Did you know that chronic pain can cause worsened pain over time? It can cause problems with memory, knowledge, concentration, etc. I feared senility or early Alzheimer's. After reading this article, I have the answer. Pain affects our brain! I used to call it painfog, or fibrofog, but it's actually more than that.Interesting article!
"Chronic pain vs. the brain: And the loser is..." From Psychology Today Magazine:
Chronic Pain versus the Brain: And the Loser Is...
We need to tear up those newly paved routes before the cement hardens.
How does a person become a "chronic pain patient"?
That label, chronic pain patient, can often lead to prejudice on the part of the health care profession. This prejudice can be manifested as chronic pain patients being treated as simply drug-seekers and/or stigmatized as individuals better left to psychiatric intervention.
Unfortunately, psychiatrists and psychologists tend to become very frustrated with those who experience and (dare I say it) seek help for the conditions which so often result from experiencing chronic pain.
A study was published earlier this year in the "Journal of Neuroscience" which concluded that chronic pain has a pronounced and pervasive impact on overall brain function. This impact would appear to explain the common cognitive and behavioral stigmata noted in those patients suffering from chronic pain.
The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to demonstrate that individuals with chronic back pain had alterations in the functional connectivity of the cortical regions compared to those individuals not suffering from chronic pain. Interestingly, these areas of the brain are unrelated to pain. And this altered brain function leads to additional and unwelcome diagnoses, such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and decision-making difficulties.
In the healthy brain, all the regions exist in a state of equilibrium. When one region is active, the others become quiet. In contrast, those with chronic pain experience continued activity in the frontal part of the cortex of the brain associated with emotion. These are disturbances of the brain not directly associated with the sensation of pain.
This added brain activity occurs through the firing of the brain cells, known as neurons. When these neurons fire too much they actually change their connections, paving new routes so to speak And depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances and cognitive dysfunction become a "part" of the chronic pain patient.
It is self-evident that these co-morbidities can be for the chronic pain patient as debilitating as the pain itself-if not more so as time goes on and life becomes more difficult for an individual patient.
Pain appears to tax the brain, "firing up" areas which are usually quiet: the perception of pain has an irritating effect which does more than just irritate. The MRI data demonstrates this.
It would appear that these results indicate a need for early and aggressive treatment of pain. This may favorably modulate the discomfort, and thus forestall the onset of depression, sleep disturbance and cognitive impairment.
Perhaps through concerted treatment by pain specialists and mental health specialists those malignant brain activities can be prevented from becoming established impairments.
We need to tear up those newly paved routes before the cement hardens.
Well I'm glad I put this article here almost a year ago, because right now I find myself looking for more answers about what severe chronic pain is doing to my brain, and how it can create more pain in other areas of the body. The article helped me remind myself that my forgetfulness is not just a laziness or something, but actual damage from the pain. So maybe I will be more patient with myself. Seems we have to learn these things again and again for them to stick with us.
Kind wishes to all who are in severe, constant pain,
Yes, what a great article, thank you. It makes absolute sense to me having lived it and experienced the effects for so long, but I always feel so validated when I read or hear more awareness in the world of what we TN sufferers are going through. As I already had a psychological depressive disorder all my life, beginning the battle with TN seven years ago on top was devastating to me. I cant even recount the horrific days of depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety attacks etc that I endured. People always thinking I was losing it, doctors telling me I was crazy and imagining pain, bosses thinking me worthless and irresponsible, not to mention contributing to destroying my marriage. Although pain is really a message being sent to the brain, and not an actual injury in itself, I always said that TN IS mental torture, and fought endlessly to help others in my life to understand my plight. I found there is indeed a great lack of empathy and compassion in this world, but I see that the people still in my life, supporting and loving me are the most valuable, and am so grateful and appreciative of there support in standing by me. I just recently had the MVD surgery, and in waking with absolutely no TN pain at all, I truly feel like I am starting a new life, focussing on feeling healthy and happy, repairing the damage to both my brain and mental state, as well as any damage or neglect in my relationships . Most of all to my little boy who has grown with my TN, so that I can be the great mother I always wanted to be. Thanks again! Love and light
Wow Nikki I'm so happy for you!! I read more today that said that chronic severe pain makes you more sensitive to smells, lights, sounds, tastes, cold or hot, it sensitzes the whole central nervous system. I hope that sensitization goes awaay wheen the pain does. Did you get extra-sensitive?
Nikki Anderson said:
I just recently had the MVD surgery, and in waking with absolutely no TN pain at all, I truly feel like I am starting a new life, focussing on feeling healthy and happy, repairing the damage to both my brain and mental state, as well as any damage or neglect in my relationships . Most of all to my little boy who has grown with my TN, so that I can be the great mother I always wanted to be. Thanks again! Love and light
but it is logical... even in terms that one can get "crazy" from the pain.. so the brain doesn't work.... the body is not really functioning.. all is is in this nightmare
Attitude absolutely helps with the pain until a certain point. When you are in level 8-10 with no break for a long time, you can't think clearly enough to make yourself positive and you can't laugh at anything by the time the pain gets that bad. When my pain is less, I do find that creating habits to develop positive attitude does make more pain killing endorphins in the brain.
