Back Pain Forum - Tired of the Pain

Hi

my name is chiara and i'm 25, weigh 135 and am 5'6 long.

Because of the heavy work I used to do (engineer on a ship) I got 2 herniated discs in my lower back. After having to lay totally flat for 10 days in the hospital, I had to be operated because the hernia's had only gotten bigger instead of smaller and my rightleg was totally paralyzed. The operation has been 3.5 years ago now and right now i'm in more pain then when I had the hernia's.

I've had all kinds of painkillers but nothing worked. They only made me really dizzy and the pain didn't go away either. After another mri scan they found out that I have scartissue which is causing the pain. Because of this i've also had injections for both my legs as my lower back but those only help for 2-3 days instead of a couple of months. I've also tried out tens but that didn't help either.

I'm pretty sure that the pain in my legs is also caused by my backpain by the way.

I have the feeling that a lot of my pain is caused by me cramping up due to the pain, which causes my muscles to hurt which causes even more backpain. I've noticed that drinking alcohol when i'm visiting friends allow me to sit down for a longer period of time so I can actually enjoy their company. 1 shot a hour is normally enough to keep me going for 5-6 hours.

Both standing and sitting for longer periods of time are still very painfull. I can sit for about a hour before I really have to wlak around again and with standing it's really hurting within 5 minutes.

I also have to lay down 4 hours a day and on humid days even 5-6 if I want to function normally in the mornings and evenings. I always try to plan my day in such a way that I can lay down in the afternoon. If I don't get a chance to lay down I can rarely sleep due to the pain.

I try to lead a normal life but it's really tough both physically as mentally. Due to the pain i've also gotten into a big depression from which i've just recently been crawling out off.

Does anybody know anything I can try for the pain? The doctors at the painclinic don't seem to know it anymore and my physical therapist has also given up on me, telling me that I just have to life with it. But i'm so tired of the everlasting pain. I can't even remember what it felt like not to hurt.

Regards chiara