Tag: refractory angina

Habituation: “Give me a pain that I’m used to!”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

When I first read about a pain study called “Give Me a Pain That I Am Used To”, it made perfect sense to me.1  Published in the journal Nature: Science Reports, this came out about the same time I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis a couple of years ago – which I did NOT see coming.  Ironically, breathtakingly painful arthritis symptoms (starting in my left knee and right hand at that time) felt far more debilitating to me than the daily chest pain of refractory angina I’d been living with since my 2008 heart attack.

This may seem counter-intuitive. We know that chest pain can be a dangerous and even deadly symptom. Knee and wrist pain is rarely if ever fatal! It occurred to me that maybe I was feeling extremely distressed by my new arthritis symptoms because I’d simply not yet become habituated to the new pain in the way I’d already become habituated to my longstanding cardiac pain. Continue reading “Habituation: “Give me a pain that I’m used to!”” →

“Brave men” and “emotional women”: gender bias and pain

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

My little granddaughter Everly Rose is mesmerized by her “owies”. Every bruise, scrape, or even the tiniest scratch inflicted while playing with her kitten, Homie, requires a healing kiss and an equally healing Band-Aid, which can then be proudly pointed out to every stranger we pass on the street. One morning, after I’d had a hard fall while out with my walking group, she carefully examined the dark scab and asked me, very seriously, “Did you cry?” I told her that I’d thought about crying at the time, but then I patted myself all over, realized I wasn’t badly hurt, and so I decided not to cry.

She thought about this explanation for a long while, as if it had never occurred to her that not crying was even an option. Is that because Rosie is a little girl – and not a little boy?  A Swedish study helps to answer that question.(1)    .   Continue reading ““Brave men” and “emotional women”: gender bias and pain” →

When you ignore pain because you’re used to it…

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 10 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters 

I can’t be completely sure, of course, but I’m betting my next squirt of nitro spray that I am a world-class stoic when it comes to putting up with pain. I survived a ruptured appendix and a near-fatal case of peritonitis that kept me hospitalized for a month as a teenager. I popped out two babies the old-fashioned, drug-free way after 20+ hours of labour and Lamaze breathing.  I suffered a broken bone in a bicycle accident while commuting downtown, but still somehow climbed back on that bike in order to show up on time for the meeting I was heading to. 

And I put up with two long weeks of increasingly unbearable symptoms (including being unable to walk more than five steps at a time) after being initially misdiagnosed in mid-heart attack with acid reflux.

So I sat up and paid attention when I happened upon the Despite Pain blog post called The Problem with Being Used to Pain or Illness.  
Continue reading “When you ignore pain because you’re used to it…” →

Exhaustion: the ‘leaky emotion’ of chronic illness

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 18 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Like most of you, I’ve experienced my fair share of garden variety pain over the years (caused, in my case, by things like a ruptured appendix, broken bones, knee surgery, or popping out two babies the old-fashioned way).

But none of those even came close to the chronic pain of refractory angina caused by my current diagnosis of inoperable coronary microvascular disease (MVD).  The chest pain caused by this disorder of the heart’s smallest blood vessels is episodic, intense, frightening and resembles what my “widow maker” heart attack symptoms felt like in 2008. Except this kind of pain happens almost every day.  It’s generally well-managed most days by meds (including my trusty nitro spray) and the non-drug, non-invasive TENS therapy recommended by my cardiologist as well as my pain specialist at our Regional Pain Clinic.  But sometimes, it’s alarming enough that I clutch my chest and wonder:

“Is this something? Is it nothing? Should I call 911? Is today the day I’m having another heart attack?”

As you already know if you live with chronic pain like this, pain can literally change your personality. If it’s chest pain, it can also make you feel anxious and worried in a way that having pain from knee surgery never can. No wonder pain is so utterly exhausting!
 Continue reading “Exhaustion: the ‘leaky emotion’ of chronic illness” →