I thought I had it yesterday
I started using a TENS unit 2 days ago, and the first day, but most especially yesterday made me feel like there was a non-drug, non-surgical solution to this shit.
I even slept for 5 hours in a row last night! Most of my sleep has been in 1 or 2 hour batches, but a gabapentin increase and/or using the pool to decompress my neck got me some 3 and 4 hour batches last week.
Not today tho...first batch hit me at 0030, right as I tiredly laid down (oh yeah...I'm sleeping in a recliner. It's the only way I can lay down w/o my neck hurting). 6-7 level pain, where yesterday I had my epsidoes down to a 2-3 level. so I zapped it with the TeNS. OK, that did it. I stayed up fro a bit, tehn laid back down at 2...just as Iwas dropping off...OW MY ****ING ARM...6-7 level pain. ZAP...lay down...3 AM...OWWWWWWWWW. ZAP...lay down...4 am...AHHHHHH SHIT WTF **********!!!! OK, go jump in pool and dangle for a bit. Imagune a fat hairy old man bareassed in the pool, floating with his head poking out of the water. Took about 40 minutes, but the pain lowered quite a bit. Got out of the pool, and it came back as a mild roar.
decided to do this post.
so anyway, I found out that I've got Cervical Spondylosis on my c3-c6 disks, AND thinning disks on my c4-c7 disks. this is what thinning disks are
the absolute worst.
I am bewildered that I go from no pain to this with no inmdication at all that my neck was getting even more fucked every damn day
so anyway...when your disks (i.e. shock aborbers of the spine) get screwed, they can pinch down on your nerves
anyway, im sitting here with the TENS unit parked close to, but not over the spine, purring away in the hopes thatit'll hijack the nerve signals from my pinche arm.
I told the nurse that I couldnt tell if I was getting used to the pain, was getting more sensitive to the pain, or if the pain was getting worse. she told me all three were possible at the same time. sit.
and I'm begiing to think that the pain is some kind of hostile, sentinent being. every time I find something to mitigate it, that treatment stops working. Ice packs stopped working, heat started aggravating the shit out of it, and icyhot did the same. the pool, which I started using last week, really helped until 2 days ago, then it stopped. it still hepls a bit, but it stopped the pain in it's tracks.
I have an EGM scheduled for November...fucking November.
ouch
oh yeah...paincation; I had a basic vacation from real pian yesterday...felt like a day off from a hard job...I didnt get anything done b/c I wanted to rleax...anyway, thats the title