Byron's Introduction

I suppose we should start this blog with introductions. I will let me cohort do her own intro, so now you just get to hear all about me, aren't you excited? I bet!
Hi, I am Byron. I am 35, married, 4 kids, am a geek, and love to write.

I also suffer from chronic pain on multiple levels.
1) I suffer from chronic migraines brought on by most the factors you'll see below and some that I'm not sure of.
2) I have pain from grinding my teeth in my sleep or when anxious or when in a ton of pain. It's cause a few teeth to break apart or crack.
3) The teeth grinding caused my jaw pads to deteriorate so now I have a ton of constant jaw pain.
4) I have FODMAP issues which means my body can't break down short chain carbohydrates properly. Some of the main symptom triggers are Wheat, Dairy, Garlic, Onions, Apples, Mango, and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Now, please, go to the store or a restaurant and find me foods that don't contain those items. Eating FODMAP food gives me severe abdominal cramps, bloating, headaches, fatigue, and diarrhea. My wife comforts me but has little sympathy as eating FODMAP foods puts me through what women go through monthly, and to all women I apologize for ever thinking you were over exaggerating the pain.
5) I have sleep apnea issues which means I don't get enough oxygen when I sleep, so my body can't repair itself properly while I sleep, which least to body aches and constant exhaustion.
6) If I bend over for more than a moment I get intense waves of pressure in my head that can cause severe headaches and/or nausea.
7) My ears ring at all times, day or night, and the quieter the world is around me, the louder the ringing gets. The more pain I am in also can make the tones louder and add more tones to it. An average day I have at least two high pitched tones, and two low pitch tones going on at the same time.

So, as you can see, pain is just a part of life for me. There is no escaping it, and no medication really takes care of it.
Before you ask, no I haven't been to a doctor in a while to get it taken care of. I can't afford the insurance through my work, and when I apply for medicaid I am told I qualify on a federal level, but not on the state level, and it never gets resolved fast enough for me to finish signing up for anything else through healthcare.gov before the deadline.
So I am stuck doing what I can on my own to try to curtail as much of the pain as possible without getting hooked on pills and without killing my stomach anymore than I already have.

Welcome to my world, it's such a blast.