My heart goes out to Prince. If he has been living with chronic pain for years, it can definitely have an impact upon your quality of life, and so when you think you've found something to help improve that quality of life, you grab hold of it and hang on.

.

I was diagnosed at 17 with a DVT that ran the entire length of my leg, up beyond my groin. I was in the hospital that first time for 22 days, in ICU twice. My life was never the same after that. Multiple ER visits and hospital stays over the years with DVTs and pulmonary embolisms. To be honest, I should be dead. I have lived with chronic pain for 33 years now. And any relief that I can find from that pain is tremendous.

.

At first, I was in and out of the hospital on a constant basis, once I'd gone to the ER and they gave me pain meds to help with the pain, I was signing myself out AMA. The pain was gone, I felt fine, and saw no reason to stay in the hospital. It was the first time I ever heard a doctor curse, because I had a clot that was close to breaking lose, and if it did, it would kill me. But, in my mind, I felt fine. No pain. Of course, in the middle of the night, when the medication had worn off, I was in excruciating pain again, and my then-husband would have to take me back to the ER. Same doc that saw me earlier in the evening, told me that he didn't have to treat me again, since I had signed out as AMA, but that he would if I allowed him to admit me and agreed to not sign myself out again. By that time, the pain was so awful, I agreed. I was in there another two weeks. Eventually, you just get tired of doctors, of having to go so frequently, tired of hospitals, tired of everything. You just want to be normal, to be able to function normally without pain.

.

I have had to take pain medications (percocets, loritabs (when they were still around), Norcos) off and on throughout these 33 years. I can see how easy it would be to become dependent upon them. I can also see how easy it would be to overdose on them. When you have extreme pain, even those pills will wear off before the prescribed 6 hours are up. When you hurt, you will do whatever it takes to get out of that pain, including taking those pills again before the end of that 6 hours, maybe 3 or 4 hours later. When you work constantly, (I have 2 jobs), it's difficult to focus through the pain, difficult to keep going through the pain, so you do tend to try to get out of that pain. You know those pills work, even if for a short time, and you just don't think about the consequences of what might happen if you take more than prescribed, because your goal is to just stop hurting. That's the only goal you have, to just not hurt any more.

.

I've been lucky, because my pain comes and goes. If I'm on my leg too much, sit for too long without movement, my leg hurts and swells up. However, if I can find time to rest, to elevate my leg, that helps to keep the pain to a minmum, so I was able to work through my pain at times by taking the break I needed, without having to resort to the medication. However, I now take an ER Tramadol daily and tylenol for breakthrough pain. If I'm honest, I take more tylenol that I would like to, and I still experience pain through working two jobs, but I force my way through it.

.

We all know how much of a workaholic Prince was. He was not one to stop and rest. He wasn't able to, the music would just flow through him and he had to get it out. He wouldn't take the time he needed to recover from the pain. His only option, I think perhaps, was to take the pills to help with the pain so that he could continue to function at the level he was used to. I tell my elderly clients all the time, the brain says, "I can still do this, I've been doing this all my life. But the body says, 'oh no you can't.'" They are used to being independent, doing things their way, caring for themselves, and when the body says it's time to slow down, their brain is still telling them there is no need to slow down, because it's something they've done for years without needing to slow down. And, as we all know, Prince was the epitomy of independence. Stubborn, too. He did what he did to try to get rid of the pain, nothing more, nothing less, just so he could keep going and doing what he loved to do.

.

Where Prince's pain was, there really was no way to get relief. That area of the body is almost constantly in motion, even when at rest. When you sleep, you roll over. When you lay down, if you move slightly, you are moving that area of your body. The only reason I know, is because I had to have surgery near that area once and my first comment, upon waking from the anesthesia was, "I hurt." I was informed that they had given me the maximum dosage of morphine that I could be given safely, so I just had to deal with the pain. They explained to me at that time, there really wasn't a whole lot of relief I would get for a little while, until I had recuperated fully from the surgery, because that is just one area that you can't quite keep immobile. Prince did what he had to do to try to get away from the pain. I don't blame him for that. I don't blame those close to him for not being there. If he had taken his pills, he would have seemed to fine to them, and he would have reassured them that he was fine, just as I did my ex-husband when I signed out AMA. They may not have understood that he would need to take those pills again a short time later, because the pain would break through.

.

Sorry for how long this is, but, I just want people to understand what it is like to live with chronic pain, the lengths you will go to to get away from that pain, and once you find relief you won't think about the consequences of taking more than prescribed when that pain starts coming back, you just know the pills equal relief from the pain, and you just take them.

