Over Christmas got a bacteria infection and started bleeding. Gyno was amazed that I didn't have any pain because it was so bad.

Is there any literature about pain--doctor I saw didn't believe me.

Went and tried to click on a couple of sights and they wouldn't open--anyone have any information?

Thanks,
L

I think that pain is sometimes more noticeable when we are not dealing with the normal distractions of life and trying to rest at night.

Maybe your position of sleeping is effecting your pain as well. Mattress maybe? Just the fact that you are in a flat position, your joints are resting in a different way, maybe?

I know that pain thresolds are thrown off by Bb infection. My daughter's pain thresold is very low. She cannot handle some of the smallest causes of pain. I will look into it. Right now I gotta run an errand. Hang in there!

So am I the only one? I read a symptom list here somewhere once that talked about pain thresholds.

Anyone else know?

I am not someone trained in the mind, but it sounds like you have learned to compartmentalize your pain or suppress it until your subconsious mind takes over at night.

Poor thing are you feeling rested in the morning? I wonder if Marnie's info on magnesium would be helpful. She is so smart about Melatonin and Seratonin as well. All of these are important when trying to rest.

Could your doctor help you with any of those?

Of course the central nervous system is so involved in lyme that it would make sense that your nerve endings may not be responding and firing as they normally would if they are damaged by the Bb.

Could anyone help us on this?

This is a toughy Linda, because most people here are suffering in a big way during the daytime hours, as well as night.

I do know that low MSH levels are responsible for the pain threshold lowering. I couldn't find the lymenet post about it though, sorry.

When something unusual happens, another illness to add to the heap, personal loss, tragedy, lack of sleep, big changes in our lives outside of the lyme disease, the change can throw off our coping gifts....leaving us in more pain...

In any situation, it's highly individualized. I know of a man who died of pancreatic cancer who never took narcotic pain meds...he relied on the Lord to take away his pain...Faith as narcotic...It worked for him miraculously. If only my faith were that strong!

We all cope in our own ways with physical and emotional pain. Some of us have higher or lower threshholds for pain. I was considered to have a high tolerance for pain before lyme...I had ruptured ovarian cysts and was applauded for how I handled the pain by the ER staff. It just seemed normal for me then...

Lyme pain can bring me to my knees some days, and not phase me on others. It depends on many factors. Just knowing that I have adequate medication to deal with it if it gets bad leaves me using less medication. It's an assurance factor...

Running low on meds leaves me anxious and hyper aware of pain....If one of my children needs me, my pain gets pushed to the background...they come first.

Many factors play into how we each feel and cope with pain. If you want more concise answers have a chat with a good pain management specialist...One that does not give you stacks of psychological assessments to fill out first. The docs that do that first tend to look for psychological reasons for your pain first, rather than accepting that you feel pain and need help.

The docs that assume that it's ALL in your head really singe my drawers. We all know that lyme pain can be overwhelming....there is no way that it's all in our heads...Many factors combine to determine how and how much we feel our pain. There is no simple response to the question of pain.

I do know that most people who take meds for chronic pain do so to return to normal living, to be able to function more normally. This mindset leads away from the fears of addiction. Yes, physiological dependence may develop, but addiction is not usually the result.

If we take narcotic meds to anesthetize emotional pain, then addiction is a likely outcome. But, if we take them to stop physical pain in order to return to a functional level, dependence rather than addiction is the main concern...

For me, I can deal with dependence...It's a piece of cake compared to living with the deficits that chronic pain offers me. A few days of withdrawls after all of this has passed is well worth the ability to function in the meantime....

I've touched on a few areas of dealing with pain, how we feel it, etc....it's complex, unique to each patient, and there really isn't a simple answer to your question...sorry....

Carol Ann

ivebinlymed2, I honestly wasn't allowed to be sick when I was little. Even if I had a fever I was told I was just "faking it" so now as an adult I have a really hard time recognizing when I am sick. No one taught me the clues. I'll ignore stuff forever. And then finally I will go to sleep for 14 hours straight. Husband has actually put mirror under my nose to make sure I was still breathing.

Carol Ann--I told this doc about the pain shown in the sleep test and he said it wasn't true. The sleep test was the one thing that made me believe in the lyme--because i have sooo much incredible fatigue. And I have woken up on occasion because my hands hurt so much.

slcd, its like when I totalled the car with my babies inside (I rearended some poor guy). I held it all together, I comforted the man and my children, I talked to the police and the fire departmetn to make sure my kids were o.k. i called my husband and asked him to come and get us. I chatted with the man at the car dealership who let us wait inside his airconditioned building. And then when my husband arrived and I could hand the "pack leader" status over to him--I cried for three hours! I guess it is compartmentalize. I do the same thing as you with making it through the week and collapsing on the weekend.

I just wanted to state my case to this doc but maybe I just need to move on...

I remember waking up one night in high school with a calf cramp and, oddly enough, my older brother was down the hall calling for my mother because he also had a calf cramp. The thing is, my big athletic brother was calling for my mom while I just got up and walked out the cramp. That was when I realized how my pain threshold had changed.

There are definitely times when I suddenly realize I am in pain. When I realize it, I know that I've had the pain for a while, but I didn't know. It's like my brain just picks it up and compartmentalizes it.