Anyone else have back pain?

[Webmaster]

I know alot of you are 15 or so and dont have issues like this - but does anyone have chronic back pain?

I was diagnosed with a bulged disk that was causing me pain down my left leg. I had surgery, but it didnt work, indeed I now have some scar tissue. Its my sciatic nerve on the left leg that is killing me.

I have gone through physcial therapy.

I have just done a round of cortozone injections.

Nothing is working. My qualitiy of life is deminished. I am cranky and tired all the time. I get home and just want to goto bed - only I toss and turn all night trying to find a way to not hurt.

The only thing that has REALLY helped me was when I was on 20mg of Oxycontin - but while a mircle drug it has the potential for abuse and they hesitate to put someone so young on it with out trying other meathods.

Right now I am taking some generic Vicodin during the day for pain, and a mild anti-depressent at night. Amitriptyline is supposed to make me sleep better and maybe help rewire my brain to not sense the pain as much.

So - anyway - do you or someone you know have a similar problem? What did you do to treat it? I ask because at this point amputation or a .357 sounds like a solution. (not really but Im at my wits end)

Any advice?

[Jeb_Hoge]

Well, a Navy SEAL told me that one of his doctors said that sex and booze were as good for general painkilling as anything. I suggest you indulge heavily in both. ;)

[fenris69]

i would suggest a more "natural" method...there are a lot of herbs, vitamins, and amino acids you can take to help with the pain, sleeping etc...theres also the chronic which would certainly help the pain, mood and sleep(in moderation of course) valerian root or a strong brewed kava tea will knock anyone on their *** for a while. either way its cheaper and a better alternative to taking pills. And normally im not into the natural hoodoo crap, but if you got no other recourse then do it. you'll find a lot of it works.

[virus]

yup i know what you are going through..... i am going through my 2nd set of cortazone shots now....

me- buldging disk l5 s1

was surgery your 1st oprtion?????
me it would be my very last.... why... moderen med. can do wonders on the front side, flip the body over... and well i think it is like only a 20% success rate for back operations...

as far as the pain it never goes away about 16 months ago i finshed a set of 3 shots and am now just got another shot last friday... personally i feel a little worse, but i see my doc in another week and get to complain some more... and i'll probly get 2 more shots over the next month or so....

now that pain down your leg sounds just like mine... i get pain from either cheek right down to the ankle... blasted siatiatic(yup i probly spelled that wrong) nerve, the natural cortazone insulater that ones body produces cant keep up with my bad disk rubbin it all the time... though now i am gettin pain in my mid back just below the shoulder blades

now for meds that help
vioxx 50mg only work for me if i take 3-4 alieve with them....
right now i'm out of those and the doc has me on 500mg naproxen these seem to be wokrin ok ... the pain is still there but it is bearible... kinda has the feelin of a aching mussle, the kind of ache that you feel after you work a cramp out of a musscle(granted my whole body feels that way now)

the other thing i have found to work wonders......long walks.... for me its a great excuse to goto the mall... i'll usally end up walkin a laps with out going into stores and i try to keep it a faster then normal pace... i find that slower walkin or stop and go walkin only makes it worse.... and the nice thing about the mall is that there are usally benches everywhere to sit down if i get a shootin pain or just for a quick break

[cphilip]

Yep... I am sorry to say I blew out (ruptured) L-4 and L-5 disc a few years back. Sciatic nearve involvement was horrible. For those who don't know this is like having your calf muscle cramping, but constantly! Think about that. You have had a leg crap right? Intense pain for a few moments. But this goes on all the time. Can be in other areas but for me it was the lower back and Calf muscles. Especialy the right side. Finaly I had the direct injection as a last resort before Surgery. This was reported to be about 40% successful for a year and much lower after that. Is still working for me but again that is a minority that it does work for this long on. Virus says he has had two. I echo his sentiments. I will take the second one if need be before suregery. I have heard too many people go under the knife the second time. However the second Surgery is ussualy more sucsesfull as they become very agressive that time as they know its the last chance. So for you Steve I would check with my Orthopedist about maybe trying the injection once and then start thinking about another Surgery if that doesn't work. This "Injection" is a large dose of long acting Steriods and Analgesics directly into the Disc area. And I do mean large! Like about 30 cc's. In an attempt to shrink up all the scar tissue and therefore relieve the pressure of that on the sciatic nerve and allow it to slide properly (or as much as possible) through its channel in the vertebra. Its working for me but I am very suseptable to steriodal therapy (thank God). Some are not. I still ahve episodes but no so intense as the initial one. I know someday I will ahve it again as this tissue never heals. And if it ever tears open and the disc fluid gets lose in there agian... Wam! I will be right back where I was. It is not fun. Its completely life changing to have a back issue like this one is. Sitting is the worse thing for me. And then laying flat for a while. So whats left? Standing which is exhausting. I feel for you Dude. Hope you find the right thearapy.

[Load SM5]

I have a genetic back problem. The last lowest vertebre that is one peice in normal folks is 2 vertebre in my back. Needless to say, since it is not supposed to be like that it is weak and constantly popping out and pinching my sciatic nerve. Hurts like the blazes and can pop out if I roll over wrong in bed. Lucky for me that a friend of mine is a chiropractor and sets me right.

