Chronic pain can alter the brain | Arthritis Information

 

From msnbc.com


Brain scans of people in chronic pain show a state of constant activity in areas that should be at rest, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday, a finding that could help explain why pain patients have higher rates of depression, anxiety and other disorders.

They said chronic pain seems to alter the way people process information that is unrelated to pain.

“It seems that enduring pain for a long time affects brain function in response to even minimally demanding attention tasks completely unrelated to pain,” the researchers wrote in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Dante Chialvo, a researcher at Northwestern University in Chicago who worked on the study, said: “People with chronic pain — meaning pain that lasts more than six months after their injury — have many other issues that affect their quality of life as much as pain. It is not known where they come from.”

Recent studies have shown that in healthy people, certain regions of the brain take over during a resting state, something known as a default mode network. “It takes care of your brain when your brain is at rest,” Chialvo said in a telephone interview.

When a person performs a task, this network quiets down, he said, but not in people with chronic pain.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23017866/geeeeeeeeeeeeeee  ya think???

So we got a fouled up "network" How long have you been on the enbrel and are you taking any other drugs for the ra?  Are you sero positive?

When my hands hurt that bad, a dip in a hot wax bath helped as did wearing soft cotton gloves, especially to sleep in.

I like my RD, but he thinks I should put up with the pain, also.  So I get me pain meds from my GP.  I tell my RD that I'm on low-level pain meds (1-2/day) and he just nods, but never offers to fill the prescriptions himself.  I think there may be several others on this board who get their pain meds or sleep meds from their GP and not their RD.

Does this explain why many of us have trouble sleeping? I take ambien cr and it still takes me like 4-5 hrs to fall asleep. Ah hah!  Maybe that explains why I can not for the life of me turn my brain off to sleep unless I have the TV on.  I don't even have to be worried about something.  I'll think about anything.  TV distracts me enough so I don't think, then I can relax and go to sleep.  Same problem if I wake during the night.  Oh yeah, it's starting to make sense now.

I hurt all the time and it's making me crazy. But my hubby would say I was crazy to begin with... ;)  hehehe

Gail, it might be time for a second opinion - especially if he's not listening to you about the pain you're experiencing. People who are on the outside looking in just don't get it sometimes!!

The following website has lotza info about "chronic pain."  Hope it helps someone understand what they're dealing with better and maybe give someone the one-up in talking with a doctor.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/06/030624090043.htm

Here's another site to check out:

http://www.sjm.com/conditions/condition.aspx?name=Chronic+Pain&section=Diagnosishttp://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/c/chronicpain.htm




watchingwolf2008-02-07 06:12:57

So this study just proved what all of us already know right?

Gail...give it at least 2 or 3 months..but you should be on MTX with the Enbrel and your doctor needs to address your pain. Prednisone can help or if you are opposed to steroids than the Nsaids and something with a bit of kick is needed. If your doc just wont listen or address your pain then yeah...shop around.

*I have also found the RD's tend to not want to treat the RA with pain meds. I have gotten mine from my GP in the past and now that they moved away I am still trying to find a GP that I like. I found a good one but the word must have gotten out and now it is a 3 hour wait past the appt time to be seen.. Plus he is stingy with the meds...I rarely take anything but when I have a migraine, neck pain, or other pain that doesnt respond to ibuprofen and tylenol..I think I deserve something that works.

Jesse88-you sound exactly like me. I have to have the tv on to get to sleep and if I wake up (like now) I have to put it on or I will be up all night. Thank god for DVR!

I have been on the Enbrel for over four years.  Before that I was taking Rhemicade infusions.  I was on the highest dose, and still had the pain.  I am sero-negative.  The diagnosis is Psoriatic arthritis, because I had several episodes of serious rashes, when I was on Rhemicade.  The first was a Palmer-plantar type rash, huge pustules on my hands and feet.  Then that went away, and I had some horrible red, raw bloody patches on my legs.  This was worse than the ones on my hands and feet, I could barely walk with assistance.  None of the psoriasis has returned, if it was psoriasis, and it has been over four years. The doctors all agree it was very atypical for psoriasis.

Do most people on these drugs still feel pain?  From the commercials, it appears that these drugs make you feel "like new" again.  Maybe I'm expecting too much. 

Thanks for all of your input.  It's nice to have someone who understands. I have a severe reaction to prednisone.  I also have ulcerative colitis, and was on steroids for quite a while, 100 mg a day intravenously.  I became diabetic and my blood pressure was through the roof.  I did take methotrexate for a while, when on remicade.  No one has suggested that I take remicade.

I'll be more assertive about pain meds when I see the doc again.  I am taking Imuran  (azothiaprine) for the ulcerative colitis, and this has been a problem.  I have been having anemia and low white blood counts because of the bone-marrow suppression.  I was having a lot of bruises, and so I quit taking the over-the-counter NSAIDs.  The hematologist said that at higher doses and with continual use, they can suppress your platelets, hence all the bruising.  I did take methotrexate for a while, when on remicade.  No one has suggested that I take remicade.

I meant to say methotrexate, not remicade above.
To Cruchy and others who need the TV to sleep:  If you have someone in the same room you don't want to wake with noise, the portable earphones work very well.  They're the ones that help the hearing impaired, but you can also mute the TV completely so your partner can sleep while you watch TV.  My husband also has to put an eye mask on to block the light from the TV, so sometimes I just go to another room anyway so he doesn't always have to do that.  The unit we have is Seinheiser and quite expensive, (we got one from the VA hospital because my husband is an injured vet)  but I believe there are other good ones on the market that are reasonably priced.  They are worth their weight in gold.  I also sleep to the TV.  I use the closed-captioning and mute the sound when I have to.  Sometimes I do it, anyway - reading the captions makes me have to concentrate even more and as long as I find a somewhat boring show, I doze off faster.  Reading a good book keeps me awake way too late! I couldn't get the second link to work, but I was able to go to  their site and bring it up here:

http://www.sjm.com/conditions/condition.aspx?name=Chronic+Pain

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