This really hit close to home for me. I was diagnosed with "hyper-mobility" when I was a teenager, but my doctor told me it was kinda a catch-all diagnosis. He told me it is degenerative and the only "treatment" is exercise to have tone muscle support my joints. Other provides have echoed this over the years.

I haven't had a day free of pain since 2nd grade. It affects all my joints and I have frequent dislocations. I've been able to manage it with exercise for years and it's provided me with an insane pain tolerance. But covid + RSV + pneumonia and secondary infections + long covid had me on my ass for so long, I neglected my joints and I've been in the worst flare up of my life.

I have to rehab slowly, but every time I exercise, it causes such bad systemic inflammation and cervicogenic migraines. It's a vicious cycle that's hard to break. Dry herb (Volcano) vaping medical marijuana and then gaming is literally the only time I feel an escape right now.

It helps me to disassociate from my pain and focus my attention on something so engrossing that my brain can't spare attention to the 'dulled' perception of pain. It's not like the pain is gone, but it's changed and it's a momentary relief. But even if only momentarily, finding some sort of respite is essential for your sanity.

I would still be here without gaming, but my quality of life would be a hell of a lot worse.

[–] stopthatgirl7@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Yeah, I’ve got EDS, and gaming is one of the few things I can do and not risk being too much in pain (I do have to watch out for my fingers spraining and dislocating, though). Days when I can’t walk very well, I can still sit down and play a game.

[–] BD1sHappyFeet@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I never thought about it like that, but that explains why I played through Borderlands 2 over and over again while doing chemo. Everything hurt but I could still mow down some baddies.

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