Thursday, January 01, 2009 bob5958 asks

Q: It's the fatigue that I can't control.

I've suffered from "Failed back Syndrome" for about 16 years. Good physicans have helped me control the pain to a level that allows me to have a somewhat normal life.

But the fatigue that goes along with pain is the real devil. At the end of the day, I'm exhausted and sleep soundly for about 3-4 hours. Then I am awake from pain. More pain medication doesn't help the sleep and even on those rare nights that I do sleep well for 6 hours, I'm still tired during the day because pain is so tiring.

Sometimes I think that living tired is as difficult as living with pain. And one seems to feed off of the other. When I have pain, I'm tired and when I'm tired, it leads to more pain.

Do other people also experience this?

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Answers (2)

Megs

1/ 2/09 4:06am

To expand on Josie's answer, you may need a combination of modalities to treat the fatigue and pain. I use infrared heat lamps, hot tub, sauna, massage, vit B injections, vit d sublinguals, and for sleep I take GABA and 5 HTP (available at health food stores). Rest when you can, don't beat yourself up when you can't stay awake and see your doc if you still can't stay awake... you may have a sleep disorder like apnea or similar. One med that helps with daytime fatigue is Provigil (modifinil), but use this cautiously if prescribed. Good luck to you!

josiemara

1/ 1/09 9:10pm

Yes we do. I don't know what failed Back syndrome is but I have suffered from fibromyalgia for over 25 years, and what I have found out about myself is that you have to look at more than just the western medicine answer to your condition. I have reached out, take vitamin supplements, use eastern medicine to releive the pain, like acupuncture and acupressure. I go every week to control my pain. My body has developed an intolerance to most of the pain meds, so I cannot take anything. The fatigue in my fibro is bad, not as bad as you it sounds like, but for me I find the acupuncture and eating a high protein diet help control my fatigue. I don't sleep very well either, I surf the internet and read lots of articles to deal with it. I have my own TDP lamp that helps heal and soothe my sore muscles. They only sell this in china, it is a special type of heat lamp but you can find vendors on EBay. I hope this helps. Josie

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Q: It's the fatigue that I can't control.

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