Well...Where do I get started. I am
posting here to try and find help, or a
solution to a problem that has been
constant for almost 10 months. I am sure
that I can trace the initial complications
back for about another year, however the
pain that I feel now has been constant for
about 10 months.
I have lower back pain. Like millions of
other Americans, this pain persists and at
times is quite unbearable. I consider
myself to have a high pain threshold.
Having lived through a number of broken
bones, car wrecks, mountain bike crashes
and the usual "guy stuff" I know what pain
feels like and can deal with it. I am
6'5" and weigh 230. I am in great
physical shape and exercise daily with a
combination of weight lifting, cardio and
flexibility regimens. Well, I used to
exercise daily but since the back pain has
become more severe, I have not been
keeping up with my workouts. Let me
describe the pain to the best of my
ability.
It is centered in the lower back just
above the pelvic bone. It continues down
to the right of the spine into my right
buttock area, however still close to the
spine. It does not feel like it reaches
into any area of the glue muscle. It
continues up my spine for about 6 inches
from the top of the pelvic bone. At its
worst, it covers the area of a standard
frisbee and I have trouble walking,
standing up straight and doing anything
that involves motion. At its best, I feel
a sharp pain on my spine and just to the
right of it. Sometimes it works over to
the left side but not always. It is
usually a sharp pain, no burning or
tingling in the legs. Sometimes when I
move, it feels like someone is stabbing me
with a bayonet, a large jagged bayonet for
lack of a better description.
I have seen 4 different doctors. My
general practitioner, an orthopedic
surgeon and two "pain specialists." I
have had more x-rays than I care to count
and two MRI's. Out of the 4 doctors, I
have been given 4 different diagnoses.
One being athritis, one being nerve issues
and another being muscular. The fourth
being the one that floored me, "I am
making it up." I can assure any and
everyone that I am not making this up.
My personal doctor has prescribed me
Vicodin and Percocet. The former not
really having much effect and the latter
helping a bit more. The Ortho tried
giving me T3 and stated he does not
prescribe anything stronger than that.
One pain "specialist" asked what I had
been taking. I explained to him that I
had been prescribed Percocet 7.5/325 and
they were really not helping very much
when I needed them. At this point, I was
taking 1-2 every 4-6 hrs as prescribed.
He stated, "If they aren't working, just
flush them down the toilet as you
shouldn't have them around your house."
The other pain "specialist" somehow came
to his own conclusion, without looking at
any x-rays or MRI film, that I needed a
series of facet block injections.
Please help me and give me any of your
experiences or opinions. Is this how
doctors treat everyone? Am I the only one
out there with back pain. Are there other
types of medications that last longer then
just a few hours. I am kind of worried
about taking all that Acetaminophen for
long periods of time. I have been
sleeping 2-3 hours a night now. I can't
get comfortable and the pain meds wear off
before I can get a good nights sleep.
Where should I go from here?
|
lonestarguy
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 551 Location: , Hoosierland, USA
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Posted: 06-27-07 19:01pm
Dude....let me just assure you that you
are not crazy. This is the modus operandi
for doctors treating back pain. Because
everyone has different types of pain for
different reasons, they have trouble
diagnosing it.
I have been diagnosed with degenerative
disc disease for the past 7 yrs and have
been through almost every procedure and
pain med you can name. Some worked, most
didn't and almost none are long-term
solutions.
Because of the location of my bad discs,
surgery would not help me. So I am
presently trying acupuncture and massage
as pain management.
My guess is that you will go through a lot
of the pain management steps before they
even start talking about surgery. It's a
little disturbing that one of the docs
wanted to give you a facet injection
without looking at an mri.
My recommendation is to pick one of your
present docs or find a new one who can
sympathize with your pain. Only a few
people even know the level of pain you are
feeling and almost none are docs so don't
expect them to empathize.
As far as the pain meds go, percocet is a
starter just above tylenol but if it works
for you, stick with it. The next step is
the major leagues--vicodin, norco,
oxycontin, morphine, etc. The heavy drugs
do work but you have to be careful because
they are easy to develop a dependence on
them. I just got off a four-year drug high
and hope to never repeat it.
