Pain Drain

Tonight Hubby commented that I have a ton more energy at the end of the day when I haven't been in pain all day with my hip.

This may sounds obvious (DUH!) but it's not until you have a good day that you realize just how emotionally and physically draining daily pain can be.

So what did I do differently today? Well, I woke up with quite a bit of lower back and hip stiffness and, knowing I had a long day ahead of me that included a photo-shoot in William Land Park as well as an afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch (more on Lazy Crazy Daisy later) with some kiddos, I got ahead of my pain and took two pain-killers - the 1-2 punch of Ibuprofen and Codeine from the English wonder-pills, Nurofen Plus.

Normally, I don't like to rely on pain pills, especially since my pain is chronic and daily. First, it's just not good for you. Second, I'm shit-scared of being dependent. Third, how the hell do I know if I'm progressing with my other efforts if I'm constantly masking the pain? BUT, today's experience reminds me that, every now and again it's good to take a mental and physical health break from the daily beat-down of soreness and stiffness.

Incidentally, I think I need a new mattress. I just can't seem to get comfortable at night any more. Every part of my body - from my neck down to my feet - seems to twinge or ache while I'm in bed these days. It's been a week or two since I had a full night's rest; I continually wake up sometime between 1am and 3am feeling uncomfortable. I wonder how much difference a new mattress will make on my hip pain and stiffness? I'm going to have to save-up to find out!