1. Think Positive: As often and as much as you are able, think positively. If your pain scale is down even slightly from a 10 to a 9, know that’s a positive thing. If you can walk a little farther on your own, feel less numbness on one side of your body than the other, these are all good and positive things. Hold tight to these moments and use them to fight the really tough days.
2. Positive and Supportive People: Try to completely surround yourself with positive and supportive people. You don’t need someone else who agrees with you about the direness of your situation, but who helps lift you out of it into a better place until you can get there yourself. Important: (as told to be by my wise-as-a-sage niece) If people give you a hard time about taking your medications for pain, simply don’t talk about it anymore, because they don’t understand pain management.
3. Laughter: Sometimes it’s not just a saying that laughter’s the best medicine. It may not be the very “best” tool for what pains you, but it certainly will help a lot. So put something funny in the DVD/VCR player and get ready to laugh. Or read the funny papers section of the news. I guarantee you’ll find something to make you at least chuckle. 
Laughter not only releases those good old pleasure centers of our brains, but it’s good for our lungs.
4. Knitting: Knitting is one of my favorite things to do when I’m in pain . It forces me to concentrate just hard enough not to drop a stitch, but lets my mind wander to what I need to do later or tomorrow – and, guess what? I’m thinking about anything except the pain. If your pain is in your hands, you might try Audiobooks.com or books on tape. I’m sure there’s something comparable out there.
5. Candles: If you like candles, when you’re in pain is especially the time to buy them. If you’re eco-friendly you can get the soy kind. They come in limited number of scents, and are a bit more expensive, but well worth it. Otherwise, there are a number of choices open to you everywhere, in all shapes and sizes. You might be searching for the most interesting-looking candle rather than the strongest-smelling candle. This is all about you. Your comfort. What turns you on. What heals you. What makes you happy. Go for it!
6. Hot baths or Showers: I know that when I’m in my most severe pain I can barely stand in a shower, so a good soak in the tub with my favorite bubble bath is just what I need. Maybe you are a strict shower person, and that’s your preference. Either way, heat seems to work wonders for painful muscles and joints, even if temporarily. And that might be all we need. Just for right now. Whatever gets us through the morning. Don’t let the pain win!
7. Journaling: Keep a journal for yourself during this time. Write what you are feeling. If it’s too painful to hold a pen, try typing; if that’s too hard, try dictating into a tape recorder. I know that my journal is so important to me, and without it I might never survive.
8. Trusting your gut: I should append this to say trusting your doctor as well, as much as is humanly possible. You will get people coming out of the woodwork under the guise of “meaningful help”, all with conflicting ideas than your doctor has, many to take a much more conservative approach, and so forth. So it will behoove you to trust yourSELF first and a good – no, great – doctor, second.
