For Jonathan Davis from Aberdeenshire, the world as he knew it changed overnight.
Once ready to jump in action at every emergency call, the former frontline police officer’s life turned upside down when a string of conditions left him bound to his bed.
The 42-year-old’s battle with “excruciating” chronic pain that “takes his breath away” started with a simple chest infection in 2016.
After a visit to his GP, he was given a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and a genetic degenerative spinal condition known as Klippel-Feil syndrome.
He was later also diagnosed with fibromyalgia and hypermobility spectrum disorder – a connective tissue disorder, which means his joints can dislocate quite easily.
“I quickly had to re-evaluate who I was,” he said. “Overnight, I went from being very active and ambitious to bed-ridden and housebound.”
‘Talking about your pain and expressing your emotions are key’
After 15 years of dedicated service on the frontline, Mr Davis was forced to step down and take up a home position, developing strategies to promote suicide prevention.
His symptoms are wide-ranging and include nerve, muscle and joint pain and headaches, as well as tingling and burning sensations throughout his body.
He added: “My GP diagnosed CFS and then Klippel-Feil syndrome, which upon reflection explained a lot. I’d believed I was ‘normal’ but when I think back, I always had a lot of injuries as a child – more than my peers.
“I was the smallest in every class and a lot smaller than my siblings. I also used to get painful headaches.”
The dad-of-one has now decided to share his story to raise awareness about the debilitating impact of chronic pain and help others living with the condition.
While his pain will never go away, Mr Davis has developed coping methods and mindfulness techniques to keep it in check and improve his quality of life.
Despite being very sensitive to cold temperatures, he loves snorkelling with his wife Alison off the coast of Aberdeen to escape by floating and watching the sea life go by.
He stressed the first step to getting the right professional healthcare is being open and honest about the pain you are experiencing.
“Going to talk to your doctor about your pain can be emotional and difficult, so it’s important to give them context and credibility,” he said. “Go prepared with notes and tell them what this pain is stopping you from doing and why that is a problem.
Campaign to help one in five Scots affected by chronic pain
Mr Davis recently took part in a series of webinars led by the Flippin’ Pain public health movement in partnership with NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government.
The online event was designed to share up-to-date information about pain with other Scots who are affected by it and featured talks from pain specialists, healthcare professionals and other sufferers.
It is one of 13 government-funded projects, which aim to improve access to care and deliver better health outcomes for people with chronic pain in Scotland.
Professor Cormac Ryan, who is the community pain champion for the Flippin’ Pain campaign said: “People with chronic pain are also more likely to report lower life satisfaction and poorer quality of life compared to those without the condition.
“Traditional biomedical tools for treating pain, such as scans, surgeries and medications are sometimes out of step with modern thinking on the topic – pain should be considered from a biopsychosocial (biological, psychological and social) perspective.
“Pain is not about detection, but protection and persistent pain is overprotective.”