New to this forum.

[DesertEyes]

New to this forum.

Hey gang. I've been around SR for a few years and just love the place. I've been busy with life and health issues, and just now managed to come look around here.

What a wonderful bunch you guys are!!! I love the recovery you got going here.

So here's my introduction. I have a condition called "Autonomic Neuropathy", which is basically my nerves in the center of my body are withering away. In turn that causes my heart and lungs to loose control and blood supply, and they start withering away too. My blood pressure is a constant problem (it goes way up, way down, this way and that way ), as is my ability to breathe. There is no cure, yet, but lots of meds to help me manage. 'course, the meds all have side effects.

I have regular episodes of angina every day. That's a deep, burning pain in the middle of my chest caused by my heart tissues not getting enough blood. In the last three years the paramedics have dragged me into the ER 6 times, and I got to spend a few days in "club med" while my heart healed. One time I was in for a whole month, course that was one of the 3 times my heart actually stopped altogether. Not a fun time.

The neuropathy will continue to get worse over time, and eventually it will kill me. Along the way it will spread to other parts of my body causing all kinds of nastiness. At the moment we are dealing with some weird symptoms in my stomach, which may be caused by all the meds, or maybe caused by the neuropathy. don't know yet. We'll see what the HP has planned.

Just as a side note, I also had an accident and wound up having brain surgery over this last Xmas, and now I get these monster migraines from that. However, those are expected to go away as my brain heals.

Meds? Oh yes, opiates work the best. They relax the heart muscle, knock out the pain, loosen up all the blood vessels so my heart doesn't have to work so hard, and have the least _medical_ side effects. However, having been addicted to booze I know I have to _very_ careful with that stuff. I take it only when my symptoms meet certain limits I have worked out with my docs. Otherwise I take alpha channel blockers or vaso constrictors (depending on which way my blood pressure is going) various blood thinners and some steroids. The side effects of those meds are pretty ugly, but they make it possible for me to "save up" the opiates as a last resort.

I'll be posting as often as I can. I try to keep my meds to a minimum, which gives me just enough energy to hold down a simple little desk job, and not a whole lot more. I spend a lot of time in bed trying to get well enough to go to work the next morning. Weekends I go to meetings and out with friends. Once in a while I'll feel good enough to catch a meeting during the week, and those are wonderful days.

thanx for this wonderful forum, and for all the kind and supportive posts you guys have written. It's nice to know there's safe places like this.

Mike

[nandm]

Welcome, great to see you. Glad to see you decided to join us. I have already found this forum to be quite useful with some good tips, and support.

[ksos]

Welcome Mike!

Welcome to this terrific forum and may this day be less painful than the last day!

Ksos

[jazpoppy]

Welcome DesertEyes;

Glad you found your way here. I am so very sorry for the suffering you endure each day. I really hope you get more pain free or less painful days more often! I am no doctor or any kind of medical expert but I have heard that if a person has a heart condition, any type of pain (chronic or acute) can be very dangerous as it puts more strain on the heart due to the body's response to pain (cramping up, blood pressure rises, muscles tighten (and the heart is a muscle)) so you should not feel bad at all if you have to take a narcotic for your pain. As long as you have a good recovery support system and good doctors working with you, you should be able to stay clean and sober and take your pain medication when you need it as prescribed. Don't ever avoid your prescribed dose because you feel badly about taking the narcotics, your life is much more important than worrying what others will think. I'm sure you are not worried, I just want to make sure though, because of your health issues. I wish you the best. I will pray for you to have less pain and be able to get out and enjoy life!

Sincerely;

Jaz

[ksos]

Jazzy,

Personally, I never really thought about the relationship between pain and the heart, although it makes perfect sense. No wonder I feel flushed when the pain hits hard...

K-

[DesertEyes]

Hi there jaz, and pleased to "meet" you

Originally Posted by jazpoppy

...I have heard that if a person has a heart condition, any type of pain (chronic or acute) can be very dangerous as it puts more strain on the heart ...

That's what my docs have told me. Pain causes release of endorphins in the body, and those cause the heart to pump harder and faster. For people with a heart that is already weakend from other causes that can be quite dangerous.

Originally Posted by jazpoppy

... As long as you have a good recovery support system and good doctors working with you, you should be able to stay clean and sober and take your pain medication when you need it as prescribed....

Yup, got a whole "family" of recovery people out here. Some are as close to me as brothers, and have been there for me thru all my hardships. I keep in touch with all of them at least once a week. And yes, my docs are great, and I take my meds _exactly_ as prescribed.

Originally Posted by jazpoppy

... I will pray for you to have less pain and be able to get out and enjoy life! ...

ty, ty, prayers are always welcomed. Last sunday I went out hiking with some friends in the program. Okay.... they went hiking, I just did a little bit of walking One of the guys stuck with me the whole time, even though he could have gone on with the rest of the group. That's the kind of recovery people I have around me, they're willing to stay close and be supportive of me.

You're in my prayers, jaz, every day.

Mike

[jazpoppy]

Thanks so much for the wonderful response Mike. I'm glad to have met you. I am definately going to keep checking up on your. PM me if you'd like to talk about anything you don't want to post publicly. I can't give real medical advice, but I'm happy to point you in the right direction and share you experience, strength, and hope! You take care and have a great evening!

Sincerely;

Jaz