# Anyone else miss time at work due to pain?



## gharrison (Mar 1, 2017)

Good evening. I'm Gloria and new to this group - just found it and signed up. I'm so happy to be here.

So, before it gets buried in my backstory, I want to say my primary anxiety is that I keep missing a bunch of time at work. No one is complaining there and I'm staying on top of my tasks, but as a person with a strong work ethic, it's bringing me down. I appreciate all of you because reading these boards this last hour has reminded me: it's not all in my head; I'm not making it up; this pain is real and it sucks a lot.

I manage (or try to) four primary medical issues I see my primary care doctor and/or my therapist for:

1. Anxiety and emotional disorder/Complex PTSD

*Date of first instance*: Birth to 20 years old (Complex PTSD), June 11, 1993 (traumatic brain injury)
*Cause*: Interpersonal violence and other traumas (Complex PTSD), Multi-fatality car accident (traumatic brain injury)
Treatment: Psychotherapy (13 years now), psychiatric medication (currently: Lexapro), hard-won self-care and life skills (ongoing)
*Symptoms*: Panic attacks, social anxiety, intense rage, impulse control dysregulation, addiction, depression, and other behavior-related issues (too many to list here)
*Pain level*: Medicated: - 1-3; unmedicated: 2-8 (it all depends on the day and other social/environmental/physical factors)
2. Anemia (I just went and had my blood drawn today, in fact, because I'm positive this recent coma I'm in is a sign my tank has run low again.)

*Date of first instance*: Lifelong
*Cause*: No idea. Probably Gremlins. (Although, I found out today that IBS and the level of severe anemia I now have could possibly be related: https://ibstreatmentcenter.com/2012/07/how-ibs-can-cause-iron-deficiency-anemia.html)
*Treatment*: Intravenous iron transfusion, approximately annually. (Because iron pills are constipating and, thus, exacerbate the IBS symptoms, I'm unable to take them. Yes, all of them. Yes, even that one. And, no, cooking with cast iron doesn't help. I mean, not very much. Not enough, anyway.)
*Symptoms*: Brain fog, fatigue, quick to tears, oversleeping, scatterbrained
*Secondary symptoms*: Time lost at work, time lost parenting (due to all the fatigue-related lying about)
*Pain level*: When my tank runs low and it's time for an iron transfusion: 2-4; when my tank is full and and I've just had an iron transfusion: 0.
3. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) 

*Date of first instance*: Unknown. I started investigating the pain symptoms in 2010, just after I got the Essure procedure done, thinking it was related. (It's not, by the way. I've investigated that thoroughly. And yes, I know about the class action lawsuit with Erin Brockovich.) But, looking back, it seems that I can point to idiopathic lower right side pain throughout my entire life from puberty forward. They even took my appendix out for lower right side pain when I was 13, and it turned out to be healthy.
*Cause*: Unknown, though research indicates that IBS disproportionately affects women, as well as disproportionately affecting people who experienced childhood trauma
*Treatment*: Unknown (the research is ongoing, but not conclusive, and poorly funded. It's not a sexy disorder. You know&#8230;'cause poop.) A GI specialist recommended I try eating only low FODMAP foods, and since making that switch, the frequency and intensity of my IBS pain has diminished greatly. HOORAY! Also, I spend a lot of time lying under a heated pad when the pain flares up. Kitties and puppies help, too.
*Symptoms*: For me, the primary symptom is a dull (as opposed to sharp), constant, nagging pain in my lower right abdominal quadrant - above my hip, below my ribs, more to the side than the center; diarrhea, constipation
*Secondary symptoms*: Time lost at work, time lost parenting (due to all the lying about), time lost tending to life in general
*Pain level*: 3-9, depending on what I ate. Narcotic pain relievers can knock this down to 1-2, but now that I've found the low FODMAP diet, I don't need to worry about treating the pain with that modality anymore. 
4. Intercostal Neuralgia

