Vibrant Nation» Vibrant Nation Member http://www.vibrantnation.com Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:34:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Pain management http://www.vibrantnation.com/health-fitness/pain-management/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pain-management http://www.vibrantnation.com/health-fitness/pain-management/#comments Thu, 20 Sep 2012 03:19:30 +0000 Dana http://www.vibrantnation.com/?p=123441 I have been dealing with headaches that are horrific for several years.  They are connected to sleep disorders, stress and anxiety.  They are clearly muscular and start in my face and move into my head.  The pain is worst in my temples but it radiates from my face and neck through the “stress band” that identifies stress headaches.

There are lots of things that contribute.  I had a boss a few years ago that was a bully and working under her for 6 years made my stress response really high.  As many of you know, the stress response is there for survival – fight or flight – but in modern society our stressors don’t go away in a few minutes like a lion in a desert in Africa.  Ideally, our parasypathetic nervous system should put our bodies back in a state of calm.  Mine does not, so I have stress and fear like my life is threatened on an almost conscious basis.

The pain is worst in the morning, but it can be really bad all day.  I wake up with what I call bone crushing headaches.  The muscular tension is hard to confront when I’m unconscious so it is a lot worse when I sleep.

I have a mouth splint but it doesn’t help at all, so I’ve switched to a soft one to protect my teeth.  Since jaw clenching is a piece of this puzzle, I have tried to get treatment and I’ve been told, too bad, that’s a habit and your insurance won’t cover a habit.  I have a “habit” that I have no choice about and happens when I’m unconscious.  This is one of many reasons I think the existence of health insurance companies is against the interest of health care and only helps those profiting from the insurance industry.

I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas or referrals.  Someone told me to look for a Bowen therapist, but I haven’t found one.  I am in psychotherapy and we are working hard, but pain is hard to address that way.  I can’t take pain pills every day because then I have rebound headaches.  I get massage when I can afford it and chiropractic visits.  They help short term but never very long.

I also have a job with very little job security and I would like to get my Ph.D. but I am not getting encouraging feedback about that.  And I’m not sure whether the pain would become managable if I didn’t have to work the insecure, highly stressful job anymore.  If so, I could definitely handle school.  If not, I might not be able to handle it.

I believe I’ve reached a point where disability may be my only solution.  The pain is too bad to bear.  Any suggestions are welcome.  Thanks for being such a great group of women.  Dana

]]> http://www.vibrantnation.com/health-fitness/pain-management/feed/ 7 I want to get a Ph.D., I’m 53 and it’s a new field. Can I do it? http://www.vibrantnation.com/work-money/i-want-to-get-a-ph-d-im-53-and-its-a-new-field-can-i-do-it/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=i-want-to-get-a-ph-d-im-53-and-its-a-new-field-can-i-do-it http://www.vibrantnation.com/work-money/i-want-to-get-a-ph-d-im-53-and-its-a-new-field-can-i-do-it/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2012 03:16:28 +0000 Dana http://www.vibrantnation.com/?p=122676 I have wanted to be a Ph.D. in anthropology for over 15 years. The reason I haven’t been to school yet is because I got a bachelors and two masters by the time I was 31 and was really burned out. They were in different fields and I have no college credits in anthropology. I am well read and I do not mind taking the deficiencies that would be necessary. I talked with the chair of the department today and I mostly came away with the belief that I am too old, I probably can’t score high enough on the GRE to get in, and they only accept 1/3 of their applicants; therefore, someone with a degree in anthropology would certainly have a better chance than I would. I am interested in evolutionary psychology, and when I told him that and that I have a master’s in counseling, he seemed to think that increased my odds – the relationship of the degree to the program and their new professor who is researching that area and has no grad students working under him yet. So I have e-mailed him. But I think I have to accept the fact that I may not be able to get in. My age is going to make the school see me as someone who can’t go out and be placed easily and do a lot of prestigious research to add to their reputation.

Does anyone have any ideas for how I can make this happen? Or if not, how can I stop feeling like I lost out on the thing I really wanted to do most in life. I’m extremely sad about this.

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