Chronic Pain - The Prognosis

THE PROGNOSIS: As the first two weeks of these symptoms crept by, I let my Medical Team know of my concerns. During that time, I had been seeing Nancy two times each week and her latest suggestion was to have Gage come in to the office (again) to learn more PT that he could do with me at home to help manage the pain on days when I did not have appointments. (This blessing would potentially decrease likely pain build-up, as well as save us the $30.00 co-pay for each visit!)

Gage was gracious enough to come with me – even though he was already on his Spring Break at that time and also desperately needed a “break” himself. The session went very well! Nancy is an amazing teacher and Gage is a fast learner, so we left there feeling confident – we still feel confident in fact – however, the pain still shows its ugly face every hour of every day…

Because I was primarily seeing Nancy for PT during those weeks, Dr. Julie was kind enough to contact me through her personal email account so that she was more accessible. I explained to Dr. Julie my problems with both sleeping and eating and let her know that I was at my absolute point of desperation. Dr. Julie began by explaining the correlation between chronic pain and sleep. She said, “Nancy and I did talk and you need to talk with Dr. C (my new Pain Management Specialist who is also in their office) about your sleep issues. Pain and sleep have a reciprocal relationship. That is, when you have increased frequency and intensity during the day, you will have poorer quality sleep that night and poor quality sleep can lead to increased pain during the day.”

Dr. Julie went on to tell me that she also thinks I have a depletion of serotonin due to my chronic pain. She explained that, “Often, early morning wakings can indicate decreased serotonin levels. Since serotonin is the neurotransmitter used by the internal pain management system AND the emotional brain, it can get mightily depleted in a person with chronic pain.” Furthermore, she stated that low serotonin levels also greatly affect a person’s appetite.

Official Prognoses: Hello, my name is Stephanie Dodson. I have Chronic Pain Disorder. I am sleep deprived. My serotonin levels and appetite are compromised. And, even though I have a brilliant group of medical professionals who are working around-the-clock to help me, I still do not know the absolute root of my pain; therefore, its treatment continues to be a guessing game...

IN OTHER NEWS - I GRADUATED! The good news was that Mark had decided that I “graduated” from Biofeedback Therapy. First, he established that I had the breathing, visualization, self-monitoring and relaxation techniques so well-practiced that I no longer required weekly sessions with him for those purposes. Then, he reaffirmed that Biofeedback Therapy, while productive in regards to any pain, is truly most beneficial when there are not “mechanical” issues that are deterring true treatment advances. Because I have a long list of non-treated mechanical issues, Mark felt it best for me to keep him as part of my Medical Team (seeing him every 4-6 weeks to check-in) and to focus on the physical aspect of my pain. Yes, Ladies and Gents, I am not crazy, I am not clinically depressed, and the pain is not psychological (as indicated to me once by The Surgeon) – I am a bonafide chronic pain patient with a “complicated and complex” case.