Don't Panic During a Sickle Cell Pain Crisis

Not long ago I was telling a friend that I once had a pain crisis that lasted over a year; it was a constant, mild pain that was present all day every day. She asked me, “Do you ever become panicky and feel as though the pain is never going to end?”

My reply was, “No. I don’t allow myself to become panicky. I learned as a boy that panic only makes the pain worse.”

“But a year of pain,” she exclaimed. “Surly you felt like it would never end?”
 “It has to end some time,” I said. “It can’t go on forever.”

¶ In section 06) Controlling Your Pain (see the post titled: Preparation – Be Calm and Breathe Normally) I spoke about how important it is to control your breathing and remain calm during a pain crisis. Like all SC patients who endure long periods of chronic pain, I know how easy it can be to feel: overwhelmed by the pain; a maddening frustration over its prolonged presence; emotionally and physically drained from combating it; and exceptionally irritable.

As patients living with this illness, I don’t think we are always aware of the emotional toll our pain takes on us and often times, those around us. When I was a kid my family found this button-pin that read “leave me alone, I’m having a CRISIS!” I thought it was funny. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that I really was less patient and more irritable during pain crises.

How we physically feel is very closely tied to how we emotionally behave. I mean honestly, who isn’t Mr. or Ms. Crabbypants when their finger is stuck in a door jam? Pain and laughter don’t usually hold hands and go skipping through a field of daisies together.

I think what I’m getting at—and please forgive my rambling—is this:

•    Panicking over your pain will only make your pain worse.
•    Learn to recognize that you may be a bit crabby when in crisis.
•    While a certain level of irritability when in crisis is to be expected, try to use restraint. Just because you are in pain doesn’t mean everybody around you also has to also suffer.

Like so many patients, I know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed from the pain and complications of our illness. But we don’t have the luxury of giving into those feelings. Bottling in that stress will only worsen your health. Talk with friends and family about how your feel; find healthy ways to vent your frustrations (i.e. art, music, writing, etc.); perhaps talk with a counselor; treat yourself to something now and then; redirect that energy into positive things.

Though sometimes it feels as though you no longer posses the strength to endure the trials your health throws at you, I assure you that you do. “With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.”