I have chronic pain as well, and it often interferes with my daily life and puts certain goals and ambitions out of easy reach, because I have to factor in what it will cost me, in terms of pain-coping resources, to try and do the activity anyway. I’m lucky in that my condition is not regularly so severe as to prevent me from doing certain things, but that can have its own downside—I may overestimate the length of time before my next serious episode, and get myself into a situation that’s much harder to handle once the pain kicks up.
On the other hand, I’m a masochist, and find certain kinds of pain very rewarding—it’s not just the endorphins, but the sensation itself. Those don’t tend to be the kinds of pain my body supplies during an episode, though, so it’s a different thing.
I have chronic pain as well, and it often interferes with my daily life and puts certain goals and ambitions out of easy reach, because I have to factor in what it will cost me, in terms of pain-coping resources, to try and do the activity anyway. I’m lucky in that my condition is not regularly so severe as to prevent me from doing certain things, but that can have its own downside—I may overestimate the length of time before my next serious episode, and get myself into a situation that’s much harder to handle once the pain kicks up.
On the other hand, I’m a masochist, and find certain kinds of pain very rewarding—it’s not just the endorphins, but the sensation itself. Those don’t tend to be the kinds of pain my body supplies during an episode, though, so it’s a different thing.