Chronic Pain

Hello everyone, im kate, im 19 and have lived in cp for 3 years... i have endometriosis and adhesions, have had 2 surgeries a year to control it, on lupron and other pain meds...
im trying to go to college but on an average day my pain is at a 6, with meds... i struggled thru my first year of college and it was extremely hard... i cannot get to all my classes a week, its just not possible for me, which needless to say causes major issues... ive been agonizing over next term because im signed up for 19 credits, and i kno it is too much for me, but if i do not do it this term, ill have to take that many in the future... which is not much better, but i dont know what to do, cuz i have to take more classes than i can physically handle per term or i will not graduate on time. i also get very scared for the future, cuz i do not know how it will be possible for me to ever get, let alone keep a job... i can't go to 3 classes a day, so how m i going to manage an 8 to 5 job? and what job lets u miss a lot of hours?
needless to say, i get very hopeless becuase of all this, and that is why i came here, to try and find people going thru or have gone thru the same stuff... just to have someone who understands what getting up in the morning takes would be a huge help... so im looking forword to getting to know all of u!

I understand what you are saying I work everyday and suffer from much pain in my neck and back I dont like this pain thing and by the sounds of it you have had it with pain as well. I am going to talk with people here and try to deal with it although if a person is not in pain like we are on this forum they would never understand what it is like or the toll it takes on the mind and on the body simple things are not simple anymore the simple things come with an attachment that being called pain trust me when I say we live a very hard life those of us that suffer with pain

Hi Kate,
Welcome to ChronicPainConnection! You've found a great group of people who understand what you're going through. I worked in pain at a regular 8 to 5 job for many years and can remember vividly how difficult it was to make myself get up, get dressed and go to work every day. Thankfully, now I'm able to work from home and set my own hours, which is certainly much better, although I do miss the social interaction with coworkers.

I've been thinking about your dilemma about how many classes to take. Is there a reason you have to graduate by a certain time? It might be better to postpone graduation by a semester or two in order to make things more tolerable for yourself.

I sympathize with your concerns for your future career. I don't know what field you're going into, but you may need to start thinking creatively about the type of jobs you might get. At least today the Internet has given us a lot more options for working at home at least some of the time. Maybe some of your friends can help you brainstorm ideas. Or let us know if we can be of any help.

We're glad to have you a part of our little community here. Please keep in touch.

Karen

Thank you both for the welcome! about the credits for school, i really do have to graduate on time because i hav a $10,000 a year scholarship that runs out after 4 years... and even with that im already in tons of debt b/c of loans (i dont qualify for any financial aide b/c of my step dad who does not help me with paying for college, which pretty much means i get the short end of the stick...

I wanted to go into medicine believe it or not, but i will not be able to make it through med school... and i am majoring in biology (really do not like any other catagory...) but dont really know what to do carrer wise for obvious reasons...

anyway, thanks again for the welcome and its good to find people who understand... i live in montana, which has no support groups for pain, and my mom and friends try, but they just dont get it, and i understand that, but its still frustrating....

thanks again and hope u guys have a low pain week!
Kate

Kate,
It is very good that you are going to school and trying to make a better life for yourself.Living with a leval 6 pain is not good, it makes me wonder if you should find a better doctor.Why are you on Lupron? Just curious, since it is a male prostate med.
I had very bad endometriosis, I cannot think of the name of the IUD(I will get back with you on that}. But it is the newest one on the market, and was shown to reduce the pain. I had it put in back in Aug.WOW!!!!!!What a differance. The very first month my pain was reduced by 50%, and after the 3ed month I stopped having my period. So, I have no pain at all now from that.But a doctor may not be will to put in a IUD for you unless you have had a child. Belive me it is worth checking it out!!!!
Do you see a pain sepcalist? If not, check into it-you should not have to live with so much pain. I am lucky to have such a great doctor, and they keep my pain[neck] leval down to a 2, and sometimes I do not not have pain. Without my meds it is unbaeradle!!I relocated 4 years ago, and could not find a doctor to treat my pain, after 4 months i became sueicidl. I checked myself into a mental hospital, and I think God for that. They put me on the medications I needed, and referred me to the doctor I see today. I fell no doctor took me serouly until it was almost to late.
Take care, and let me know how you are doing.
Sharon

The pain of endometriosis is often overlooked and undermanaged. I had endo and extreme pelvic pain for years....had 2 surgeries to remove some. During my last surgery they found my uterus totally compromised by another disease adenomyosis and I had a hysterectomy (which is why I say I had endo). I am only 34 and never had children, so having a hysterectomy sucked.
I have other chronic pain (back mostly) that I'm dealing with now.
PS. Lupron is onften used to induce temporary menopause in women which can offer relief from endo pain. I never took it because I didn't want to go into menopause. Even with the hysterectomy, I kept my ovaries so i won't go into menopause until the right time.

Dear Lavagirl,
You have been through alot, and I am very sorry you are unable to have a child.There is so much more about your condition that I did not know, I am lucky to have a quick fix like mine.
Do you take anything for your depression?Before I went on med. for my depression, pain meds. would not work.I am doing better than I have done since my accident 5 yrs. ago, but it is still hard to get up and do things.Hang in there. Sharon