EDS Fact 5 - The Pains of Being in Pain

The pain associated with EDS is not like the typical pain you experience from being hurt or sick. It has a mind of it's own. Our pain levels can vary from moment to moment let alone day to day. Most people want to leave others alone when they're sick, but what they don't think about is that we're not sick, we're just this way! There is no other way that we have ever been and there is no other way that we will be in the future. We have always been like this, we LIVE like this and we intend to keep doing so.

A good example of this is my current situation. For quite awhile I had let my muscles and tendons stay tight all the time because it was simpler. I ran into problems because of it, but I kept telling myself it was easier this way. I ignored doctor advice telling myself that they didn't understand my condition, which they still don't.

Anyways, on Tuesday I decided that I needed to start stretching and trying to fix myself again. I was off work that day so it seemed the perfect day to do it. At work on Wednesday is when the fun began. My joints, in their more limber natural state, started subluxing over and over again. I hadn't refilled my pill box so I didn't have my pain medicine with me. Of all the things to forget. I suffered through the day.

Thursday I started out in pain from the day before so I figured I would use of the latest prescription I had been given and had been avoiding till then. It's supposed to last twelve hours and seemed perfect. I had even refilled my pill box, but it's similar to the new prescription so I knew I shouldn't take both. After six hours and halfway through my shift it stopped helping and to make it even better I had hurt myself worse when it had actually been working.

So, Friday and today I've had more joint and pain problems than I've had in years. I even turned down taking a shift tomorrow to help a colleague because I knew that I wouldn't make it. There is just no way right now. I hope that taking my three days off will allow me to fix myself enough that next Wednesday I will be better.

I would have liked and could have used the overtime, but it might have gotten me fired or made me even more broken. It is not worth it right now either way. I was fine the week before and hope to be fine next week, but for today I'm not the normal me.