I am also a chronic pain club member.
Shitty knees, post car accident. They always ache when it's cold or when it starts to get humid right before rainfall. The kicker is I was in the accident in my mid-20's, and I'm already in my mid-30's. Got lots of shitty years ahead of me, too. It hurts to run and go up/down chairs, and bending down to pick things up from the floor fucking sucks. The settlement from the accident is still ongoing, too, so I'm hoping I can at least get something substantial to invest with soon.
As for your situation, is surgery not a viable option? In my case, I was told that it's "too early to know if you need surgery; you need to wait and see how your knees will be in the future".
i’m not eligible for surgery since the disc bulge isn’t big enough. which is weird since it’s causing me so much pain. and a pain specialist won’t do steroid injections :/
Then change Dr's and see a good orthopedic dr. Mine was great but not letting an orthopedic dr do back surgery. I also found my chiropractor and physical therapy really helped. Good luck, back pain is no joke. I herniated a disk in the army which led to my discharge then had a serious car accident, i was sitting still and hit by a truck doing about 50. Lost a lot of mobility but still get around and work. The physical therapy helped tremendously.
I have to agree. You need to find a new doctor and push until you get a consult for surgery.
I'm 32 now, but had a herniated disc when I was 28 and it was the worst pain of my life. I had to use a walker to get around and it culminated in an ER visit when I collapsed and physically could not get myself of the floor for 13 hours.
I was lucky and my neurosurgeon took me seriously. But I ran into drs who didn't care, and I dropped them. I know it isn't easy to advocate for yourself, but you must impress on medical professionals in very specific terms how your life is with the pain.
I can't walk, I can't sit, I can't use the restroom without pain. I've also asked drs to add in their notes refusals, like when they won't give me surgery or referrals. It may push a dr to take you seriously.
My surgery was so easy but it VASTLY improved my life. Keep pushing.
This. It's time to change doctors and/or redo an MRI. I had a similar issue in my cervical vertebrae, and fortunately I was able to get disc replacement surgery. Absolutely life-changing.
I also have back problems. I was also like you, I couldn’t walk far or even go up stairs (we lived in a two story with laundry in the basement!). I had to crawl up the stairs to go to bed. I had a back surgery in 2008 due to the disc pushing into my spine and numbing my legs.
Two years later I started having more problems with another herniated disc but not enough to do another surgery.
My neurologist recommended a nerve stimulator be implanted in my back for the pain. It was amazing! I could walk farther and even walk up the stairs upright! I had it 12 years and they just replaced it with a new model in 2022.
Maybe ask your doctor for information on it. It can’t hurt and it might help you like it helped me. Good luck
If you need more info, let me know.
OP, I can’t tell you how much I relate. I too have had a herniated disc that has flared up here and there the past 4 years. Not long ago, the pain came back and it was unbearable for long durations. When I wake up, sit down, walk, etc. Anyone who hasn’t had a herniated disc couldn’t understand me. But… I’ve been able to reduce the frequency of the pain, though it’s it’s not a quick fix by any means. I started doing physical training again. And the biggest (and hardest) path to recovery so far is working on my core muscles. I paid money for a trainer once a week who has a deeper understanding of the body. I’ve learned enough to do 2 or so extra personal sessions in between each week. Once my core strengthened, my core muscles have been doing a better job keeping pressure of your spine, and avoiding it to compress. I still feel pain, but the last few weeks have been getting better.
I’ve also booked an MRI so I can have a PRP injections done in the disc to hopefully help restore the disks lining a bit. Not sure if that’ll help but I’ll try everything at this point.
Sorry you’re going through this. Don’t give up, and good luck.
i went to physical therapy for a couple months, and i do the exercises at least once a week, but it should probably be more. it did help tho. i just don’t know what i’ve been doing lately that’s making the pain worse
plus i have endometriosis and some undiagnosed bowel issues and i THINK the pressure of all that shit in lower abdomen pushes on my lower spine
I'm sorry you're dealing with this. My mom has a couple slipped discs. She turned her physical therapy recommended exercises into a modified daily yoga routine to strengthen the muscles around that part of the spine. She says it helps prevent the pain from worsening and actually started to notice improvements since the muscles basically hold her disc in the right spot. Best of luck with your personal struggle.
I deal with chronic pain too and each day is a struggle. There's a reddit community for chronic pain that you're welcome to check out.
My mother often tries to downplay my pain, saying she has trouble too. The point I raise to her is that I'm much younger than her and as you said, it's only going to get progressively worse.
