My back is on fire this morning most likely from the workout I have been getting taking care of the baby and dealing with my smartass 11 year old. He has been up for less then 30 minutes and has already earned the day in his room. I need to lookup the info on stress and how it affects arachnoidtitis!!! He has turned in to a complete smartass in the last few months and has not learned that as much as he tries he will not get the last word in, no matter how hard he tries. He will now spend some time in his room with nothing but a book.
Anyway, the burning is right in the small of my back and is annoying as it is making it very difficult to get comfortable sitting, standing or any other positions that I have tried. My left leg is not so bad today but it is throbbing a bit and my foot feels like it is on pins and needles, the usual feeling it has. I took my meds and made myself some hot cocoa to relax but it is not working. I think this might be a heating pad kind of day which has not happened in a bit. The stress part will be tough to sort out though as what is stress from having the arachnoiditis and what is coming from other sources? Does one affect the other in a way that they multiply exponentially?
Here is some info from the COFWA website on stress
AA does not have a typical clinical presentation, although there are a number of features, which are common in people with the condition. However, the picture is somewhat complicated by the fact that the symptoms of AA occur against a backdrop of the original spinal problem for which invasive procedures were undertaken (except in a small minority in which no spinal condition has occurred, for instance, in AA secondary to epidural anesthesia in childbirth).
It is important also to remember that a number of the symptoms experienced are common to various chronic illnesses and may well arise secondary to the general debility occasioned by unrelieved pain and stress resulting from dealing with illness that is relentless for years on end.
Chronic pain is not regarded by most of the medical profession as detrimental of itself; however, recently some doctors are beginning to voice a different point of view, recognizing that unrelieved pain constitutes a source of constant stress on the body, resulting in over-production of stress response chemicals in the body, such as adrenaline, insulin and cortisol. These substances cause a variety of problems. In America, highly sophisticated PET scans have shown that chronic pain in some way alters the way in which the brain responds to stress or pain; the concentration of neurotransmitters (chemical nerve messengers) in certain brain areas seems to vary from that of healthy people.
I will do some more research this morning on stress. Maybe it will be enough to take my mind of the back for a bit, which should reduce stress which in turn should aid in the reduction of the pain.
I had thought about hitting the stores today but not with this back and a cranky 2 year old. Usually day or two after Christmas they have some great sales but I wait a few days to go so that the crowds are gone and they have had time to re-stock the returned items. Once they have done that it is open season, especially for Christmas decorations. I bought a few small things at Home Depot yesterday that I had looked at before Christmas but they were more then I was willing to spend. I picked up several strands of lights that were $7 the other day and are now $1.50 as well as 3 small pre-lit trees for my ever growing tree forest; they had been $35 but were marked down to $6. Instead of one big tree we have several small trees between 1.5' and 4' that make up the Christmas tree "forest" where we put the nativity scene. It looks pretty cool when it is up and each tree has different kinds of lights, like pepper lights, Santa lights and so on.
No comments:
Post a Comment