Post by snowyh on Aug 11, 2012 16:40:29 GMT -7
I typically get bouts of phantom pain 2-3 times/year, each lasting 1-3 days, of varying intensity, but ALWAYS triggered by stress. If mild, I "grin and bear it"--if more intense, I take 1 mg Lorazepam twice daily to take the edge off (nothing makes them stop completely). I generally wait until I'm at work to take the morning pill, and then take the evening pill as soon as I get home from work, as I don't want to drive while under the influence.
A week or so ago I woke up about 3:30am and immediately started having jolts of pretty intense phantom pain. On a work day, of course. Hence, my conundrum--should I wait 4.5 hours until I get to work to medicate*, or medicate now and drive under the influence, or take a sick day (not possible given my current work demands)? I guess I could've asked a neighbor for a ride to work, but they've all got their own jobs to go to. Plus then I have to figure out how I'm going to get home.
I hopped online to check my email while contemplating my options, and a Yahoo article caught my eye. The gist of it was that smiling reduces stress, so I engaged in a little experiment of my own: smile to reduce my stress, thereby possibly reducing my stress-induced phantom pain. Naturally, one cannot smile continuously for hours on end, so I just did it for a few seconds every time I thought about it. And by golly it worked! I did not need to take ANY pills that day, and the rest of the bout just kind of fizzled out. Of course this wasn't scientific (like the study cited in the article), and I haven't had the opportunity to test it again to see if I can repeat the results, but I will say that it's the first time in 40 years of suffering from pp that I tried something that actually worked.
Link to full article: blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/07/simply-smiling-can-actually-reduce-stress/
Helen
*I generated additional stress just by considering that one!
A week or so ago I woke up about 3:30am and immediately started having jolts of pretty intense phantom pain. On a work day, of course. Hence, my conundrum--should I wait 4.5 hours until I get to work to medicate*, or medicate now and drive under the influence, or take a sick day (not possible given my current work demands)? I guess I could've asked a neighbor for a ride to work, but they've all got their own jobs to go to. Plus then I have to figure out how I'm going to get home.
I hopped online to check my email while contemplating my options, and a Yahoo article caught my eye. The gist of it was that smiling reduces stress, so I engaged in a little experiment of my own: smile to reduce my stress, thereby possibly reducing my stress-induced phantom pain. Naturally, one cannot smile continuously for hours on end, so I just did it for a few seconds every time I thought about it. And by golly it worked! I did not need to take ANY pills that day, and the rest of the bout just kind of fizzled out. Of course this wasn't scientific (like the study cited in the article), and I haven't had the opportunity to test it again to see if I can repeat the results, but I will say that it's the first time in 40 years of suffering from pp that I tried something that actually worked.
Link to full article: blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/07/simply-smiling-can-actually-reduce-stress/
Helen
*I generated additional stress just by considering that one!