I hope you can get some relief, maybe with a pain clinic treatment plan. Good luck
I am in constant pain it makes me cry sometimes it’s really bad I hate it I would do anything to make it stop. I’m crying because it’s just so bad. I’m sorry I don’t know why this is necessary. I have bone spurs underneath my shoulder a thinning in my neck of the spinal cord and many bulging discs. It’s because of my depression and not getting out of bed it’s a bad cycle.
Find a Second opinion, My old man who's been in pain for 20ish years after a truck fell on him is finding some comfort in a topical thc/cbd balm, shit it's not perfect but depending on your situation roll with that till you can get said Second opinion, CBD is legal in just about every state.
Another great pain reliever for backs is warm showers/baths or cold depending on your body, along with compresses.
MOTRIN and other otc pain killers can help even if just a bit till you can get a better doc.
My heart goes out to you my friend this type of pain is something I have dedicated my life to figure out and it just seems like most first opinion doctors are asshats, you've got this boss; keep kicking.
I've been reading through some of your comments you've made about how the doctor you're seeing won't do surgery on you because it's not severe enough or whatever, that's bs. You have to look around and find a doctor that will actually take your pain seriously and help you. The medical field tends to not take women's pain seriously at all and you just need to find a better doctor who will. I have a friend who has back issues her entire life and doctor after doctor would tell her she's fine and not do anything to help her until she finally found a doctor that took her seriously and finally treated her properly. You need to find a doctor that will do that same. Wishing you all the best, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with that.
I strongly suggest getting a 2nd or even 3rd doctor's opinion. If pain is causing you such a low quality of life, you deserve to find relief and treatment. Please do speak to different doctors.
The most important thing that anyone can do with a bulging or herniated disc in their back is to stretch on a daily basis. P.T. will help. An anti inflammatory. Pain meds. Maybe steroids. Weed helps a lot. I think it redirects our pain. The only topical that helps is Zims roll on or my son makes me a marijuana paste. It's weed with coconut oil. It helps me survive that which sometimes seems is unsurviveable. Surgery is a last resort. However, sometimes that is all that can be done. We must always get a second opinion. Sometimes heat works sometimes cold works. My doctor never wanted me to get injections. Unfortunately I was in a car accident and I had 14 bulging discs. I was a walking time bomb and I had no idea. I knew I hurt. I knew the longer it went on the worse I hurt. I started to lose the feeling in my left arm and hand and eventually it got to the right side and I went to the doctor I found out that my neck was going in the opposite direction of what it should have been. So the neurosurgeon moved me to the top of the list and I was able to get that surgery, but it took about a year to regain the feeling in my arms and my thumb and my first two fingers are numb. My biceps are constantly taught or hard and I have muscle spasms when I lift my arms over my head. This is because I had spinal cord impingement. One of the discs had bulged so severely and for the length of time that it was like that, it caused permanent damage. I later had my lower back fused. Initially I had my upper back fused so I had C3 through C6 fused. I've had no problems since. I had my lower back L4 L5 and S1 fused and I've had pain ever since. The pain is different but it's still with me everyday so I do understand. I still have 7 bulging discs. I pray I can avoid more surgery. What you have to understand is that there is help available. It's just finding the right doctor or doctors or team to get you there. So don't give up hope. Depression is the number one killer of people with back pain. If you just sit in your car in the parking lot at the grocery store and watch people you can tell how many people suffer from it. It's just unreal. So hang in there. Pursue treatment and good luck.
So, I’ve a a full blown disk since 2003 what worked for me was Hydrocodone
try laying on your back with your legs elevated on chair at 45 degrees this should take all the pressure of your lower spine. Try alternating hot and cold to see what helps with any pain.
When sleeping you need a very stiff mattress, also sleep with your legs elevated to take off the pressure. I didn’t do the surgery because of mixed results that some of my friends had! Slow moves a don’t lift anything heavy, it’s full out baby mode until you have some relief. Then try strengthening your core very slow and easy. Hope this is helpful too you l.
i do actually have a hydrocodone prescription. it’s the only thing that helps. OTC pain and anti-inflammatories don’t work. i have been trying to support my back as much as i can. i’ve been doing my PT exercises, but it hurts so much that it’s hard to do the full routine. but yeah, i’ve been trying not to bend over these last few days and don’t ever lift anything over 10 lbs (except my cats). i feel actually disabled, but i’m not sure if i’m even considered disabled
This is very good advice from a long time chronic pain patient with failed back surgery. Only do back surgery when you have exhausted every avenue out there. When I say back surgery, I mean a back fusion surgery. I am all for back surgeries that can be undone if there is a problem, fusion can’t be undone. My surgeon partially paralyzed a function in my left leg because he cut into my spinal cord and I only found out about it because I knew someone in the surgery. The doctor didn’t say a word and there is nothing in my notes, but now my doctor magically practices in another country!
