I think I may have to tone my string gauge down to .11s, I can play the .12s and .13s, but only for an hour or two at a time before it starts hurting too bad. After switching down to .11s to let my hands recover I realized that I really missed the big, mellow tone of the heavier strings, but I liked that I could play a little faster with less pain. My Dad plays bass, and from him I know that on bass flatwound strings produce a more mellow tone. Is that true for guitar also?
I'm thinking of compromising and playing flatwound .11s and the normal .11s are noticeably brighter sounding. Will using flatwounds give me a similar effect tone wise as using really heavy strings?

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I have been custom making my own flatwound sets for several years. I use 9's and 10's. I love the tone, it is a fuller more mellow tone. I don't feel I have sacrificed any tone by using lighter gauges.

All I can tell you is to try a set and see how you like them.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Flatwounds are very mellow and fun. I use them on my basses and I put 13's on my Drop C guitar. Without distortion that thing sounds like a bass. You get a very mellow sound with some bell from them and they feel completely slick. The downside is they feel tighter, the tremolo may need adjusting, and they are much harder to bend. You will get a deeper tone with flatwound 11's than standard 11's without a doubt. They won't feel like 11's though, flatwounds feel thinner than standards.

I'm not crazy about the fender flatwounds, I get the D'addarios. Plus they have a bigger selection to fit more playing styles than jazz. Also as a note, I wouldn't recommend Half-rounds... just in case you stumbled upon them and were curious.

Flat-wound strings have a phat and round sound. Great for jazz and r&b (old school).

Yup, flats are also hip for surf and Latin jazz. And delicious, thumpy bass.

Personal preference are 11s and 12s.

Do the .12s feel comparable to round wound .11s, especially as far as bending is concerned?

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I never have had a reason to try them. I seem to be happy with the non flatwound strings. In the end it's all about what you like playing and what sounds best.

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12's feel just about as thick as regular 11's. All flatwounds are considerably harder to bend, relative to regular strings. The 12's will sound a lot deeper than standard 12's creating a tone issue. You're used to the feel of regular 11's, so it's either you get the flat 11's that feel as thick as standard 10's but sound just a bit deeper than standard 11's, or, you get the flat 12's that feel like standard 11's but sound deeper than standard 12's. Either way, there is no shortcut to getting used to the strings.