A sufferer learns to live with chronic pain
AFTER decades of suffering chronic pain, Dubbo’s Chris Fallon reckons he’s qualified to air his thoughts on recent changes which require a doctor’s script for any medications which contain codeine.
By his own admission he’s not an academic, not a medical practitioner and didn’t even finish high school, but he suffered so severely from chronic pain after a horse riding accident in the 1970s that he wrote a book titled “Living Well With Chronic Pain”.
“Back at 23 years of age, in the early ‘70s, I had a horse riding accident and broke my back. One thing led to another – surgery and so forth – and I ended up with chronic pain. They kept doing more surgery to fix it, more x-rays, more surgery, more scans, more medications, I was on that roundabout where they just keep giving you stuff,” Chris told Dubbo Photo News.
“I suffered from chronic pain for over 30 years, it put me out of work, I was on and off pensions, there were things that aggravated it, you go downhill, depression sets in, and then one year I went down to north Sydney to a clinic where they do a three-week course on pain management.
“It was horrific because you can’t have medication while you’re there – a bit like a drying out clinic or rehab clinic.
“It took me a few years to take the learnings from that clinic and put them into my lifestyle, (finding a balance between) what I wanted to do and what I could do, and I finally worked out there is a solution to suffering from chronic pain,” he said.
Chris is speaking out to raise awareness about the recent ban on over-the-counter tablets which contain codeine. He’s all for that new measure to prevent people becoming addicted to drugs which he says have extremely harmful side-effects in the long term.
Chris said the main option these days is that people go to see their doctor over and over again, and they get their medications changed when one type doesn’t work or stops helping.
He says it’s great if people can get relief from physios, chiropractors or other allied health professions, but believes some people become too reliant on those methods as a way to manage pain.
“If a couple of sessions can get you out of trouble, that’s fantastic, you’re doing well, but some people have to see a therapist on a monthly basis, fortnightly or weekly because they come out feeling great and then the pain comes back,” Chris said.
“So, with all this in mind I sat down a few years ago and spent three nights writing a book – it took me another six months to fine tune it. It’s a five-step plan on how to stop suffering from chronic pain.
“My book goes through the psychology (of pain) and how people react to it.
“It’s a tough call but we don’t need to have our pain validated by other people – we make it such a part of our lives that we talk about it all the time, saying things like, ‘Oh me back’s killing me,’ or, ‘My leg’s shot.’
“But people generally don’t care, they don’t want to hear about (other people’s pain). It’s become a world where we focus on it; some people try to one-up each other, saying things like, ‘Oh my doctor’s the best,’” Chris explained.
Win a copy
Chris Fallon has provided a copy of his book “Living Well With Chronic Pain” to give away. If you’d like a chance at winning it, email your name and daytime contact details to myentry@dubbophotonews. com.au with the Subject “Chris Fallon book entry”. One entry per person per email address please. Entries close March 8, 2018, at 5pm. We’ll draw one name at random the next day and contact the winner directly.
Chris believes that escalating competition to be suffering more than your friends is a counterproductive mindset.
“If we all start talking about our pain, we’ll get no work done – we need to get back to reality.
“We can do away with all that if we work on a plan to accept what we’ve got and then work out how to deal with it the best way we can,” Chris said.
He had three respiratory arrests, caused he says by 10 injections of pethidine each day, and a bottle of morphine did him no favours either.
“Doctors are now stopping treating us with those heavy medications, they’ve realised that it was a mistake
“If you’re on any sort of medication you really need to consider that because the ability of it will wear off and you’ll have to go to stronger medications,” Chris said.
“Codeine is not good for you, it’s addictive and it can get to the point where you can unknowingly overdose on it, (or) take too much of it. Codeine will eventually stop working and where do you go to from there, morphine?”
The steps in his book are simple and basic, workable and he says create an achievable solution without medication.
“Just after I had the book published I was invited down to Sydney to a pain management clinic where people go every year to do their masters. I was asked to speak to these doctors and so many gave me great feedback about the book.
“Some of them were from overseas so I sold the book to South Africa, Britain, Canada and Hong Kong, and I haven’t had any negative feedback, although maybe those people won’t ring me,” Chris said.
Professor Michael Nicholas wrote a glowing foreword for the book. He is currently a Professor at the Pain Management Research Institute, which is a joint initiative between The University of Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. Professor Nicholas wrote: “This is his story and I’m confident Fallon has had learn to live with chronic pain since his 20s. DUBBO
it will act as an inspiration to all those facing the challenges of living with chronic pain and achieving a meaningful life despite the pain.”
Psychologist Alicia Dawson also reviewed Chris’ book, describing it as “an honest and empowering approach to living with chronic pain, from a man who truly understands... realistic and easy-tofollow steps towards improving quality of life.”
The last, and most powerful comment, comes from Chris himself.
“I was put out of work on a pension at 23 and was told I’d never work again. I turned 65 last year and went back to full-time work after seven year’s retirement. Yes, I’ve got pain, I’ll have it for the rest of my life. I don’t take medications for it, I don’t need to,” he said. z Readers are reminded that articles relating to health and medical matters can only be of a general nature, and you should always seek professional advice specific to your circumstances.