Just about everyone gets hurt from time to time. When you cut your finger or pull a muscle, pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. Once the injury heals, you stop hurting. Sounds simple enough, right? Yes. Except chronic pain is different. Whereas acute pain is a normal sensation that alerts us to possible trauma, chronic pain persists —for months or even longer. If you have chronic pain and depression, well —that burden may grow even heavier. The good news is, these disorders are not inseparable. Here's what you need to know.
Tag: Recovery
Find Out Why Doctors Finally Say, “No. Opioids Are Not The Go-To Treatment For Pain Relief.”
Truth, most Americans these days are either trying to get pills, helping someone else get them, in recovery from using too many or worse, dead from overdosing. Don't you think it's about time for a different approach? Why are some doctors so quick to write a refill for oxy while others are too afraid to even take their prescription pad out? Well today, I have some good news. With the rise of opioid-related deaths, new regulations finally say that opiate medication should only be looked at as a last resort when treating non-cancer chronic pain —a loss for “Big Pharma” but a win for pain patients everywhere. Here's what you need to know.
Because You Can Get Better Too: How I Battled Opioid Withdrawal
I think I stayed on painkillers for as long as I did because I was afraid of experiencing withdrawal. I think that's why most people stay stuck. Detoxing off opioids was in fact, the hardest thing I ever had to do (and the greatest). I remember counting my stash the night before just to make sure I had enough to not get sick the next day. It really is a vicious cycle. You know you shouldn't but how can you not? So whether you're a loved one of an addict, currently addicted, or in recovery, these seven therapeutic remedies can connect the dots so that you can battle opioid withdrawal and actually win.
It’s Okay to be Afraid: 10 Signs You May Have an Actual Anxiety Disorder
Maybe you have no reason to feel anxious. Or, maybe, it's all just too much to handle. The thing is, it's okay to feel your feelings —just don't move in. There are ways to ease the pain of anxiety, and eventually eliminate it. But before you can actually work toward fixing it, you must identify why you do the things you do. This is what you need to know.
The Little Black Book of Poems: Drug of Choice
A blue circular pill, created from a scientific formula designed to take away the pain. But in all reality, it's killing me. On one side, I had the boy of my dreams. The other, the reason my life was falling apart at the seams. On the outside, it looked like I didn't care. On the inside, I was really scared. In short, I used to hush the chaos in my head. Like I said— I was addicted, restricted, and fucking conflicted.
Heal & Live: Recovering from an Eating Disorder
Sometimes, an eating disorder isn't so far away. It's the skinny girl you hear at sixth period throwing up in the bathroom because she swears she's fat. It's 30 million people worldwide. And more times than not, it's the one you thought had it all together.
The Little Black Book of Poems: Want and Need Are Two Different Things
You have to kill it before it kills you. Your worst enemy. Your best friend. You hate it. You love it. You can’t live with it. You can’t live without it. You want to be happy. You should be happy, but you can’t take your finger off the trigger. Why? Because want and need are two different things.
The Little Black Book of Poems: Bang
It's over. It's been over for a while now. It took a lot to delete your number; even longer to block you on Facebook. I was still holding, afraid to let go. They say it gets easier each day. I know I wake up further from what I used to be. But some days are easier than others. If I were to say I didn’t miss you —that would be a lie.
The Little Black Book of Poems: Nervous
If you knew my story, would I still have you? If you knew who I used to be, would you still love the girl I have become?
The Little Black Book of Poems: Trap Queen
She sits there quietly, laying still; but her head is spinning. Her legs are crossed; pretending— that her life isn't ending, one li(n)e at a time. High off pills and potions; Oxy has this white girl lacking emotions. Externally, she's calm and serene. Reality —she's anything but clean; when playing her favorite role as trap queen.
The Little Black Book of Poems: Donkey Kong
Psychopath. Pyromaniac. Fake laugh. Body cast. Nicotine patch. Can I make it last? You mean no. You say yes. First place? Second best. High fashion? Worst dressed. Never right. Always wrong. Trying to find my voice. But I got no song. What's up, Donkey Kong? And when I still can't get it right, I try to remember —Brad Pitt. The club. Fight. I might, just win. Fuck this life of sin.
The Little Black Book of Poems: Faith
I was walking a tightrope between my old familiar behavior, and the life I thought I wanted. Little did I know, it was leading me to death. The new unknown path promised hope, but I didn't want hope. I wanted to get high. It was a dangerous time. In spite of my wishful attempts to better myself, one part of me —obviously the more influential part, always succeeded in undermining my good intentions.
The Little Black Book of Poems: Blade
Sadness sweeps through your buzzing brain, as you count what pills are left in your stash. 19. You’d have enough for today and tomorrow, but in all reality, you needed more. Tonight though, you had other plans.
The Little Black Book of Poems: Truth or Dare
Morals. What’s that? I was a junkie with survival on my mind. Sigh —there was nothing I wouldn’t do to get high. At the time, this girl had no name, even though I had a shit ton of pain. I know it makes no sense, but that's how I liked it. I know it's not fair; so I try not to care. Anyone up for a round of truth or dare?
The Little Black Book of Poems: The Storm
There would be no real way of knowing then that I was about to create a storm that would soon ravage all in its line of vision. Everything, my world —up in smoke. Just when I thought I had conquered it all, when things couldn’t get any worse, I found myself lost, alone, and addicted.
CDC Says Prescription Painkillers No Longer Drive Opioid Epidemic — But What Is?
It's not new news that the U.S. is in the midst of an opioid epidemic, however, prescriptions have lost their driving status to illicit fentanyl and street heroin. Let's see what happened.
CBD Oil: People are Feeling Good & Healing Better
Pain patients everywhere are excited. They are excited for two reasons. Quality of lives and discomforted symptoms are improving. It's all thanks to CBD hemp oil, a.k.a. the super herb. And let me just say from personal experience, this plant is well deserving of its title because of the healing properties found inside. Think of marijuana without the paranoia. You feel calm, relaxed, and less susceptible to pain. And so, I spoke with a hemp manufacturer and real people with real pain to see how CBD has impacted their lives. This is what I found.
Relationships & Chronic Pain: 5 Tips on How You Can Break the Cycle
Raise your hand if pain (in some fashion) has affected any of your relationships? Are you more tired than before? Are you unable to attend your child's after-school activity because it physically hurts everywhere? Maybe there are times when even if nothing is “wrong” —you're still in a bad mood? First of all, you're not alone. I get it (probably more so than you might think). Secondly, I want to help. Here's what you need to know.
Everyone has Something — What’s Yours?
Like any teenage girl, I wanted to be thin. The more my bones protruded out of my emaciated skin, the prettier I thought I was. Everyone has something. What's yours?