Sheila, Thanks for sharing this information! Many blessings to you!
Sheila W. said:
Attitude absolutely helps with the pain until a certain point. When you are in level 8-10 with no break for a long time, you can't think clearly enough to make yourself positive and you can't laugh at anything by the time the pain gets that bad. When my pain is less, I do find that creating habits to develop positive attitude does make more pain killing endorphins in the brain.
I found that I had to keep repeating to myself that the pain " is just a sound being sent to my brain, it is not real injury; nothing but a miscommunication" that it was somehow easier to ignore and meditate on my soundness.Once I was able to get past the " why me? " and bitterness, was I able to focus on how I can defeat this using my god given strength. Mind you, depression can play tricks on us, and soon absolutely anything will be grabbed for validation of why we feel so terrible; any little problematic life obstacle will be accepted to add to the snowball that is pain. It truly is mental torture, however, we have the capability to recognize what is real and what isnt. The pain we experience is NOT actual injury happening to us but an electronic impulse and misfire of blood vessels and nerves that is in conflict. It is not WHO we are, nor will it control who we are. If we are affected mentally, we must fight mentally and remain in control. It's past whether or not anyone else can stop our pain, and at the point where we are just not going to listen to and be controlled by the pain.
Nikki, this is the second time today that I have read "We will not let the pain define us or control us." You have a right to your opinion. I wonder if you have had level 10 pain for so long that your brain can barely remember your name, much less think about how to stay positive and in control. When this hits level 10 pain...well have you not heard that this is the most severe pain a human being can experience, and that often people are out of their mind with this pain and end up in accidents that kill them or they commit suicide? I can understand what you mean if it's about a level 6 or less most of the time, but when you are in screaming pain and you can't even move or think, of course it defines you and controls you. I don't think it's bad to be defined by your illness. It just means your illness has helped mold the person you are, that it has taught you lessons of strength and wisdom. If you go through all this pain and you are not changed by it in someway for the better, then all your suffering was wasted and in vain. It has to have a purpose, and it does. It changes you for bad or for good, sometimes a bit of both. How can it not change us. Of course it controls us. It affects our every thought and decision and action when the pain is severe. I hope you never get to that level of pain that you may learn what most of us have learned. Yes, positive thinking does make it easier, but at level 10 pain you can`t even control your thoughts. Extensive pain then makes your central nervous system more damaged and more sensitive to any stimulus of the senses.
I`m glad you have a mantra to comfort yourself. That particular phrase, that it is not causing damage, does not comfort me, because the pain itself is very damaging to your health. I have partial heart failure due to it, and cognitive difficulties. My heart has stopped due to severe pain, many times. If the pain is not controlled, much damage is done in the central nervous system and heart. Strokes and heart attacks happen in severe pain.
Dear Sheila, I am really sorry that you may have taken some offense or misunderstood a lack of sympathy in my words. I was merely expressing what , over the last seven years of the most excruciating agony, which yes i was hospitalized for suicide attempt,not even able to speak, unable to eat, and having to find a way to function no matter what because I was the only financial support my family had, I actually used positive thoughts to focus on to help me through. I only said this not to be better than anyone else, my god, you have no idea how much I have suffered, only to share what I mentally tried to help myself so that someone else may find some note of help. I truly believe there is always hope, and we all have to grasp our own strength. I was only sharing my experience. I am very sorry. So much pain, and yes, it can take over, it tears your brain apart, it can break your soul...was only trying to help with what I used to cope. And yes, I am recently more ultrasensitive to smell, light and taste, hearing also... I < to be honest am really surprised to be questioned on the pain and suffering i have endured. Too sad at the moment.
Thanks for sharing this with me. Don't take offense. I can't read people's minds or know what they have gone through. I'm sorry you HAVE had the worst it can be. I guess my words are coming from really severe pain today. Went to the E.R. and couldn't keep sitting in the waiting room with screaming sick kids there too, so I came home. I would have had to wait about 8 hours. I'm only at an 8 level pain right now, but every few minutes it's a 9 or 10 and in those moments, I can't think positively, I can't think ANYTHING. In between the worst attacks, in remissions or bbetter times, I agree with the concept of what you were tryng to say, to keep hope and try to keep a somewhat normal lifestyle, but I'm sure you know that when the attacks are bad and you rarely have a break, it DOES control you. Sorry sis I did not mean in any way to discredit what you have gone through...I just didn't know what you have gone through, and I couldn't understand how, for the second time today, I could read that this disease does not control you or change you. It does, and I bet every good virtur you have learned, came from your courage while dealing with the pain.
