Pain Threshold vs. Pain Tolerance in Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Have you ever had the feeling someone thought you were just a wimp when it came to pain? Like you just can't handle pain like most people? Maybe, in some of our weak moments (i.e., heavily drugged, still hurting and unable to sleep at 3 a.m.), we even think that about ourselves.
It's true that we feel pain when other people don't. However, we also deal with more pain than other people do, and we generally deal with it better than they do as well.
What's at work here is the difference between pain threshold and pain tolerance. Here are the definitions:
- Pain Threshold: the point at which stimulus is reported by a person as pain.
- Pain Tolerance: the amount of pain a person can withstand before breaking down, either emotionally or physically.
So yes, our pain threshold is incredibly low. When confronted with stimuli other people's bodies consider harmless, our nervous systems sound the alarm, turning up the volume on pain.
When it comes to pain tolerance, though, we can blow most people out of the water! I had a good friend who recently was laid out by an ingrown toenail. Sure, it hurt, but does it really warrant constant complaining, stopping your life and spending a few days on the couch? Meanwhile, we deal with so much pain that it becomes just another part of who we are. For me, it's like, "I'm a Mom, I'm short, I wear glasses, and I hurt." I work in pain, I socialize in pain, I parent in pain. If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to do them at all. It takes a heck of a lot of pain to break me down, physically or emotionally.
So when someone looks at you as if you're weak for being in pain, look back at them with all the strength it takes to live with pain as your constant companion and ask, "Who here is stronger?"
Suggested Reading:
- Fibromyalgia Symptoms - The Monster List!
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms - The Monster List!
- Central Sensitization - At the Root of Our Pain?
If the average Joe experienced 1/10th the amount of pain we endure daily…they would prob. be camping out at the E.R. I no longer can remember what living without pain feels like. Can you? The only time I am not in pain is when I take enough medication to knock myself out so I can sleep at night. I wake in pain, move in pain, everything…P A I N. Our doctors don’t want to hear it every minute…it’s for sure our friends and family don’t either so we are the silent ones.
I started with Fibro. about 12 years ago. I do not remember what it’s like not to be in pain day and night for years, and no-one seems to get it unless they are also Fibromites.I now take the maximum amount of an opiate med. that is allowed by law. I don’t know why they can do that to someone who is suffering nearly as much and sometimes more than people with cancer. I recently had surgery to remove my gall-bladder and the pain of Fibro. was worse than the surgery. I zeroed out from an allergic reaction to the zofran that they gave me and was on life support for 4 days and nights and spent 11 days in the hospital. I have been in a flare for over 3 years now and cannot find a comfortable spot anywhere day or night. If I even accidently scratch my skin it gets all red and sets off a burning pain that seems to travel until I’m totally consumed in pain. I still feel like it is a left-over from Polio vaccine that was given to us as soon as it came out. I really haven’t felt good since then and that’s been 45 years ago, but as always no one wants to listen. My only hope is that my two daughters do not get it. I am now 70 and live each day praying for a cure. Thanks for listening, Shirley
Its good to know I’m not alone. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone but its nice to know that there are others out there with the same sufferings & who are also being accused of being addicted to pain killers or that we are just hypochondriacs. We just need to stick together, remember to pray, and stick to what works for right now until something better comes along.
I am currently undergoing physio following a knee op. I left yesterday feeling like a naughty school girl who hadn’t tried enough because I am in so much pain. I have had ME for 20+ years and have recently been diagnosed with FM as well. As you so rightly say, we live life in pain – I don’t think I can remember a day that didn’t hurt. So my Pain Threshold is low but oh boy have I had years of practise on the Pain Tolerance front.
Thanks for the article. I stumbled across it whilst Googling and it has made me feel not so much of a failure.
The only time I don’t notice the pain of FM is when I am having pancreatic pain. I had surgery on the pancreas 2 years ago and was given morphine. The nurses would come in and push the little button on the machine and tell me, “Don’t try to be brave.” They told my brother that I had the highest pain tolerance they had seen.
