Severe Back Pain , Random Erections Posted: 06-13-07 12:57pm
My fiance has had ongoing back pain for
the last three years. None of the doctors
can seem to figure out what is going on,
although he has had numerous MRI's, catx,
and x-rays and the last MRI he had, his
doctor said that there is nerve damage in
his T4 and T5 vertabrae.
So, yesterday his pain got really bad, I
mean crippling. And then, out of nowhere
he got three erections for no apparent
reason.
I'm not sure what's going on or what
actions we should take.
Any advice or input??
Thanks!!
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lonestarguy
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 590 Location: , Hoosierland, USA
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Back Pain Posted: 06-23-07 23:28pm
JNG055....Without boring you with my back
pain odessey, I will say that back pain is
a very difficult diagnosis to make with
certainty. I have been to numerous doctors
and pain specialists.
It sound like your fiance is getting
little help from the doctors other than
the nerve damage diagnosis. That location
is exactly where my problem is and I also
have had some erection issues. To be
blunt, I get hardons when I don't want
them and then can't when I need one. The
doctors also say that the nerve damage is
to blame (as if they knew for sure).
Viagara has mostly solved the penis
problem.
Does he have numbness in his legs as well
as pain down both legs? There are many
avenues to try including going to a pain
specialist and finding out whether steroid
injections, nerve blocks, facet blocks or
physical therapy might help. Tell your
fiance that they have a big eight-inch
needle to inject in his penis to solve
that problem (not really ha! ha!).
I would hold off on looking into surgery
just yet because , in many cases, it just
doesn't work. Try the other things first.
I am presently trying acupuncture and
massage and I have heard that spinal
stretching can help the discs open up the
compression on the nerves surrounding the
spinal column.
If you need any further explanation on any
of the procedures, I can fill you in since
I have had almost everything in the past 7
years. Good luck.
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JNG055
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Jun 2007 Posts: 7 Location: PA
Posted: 06-25-07 16:17pm
Yeah, he's had probems with numbness and
tingling in his arms all the way down to
his fingers and down his legs as well down
to his feet.
We've told all of this to numerous doctors
and none of them seemed like they cared
enough to actually try to figure out what
is really going on.
It's just really frustrating for me to see
him in pain constantly and all of these
other things going wrong, and the doctor's
just dont have any idea what's going on.
Is the actupuncture helping at all? any
other suggestions??
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lonestarguy
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 590 Location: , Hoosierland, USA
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Posted: 06-25-07 18:15pm
Yeah, yeah, yeah....don't get me started
on doctors. Just about eveyone, including
doctors, have no clue about the pain. You
are blessed if you find a doctor who can
empathize.
I still think you guys should try another
pain mgmt doctor just because they have
several procedures that can help. Just
because some of those options did not work
very well for me does not mean they
wouldn't work for you. I have been to
three different pain management doctors
and each recommended different approaches.
I will warn you that none of the
procedures are very much fun to go
through.
I just started the massage and acupuncture
options so it's too soon to know if they
help.
He might also begin a regiment of drug
therapy starting him out with pain
relievers and muscle relaxers and then
progressing to the major leagues of
oxycontin, hydrocodone, morphine, etc. The
drugs do work as long as you don't become
addicted because it takes larger and
larger doses to get relief. I just got off
of a 4-year merry-go-round on drugs which
I hope never to repeat.
Where do ya'll live? Near a big city? That
helps when you're trying to find the
perfect doctor.
I hope both of you continue to fight this
together because I wouldn't have made it
this far without my wife. Just when you're
getting ready to share your life together,
you get thrown a curve. Do you ever feel
like God's testing you?
lsg
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ccyre
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 Jul 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Illinois
Posted: 07-17-07 07:47am
Just be sure to get the rights on this
before it is an episode on Grey's Anatomy.
Sorry, I know
it's serious as I too have lower back
pain, doesn't extend to anything else
though. Not even legs.
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sillyakchick
Moderator
Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 2690
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Posted: 07-17-07 13:05pm
You might ask for an opinion from a
Physiatrist. it is a special kind of
doctor who can do nerve conduction studies
to see what the actual sources of his pain
and other issues are.
Sorry, I know
it's serious as I too have lower back
pain, doesn't extend to anything else
though. Not even legs.
