From: Bob.Paddock@f1000.n261.z1.fidonet.org (Bob Paddock)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Russian Stim
Date: 23 Nov 92 22:14:22 GMT
Reply-To: Bob.Paddock@f1000.n261.z1.fidonet.org
Organization: FidoNet node 1:261/1000 - Nerve Center, Pikesville MD
Originator: wtm@sheldev.shel.isc-br.com

Index Number: 25854

[This is from the Chronic Pain Conference]

[This is part 1 of 2:]

My fiance'', Karen, and I need your help here is her message,I've
added some comments in "[]"'s:

[ I put this update first:

Karen has been to three Neurologists, they found nothing.

She has tried physical therapy, and exercise programes (From the
book Myophacial Pain and Dysfunction by Jannet Travell {Not sure of
the spelling here}.  She got so limber she looked like a pretzel,
but the pain was still there

Karen has tried TENS unit, it became in effective after about ten
months.  It also made here muscles get so tight that they felt like
boards.  The Pittsburgh chiropractor told her to stop using it, and
the Myotherapists got her muscles back to normal.  The pain remains
in the C6/C7 area.

She went to a Pain Clinic, she left there in tears when she thought
that they said it was all in her head.  ] On September 20, 1989 I
was in a car accident, I hit the left side of my head on the top of
the inside of the door.  I did have my seat belt on.  I was making
a left turn.  I did not have a stop sign, the road I was getting
ready to pull out on did though.  I had to stop my car because
there was a car on the road I was going to pull out on that did not
stop at the stop sign.  I started to pull out (when I got my
chance).  When I just started to proceed with my turn the car came
from behind me and hit the hind wheel on the drivers side.  We both
stopped. Our cars didn't look bad.  He just had a small dent in his
bumper that was hardly noticeable and the only VISIBLE damage to my
car was a big dent in the left hind fender.  Any ways it turned out
that his bumper had hit my wheel and bent the wheel and the axle
leaving my head and neck to absorb the rest of the force [We were
told Karen's neck was 'Hyper Extended to her left'].

I should point out that this guy was only going 25 miles per hour
at the time of impact (thats what the police report said).  I felt
fine just after it happened and our vehicles didn't seem at the
time to be to badly hurt.  So I did not seek medical treatment
immediately following the accident [a few days latter she was taken
to a hospital in an ambulance suffering from a concussion and
dehydration.  It didn't seem like they did much for her there to me].

Since that time I have been to numerous doctors.  I have had bad
experiences with some of them, that are similar to things I have
read on here.  I have a hard time trusting doctors because I have
had bad treatment from them.  I get fed up with the way some of
those quacks (doctors) act.  If they only had to live with the
pain.

I am going to one doctor who seems to give me some relief.  He is a
chiropractor who has some myotherapists in his office.  A
myotherapist is somebody who works directly with the muscles.  He
(the chiropractor) found out just by seeing some X-Rays from before
and after, that during the accident the curve in the back of my
neck was knocked out because I had it before the accident, but it
was gone after the accident.  Most of the other doctors could not
see this.  He also noticed that my left hip is smaller than my
right hip.  None of the other doctors could see this.

This doctor saw the same X-Rays the other quacks had saw and
thought were normal.  He also noticed that I have scolosis and that
my spine is very flat [I think it might be some thing called
Chronic Mechanical Stress from what I've been reading].  I already
knew I had those problems but at least this guy noticed it [She had
no pain from these until after the accident], the others didn't.
The problem is that this chiropractor and the myotherapists give me
partial relief sometimes.  This guy is located in Pittsburgh, PA
and that is two hours each way for me to go and dealing with
insurance companies these days is difficult if not impossible.

At times this pain gets so bad that I have really thought about
killing myself.  The depression from the pain that makes me want to
kill myself generally seems to come on all at once.  Sitting still
is one of the things that cause the most pain.  If I sit with a
book under my left hip to help offset the small or short hip it
seems to help a little. Standing still is another very bad thing to
do for the pain.  I need to keep moving or lay down.  The ONLY time
I have NO pain is when I am laying down.  If I can lay face down
and still manage to breath the pain goes away almost instantly.  If
I lay on my sides or back it takes about 15 to 20 minutes for all
of the pain to go away.  The pain will not come back until I get
up.  No doctor has ever been able to give me any solid answers as
to why my pain pattern is this way.  [We hope some one on here
can!!!]

I have a headache, neck ache or both at the same time, ALL OF THE
TIME except when I'm laying down.  I have been in pain since the
accident over two years ago.

It seems like whenever I try to tell normal people my problems they
think I am speaking a different language or something.  Or they
tell you something like forget about your pain and get on with your
life.  Most of them do not believe me.  I try to get on with my
life to an extent but the headaches can and do cause eye problems
which can be a problem if I am driving, they change my mood, and
they sometimes make my eyes hurt.  The headaches are VERY SEVERE.
When I first started to get them I did not tell anybody for a
couple months because I thought that if I just ignored the pain it
would go away.  And besides I was trying not to be a complainer.

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