[Edited 5/4/16 9:55am]

NorthC said:

Sorry, but DVU? AMA? Not everybody here has English as their native language. Could you explain that?

.

DVT - Deep Vein Thrombosis

AMA - Against Medical Advice

Thank you for sharing that.

Pain is terrible.

Since January I have some burn out/stress-like symptoms. My face/nose hurts all day long, for 3 months now. Something to do with grinding my teeth and straining my jaw muscles and thereby obstructing a facial nerve. I've tried every over the counter painkiller and some herbal/smart shop stuff, but only prescription meds help. But they are indeed addictive, so I quit using them after two very nice pain free days (which felt like three weeks ultra fancy vacation time).

Either I'm getting used to the pain, or things are getting slightly better, but I felt like sh!t for three months. It also drove me up the walls, not being able to work, or just to have a proper social life. The busier I was, the more it hurt. When Prince died, I had a nervous breakdown because of all this sh!t. I was stressed and in pain as it was and his death pushed me over the ege of rationalism.

So, just sayin'... I can imagine that Prince, leading a very active life, took painkillers. He had to. Or else he'd just be a lame miserable mess. And then Vanity died, so that must have hit him awefully hard.

I can truly relate

prittypriss said:

My heart goes out to Prince. If he has been living with chronic pain for years, it can definitely have an impact upon your quality of life, and so when you think you've found something to help improve that quality of life, you grab hold of it and hang on.

.

I was diagnosed at 17 with a DVT that ran the entire length of my leg, up beyond my groin. I was in the hospital that first time for 22 days, in ICU twice. My life was never the same after that. Multiple ER visits and hospital stays over the years with DVTs and pulmonary embolisms. To be honest, I should be dead. I have lived with chronic pain for 33 years now. And any relief that I can find from that pain is tremendous.

.

At first, I was in and out of the hospital on a constant basis, once I'd gone to the ER and they gave me pain meds to help with the pain, I was signing myself out AMA. The pain was gone, I felt fine, and saw no reason to stay in the hospital. It was the first time I ever heard a doctor curse, because I had a clot that was close to breaking lose, and if it did, it would kill me. But, in my mind, I felt fine. No pain. Of course, in the middle of the night, when the medication had worn off, I was in excruciating pain again, and my then-husband would have to take me back to the ER. Same doc that saw me earlier in the evening, told me that he didn't have to treat me again, since I had signed out as AMA, but that he would if I allowed him to admit me and agreed to not sign myself out again. By that time, the pain was so awful, I agreed. I was in there another two weeks. Eventually, you just get tired of doctors, of having to go so frequently, tired of hospitals, tired of everything. You just want to be normal, to be able to function normally without pain.

.

I have had to take pain medications (percocets, loritabs (when they were still around), Norcos) off and on throughout these 33 years. I can see how easy it would be to become dependent upon them. I can also see how easy it would be to overdose on them. When you have extreme pain, even those pills will wear off before the prescribed 6 hours are up. When you hurt, you will do whatever it takes to get out of that pain, including taking those pills again before the end of that 6 hours, maybe 3 or 4 hours later. When you work constantly, (I have 2 jobs), it's difficult to focus through the pain, difficult to keep going through the pain, so you do tend to try to get out of that pain. You know those pills work, even if for a short time, and you just don't think about the consequences of what might happen if you take more than prescribed, because your goal is to just stop hurting. That's the only goal you have, to just not hurt any more.

.

I've been lucky, because my pain comes and goes. If I'm on my leg too much, sit for too long without movement, my leg hurts and swells up. However, if I can find time to rest, to elevate my leg, that helps to keep the pain to a minmum, so I was able to work through my pain at times by taking the break I needed, without having to resort to the medication. However, I now take an ER Tramadol daily and tylenol for breakthrough pain. If I'm honest, I take more tylenol that I would like to, and I still experience pain through working two jobs, but I force my way through it.

.

We all know how much of a workaholic Prince was. He was not one to stop and rest. He wasn't able to, the music would just flow through him and he had to get it out. He wouldn't take the time he needed to recover from the pain. His only option, I think perhaps, was to take the pills to help with the pain so that he could continue to function at the level he was used to. I tell my elderly clients all the time, the brain says, "I can still do this, I've been doing this all my life. But the body says, 'oh no you can't.'" They are used to being independent, doing things their way, caring for themselves, and when the body says it's time to slow down, their brain is still telling them there is no need to slow down, because it's something they've done for years without needing to slow down. And, as we all know, Prince was the epitomy of independence. Stubborn, too. He did what he did to try to get rid of the pain, nothing more, nothing less, just so he could keep going and doing what he loved to do.