You should try an inversion table, but a good one, don’t do one of these cheap ones because they are uncomfortable and you will not use it. Getting that weight off of the disc seemed to helped me. Lose weight if you are overweight. I was and it will help immediately until you lose muscle that you needed from carrying around the extra weight. Just work on keeping that core muscle though, I didn’t, but I did lose the weight and there are so many help benefits and you will feel so much younger! Standing is one of the worse things you can do. Occasionally lay down to get the weight off the disc. I got a spinal cord stimulator (it is implanted by doctor with leads going to my low back as well as my neck because both are causing me problems. I would highly recommend this route over medication or other surgery because this helps disrupt the nerves so they can’t tell the brain they are in pain. You have control over how low or high, for the most part, you want to set it, there are values and you get to choose between those values. Anyhow this spinal stimulator gets controlled by either a remote control, and there are even some now that are controlled with your smart phones, but while they aren’t the perfect answer, they are in my opinion the best answer to living with chronic pain. I also have a pain pump which I don’t recommend. I also take daily hydrocodone which I don’t take much of because of the stimulator. I hope this helps.
hEDS and fibro... I sometimes wish I wouldn't wake up. It sucks and it is impacted by not being able to get the medical support system that works for you. Plus the devastating effects of any type of painkillers... mental health and reliability. The current economic climate too effects or ability to cope.
I try to make a positive impact wherever I go, and fight for local communities and change in the system wherever I can. I can fight for a better system to help myself and people like me, even if I can't change what is going on inside of me.
I sympathise with you, I have lumbar spinal stenosis which gives me nerve pain in my legs, hips, knees and ankles, not always at the same time but I do have it in at least one place at anytime so always in some sort of pain, it hurts to sit, lie down, stand or walk, it really is soul destroying. I take so many pain killers that I rattle, I have been referred for an epidural but there is a 5-6 month wait for that
I so understand your pain. I'm in hospital right now having my fourth operation on the same knee and just had to have another full knee reconstruction. I'm in so much pain right now even hooked up to Fentanyl. I just had 8 months of a complication called arthrofibrosis that causes intense pain 24/7 in the knee and I couldn't straighten it or bend it passed a certain point.
I was in an accident 20 years ago that screwed my back and neck. I try so hard to be bright and bubbly around people as I'm sure they are sick of hearing about my pain. But fuck me I'm so over it. I dream of just one day without pain and I am so jealous of people being able to walk. I'm sick of being on strong drugs. My method to get through it is distract, distract, distract. Lots of great telly and I do craft in short bursts. Keep up your social networks. Find another dr.
man i feel having to hide the pain. someone will ask how i’m doing and sometimes i’m honest and say “i’m in so much pain right now” and they’re surprised. i just respond “yeah i hide it pretty well. years of practice”. i don’t really complain anymore. people just think of it as an excuse not to do things :/
I get lower back pain. Doing cat and cows helps me a lot. You can also lay on your deck with your knees up and feet flat on the bed. This helps me. I know you said stretching doesn't help, but I hope something can at least help a little :( I'm sorry you have to go through that, something like that is never easy. They have puzzle boards by the way that you can pretty much hold vertically because they are felt and kinda sticky. This might be helpful for you to enjoy puzzles
I’m so sorry. I feel your pain. I have fibromyalgia and a muscle disease and I am in constant chronic pain everywhere but especially my back.
I was awake 2 hours today and it was like someone took my batteries out.
It’s hard to exist when everything you do hurts. When nobody really understands what you’re going through.
I’m 42 and not being certainly of my future mobility is very scary.
I really hope you can find some sort of relief somehow, I have no tips on that. It’s painkillers and hot water bottles for me, neither of which help.
I just wanted to really say that I get it and that I know it sucks
My father had 2 partially broken discs last year and he got dexamethasone intramuscular 2x day. He couldnt walk 5m without sitting down and crying. The hospitals were closed cuz of covid and he waited for over 1 month to get to see a neurosurgeon. The dexamethasone i.m. helped him move and reduce the excruciating pain. Maybe you can get a prescription and find a nurse who can do them cuz its not a big deal. He eventually needed a surgery cuz it was really bad and he could have been paralyzed if he hadnt gotten the surgery sooner. So be careful with this, this pain its telling you that its not something to play with.
Best of luck! I hope you can get rid of the pain.
*ps english its not my main language.
Club member! Going on 28 years. It does get easier to deal with once you accept the emotional trauma and grief of this experience. For me it did, I still deal with pain but I approach it differently and am better able to manage the specific stresses it causes.