In response to 2) Shirley Wall. I was diagnosed w/ FMS about 7 yrs. ago and have suffered w/ all the severe pain and symptoms that go along w/ it. Just recently I had a gall bladder attack and went to the emergency room. They sent me to surgery and I had it removed. Since then the pain from the FMS is gradually going away. I can tell already that I didn’t have FMS at all. For this past 7 yrs. I’ve had a bad gall bladder. I’ve been misdiagnosed all these years. If you pull up on a gall bladder attack website you’ll see that the symptoms are extremely similar to that of FMS. I wonder if while you were in the hospital for your gall bladder, if it ruptured or your liver or duodenum is giving you problems. Please by all means, go and get an ultrasound of where your gall bladder was, your liver and duodenum and any other surrounding areas and see what they can find. Something tells me, this isn’t FMS at all with you either. It has to do w/ your gall bladder or these other organs. Let me know what happens. Thanks!
2) In response to Shirley Wall again. I’ve really been looking into this for you. I also wonder if they may have left behind a gall stone left in a bile duct. Sometimes they can slide down into this duct and cause severe pain as well. Definitely listen to your body. Do not let them give you a Sonogram because it won’t pick up these things. You have to have them look at these areas with an Ultrasound only to be able to pick it up. Also I found a great website you may want to look at : Self-What’s Wrong with Me? Living Well Articles: self.com. It’s from the March 2006 issue. It explains about a lady that was diagnosed with other things for 4 months before they finally found out she had a gallbladder infection and only because her family had a history of gallbladder problems. Also the gallbladder, liver, duodenum are all in the same area on the right side of the body and very near the spine. Any infection in this part of the body can cause pain to radiate thru your entire body. Something just tells me that you really need to pin point this gallbladder area and try to get it cleared up. I almost promise you’ll get your life back and will never have to take another pain pill. I went from taking 13 meds in the daytime and 4 @ night down to only 1 med. that I need for arthritis. I am solely Amazed!!!
I am 52 years old and am almost bedridden with pain. Twelve years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Osteo Arthritis, and Degenerative Arthritis. This was all done at a military medical facility. The Rhumatology Clinic dumped me back to an internal medicine clinic. Shortly there after I was diagnosed with low thyroid and high blood pressure. In 2004 I had back surgury because my spine is deteriorating. I have had both feet operated on just so I could keep walking. I almost died from asperation during the removal of a kidney stone. Through all of this my husband quit drinking and PTSD began ruling his life. At this time he had been dealing with RA for about eight years. We had two young children and he began taking out all his life-long anger on them. The psychological trauma was the worst. He was put out of the for abuse twice. But within the first two years of my diagnosis I had the opportunity to be involved in a research study at the U of Washington. It helped a great deal. I still use the skills that I learned there. On Feb. 5, 2004, my husband lost all reasonable thought during a week long meds run to get me on a sleep pattern. He waited until I was incapable of protecting myself and committed spousal rape, with a 2 hour dose of physical abuse. I did somithing to the area where I had the back surgury. Now I am in a walker, and the pain in my back and legs is over the top. I refuse to load up on pain meds because of the danger. In the twelve years since my diagnosis I have had some good times, now there are almost none. I have filed for disability, but military doctors refuse to help. I have a lawyer, but haven’t heard from him in a while. I have no income, a home I want to pass on to the 16 year old I am still raising and the state will only give me food stamps. I want my life back. I know it won’t happen. The chronic pain, chronic fatique, fibromyalgia, fibrofog and all the arthritis is eating me alive and I have no where else to turn. Please believe me, I am even being treated for Restless Extremities Syndrome, and gout. If it is tied to fibro I have it. No you are not alone! But how, as a single entity, does one get help to be able to eat and pay bills? I have gone through every possible resource since my husband died In June 08 and took his income with him. He never allowed me to work so I have no options there. You are not alone. What’s really sad is that a few people may be worse off than we are. God Forbid. Thank you for giving me someplace to blog about my issues and to those of you, who like me, just appreciate you taking the time to read this.