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I have chronic pain. I have had chronic pain since I was at least in my teen years. The primary cause of my pain is hypermobility syndrome. In simple English, it means I am so flexible that it causes my joints to be in pain and constantly swollen on some level. The areas on my body that cause the most pain (in no particular order) are my lower back and hips. The most unstable joints in my body (in no particular order) are my knees, ankles, and elbows.
I am regularly seeing a pain management doctor. We have figured out a medicine regime that has worked relatively well. I take the pain meds as needed but sometimes, even with the pain meds, I am left on the floor in the fetal position because of how much pain I am in. Even with my strongest pain medicine.
My back pain flares up particularly bad when I’m stressed out. My parents (I’m adopted, I have no idea of my family medical history, my adoptive parents have never had any kind of chronic pain) never really quite understood the degree of pain I was in until I was in college. I remember being in my college apartment and suddenly had a very painful flare-up. I took medicine (at that time I only had access to over the counter medicines) and I ended up laying on the floor on my back and calling my mother. My roommate was not home (thank God). My mom asked why I called so late at night (it was at a time in the night when she was normally…