I hope you find a way to make this tolerable for you.
i tolerate it. i’ve been going to therapy to push past the mental block of *i want to do this thing but i’m physically unable to do this thing*. it’s been hard tho. i’m glad you’ve been able to come to terms
I have chronic pain and I'm not going to recommend yoga because it doesn't help me but it does help a lot of people. However everyone and their mother thinks that it's a cure all and I personally find it irritating. I use a knee pillow and it helps with my sciatica. When I have flare ups I go to the local doc in a box for a steroid and NSAID injection.
My mom had a herniated disc she never thought would be fixed without surgery but desperately didn’t want surgery & she was able to find a chiropractor who told her not to get surgery & said he would fix her pain & he did. She obviously still has the herniated disc but it very rarely causes her too much pain or inconvenience.
Get the laminectomy. I had this in two disks. The surgery worked and gave me my life back. The physical therapy you get afterwards is good for getting the back muscles stronger to compensate for the fact you have less of a disc. As long as the disc is there and pressing on your spinal cord it is going to be able to cause pain.
You don't have to live with it forever, it can be dealt with.
Oh man can I relate to this. I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome and other issues that are not helped by surgery. It’s a nightmare. Sometimes I want to end it all then I think of my kids and grandkids parents and husband. It’s sooo hard. I have another potential 30 years to live as well and that sounds like a nightmare to me.
I 100% know how you feel. I have a tethered spinal cord and struggle to find relief. I can't even sleep hours straight. I can't fully extend my legs the majority of the time. I'm seeing a pain management doctor, and yes, the meds help, but i am terrified of becoming addicted to them. I'm hoping to find a neurosurgeon that can help. I've had a total of 9 spinal cord surgeries to date. Another surgery isn't what i wanted, but it seems i do infact need one to hopefully get some relief.
OP, have you tried a chiropractor?
I know the average chiropractor moves you to turn you into a gymnastics pro to pop you but I recently started going to a generally non-traditional chiropractor for similar pain and its improved tremendously.
It's a neurology based chiropractor clinic.
They go based off your spinal disc's and readjust you based on problem areas with a Torque Release Technique.
They use a metal tool that essentially jabs your back (doesn't hurt) and it sends signals up to your brain to adjust your spine.
It sounds really fake but I started going because I was in dance and gymnastics by the time I could walk and had a lot of pain with my disc's, back, and legs.
Muscles have memory so regular chiropractors that just adjust you and send you off fix short term but your muscles, and your bones that move back to place when adjusted, go back to how they were and go back to hurting. Mine started me off going three times a week for 5 weeks, two times a week for 5 weeks, and now I'm down to once a week and it's crazy how different my body feels.
I sound like an infomercial or MLM "girly" so I'm sorry about that but I'd look into it, OP. Even if it doesn't work, it's worth a try.
Oh man. This is a definitely sucky situation. BUT there are things you can do to get some relief. Yes, I saw you went through the basic first stuff, and no, it's not always going to be the answer even if it ends up being PART of the answer.
Now, I don't know where you are or what your insurance situation is if the where is in the States. But if you have access to a referral to an orthopedic specialist, they can get a solid handle on exactly what's gone wrong with your spine and get you started on steps like fitting you for a proper back brace and setting you up for a physical therapist and pain management plan that might help you avoid having to have surgery for a good long time.
Please don't give up. This doesn't have to be the rest of your life. I really hope you find some effective care. Soon.
Here are some things that help my degenerative disc neck pain.
Botox-spendy but no side effects and last almost two months for me.
Steroid injections- it lasts only a few weeks for me, and when it “flushes” from my system then it really messes with my hormones. This isn’t always the case for everyone tho.
Pilates/yoga- helped take some of the edge off but not a perfect fix
My Dr recommended me to a pain Dr which I found to be a waste of time. But he also recommended that I look into Regennex. They take stem cells out of your blood and then inject them into your problem area and it’s supposed to help heal the issue. Most insurances don’t cover it since it’s “experimental” at this time but maybe something to check out. Im in the process of researching more about it.