.

Where Prince's pain was, there really was no way to get relief. That area of the body is almost constantly in motion, even when at rest. When you sleep, you roll over. When you lay down, if you move slightly, you are moving that area of your body. The only reason I know, is because I had to have surgery near that area once and my first comment, upon waking from the anesthesia was, "I hurt." I was informed that they had given me the maximum dosage of morphine that I could be given safely, so I just had to deal with the pain. They explained to me at that time, there really wasn't a whole lot of relief I would get for a little while, until I had recuperated fully from the surgery, because that is just one area that you can't quite keep immobile. Prince did what he had to do to try to get away from the pain. I don't blame him for that. I don't blame those close to him for not being there. If he had taken his pills, he would have seemed to fine to them, and he would have reassured them that he was fine, just as I did my ex-husband when I signed out AMA. They may not have understood that he would need to take those pills again a short time later, because the pain would break through.

.

Sorry for how long this is, but, I just want people to understand what it is like to live with chronic pain, the lengths you will go to to get away from that pain, and once you find relief you won't think about the consequences of taking more than prescribed when that pain starts coming back, you just know the pills equal relief from the pain, and you just take them.

[Edited 5/4/16 9:55am]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I hope this helps people who don't know what you live with every day to try and understand the circumstances without being so judgemental.

Thank you for your post and for sharing your experiences. I'm sorry for all you've had to endure, and I hope and wish that you'll one day be painfree.

.

.

As another chronic pain sufferer due to GI problems, so I have constant abdominal pain and nausea and guttwisting cramping, I could relate so much to what you wrote, and I've been aching in my heart even more for Prince since learning of his pain and other physical struggles. it's a frustrating, awful way to go through life, hurting all the time.

.

.

Thank you again for sharing your story. Peace, friend.

I had chronic back pain for about 7 years. Every day, nearly every minute was filled with pain. I ended up getting used to it, but there were times when it would just be unbearable. I never was one for pain meds, as they made me nauseous. I would sleep on ice packs and heating pads every night. More than once, I had burnt my back to the point of it blistering. I didn't care. I just felt like sticking a knife into the bad spot and cutting the offending nerves out.

.

There's been nights where I was just delirious with pain. I'd get up, drink some wine, and take ativan and even ambien, all together, just wanting desperating to be knocked out.

.

I wish so badly that Prince could have had somebody in his life that he felt he could confide in and who could have helped him before this tragedy.

.

By the way, one day, I just had realized that I haden't been in pain for a few days. That was a year ago. I've been pain free since then. Honestly, I think what helped me was faithfully going to the gym three days a week.

Thanks for sharing.

I was at a hospital this week and I saw an entire section called Chronic Pain which I never even knew existed.

Chronic pain is no joke. It ruins your life and steels your joy. I don't know how Prince did anything, much less hide his misery from nearly everyone. I complained bitterly to my husband, my parents and my kids anytime I was having a particularly bad day.

prittypriss said:

Sorry for how long this is, but, I just want people to understand what it is like to live with chronic pain, the lengths you will go to to get away from that pain, and once you find relief you won't think about the consequences of taking more than prescribed when that pain starts coming back, you just know the pills equal relief from the pain, and you just take them.

[Edited 5/4/16 9:55am]

Your whole post is so on point, but this last part especially got me. People who don't live with chronic pain really have no idea. The thing that's really frightening me right now is all this talk in Minnesota of doing something about the opioid epidemic -- which was already a hot topic before Prince died. Now people are predicting that the MN legislature will go totally out of their flipping minds to do something about it. I personally don't like opioids and have done everything I can do avoid them in dealing with my chronic pain, but the fact is that where chronic pain is concerned there's often very little hope. And what pisses me off is that there just isn't much research being done on chronic pain -- not on causes, not on treatments. Everybody's talking about banning or severely restricting opioids but nobody is talking about what will replace them.

The only thing I can think of right now is that in MN, medical marijuana will be expanded to include pain patients starting in August. But because of stupid federal restrictions, we don't have as much research as we should on medical marijuana, on dosage, administration, strains, etc. It's appalling that researchers and funding agencies aren't stepping up to conduct more research on chronic pain yet we're all so confident that taking away treatment options is just a great idea.

kapo74 said:

Pain is terrible.

