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Man receives constant pain signals from his brain

montgomerynews.com

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Re: Man receives constant pain signals from his brain

#11

Post by WalterSear »

themartorana wrote: post #6
bitsweet wrote: post #2

My Father has suffered with full body RSD/CRPS like the patient in this article. Even the slightest breeze can cause him excruciating pain. He has a morphine pump in his abdomen that provides a constant drip of dilaudid on his spine, its the only thing that lets him manage his pain. There is some hope. Last year some scientists in Italy discovered a break through treatment that has had good success...though only test…

I ask this with all respect for the suffering your father goes through but I am genuinely curious... Has he tried THC in any form (smoke a joint, pill extract)? I have heard of great pain relief from other diseases, and wonder if there would be any relief provided by medicinal marijuana?

I have been diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome, a related or possibly the same disease (there's little science to go on for either condition). THC is fine and good and generally more useful than opioids, but it's no panacea. It just takes the edge off more than anything.

Re: Man receives constant pain signals from his brain

#14

Post by cpncrunch »

andrew1601 wrote: post #12

I suggest the possiblity that this is a manifestation of TMS. Check out John Sarno's The Mindbody Prescription.

Everything I have read about CRPS suggests that it is essentially the same as FMS, i.e. a psychosomatic pain disorder caused by stress. The unexplained weight loss experienced by the patient in this article would also be consistent with this.

Re: Man receives constant pain signals from his brain

#15

Post by throwaway91214 »

spain wrote: post #5

I used to think that something like this wasn't possible. I always assumed that if you were in constant pain or something you would somehow grow used to it over time in the same way that being subjected to cold temperatures raises the bodies resistance to cold temperatures. Another example would be drugs and chemical receptors in the brain. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't it be the same as with drugs, the more…

I suffer from chronic pain (pain 24/7, or at least when awake, varying degrees from bad to terrible terrible pain) and have done for 10 years now.

To answer your question: no. I do know that my tolerance for pain is significantly higher than most people. I still feel the constant pain from when I wake up to when I fall asleep. Its a horrible thing. It affects my mind when I am trying to write code just like it would your mind.

I have had all the best medical treatment possible. There is nothing they can do, so I am voluntarily now off all opioids and other analgesics. I would rather be in pain and have as clear a mind as possible that be high and in less pain ... also the cycle of taking opioids -> tolerating them -> needing them but not getting much benefit -> going off them -> withdrawal -> going back on them ... is not pleasant.

The only way to "win" is to ignore it. To go on with life as if I was not in so much agony. The moment people stop and give up, they are destined for a life of being bed ridden, unemployment, hooked on drugs and even more pain (less exercise, less social contact etc. leads to more pain).

Ignoring it takes an incredible amount of mental discipline.

Plenty of people with chronic pain end up bed ridden, unemployed and sometimes suicide.

I have considered an electronic implant after my docs suggested it. For my specific case its very much experimental. It would cost me a fortune with no guarantee of success ... and always a chance of something bad happening. I don't want to pay for the privilege of being the lab rat so the surgeon can write a paper about me in a medical journal. I will wait and see how this tech develops. When there is a 75% chance of it working I will go ahead. Until then I would rather not have to sell my house.

(throwaway account)

Re: Man receives constant pain signals from his brain

#16

Post by callesgg »

spain wrote: post #5

I used to think that something like this wasn't possible. I always assumed that if you were in constant pain or something you would somehow grow used to it over time in the same way that being subjected to cold temperatures raises the bodies resistance to cold temperatures. Another example would be drugs and chemical receptors in the brain. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't it be the same as with drugs, the more…

I have always thought exactly that to.

On a side note when I have been in major pain at some time I am have atleast been partialy capeble of consiusly ignoring the pain, it still hurts but i just try not to care. Obviously the pain that I have been able to do that with is no were near the pain we are talking about here.

Re: Man receives constant pain signals from his brain

#17

Post by arketyp »

spain wrote: post #5

I used to think that something like this wasn't possible. I always assumed that if you were in constant pain or something you would somehow grow used to it over time in the same way that being subjected to cold temperatures raises the bodies resistance to cold temperatures. Another example would be drugs and chemical receptors in the brain. Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't it be the same as with drugs, the more…

I think it is in Plato's Phaedo where Socrates considers joy impossible without pain. I always thought that this ancient idea of harmony, dating back to the earliest philosophical records and pertaining also to the philosophy of the East, made sense also as a principle of consciousness. So in this respect, the notion of absolute pain (or joy) is disconcerting. Because, where does it reside? What processes constitute pain? Nerve signals, sure, and chemicals. But what is the essence to that? Can the dynamic be abstracted and generalized? Perhaps these questions are the frontier and the real question of the Cartesian ego. Finally, if we don't have answers to this, who is to say then, really, even that there isn't a Hell and eternal pain after death?

Re: Man receives constant pain signals from his brain

#19

Post by bitsweet »

themartorana wrote: post #6
bitsweet wrote: post #2

My Father has suffered with full body RSD/CRPS like the patient in this article. Even the slightest breeze can cause him excruciating pain. He has a morphine pump in his abdomen that provides a constant drip of dilaudid on his spine, its the only thing that lets him manage his pain. There is some hope. Last year some scientists in Italy discovered a break through treatment that has had good success...though only test…

I ask this with all respect for the suffering your father goes through but I am genuinely curious... Has he tried THC in any form (smoke a joint, pill extract)? I have heard of great pain relief from other diseases, and wonder if there would be any relief provided by medicinal marijuana?

He hasn't it tried yet.
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