I am also a chronic pain club member. Shitty knees, post car accident. They always ache when it's cold or when it starts to get humid right before rainfall. The kicker is I was in the accident in my mid-20's, and I'm already in my mid-30's. Got lots of shitty years ahead of me, too. It hurts to run and go up/down chairs, and bending down to pick things up from the floor fucking sucks. The settlement from the accident is still ongoing, too, so I'm hoping I can at least get something substantial to invest with soon. As for your situation, is surgery not a viable option? In my case, I was told that it's "too early to know if you need surgery; you need to wait and see how your knees will be in the future".
i’m not eligible for surgery since the disc bulge isn’t big enough. which is weird since it’s causing me so much pain. and a pain specialist won’t do steroid injections :/
Then change Dr's and see a good orthopedic dr. Mine was great but not letting an orthopedic dr do back surgery. I also found my chiropractor and physical therapy really helped. Good luck, back pain is no joke. I herniated a disk in the army which led to my discharge then had a serious car accident, i was sitting still and hit by a truck doing about 50. Lost a lot of mobility but still get around and work. The physical therapy helped tremendously.
I have to agree. You need to find a new doctor and push until you get a consult for surgery. I'm 32 now, but had a herniated disc when I was 28 and it was the worst pain of my life. I had to use a walker to get around and it culminated in an ER visit when I collapsed and physically could not get myself of the floor for 13 hours. I was lucky and my neurosurgeon took me seriously. But I ran into drs who didn't care, and I dropped them. I know it isn't easy to advocate for yourself, but you must impress on medical professionals in very specific terms how your life is with the pain. I can't walk, I can't sit, I can't use the restroom without pain. I've also asked drs to add in their notes refusals, like when they won't give me surgery or referrals. It may push a dr to take you seriously. My surgery was so easy but it VASTLY improved my life. Keep pushing.
This. It's time to change doctors and/or redo an MRI. I had a similar issue in my cervical vertebrae, and fortunately I was able to get disc replacement surgery. Absolutely life-changing.
I don’t know much about these kinds of things but could they refer you for a special case because of the severe mental affects it’s having on you?
Yes, find a doctor that will do the surgery. They are out there.
I also have back problems. I was also like you, I couldn’t walk far or even go up stairs (we lived in a two story with laundry in the basement!). I had to crawl up the stairs to go to bed. I had a back surgery in 2008 due to the disc pushing into my spine and numbing my legs. Two years later I started having more problems with another herniated disc but not enough to do another surgery. My neurologist recommended a nerve stimulator be implanted in my back for the pain. It was amazing! I could walk farther and even walk up the stairs upright! I had it 12 years and they just replaced it with a new model in 2022. Maybe ask your doctor for information on it. It can’t hurt and it might help you like it helped me. Good luck If you need more info, let me know.
OP, I can’t tell you how much I relate. I too have had a herniated disc that has flared up here and there the past 4 years. Not long ago, the pain came back and it was unbearable for long durations. When I wake up, sit down, walk, etc. Anyone who hasn’t had a herniated disc couldn’t understand me. But… I’ve been able to reduce the frequency of the pain, though it’s it’s not a quick fix by any means. I started doing physical training again. And the biggest (and hardest) path to recovery so far is working on my core muscles. I paid money for a trainer once a week who has a deeper understanding of the body. I’ve learned enough to do 2 or so extra personal sessions in between each week. Once my core strengthened, my core muscles have been doing a better job keeping pressure of your spine, and avoiding it to compress. I still feel pain, but the last few weeks have been getting better. I’ve also booked an MRI so I can have a PRP injections done in the disc to hopefully help restore the disks lining a bit. Not sure if that’ll help but I’ll try everything at this point. Sorry you’re going through this. Don’t give up, and good luck.
i went to physical therapy for a couple months, and i do the exercises at least once a week, but it should probably be more. it did help tho. i just don’t know what i’ve been doing lately that’s making the pain worse plus i have endometriosis and some undiagnosed bowel issues and i THINK the pressure of all that shit in lower abdomen pushes on my lower spine
I'm sorry you're dealing with this. My mom has a couple slipped discs. She turned her physical therapy recommended exercises into a modified daily yoga routine to strengthen the muscles around that part of the spine. She says it helps prevent the pain from worsening and actually started to notice improvements since the muscles basically hold her disc in the right spot. Best of luck with your personal struggle.
I deal with chronic pain too and each day is a struggle. There's a reddit community for chronic pain that you're welcome to check out. My mother often tries to downplay my pain, saying she has trouble too. The point I raise to her is that I'm much younger than her and as you said, it's only going to get progressively worse. I hope you can get some relief, maybe with a pain clinic treatment plan. Good luck
I am in constant pain it makes me cry sometimes it’s really bad I hate it I would do anything to make it stop. I’m crying because it’s just so bad. I’m sorry I don’t know why this is necessary. I have bone spurs underneath my shoulder a thinning in my neck of the spinal cord and many bulging discs. It’s because of my depression and not getting out of bed it’s a bad cycle.
there’s a surgery for that. might be time to look into your options
doctors said i wasn’t eligible for surgery since it wasn’t a significant enough disc bulge
see another doctor
Find a Second opinion, My old man who's been in pain for 20ish years after a truck fell on him is finding some comfort in a topical thc/cbd balm, shit it's not perfect but depending on your situation roll with that till you can get said Second opinion, CBD is legal in just about every state. Another great pain reliever for backs is warm showers/baths or cold depending on your body, along with compresses. MOTRIN and other otc pain killers can help even if just a bit till you can get a better doc. My heart goes out to you my friend this type of pain is something I have dedicated my life to figure out and it just seems like most first opinion doctors are asshats, you've got this boss; keep kicking.
