pain management

[ashley_m90]

hi my name is Ashley
i am 21 years old and i was recently diagnosed with sjogrens. i am a very active person by nature, but sometimes the pain gets so bad that i cant enjoy the things i love to do. i am already on Hydroxychloroquine and Nabumetone, and take it every day like clock work, but im still in so much pain. im wondering if there is anything i can to myself to help bring the pain level down. im a full-time student and i commute to the bay 5 days a week. i drive 110 miles 1 way to school and the drive kills me. then i get to school and since im in school to become a motorcycle mechanic im in the shop standing for 4 hours. is there anything i can do or try to help the pain?

[A66eyroad]

Hi Ashley!

You probably already know this, but the hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) will take up to a year to have its full effect. I started feeling better after four months, but it was at least six to eight months before I was doing what I would call well. And now that I've been on it a year and a half I have many more "good" days than bad ones.

For pain I take Aleve (Walgreen's generic brand) and hot baths with epsom salts (also generic from Walgreens). I also have a heated mattress pad that really, really, REALLY helps!

My commute is not quite as long as yours, but I do drive 60 miles each way to work every day. I download audiobooks from the library onto my iPod for free to pass the time and keep me from getting too stressed out. I think stress really does a number of us Sjoggies.

I hope this helps!

And welcome to Sjogren's World!

[Joe S.]

Welcome Ashley.

When testing those motorcycles that you are working on, you may want to stop jumping school busses.

6-8 oz of carrot juice per day gives your body what it needs to create endorphins. Endorphins are your bodies own pain killer and they are 1000 times more potent than morphine.

Reflexology can be used to send more endorphins to where you are feeling pain.

When you have pain your muscles preform a splinting action. This makes them tight and increases your pain. Learning to breath through the pain will reduce the pain. The accumulation of toxins in your muscles can be a pain trigger. By breathing you can reduce the splinting action response and allow your system to remove the toxins.

Get into a comfortable position and close your eyes. With your eyes closed look to the top of your forehead. Breathe in and think "I am", Breathe out and think "calm". Repeat. Practice when you are not in pain. Try to keep it up for 15 minutes.

Instead of your normal exercise, use range of motion exercises like Tai Chi, yoga and isometrics.

[ashley_m90]

A66eyroad,
ive been on plaquenil since july and i havent felt any change what so ever...
but i will try the other things you mentioned...
my only issue is that the tub is upstairs and the days i would need it the most im not even able to climb the stairs...
it scares me so much that im only 21 and i cant even climb stairs...
i have my ipod in the car and music helps, but sometimes i just want to drive in quiet...
im going to download some books to see if thats better...

Joe S.
jumping school busses are the only way to truely test the suspension... lol 
i drink juices all of the time, its almost the only thing i drink these days...
i stopped drinking soda all together so now i drink water, tea, and juice...
breathing through the pain is the only thing i can do right now, but it still doesnt really help...
my "normal" excersize is line dancing... its the only thing ive found to help me lose weight that i actually like...
i was 200lbs in june, and now im 157lbs...
i dont really have time in my schedual to stop and do tai chi, yoga, or isometrics...

[Joe S.]

I brought the jumping up because I used to cliff climb on a motor cycle which is crazy by itself.  Once I got up their I would go back about 50 yards gun the bike and ride off the cliff. When people saw me do it the common statement after "Are you suicidal?" was "You are lucky to survive!"

I was a little wild on motor cycle from 14 to 16 years old. Then I got to have fun with Cars and that is another set of stories.