My brain has taken a path of even slight pain avoidance. I hate pain so much that I watch television most days for hours on end just to avoid feeling pain. I have been afflicted with TN for five years now and have had an MVD, and currently am on a pill coctail that really makes me tired and unmotivated. I still feel pain. I cannot enjoy any activity without it, and never know what severity I will face for undertaking a normal day of out of the house activities. I’m so sick of this situation. My secret wish is that someone would come to my house and be my buddy all day long for days until I could overcome this laziness and avoidance of even slight pain. I’m physically trim (good gene pool) and smart (good gene pool). So sitting around is weird and driving me crazy. Another five years and I will be in the looney bin. Any serious suggestions for how to get out of a cycle of this type of behavior? By the way, I regularly see an excellent counselor, am on antidepressants, have some great hobbies (if I felt motivated to do them more often), and regularly see both my doctor and neurologist. Getting ready to try a nerve block.
Notafraid, I see so much of myself in your last posting. I too was smart, fit, healthy, motivated - had a successful career as a teacher, worked out everyday for 20 years religiously. Then this diagnosis 8 years ago but it was mild monthly pain easily addressed with one dose of a pain pill combo per 24 hours. Stayed that way until severe chronic outside extreme stress entered my life 3 years ago and continues. The pain was so badly exacerbated by the stress it’s now daily, excruciating pain. I too am mostly bedridden and tired and unmotivated because of all the meds I now need for constant pain, extreme anxiety, depression…I HAVE NO LIFE. So you aren’t alone in this cycle. I’m not a candidate for any surgeries or procedures. But I tried a nerve block once. A very prestigious specialist (both neurologist & pain mgt specialist board cert.) recommended it & said it was “no risk”. He said for TN type pain he had to inject all branches of trigeminal nerve - about 6 injection spots on left side of face. (My ONLY PAIN was ever in my left cheek when I went to him. I wanted to try to get the level of pain and frequency back to once a month.) One of the injections was into my left temple. OMG!!! Torturous pain!! Sends me to the ER when copious amounts of pain meds don’t touch the pain. And this was 2 years ago. The temple is now a severe pain area I NEVER HAD BEFORE THAT INJECTION!!! By a nationally renowned Dr. Just telling you this because if I’d known this could happen, I’d NEVER have risked it. My regular Drs think he hit the temple nerve or damaged it somehow. Lucky me. The Dr who injected me was completely dismissive of me after I reported to him the complete debilitation state that temple injection left me in. He said “that never happens”. I wish you better luck if you decide to try the nerve block.
NotAfraid, I think you should copy your comment here and paste it into a discussion on the main page, because I think you'll find a lot of us with the same problem, and no doubt, people who have gotten themselves out of it. I fear the pain too, and when the pain starts small, I get scared about how bad this pain might get, so I have been conditioned to over react to even moderate pain. I take care of my elderly Mom, so that forces me to go out and get things and to be with her at the hospital, which is a lot. I have considered volunteering somewhere, as long as I could leave when the pain gets too much and if I could choose my own timetable. It's worth considering. Even an hour out among people can get you accustomed to going out more.
So true! I have to explain to others how bad my memory has gotten since TN. Every severe attack I have seems to erase more info. We have to remember that the TN is in our brain, and electrical impulses to the nerve might also affect the part of the brain that is right beside that nerve.
AKParham said:
Wow, this was a really interesting article. It's not my fault that I can't remember things or sleep - my brain can't handle it all at once!
I’ve been trying to find as much as possible about the nerve block I’m getting. It’s for the back of my head on the left side. Probably pain as a result of the MVD operation. It’s not constant, but it can be pretty bad and it triggers the TN pain. It’s also numb at times, but I could live with that. I am so sick of the situation I am in I am now willing to try this, then my neurologist and I will go from there. Before the nerve block is done, I’m scheduled for three different brain scans so the physiologist will know where to do the block.
ZeldasSis said:
Notafraid, I see so much of myself in your last posting. I too was smart, fit, healthy, motivated - had a successful career as a teacher, worked out everyday for 20 years religiously. Then this diagnosis 8 years ago but it was mild monthly pain easily addressed with one dose of a pain pill combo per 24 hours. Stayed that way until severe chronic outside extreme stress entered my life 3 years ago and continues. The pain was so badly exacerbated by the stress it’s now daily, excruciating pain. I too am mostly bedridden and tired and unmotivated because of all the meds I now need for constant pain, extreme anxiety, depression…I HAVE NO LIFE. So you aren’t alone in this cycle. I’m not a candidate for any surgeries or procedures. But I tried a nerve block once. A very prestigious specialist (both neurologist & pain mgt specialist board cert.) recommended it & said it was “no risk”. He said for TN type pain he had to inject all branches of trigeminal nerve - about 6 injection spots on left side of face. (My ONLY PAIN was ever in my left cheek when I went to him. I wanted to try to get the level of pain and frequency back to once a month.) One of the injections was into my left temple. OMG!!! Torturous pain!! Sends me to the ER when copious amounts of pain meds don’t touch the pain. And this was 2 years ago. The temple is now a severe pain area I NEVER HAD BEFORE THAT INJECTION!!! By a nationally renowned Dr. Just telling you this because if I’d known this could happen, I’d NEVER have risked it. My regular Drs think he hit the temple nerve or damaged it somehow. Lucky me. The Dr who injected me was completely dismissive of me after I reported to him the complete debilitation state that temple injection left me in. He said “that never happens”. I wish you better luck if you decide to try the nerve block.