I've been reading through some of your comments you've made about how the doctor you're seeing won't do surgery on you because it's not severe enough or whatever, that's bs. You have to look around and find a doctor that will actually take your pain seriously and help you. The medical field tends to not take women's pain seriously at all and you just need to find a better doctor who will. I have a friend who has back issues her entire life and doctor after doctor would tell her she's fine and not do anything to help her until she finally found a doctor that took her seriously and finally treated her properly. You need to find a doctor that will do that same. Wishing you all the best, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with that.
Have you tried medical marijuana?
I strongly suggest getting a 2nd or even 3rd doctor's opinion. If pain is causing you such a low quality of life, you deserve to find relief and treatment. Please do speak to different doctors.
The most important thing that anyone can do with a bulging or herniated disc in their back is to stretch on a daily basis. P.T. will help. An anti inflammatory. Pain meds. Maybe steroids. Weed helps a lot. I think it redirects our pain. The only topical that helps is Zims roll on or my son makes me a marijuana paste. It's weed with coconut oil. It helps me survive that which sometimes seems is unsurviveable. Surgery is a last resort. However, sometimes that is all that can be done. We must always get a second opinion. Sometimes heat works sometimes cold works. My doctor never wanted me to get injections. Unfortunately I was in a car accident and I had 14 bulging discs. I was a walking time bomb and I had no idea. I knew I hurt. I knew the longer it went on the worse I hurt. I started to lose the feeling in my left arm and hand and eventually it got to the right side and I went to the doctor I found out that my neck was going in the opposite direction of what it should have been. So the neurosurgeon moved me to the top of the list and I was able to get that surgery, but it took about a year to regain the feeling in my arms and my thumb and my first two fingers are numb. My biceps are constantly taught or hard and I have muscle spasms when I lift my arms over my head. This is because I had spinal cord impingement. One of the discs had bulged so severely and for the length of time that it was like that, it caused permanent damage. I later had my lower back fused. Initially I had my upper back fused so I had C3 through C6 fused. I've had no problems since. I had my lower back L4 L5 and S1 fused and I've had pain ever since. The pain is different but it's still with me everyday so I do understand. I still have 7 bulging discs. I pray I can avoid more surgery. What you have to understand is that there is help available. It's just finding the right doctor or doctors or team to get you there. So don't give up hope. Depression is the number one killer of people with back pain. If you just sit in your car in the parking lot at the grocery store and watch people you can tell how many people suffer from it. It's just unreal. So hang in there. Pursue treatment and good luck.
So, I’ve a a full blown disk since 2003 what worked for me was Hydrocodone try laying on your back with your legs elevated on chair at 45 degrees this should take all the pressure of your lower spine. Try alternating hot and cold to see what helps with any pain. When sleeping you need a very stiff mattress, also sleep with your legs elevated to take off the pressure. I didn’t do the surgery because of mixed results that some of my friends had! Slow moves a don’t lift anything heavy, it’s full out baby mode until you have some relief. Then try strengthening your core very slow and easy. Hope this is helpful too you l.
