will help, but the process motivated me to get up and go mark my quit date on my calendar. the date is now officially set!