Since January I have some burn out/stress-like symptoms. My face/nose hurts all day long, for 3 months now. Something to do with grinding my teeth and straining my jaw muscles and thereby obstructing a facial nerve. I've tried every over the counter painkiller and some herbal/smart shop stuff, but only prescription meds help. But they are indeed addictive, so I quit using them after two very nice pain free days (which felt like three weeks ultra fancy vacation time).

Either I'm getting used to the pain, or things are getting slightly better, but I felt like sh!t for three months. It also drove me up the walls, not being able to work, or just to have a proper social life. The busier I was, the more it hurt. When Prince died, I had a nervous breakdown because of all this sh!t. I was stressed and in pain as it was and his death pushed me over the ege of rationalism.

So, just sayin'... I can imagine that Prince, leading a very active life, took painkillers. He had to. Or else he'd just be a lame miserable mess. And then Vanity died, so that must have hit him awefully hard.

I can truly relate

.

You can get used to the pain, if it is the same place, same intensity. Eventually, you adapt to that pain. I understand too about the social life. When my oldest son was around 9 or 10, I was going to take him to a trail that he had wanted to go on for awhile. I got maybe 50 feet in and realized I was just not going to be able to do it. My son, in his frustration, said, "I hate your leg!" I could only hug him and tell him, "I do, too." It completely interfers with every aspect of your life when you live with chronic pain. I can work my way through my leg pains now, that's why I only take tramadols and tylenol and nothing stronger. But when I get a new clot, that's when thing get rough.

purplethunder3121 said:

prittypriss said:

Sorry for how long this is, but, I just want people to understand what it is like to live with chronic pain, the lengths you will go to to get away from that pain, and once you find relief you won't think about the consequences of taking more than prescribed when that pain starts coming back, you just know the pills equal relief from the pain, and you just take them.

[Edited 5/4/16 9:55am]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I hope this helps people who don't know what you live with every day to try and understand the circumstances without being so judgemental.

.

That's what I'm hoping. If it turns out that Prince was taking opoids for pain, I want people to understand how it could happen. I've managed to ensure that I didn't get addicted to the stuff, only used it when I absolutely had to because the pain was extremely severe, but this is one of those, "There but by the Grace of God, go I." I endured my pain because addictions run in my family and I've seen what those addictions have done to family members. But I could have easily went in another direction when my pain was at its worst.

mynameisnotsusan said:

I feel you so much. I had sciatic pain beginning of 2014 and the continuous pain drives you crazy! There were some days I'd become panicked because it was impossible to find a body position that wasn't excruciatingly painful. I saw at least 5 different doctors and I just wanted someone to help me - I wasn't Dr hopping for prescriptions. I needed pain medication to function and couldn't sleep without it, had to take a couple every 4 hours so would be waking in the night in agony, have to take 2 more pills and wait half an hour before it would subside to get back to sleep. I weaned myself from taking pain medication because I could totally see how addictive it could become after about 4-5 months and I did not want to live the rest of my life on them. They may have taken away pain but they were making me confused sometimes as well. It took a year for the pain to basically go away after physio visits, acupuncture, stretching and rejigging my work station so I can stand and sit through the day and change my body position. I pray I don't ever have to go through that again - protect your back people at all costs!

.

I have sciatica problems, too. I'm glad that you aren't still suffering with the pain. But yeah, addiction to pain medication can easily happen and I understand completely how it can happen. I just hate that he was in pain at all.

RobotDevil said:

Thank you for your post and for sharing your experiences. I'm sorry for all you've had to endure, and I hope and wish that you'll one day be painfree.

.

.

As another chronic pain sufferer due to GI problems, so I have constant abdominal pain and nausea and guttwisting cramping, I could relate so much to what you wrote, and I've been aching in my heart even more for Prince since learning of his pain and other physical struggles. it's a frustrating, awful way to go through life, hurting all the time.

.

.

Thank you again for sharing your story. Peace, friend.

.

Unfortunately for me, the clots have caused too much damage to the veins in my leg. I'll never be completely pain free. It's just something I live with. I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with pain, too. It really does color your whole life, decreases your quality of life. I just hope people will be understanding of that.

SuzyHomemaker said:

I had chronic back pain for about 7 years. Every day, nearly every minute was filled with pain. I ended up getting used to it, but there were times when it would just be unbearable. I never was one for pain meds, as they made me nauseous. I would sleep on ice packs and heating pads every night. More than once, I had burnt my back to the point of it blistering. I didn't care. I just felt like sticking a knife into the bad spot and cutting the offending nerves out.

.