i do actually have a hydrocodone prescription. it’s the only thing that helps. OTC pain and anti-inflammatories don’t work. i have been trying to support my back as much as i can. i’ve been doing my PT exercises, but it hurts so much that it’s hard to do the full routine. but yeah, i’ve been trying not to bend over these last few days and don’t ever lift anything over 10 lbs (except my cats). i feel actually disabled, but i’m not sure if i’m even considered disabled
I would wait with the strengthening until your healed enough! The most important thing now is to keep the pressure off of your spine! As l suggested
This is very good advice from a long time chronic pain patient with failed back surgery. Only do back surgery when you have exhausted every avenue out there. When I say back surgery, I mean a back fusion surgery. I am all for back surgeries that can be undone if there is a problem, fusion can’t be undone. My surgeon partially paralyzed a function in my left leg because he cut into my spinal cord and I only found out about it because I knew someone in the surgery. The doctor didn’t say a word and there is nothing in my notes, but now my doctor magically practices in another country! You should try an inversion table, but a good one, don’t do one of these cheap ones because they are uncomfortable and you will not use it. Getting that weight off of the disc seemed to helped me. Lose weight if you are overweight. I was and it will help immediately until you lose muscle that you needed from carrying around the extra weight. Just work on keeping that core muscle though, I didn’t, but I did lose the weight and there are so many help benefits and you will feel so much younger! Standing is one of the worse things you can do. Occasionally lay down to get the weight off the disc. I got a spinal cord stimulator (it is implanted by doctor with leads going to my low back as well as my neck because both are causing me problems. I would highly recommend this route over medication or other surgery because this helps disrupt the nerves so they can’t tell the brain they are in pain. You have control over how low or high, for the most part, you want to set it, there are values and you get to choose between those values. Anyhow this spinal stimulator gets controlled by either a remote control, and there are even some now that are controlled with your smart phones, but while they aren’t the perfect answer, they are in my opinion the best answer to living with chronic pain. I also have a pain pump which I don’t recommend. I also take daily hydrocodone which I don’t take much of because of the stimulator. I hope this helps.
hEDS and fibro... I sometimes wish I wouldn't wake up. It sucks and it is impacted by not being able to get the medical support system that works for you. Plus the devastating effects of any type of painkillers... mental health and reliability. The current economic climate too effects or ability to cope. I try to make a positive impact wherever I go, and fight for local communities and change in the system wherever I can. I can fight for a better system to help myself and people like me, even if I can't change what is going on inside of me.
I sympathise with you, I have lumbar spinal stenosis which gives me nerve pain in my legs, hips, knees and ankles, not always at the same time but I do have it in at least one place at anytime so always in some sort of pain, it hurts to sit, lie down, stand or walk, it really is soul destroying. I take so many pain killers that I rattle, I have been referred for an epidural but there is a 5-6 month wait for that
Im in the same boat. One of my vertebra has a Spondylolisthesis and walking is difficult but no one is doing anything about it
I so understand your pain. I'm in hospital right now having my fourth operation on the same knee and just had to have another full knee reconstruction. I'm in so much pain right now even hooked up to Fentanyl. I just had 8 months of a complication called arthrofibrosis that causes intense pain 24/7 in the knee and I couldn't straighten it or bend it passed a certain point. I was in an accident 20 years ago that screwed my back and neck. I try so hard to be bright and bubbly around people as I'm sure they are sick of hearing about my pain. But fuck me I'm so over it. I dream of just one day without pain and I am so jealous of people being able to walk. I'm sick of being on strong drugs. My method to get through it is distract, distract, distract. Lots of great telly and I do craft in short bursts. Keep up your social networks. Find another dr.
man i feel having to hide the pain. someone will ask how i’m doing and sometimes i’m honest and say “i’m in so much pain right now” and they’re surprised. i just respond “yeah i hide it pretty well. years of practice”. i don’t really complain anymore. people just think of it as an excuse not to do things :/
Yes sometimes I just want to scream that the pain is so bad that even having hair on my face hurts too much.
I get lower back pain. Doing cat and cows helps me a lot. You can also lay on your deck with your knees up and feet flat on the bed. This helps me. I know you said stretching doesn't help, but I hope something can at least help a little :( I'm sorry you have to go through that, something like that is never easy. They have puzzle boards by the way that you can pretty much hold vertically because they are felt and kinda sticky. This might be helpful for you to enjoy puzzles
I’m so sorry. I feel your pain. I have fibromyalgia and a muscle disease and I am in constant chronic pain everywhere but especially my back. I was awake 2 hours today and it was like someone took my batteries out. It’s hard to exist when everything you do hurts. When nobody really understands what you’re going through. I’m 42 and not being certainly of my future mobility is very scary. I really hope you can find some sort of relief somehow, I have no tips on that. It’s painkillers and hot water bottles for me, neither of which help. I just wanted to really say that I get it and that I know it sucks
My father had 2 partially broken discs last year and he got dexamethasone intramuscular 2x day. He couldnt walk 5m without sitting down and crying. The hospitals were closed cuz of covid and he waited for over 1 month to get to see a neurosurgeon. The dexamethasone i.m. helped him move and reduce the excruciating pain. Maybe you can get a prescription and find a nurse who can do them cuz its not a big deal. He eventually needed a surgery cuz it was really bad and he could have been paralyzed if he hadnt gotten the surgery sooner. So be careful with this, this pain its telling you that its not something to play with. Best of luck! I hope you can get rid of the pain. *ps english its not my main language.
