i’m trying to get my docs to take the central sensitization stuff more seriously. i used to just say, ‘it’s always high.’ and they nod that polite but useless way. i started logging every flare + what set it off in careclinic so i can spot the window.
tbh, pain isn’t just a number on a scale either; it’s how my fatigue level changes when i do something mildly stressful. like, an electrician day is 8/10 for nerve pain until hour 3, then it drops to 4 and i get hit by brain fog. i realized the problem is that no simple pain score captures what a ‘good’ flare looks like versus a truly bad one.
if my back was 6/10 but i could still walk down three flights of stairs, does that mean less than an 8/10 where i had to sit down after just two? i log the activity first - the pacing effort required - then the pain score afterward. is anyone else struggling to find a way to quantify ‘pacing’ so it’s useful on paper?