Main content

Chronic pain - "life changed in a split second"

Niki's 19 years of chronic pain and the struggle to wean off powerful painkillers

When Niki Jones was 31, she was having a ball, living in London with a dream job. In her own words, 鈥渨orking hard and playing hard鈥. But for the past two decades, her life has been a real struggle. Niki experiences chronic pain 鈥 and while she鈥檚 learnt to live with her symptoms, she鈥檚 now finding it really difficult to withdraw from the powerful painkilling drug, Fentanyl, that she no longer needs to use.

Chronic pain affects the lives of millions of people in the UK and yet it鈥檚 a poorly understood condition, one that is often misdiagnosed. It鈥檚 defined as pain that persists, even though there may be no obvious physical cause. It can ruin the lives of those who live with it. For 5 Minutes On, the 成人论坛鈥檚 Health Correspondent Dominic Hughes has been to meet Niki at her home in the Brecon Beacons.

Image Credit: Tony Fallshaw, 成人论坛

Release date:

Available now

8 minutes