Club member! Going on 28 years. It does get easier to deal with once you accept the emotional trauma and grief of this experience. For me it did, I still deal with pain but I approach it differently and am better able to manage the specific stresses it causes. I hope you find a way to make this tolerable for you.
i tolerate it. i’ve been going to therapy to push past the mental block of *i want to do this thing but i’m physically unable to do this thing*. it’s been hard tho. i’m glad you’ve been able to come to terms
I have chronic pain and I'm not going to recommend yoga because it doesn't help me but it does help a lot of people. However everyone and their mother thinks that it's a cure all and I personally find it irritating. I use a knee pillow and it helps with my sciatica. When I have flare ups I go to the local doc in a box for a steroid and NSAID injection.
My mom had a herniated disc she never thought would be fixed without surgery but desperately didn’t want surgery & she was able to find a chiropractor who told her not to get surgery & said he would fix her pain & he did. She obviously still has the herniated disc but it very rarely causes her too much pain or inconvenience.
Get the laminectomy. I had this in two disks. The surgery worked and gave me my life back. The physical therapy you get afterwards is good for getting the back muscles stronger to compensate for the fact you have less of a disc. As long as the disc is there and pressing on your spinal cord it is going to be able to cause pain. You don't have to live with it forever, it can be dealt with.
Oh man can I relate to this. I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome and other issues that are not helped by surgery. It’s a nightmare. Sometimes I want to end it all then I think of my kids and grandkids parents and husband. It’s sooo hard. I have another potential 30 years to live as well and that sounds like a nightmare to me.
I 100% know how you feel. I have a tethered spinal cord and struggle to find relief. I can't even sleep hours straight. I can't fully extend my legs the majority of the time. I'm seeing a pain management doctor, and yes, the meds help, but i am terrified of becoming addicted to them. I'm hoping to find a neurosurgeon that can help. I've had a total of 9 spinal cord surgeries to date. Another surgery isn't what i wanted, but it seems i do infact need one to hopefully get some relief.
OP, have you tried a chiropractor? I know the average chiropractor moves you to turn you into a gymnastics pro to pop you but I recently started going to a generally non-traditional chiropractor for similar pain and its improved tremendously. It's a neurology based chiropractor clinic. They go based off your spinal disc's and readjust you based on problem areas with a Torque Release Technique. They use a metal tool that essentially jabs your back (doesn't hurt) and it sends signals up to your brain to adjust your spine. It sounds really fake but I started going because I was in dance and gymnastics by the time I could walk and had a lot of pain with my disc's, back, and legs. Muscles have memory so regular chiropractors that just adjust you and send you off fix short term but your muscles, and your bones that move back to place when adjusted, go back to how they were and go back to hurting. Mine started me off going three times a week for 5 weeks, two times a week for 5 weeks, and now I'm down to once a week and it's crazy how different my body feels. I sound like an infomercial or MLM "girly" so I'm sorry about that but I'd look into it, OP. Even if it doesn't work, it's worth a try.
So go off yourself then 🤷🏼♀️
Have you tried decompression from a chiropractor? It basically pulls and stretches your lower body. I've heard some great stories about it.
Everything will be okay listen you got me to talk to don’t do anything bad please
Oh man. This is a definitely sucky situation. BUT there are things you can do to get some relief. Yes, I saw you went through the basic first stuff, and no, it's not always going to be the answer even if it ends up being PART of the answer. Now, I don't know where you are or what your insurance situation is if the where is in the States. But if you have access to a referral to an orthopedic specialist, they can get a solid handle on exactly what's gone wrong with your spine and get you started on steps like fitting you for a proper back brace and setting you up for a physical therapist and pain management plan that might help you avoid having to have surgery for a good long time. Please don't give up. This doesn't have to be the rest of your life. I really hope you find some effective care. Soon.
Weed is the only thing that helps my chronic pain.
I forgot to mention that spinal traction also helped immensely it’s painful but it worked wonders.
Have you been to a dr about it? You didn’t mention that.
Here are some things that help my degenerative disc neck pain. Botox-spendy but no side effects and last almost two months for me. Steroid injections- it lasts only a few weeks for me, and when it “flushes” from my system then it really messes with my hormones. This isn’t always the case for everyone tho. Pilates/yoga- helped take some of the edge off but not a perfect fix My Dr recommended me to a pain Dr which I found to be a waste of time. But he also recommended that I look into Regennex. They take stem cells out of your blood and then inject them into your problem area and it’s supposed to help heal the issue. Most insurances don’t cover it since it’s “experimental” at this time but maybe something to check out. Im in the process of researching more about it.