transformed how people think and talk about what they are experiencing. it s not something i can change. it sjust something i can coexist with, and for me that s kind of what acceptance is, just finding a way to coexist. knowing that pain, persistent pain, is different and very complex means you actually have the ability to change it yourself. i am dominic hughes and i m a health correspondet for bbc news. and i have been investigating the story of chronic pain, a condition that bbc research reveals blights the lives of millions of people and leaves them living a life of pain. hello, i amjennifer and i am a dental therapist from my dentist in saltaire in bradford. it was everything that i ever wanted. that i dreamed it would be. i don t think i have been in a happier place in my life.
having a career, for not being able to build my own life my own way, and having to rely on others for support. it s a dull, intense, burning pain that can be anywhere in the body, or all over, and those days ijust ask, who s got my voodoo doll today?’ told us that, of those who lived with chronic pain, nearly a quarter are taking some kind of opioid painkiller and more than 40% of this group started taking them five years ago. it s these drugs, powerful medication taken by millions of people, that, for some, is posing an additional danger. i get this overwhelming rage. i never thought i could be capable of murdering somebody but when i m in withdrawal, i couldn t murder. i want to hit my horses, which is so against who i am at core. but if i ever did that, i wouldn t that would be it.
he was the youngest member. i was really, really nervous because i was really worried it was going to be like an aa meeting, like, hello, my name isjohn, and i suffer from pain, i ve lived with it for 35 years , but it is not that at all. and it is this incredible support network of people that just understood me on a level i didn t think anyone could ever understand me. the group has played a big part in helping luke better understand his pain. oh, the reason i am feeling pain is because oh, my nervous system is doing this, or my brain has decided that any sensation it s going to register as pain. and itjust knowledge is one of the biggest tools when it comes to pain, and this place helps with that massively. that was a good shot. luke lives at home with his family. it has been tough at times, a 23 year old who had dreams of going to university. the world around me is advancing and i am trapped in a room that s the killer,
for persistent pain, i would feel really uneasy about somebody taking away those drugs that i think may be giving me some benefit. and that is why i think in the most recent guidelines, it is really clear we should be having conversations with people about this, not just taking them off medicines. and i think when we have those conversations, confidence in people can be improved to be able to make those changes. clinically, i think we all need to get better at communicating with people and being collaborative with our patients. 3,2,1! everyone we met during the making of this film stressed how there is notjust one story of chronic pain. every person s experience is different. so too is how they cope with it. applause. i said, you know, if i do this, if i actually get off morphine, i want to go to bala lake in wales, i want a campfire, and i would really love to get tipsy, you know, and just sit there and just
because i am a shell of the person that i used to be. my life revolves around the pain and the medical appointments and ordering prescriptions and it doesn t matter how hard i try, or how much i wish, or how much i pray, it isn t, or most likely isn t going to change. i wish i could turn the clock back. but i also know that i didn t do this. i have asked this question, was it something i did? and it isn t anything i did. millions share sharejen s experience of living with chronic pain a life that now limited, a future filled with uncertainty. it makes me feel like i m trapped inside my own body and fighting a war that i ll never be able to win. i sleep very little and i m in constant pain all day, every day. unfortunately, there is no cure. it s relentless, it s 24/7. a sword carrying ninja that