SUFFER FROM CHRONIC PAIN?
ARE YOU SAD?
Feeling Lost? Alone?
Those of us who suffer from a Disease such as Hidradenitis Suppurativa, or Fibromyalgia, are very likely to suffer from Depression. Because our pain can be so bad, and we feel this pain so much, we sometimes may not even know that we are suffering from depression. Our depression only intensifies our pain, and vice-versa.
People who suffer from Depression along with other diseases have a harder time being treated for their pain. The physical and emotional areas of life are changed by both the pain and the Depression. It is reported that up to sixty percent of patients who suffer from pain also suffer with Depression.
In Hidradenitis Suppurativa, and Fibro, or any disease that causes major pain and loss of function in body movement we have to give up a lot of what our life once was like. We leave behind a life that was once filled with fun, being able to go and do anything at anytime, to one that is restricted. The Quality of Life now has a new meaning.
Have you ever listened to a song on the radio or watched a movie on tv, you may have seen it before, and all of a sudden you start to cry and before you know it Niagra Falls has nothing on you, your just glad you bought that new box of tissues?
Ever been paying your bills and start worrying over them to the point you just start obsessing and can't quit? The more you worry the more you obsess and it becomes a vicious cycle and you sit there for 2 or 3 hours doing this?
Has your significant other came home only to find you in bed where they left you that morning? And you just can't explain to him/her why you could not get up that day?
Can't find your keys, forgot to pay the lightbill, don't want to go out to lunch with a friend, don't want to talk to anyone, you get irritable when someone even speaks to you? Feel like you are alone, and your heart hurts, or feels like it is breaking, and even though you have a good husband, children, etc. you feel like you are unloved, and there is noone there for you? There is not a person on this earth that can help you or understand you?
All of the above are signs and symptoms of Depression, and some of them even mimic other diseases. If you suffer from Depression I urge you to seek help. There have been studies done that show that family members of a depressed person are more likely to be depressed too. People that suffer from depression hurt their loved ones also. Their is no shame in being Depressed.
I call Depression my Blackhole, I have visited my Blackhole often, and sometimes I have lived there for years. I can not tell you how many years I suffered from Depression, I do know that after the Hidradenitis Suppurativa hit me in 1979 and the Fibro came along somewhere around there I went to doctors and asked for help many times. I was asking for help with my diseases, I don't think I knew I was depressed. All they would ever tell me was that it was my boils or allergies, they would give me some pills and send me home which didn't help.
I have been to the bottom of that Blackhole and cried for help and even asked a loved one to kill me. Even went so far as to, well I wont go any further with anymore details, but the Blackhole is not a safe place to be.
I finally found someone that LISTENED (Listened) being the Key Word Here. She listened to everything that I had to tell her through my tears, because I was in pain. When I was through she said "Ok this is what we are going to do. We will start with bloodwork to rule out a lot of things, and then we will go further if that doesn't show anything." Well after the bloodwork and the furthers, the very next thing she did was ask " are you suffering from Depression, because I have a good feeling that you are, from the pain you are in". No other doctor had even acknowledged that I was in pain. I answered "Yes, I think you're right."
It took over a year for my medicines to really help me, we had to work at it. We had to change them, adjust them, and then adjust them some more. We still work at it, and we monitor it at each visit. We discuss how I feel, if I feel my medication is still doing ok. If it isn't then we still make changes.
Have you ever woke up one morning and the Sun was Shining? Not Outside the Window, but Inside Your Body? Well I Did!! The Sky Was Blue, The Grass Was Green, My Kids were Beautiful, and my Husband was The Most Wonderful Man On Earth!!! It was like I had missed a whole lifetime of my life.
I still have times that I visit the Blackhole, but they are not as often now, and certainly not for very long. My biggest thing is if I forget to take my pills at night or in the morning, this can mess me up for 3 or 4 days, but then I fight to pull and climb my way back to the top of that blackhole. I do not want to stay in that bottomless pit anymore.
My only hope is that you seek help, tell your doctor that you are suffering, unless he knows he can't help you. If he will not help you, find someone that will. Please take a look at the links provided below, hopefully these will show you that you do not have to be eaten and swallowed by the BLACKHOLE, and I hope they will show you that you too can climb out.
Lynette
http://www.hopkins-arthritis.som.jhmi.edu/mngmnt/depression.html
http://www.wingofmadness.com/blog/affect/
http://www.healthieryou.com/nmhmdepression.html
http://www.chronicpainsupport.org/depression.html
http://www.crescentlife.com/disorders/depression_and_chronic_illness.htm
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