*Date of first instance*: December 19, 2013
*Cause*: Due to a benign tumor, surgeons removed a chunk of my right lung, as well as the tumor
Fun fact: The whole reason they even found this tumor was because I was investigating the lower right side pain that ultimately resulted in the IBS diagnosis. I was a-symptomatic for this particular issue and, in fact, in the end, the tumor wasn't causing any harm at all and could've stayed forever right where it was. They only reason they even noticed it is because they were looking at my gallbladder and just happened to catch sight of the end of my right lung. Then all investigation came to a screeching halt and Tumor Gate 2013 swung into full and rapid effect. For the surgery, they placed the chest tube in an old scar from the 1993 accident, when my right lung collapsed and a chest tube was inserted to re-inflate it. I have no idea if going in through an old scar/insertion point caused the nerve damage, but I suspect it did. Although, my research indicates that this type of nerve damage isn't uncommon for people who have had identical thoracic surgery.
*Treatment*: Ongoing. Really, the only thing I've found that helps at all is Gabapentin. However, I must find a way to stop taking gabapentin because 1) it makes me feel like I have early onset dementia or am drunk and I can't walk around with a half-functional brain all the time [plus IT makes me tired, too!] and 2) it exacerbates all the things that are problems with IBS. in 2016, I had two procedures to freeze the damaged nerve, but the results were very disappointing. Now I'm in medical debt AND I still have the pain. (PLUS I still have the original IBS pain that sent me to get scoped and scanned in the first place.) Hydrocodone helps a lot, but as I'm terrified of becoming a pain pill addict - and as evidence suggests this is a viable possibility - I won't be using them anymore. Hot tubs offer some relief. Heating pads, not so much. Also, I can't wear a bra anymore. Which is annoying for obvious reasons. 
*Symptoms*: The damaged intercostal nerve is one that wraps around my torso and is located between the ribs. It starts at the scar under my breast and then wraps around my back at the same line of latitude. The point under my breast is the most painful part. It feels like being sliced brand new, for the first time, with a scalpel over and over and over again. Sometimes the pain shoots right out the end of my nipples. The back pain tends to come mostly when I'm lying down (which I do a lot because of the side pain from the IBS!) and it feels more like stinging in one spot in my back, exactly opposite of the front spot. It's like lying in a pile of cactus needles just on that one spot. The really frustrating part is that this pain came and went for years. Then, all of a sudden about a year ago, it started up pretty much all the time. I have a hard time lifting or moving my right arm too quickly, as it causes the pain. I tend to hold my right arm tucked tight against my right side, sometimes pressing my hand against my breast. 
*Pain level*: 8-11
*Frequency*: pretty much daily in the cold/rainy weather
I missed work again today. But I also set up an intake appointment with a new practice that specializes in IBS treatment. (My insurance changed at the start of the year, thank god, so now I'm not stuck staying within the closed network of doctors who have been "treating" me the last 9 years.) When I found out today that IBS and anemia are related, I got really frustrated and finally reached out to a new medical group. I knew they were related! Last year, the stupid group I've been working with sent me on a goose chase to figure out if I have a rare blood disease because my ferratin level is always dipping way below normal. Infuriating. I'm so, so hopeful to make some headway with the specialists at this new IBS clinic. I realize that I have to make some lifestyle adjustments (no carbs, no sugar at all, no caffeine, loads more water than I drink, quit smoking, start exercising, meditate to lower and tolerate stress, etc.) But I am willing to. I'm so over this whole "every spring I fall into a coma and my work, multi-level health, and relationships suffer" thing. I hope I can address the anemia and IBS in one fell swoop and that this is the last spring where I have to get an infusion of iron.

Life just can't go on this way forever. It's maddening.

Anyhow, thanks for reading. And thanks for sharing all your stories and advice. I'm so happy to have found this group

Best, Gloria


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## gharrison (Mar 1, 2017)

Thank you for reading.


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## gastastic (Dec 12, 2016)

Wow Gloria. Quite the story.

Chronic pain in any form is enough to drive you nuts, sounds like you are dealing with it On multiple fronts.

To answer your question though. Yes. In a bad flare usually a couple days. I'm fortunate to have a job where if my work is done then nobody really cares what my schedule is so sometimes if I'm in bad shape I just leave early. Came home at 1:30 today in fact. Past week has been a rough go for me.


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## TrishChamberlin (Mar 23, 2017)

I am telling you natren.com has probiotics that saved my life... they have bifido factor, mega acidophilus and digesta lac that i started out with. I now use their healthy trinity and its amazing to me! but if it interferes your work, like it did with me and if you try things that will not work, you have to try natren.com products. I use to cry in pain and now its over. 3 months and I panic if do not have my probiotics. oh, and they have to be refrigerated. key to quality products. Also try enzymes.


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