On Monday, the pain was identical to that of Sunday. I guess I expected it to hang around for a day, maybe. But no, it decided to stay longer. Monday was full of all of the same bizarre patches of sensitivity all over my body that hurt to touch even lightly. I described below a few of the startling limitations this pain caused. Well, after I wrote and posted that, I got dressed and went out to a movie with my family. I chose a pair of dark jeans that have a bit of stretch to them, thinking they would be more comfortable than other more confining choices. I was wrong. My lower abdomen, that space just below the belly button, hurt so much that the button on my jeans created extremely painful pressure. 20 minutes into the movie, I had to unbutton my jeans to get some relief. I also took an instant release morphine, 2 Aleve, cyclobenzaprine and Lyrica to try to manage the pain while I was out. Even still, I had to get up and rub Biofreeze over my SI and hip joints so I could make it through the movie. I literally did everything I could do to manage the pain that day. Well, Monday was exactly the same except I didn't go anywhere or do anything. I stayed in bed all day, taking a very long nap in the afternoon and just resting with my eyes closed for the rest of the evening. I was vaguely aware of a few calls and messages I received that evening, but kept drifting in and out of what felt like a light coma.
By yesterday, Tuesday, September 29, the inflammation and pain seemed to have gone down a bit. My skin still hurt to touch all over, especially in those areas like my lower abdomen, left side, SI joints, rib cage, chest, thighs, etc. By then I had also noticed how very badly my shoulders hurt, so much so that I could not wear my purse on my shoulder because the pressure was simply too much. So, I carried it in my hand instead. But yesterday, while the sensitivity of my skin had decreased a bit-as evidenced by the fact that I could fold my arms and let them rest against my body again-this deep muscle pain in my neck, shoulders, and upper back became incredibly intense. It felt like I slept in a strange position so that moving my head from side to side hurt pretty badly. And when I went to lie to down to nap at 2pm and then again at 6pm, getting into a comfortable position was nearly impossible. Add to the fact that my entire body felt badly bruised, my muscles ached as I attempted to settle into any position in bed. It was awful. Every time I lifted myself out of bed or lowered myself down into it, I actually cringed and said ouch out loud. It was bad.
Again, I spent the entire day napping and resting in bed. The only differences between yesterday and Monday was that yesterday I had to leave the house for an appointment with my psychologist and I had to take a pain pill to get enough relief to go to sleep. Actually, the latter set yesterday apart from most days. I very rarely need an instant release pain pill to manage pain at home or in bed. Usually just resting or using ice packs is enough. But last night I just couldn't stand it anymore. The pain in my neck, shoulders and back was so intense that I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. It almost felt like my bones were settling or rubbing against each other when I got into bed. Just like the pain that made my whole body hurt to touch, I was confused by the source and intensity of this deep muscle pain.
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