At my very worst, I was in the hospital and was taken off of all my medications because my liver was bad and my kidneys were failing. At that time they had me on some intervanous antibiotics and as I was weaned from the antibiotics, the doctors started me on morphine for the pain, gabapentin for the nerve pain and a muscle relaxant, which will be changed to another one because medicare will no longer pay for the one I',m on. I am also on extra strength tylenol. With this combination of medications, I can honestly say that I am doing fairly well, but if I become overly strained with certain tasks, I do go backwards. If I use my meds as they were ordered and take frequent rest periods, I can honestly say I am doing fairly well for the first time since becoming so ill. I hope this helps with some of your questions. I am not saying that everyone should go on morphine, but for me it is working. I can finallyu live a normal day.

I've been using Mindfulness and many forms of meditation. Where would we be without it? Something that is new for me is a renewed faith in God. I was raised Catholic and went to C School too and the church in general turned me off of God. I still have a very non-mainstream belief system I'm sure but just this year at 59, I'm feeling good about God. It's so freeing for me. I still maintain my Buhddist beliefs too. So I meditate and practice Mindfulness and I pray and try to choose love over fear when I can. Gratitude helps me a great deal too. This site is a real blessing.

I buy the individual oils and add them to a carrier oil (I use grapeseed). Wintergreen, peppermint, camphor, eucalyptus dives, clove, cypress, cedarwood, rosemary and juniper berry have all been great. All of the chamomiles, lavender and all of the citrus or citrus flower oils are great for relaxation.
Trust me - it's MUCH cheaper this way. A good blend is olbas oil.

hi I swear by tiger balm its good stuff even my kids use it as id my grandparents who told me about it years ago everything like that worth a try ,it might work on you too

I haven't used tiger balm on myself , but was a qualified masseur , before I had to give up work as I just didn't have the strength to massage anymore ! Tiger balm is extremely helpful for loosening muscles !