There's been nights where I was just delirious with pain. I'd get up, drink some wine, and take ativan and even ambien, all together, just wanting desperating to be knocked out.

.

I wish so badly that Prince could have had somebody in his life that he felt he could confide in and who could have helped him before this tragedy.

.

By the way, one day, I just had realized that I haden't been in pain for a few days. That was a year ago. I've been pain free since then. Honestly, I think what helped me was faithfully going to the gym three days a week.

.

I'm so glad you are pain free! But yeah, when you get in that kind of pain, you'll do whatever it takes to get out of it. Taking ambien and ativan together, not a good combo! Glad nothing adverse came from that!!!!

prittypriss said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I hope this helps people who don't know what you live with every day to try and understand the circumstances without being so judgemental.

.

That's what I'm hoping. If it turns out that Prince was taking opoids for pain, I want people to understand how it could happen. I've managed to ensure that I didn't get addicted to the stuff, only used it when I absolutely had to because the pain was extremely severe, but this is one of those, "There but by the Grace of God, go I." I endured my pain because addictions run in my family and I've seen what those addictions have done to family members. But I could have easily went in another direction when my pain was at its worst.

I also live with a physical condition that has not necessitated taking pain killers except for the occasional big dose of Tylenol...yet. But, I have a friend who has developed severe knee and back pain in recent years. He's trying to do all that he can to avoid perscription medications. He tried a knee surgery on one knee and tells me his pain with that knee is worse than before he had surgery so he refuses to get any more. Medical Cannibas helps in his case. I hope that is more widely accepted in the future for pain management than it is now. The public really needs to be educated on the very real problems of living with unavoidable physical chronic pain.

Arbwyth said:

prittypriss said:

Sorry for how long this is, but, I just want people to understand what it is like to live with chronic pain, the lengths you will go to to get away from that pain, and once you find relief you won't think about the consequences of taking more than prescribed when that pain starts coming back, you just know the pills equal relief from the pain, and you just take them.

[Edited 5/4/16 9:55am]

Your whole post is so on point, but this last part especially got me. People who don't live with chronic pain really have no idea. The thing that's really frightening me right now is all this talk in Minnesota of doing something about the opioid epidemic -- which was already a hot topic before Prince died. Now people are predicting that the MN legislature will go totally out of their flipping minds to do something about it. I personally don't like opioids and have done everything I can do avoid them in dealing with my chronic pain, but the fact is that where chronic pain is concerned there's often very little hope. And what pisses me off is that there just isn't much research being done on chronic pain -- not on causes, not on treatments. Everybody's talking about banning or severely restricting opioids but nobody is talking about what will replace them.

The only thing I can think of right now is that in MN, medical marijuana will be expanded to include pain patients starting in August. But because of stupid federal restrictions, we don't have as much research as we should on medical marijuana, on dosage, administration, strains, etc. It's appalling that researchers and funding agencies aren't stepping up to conduct more research on chronic pain yet we're all so confident that taking away treatment options is just a great idea.

.

Unfortunately, with chronic pain, there are just too many causes to be able to do much research there. Medical marijuana is good for treating pain and it has shown to be effective even with cancer patients for nausea and pain.

purplethunder3121 said:

prittypriss said:

.

That's what I'm hoping. If it turns out that Prince was taking opoids for pain, I want people to understand how it could happen. I've managed to ensure that I didn't get addicted to the stuff, only used it when I absolutely had to because the pain was extremely severe, but this is one of those, "There but by the Grace of God, go I." I endured my pain because addictions run in my family and I've seen what those addictions have done to family members. But I could have easily went in another direction when my pain was at its worst.

I also live with a physical condition that has not necessitated taking pain killers except for the occasional big dose of Tylenol...yet. But, I have a friend who has developed severe knee and back pain in recent years. He's trying to do all that he can to avoid perscription medications. He tried a knee surgery on one knee and tells me his pain with that knee is worse than before he had surgery so he refuses to get any more. Medical Cannibas helps in his case. I hope that is more widely accepted in the future for pain management than it is now. The public really needs to be educated on the very real problems of living with unavoidable physical chronic pain.

.

Marijuana has been shown to help with many, many conditions, pain management being one of them. I wish they would legalize it completely because it is obvious that it was not a schedule 1 drug as we were led to believe. It does have medical uses and addiction to marijuana is no greater than addiction to alcohol.

prittypriss said:

My heart goes out to Prince. If he has been living with chronic pain for years, it can definitely have an impact upon your quality of life, and so when you think you've found something to help improve that quality of life, you grab hold of it and hang on.

