5 Ways to Defeat Painsomnia

Friday night I had a pain flare that dramatically increased from a 5 to an 8 within minutes. I was already in bed and knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep due to the intensity of the pain.

So I started my 5 step process to get the pain under control in order to fall asleep. I think that if you suffer from chronic pain the things that I recommend are worth talking to your doctor about.


5 Ways to Defeat Painsomnia

1. Lidocaine Patches

I immediately slap on a lidocaine patch. It is my first line of defense. I set a 15 minute timer and...

2. Headspace SOS Pain Flare Meditation

I listen to the Headspace Mediation on Pain. If my heart is racing and my body is tensing from the pain this helps it calm down. If the pain is not coming down within the 15 minute timer, I go to the next step.
3. TENS unit

I put on my tens unit around the pain area and then set a 30 minute timer. I either turn on the TV and put a funny show on to laugh or listen to a book on Audible. When the 30 minutes is up I access my pain, if I'm still in as much pain as when I started...
4. Frontline medication

I take my muscle relaxer. It's a prescription and while it does absolutely nothing for my nerve pain, it helps my muscles relax because they are tensing and tense muscles lead to more pain and migraines. The last thing I need during a pain flare is a migraine. The muscle relaxer can also help me sleep, so it's a piece of my bedtime pain strategy in combination with my sleep medication and melatonin.

5. Ice

Last I get ice, and this is last because I will fall asleep with it, which isn't great for your soft tissues.

If it comes to it there is a 6th step and that is my last resort and frankly, #leohusband usually has to talk me into it.

If nothing has worked I finally break down and take my prescribed pain medication. I usually have a Larabar or an RX Bar in my nightstand drawer for emergencies.

I feel that in today's climate it's important to talk about the people who actually need pain medication. I do. I'm not a drug seeker or an addict. I rarely take mine and I go through all of the above steps before I do. Treating people with serious conditions like Adhesive Arachnoiditis like criminals bodes ill for the future of medicine and medical treatment.

Even then, my pain medication sometimes doesn't work. Then I'm stuck until the nerve pain finally decides to just turn off.

There have been many times that #leohusband has come downstairs to find me asleep with my cell phone still playing Netflix. Luckily we now have an Amazon Fire Stick in the bedroom so I can watch TV during emergencies.