Introduction to Living with Severe, Chronic Pain

Living with pain isn't easy.  The medical community usually describes pain as being either "acute" or "chronic".   Acute pain begins suddenly and is usually sharp in quality. It serves as a warning of disease or a threat to the body. Acute pain might be caused by many events or circumstances, including  a broken bone, surgery, burns/cuts, or even dental work.  It might be mild and last just a moment, or it might be severe and last for weeks.  In most cases, acute pain does not last longer than six months, and it disappears when the underlying cause of pain has been treated or has healed. Unrelieved acute pain, however, might lead to chronic pain.  Chronic pain " is a pain that is present over 90 days and which can be continuous or intermittent".  Common chronic pain conditions are arthritis, TMJ, back pain, headaches, etc. 
However, I'd like to introduce you to a new way of describing pain, that severe pain that may have you in your bed in agony, unable to work or enjoy daily activities.  It affects your sleep, your relationships and probably has you on some type of strong pain medication...it is called "Intractable Pain" (hereafter referred to as "IP").  I came across this term when I was looking for help for my own ongoing, chronic severe pain.  I had been on just about every pain medication, narcotic or pain patch that was out there and was looking into a pain pump or some other way or dealing with my pain.  I hated the way the pain medication dulled my senses, caused me to be irritable (as if being in pain doesn't make you irritable enough!), and often affected my sleep.  They made it hard to drive safely, keep up with daily chores, and overall, made me feel worse.  Sure they helped dull the pain but the medication side effects were often very bothersome and made me feel horrible.  While on my journey to find pain relief, I came across this IP term, when I read material written by Forest Tennant, MD, DrPH.  While it wouldn't give me pain relief, it gave me tools and information that really helped.  I'd like to share some of those ideas/tools with you as well as tell you about my journey with pain management as the days go on.
When I read that material about IP, I felt like I was reading about "me", and that the suffering and pain I'd been dealing with wasn't because, as I was told by one doctor, because I have "a low pain threshold", or as another doctor so bluntly put it, I just needed to lose weight, exercise and push past the pain.
IP has hounded me for the past 10 years, where prior to that I was living with chronic pain for 8-9 years.  I believe I progressed to IP because I didn't know what was wrong with me and just went from doctor to doctor looking for help.  As time went on, the pain "stuck" and the times of pain relief were shorter and shorter until I reached the point where I was in pain 24/7 and had to close my counseling practice.
What I want to pass on here is not only my own personal experience with pain and the treatments I have tried (some were successful, some were a dud and some made me feel even worse), but also some pointers on living with, and hopefully getting beyond, IP.  I am not a medical doctor and cannot promise you pain relief, but I can pass on to you what I have learned as layperson who has first-hand experience living with pain.  For me, my pain has gone from IP to manageable pain (I'll explain more about that change later on in another post), and my prayer for you is that you, too, can regain some quality of life and feel empowered over this "thing" that has so drastically changed your life.