I made a choice a few weeks ago to stop taking Tramadol which is a fairly strong addictive opiate. I stopped cold turkey and was fine other than in increasingly hard to manage pain. I was then put on Gabapentin which is not an opiate and helps with nerve pain. These painkillers do not help as much as the Tramadol did but they are less addictive which I am much more comfortable with.

Flip side of this is I have had such an increase in pain or at least my awareness of pain recently. My bladder is contributing to a lot of that pain and hopefully the new painkillers will help with some of that. I can see that some of my internal organs are becoming more and more affected by my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and I am increasingly aware of how much more limited I am and how much I am hating losing my independence and my confidence. I hate going anywhere alone now and feel anxious a lot of the time.

I intend to ask for help with feeling like this, I have noticed I am much more bad tempered recently and I am guessing this is due to the increase in pain and medication changes. If I have been short or grumpy with you I apologise. I am working very hard on not feeling like a burden and keep telling myself I am still useful and worth something. This is raw honest truth, at the moment I struggle to feel like a proper mother and it’s hard hard pill to swallow (and I swallow a lot of pills a day).

I remind myself daily this feeling is temporary and that I am wanted and needed. I don’t need anything from anyone I just want to say sorry if I’m not my usual self. I just need a bit of time to accept the things that are happening to me. To accept I can’t change most of these things and to figure out where to go from here.( just realised it’starting to sound like the 12 steps here).

I even recently had so much more independence. I was volunteering a lot, planning for the future and feeling more confident. That’s all gone now, I barely volunteer anymore, I dont feel i can plan much in case my bladder gets worse or I’m in too much pain. My plans keep changing and I’m not adapting fast enough and I’m not happy, I so want to be. I want to accept my life as it is and stop being so bloody ungrateful for what I do have. Stop thinking about what I’m losing and look at all I have got. I wish it was that easy.

So I guess I’m saying sorry, I’m probably very self centered and tetchy lately and I might be for a while yet. I’ll be fine soon as I always am so just give me some time and some understanding.