.

I was diagnosed at 17 with a DVT that ran the entire length of my leg, up beyond my groin. I was in the hospital that first time for 22 days, in ICU twice. My life was never the same after that. Multiple ER visits and hospital stays over the years with DVTs and pulmonary embolisms. To be honest, I should be dead. I have lived with chronic pain for 33 years now. And any relief that I can find from that pain is tremendous.

.

At first, I was in and out of the hospital on a constant basis, once I'd gone to the ER and they gave me pain meds to help with the pain, I was signing myself out AMA. The pain was gone, I felt fine, and saw no reason to stay in the hospital. It was the first time I ever heard a doctor curse, because I had a clot that was close to breaking lose, and if it did, it would kill me. But, in my mind, I felt fine. No pain. Of course, in the middle of the night, when the medication had worn off, I was in excruciating pain again, and my then-husband would have to take me back to the ER. Same doc that saw me earlier in the evening, told me that he didn't have to treat me again, since I had signed out as AMA, but that he would if I allowed him to admit me and agreed to not sign myself out again. By that time, the pain was so awful, I agreed. I was in there another two weeks. Eventually, you just get tired of doctors, of having to go so frequently, tired of hospitals, tired of everything. You just want to be normal, to be able to function normally without pain.

.

I have had to take pain medications (percocets, loritabs (when they were still around), Norcos) off and on throughout these 33 years. I can see how easy it would be to become dependent upon them. I can also see how easy it would be to overdose on them. When you have extreme pain, even those pills will wear off before the prescribed 6 hours are up. When you hurt, you will do whatever it takes to get out of that pain, including taking those pills again before the end of that 6 hours, maybe 3 or 4 hours later. When you work constantly, (I have 2 jobs), it's difficult to focus through the pain, difficult to keep going through the pain, so you do tend to try to get out of that pain. You know those pills work, even if for a short time, and you just don't think about the consequences of what might happen if you take more than prescribed, because your goal is to just stop hurting. That's the only goal you have, to just not hurt any more.

.

I've been lucky, because my pain comes and goes. If I'm on my leg too much, sit for too long without movement, my leg hurts and swells up. However, if I can find time to rest, to elevate my leg, that helps to keep the pain to a minmum, so I was able to work through my pain at times by taking the break I needed, without having to resort to the medication. However, I now take an ER Tramadol daily and tylenol for breakthrough pain. If I'm honest, I take more tylenol that I would like to, and I still experience pain through working two jobs, but I force my way through it.

.

We all know how much of a workaholic Prince was. He was not one to stop and rest. He wasn't able to, the music would just flow through him and he had to get it out. He wouldn't take the time he needed to recover from the pain. His only option, I think perhaps, was to take the pills to help with the pain so that he could continue to function at the level he was used to. I tell my elderly clients all the time, the brain says, "I can still do this, I've been doing this all my life. But the body says, 'oh no you can't.'" They are used to being independent, doing things their way, caring for themselves, and when the body says it's time to slow down, their brain is still telling them there is no need to slow down, because it's something they've done for years without needing to slow down. And, as we all know, Prince was the epitomy of independence. Stubborn, too. He did what he did to try to get rid of the pain, nothing more, nothing less, just so he could keep going and doing what he loved to do.

.

Where Prince's pain was, there really was no way to get relief. That area of the body is almost constantly in motion, even when at rest. When you sleep, you roll over. When you lay down, if you move slightly, you are moving that area of your body. The only reason I know, is because I had to have surgery near that area once and my first comment, upon waking from the anesthesia was, "I hurt." I was informed that they had given me the maximum dosage of morphine that I could be given safely, so I just had to deal with the pain. They explained to me at that time, there really wasn't a whole lot of relief I would get for a little while, until I had recuperated fully from the surgery, because that is just one area that you can't quite keep immobile. Prince did what he had to do to try to get away from the pain. I don't blame him for that. I don't blame those close to him for not being there. If he had taken his pills, he would have seemed to fine to them, and he would have reassured them that he was fine, just as I did my ex-husband when I signed out AMA. They may not have understood that he would need to take those pills again a short time later, because the pain would break through.

.

Sorry for how long this is, but, I just want people to understand what it is like to live with chronic pain, the lengths you will go to to get away from that pain, and once you find relief you won't think about the consequences of taking more than prescribed when that pain starts coming back, you just know the pills equal relief from the pain, and you just take them.

[Edited 5/4/16 9:55am]

Best post Ive read on here in 13 years.