You are right to worry about the long-term
effects of drugs. The side effects are
very detrimental to your future health
(another reason to look for something
else). As for sleeping, I now take soma
to relax me and tylenol pm with some
hangover effects in the morning.
For the immediate future, I think you
should find the right doc, and consider
epidural nerve blocks, facet blocks, etc.
Also if you find that nerve damage is a
reason for your pain, check on taking
Lyrica, a non-narcotic nerve pain
reliever.
You never said your age but as you grow
older your spine compresses as does the
space between the discs and the discs
harden and start to encroach on the
nerves. This is my problem and will
probably never get any better until they
can replace several of my discs.
I realize that exercise is not a pleasing
thing right now but you will find out that
you need to keep your stomach muscles
strong to support your back. It goes
without saying that you need to be
especially careful about lifting and
always pay attention that you don't do any
more damage.
I hope things work out for you and let us
know how things are going
|
danasummerville
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 16 Jul 2007 Posts: 2
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Posted: 07-16-07 18:09pm
I have similar problems! I just refuse to
take many pain relievers b/c my father
became addicted to pain meds at my age
(32) b/c of a back injury that resulted in
3 surgeries. I had full body bone scans,
X-rays, a partial hysterectomy, CT scans,
ultrasounds and no one can find the source
of my pain. Like you said...they all
wanted to give me a prescription that
MIGHT help. Now, I see my chiropractor
regularly and it seems to help more than
anything. I will not have surgery or allow
myself to believe that I have to become
dependent upon a pill to get me through
the day due to pain!! Hope you get some
relief b/c I know how you feel!
|
sillyakchick
Moderator
Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 2684
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Thanked:0
Posted: 07-17-07 13:16pm
You have a problem there, no doubt.
Injections really might help you, as they
decrease the inflammation surrounding the
nerve roots and spinal cord. As for
long-lasting pain medications go, Durgesic
patches would be the only thing I could
think of that might deliver a more
constant supply of pain medication. Many
physicians do not like to order these,
with worries of adiction and overdose.
However, these medications do not fix the
problem. they just mask the pain. I am
not sure of your age, but I am guessing
that you are young enough not to want to
live the rest of your life this way. If
it were me, I would opt for injections,
then an intensive physical therapy
program. The other thing you might
consider is finding an osteopathic
physician who does manipulation therapy.
Good luck.
|
comalhk414
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 8 Location: Texas
Thanks: 0
Thanked:0
Fusion? Posted: 07-26-07 22:16pm
I am currently in the process of deciding
if fusion is the answer for me. I have
been out of work for over a year now and
suffer bouts of pain in my lower back,
numbess, tingling and pain in left lower
leg and foot.
The pain comes and goes. At times I can
have days pain free and then BAM! I was
active before ddd.
I had a broken tail bone in a training
exercise in 99 and x-rays were detroyed
before the onset of ddd, but wish I could
connect the two.
Ive had physical therapy that just seem to
make me feel worse later that night. I
have had two injections which greatly
helped with right leg pain but nothing
else. The lower back pain has me scared to
bend over most days. I have read so many
horror stories about fusion, my doc says
70% success rate in getting back to work
although I doubt returning to patrol is
part of that success. He says the disc
will continue to erode until I am 50 or so
and there is nothing left between the
vertebrae. I am 42 and not looking foward
to surgery and honestly not looking foward
to the back pain to come if I do nothing.
I have begun swimming on a regular basis
but honestly the other day even that hurt.
I dont know about the pain meds I have
taken nothing more then
hydrocodone/loritab and vicodin and those
I only take when absolutely needed because
I fear the addiction that I have seen in
others in my line of work. Is the surgery
worth it or stay on disability or will the
surgery completely disable me, doc says
its a possibility although a small one. I
dont know where to turn, four docs four
different ideas. newest doc is only one to
suggest surgery.
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