[pumpamatic]

My dad used to have bad back pains, went to chiropractors and doctors and neither really helped. Then he just found a simple set of exercises and stretches, they worked. I think your case is beyond that though

[udtseal]

Originally posted by Jeb_Hoge
Well, a Navy SEAL told me that one of his doctors said that sex and booze were as good for general painkilling as anything. I suggest you indulge heavily in both. ;)

:rolleyes:

[steveg]

Hi webby that does not sound like much fun. I have two lower
vetrebra that are somewhat deteriorated if i lift something
the wrong way(ie stupidly) it leads to muscle spasms and about
4 days of not being able to move without help.
For me several visits to my chiropractor
for back adjustments and strength and stretch exercises help a lot
It was explained to be that missalignment of the spine puts
pressure on the nerves branching out from the spine,
diminishing or even damaging nerve function. Imagine
the effect of stepping on a garden hose. the chiropractor
attempts to correct this misalignment It worked for me
but its not a once and your done thing

[unseenunheard]

i don't have any bulged disk but i suffer from back pain mainly do to heavy lifting, working long hours without rest and standing for long periods of time in oyster boots which are not very well padded. i mostly suffer from stiffness and sometimes i get catches in my lower back that will literally bring me to my knees, i've never went to the Dr. for it but my dad has always had the same problem and he went to the chiropractor and they wanted to operate but he didn't let them. we have found that pepper patches seem to help the best, they are like large bandaids that have some kind of halopena peppers in them and when put on they burn, but after a day or so you feel a lil better.
sorry for the spelling.

[gimp]

ummmm. Dont know much about backs, but I have snapped a bone in my hand in half. I didn't realize though because I was taking codine for my wisdom teeth. Now my hand is all messed up because I didn't do anything about it right away.

[lovlybrder]

Have you guys ever tried a chiropractor or accupuncture? it might help....

[jcarkeys]

Not like that, but I think that the repercussions of having a spinal tap are coming after me. When we do this one stretch in soccer I can barely do it. It feels like my back is cracking. Down in the lower area, where I had it. I hated having meningitis, fortunately, it had like a couple bacterium in the sample, and they had me in the hospital to see if they could grow a culture. Fortunately not, but a couple of weeks after my back hurt from the tap and I think that may be the reason I am in so much pain doing that since no one else seems to have the trouble.

[Tunaman]

Try some "Skunk #1", or some Northern Californian "Indigo". Either will cure whatever ails you.:D :D :D

[Magadeth]

I would recomend that you try taking 2000mg of glucosamine each day for about two months before you do anything to drastic. Glucosamine is basically shark cartilage. It will help to regrow damaged cartilage and will soften and make more flexible the cartilage that you have between the discs in your back. It is avavailable at GNC or any other health store.

I have bone fragments in my ankle that used to make even going for long walks unbearable. Now I run two miles every day with no discomfort. A chiropracter turned me on to it when he saw me limping around after a few games of paintball.

I would also recomend learning and practicing Tai Chi. It is a kung fu based form of streching and exercising that is comprised of easy nonstressful movements. Unlike the stretches you may have learned playing sports, or in your high school gym class, Tai Chi emphasizes slow easy movements, and if it hurts, you are doing it wrong.
A good Tai chi instructor will ease you into it and allow you to progress at your own pace, so that you never feel any pain from any of the movements.
Tai Chi also emphasizes controling your internal energy for healing and strength(Qui Gong). If you keep an open mind to it, you may find this aspect to be very helpful to you.

[Webmaster]

Well - the sex/booze methods sounds neat - but I dont think that will work well at 1pm at work when it starts to hurt.

I think chiropractics and acutpuncture as quackery - more or less. I have been to chiropractics and some of them dont know ANYTHING about ANYTHING. They are more like TV psychics who feed you mumbo jumbo. Others are fairly knowledgable, but thats not what will help me. Its not an alignment issue or something getting pinched at this point. My pain is caused by the sciatic nerve being irritated - possibly by scar tissue. I know that strecthing helps me. I know that activity is good for me. So I just joined a gym and I am working at increasing the strength in my leg (its so weak I have trouble going up stairs some times) and increasing my range of motion. This included mainly the use of treadmills and bike machines to get my leg back in motion. While I am there I thought I may as well do some bench and arm curls - wew - I lost ALOT of muscle since high school! I am also going to work on my stomach muscles to help strengthen my back.

I dont want any more surgery. I wish they would medicate me more - as when I dont hurt I am more active and I really think activity is what I need at this point.

Well- wish me luck - I guess time will tell!

[Magadeth]

Good luck! And seriously, ask the guys at your gym about glucosomine. I am sure they will be able to tell you all about it.

[Prezents]

My wife
Prezentshttp://www.mauisun.org/ubb/smilies/cwm28.gif

[FaSSt]

Building your stomach muscles to relieve strain from your back is a good idea that will pay off.

I agree with your observation about chirporactors - only a few know what they are doing, and even then they can only be a complement to other remedies.

As far as acupuncture, etc. - I also believe that most of it does not work, but some undeniably does. My fiancee is a vet student, and they do nerve blocks as a routine procedure on many animals, especially livestock. It works, although it is not based on the same semi-sketchy theory as acupuncture. It MAY work for you, again as a complement.

Your best bet is to continue a search for a combination of therapies that works for you. ALWAYS get multiple medical opinions, because doctors vary extremely widely in competence, experience, and general usefulness.

Good luck with your mental and emotional state - it always help if you have that kind of support at home as well as at work, if possible.

BTW, LOL about the sex and booze comment! I bet your employer wants a drunk, horny and grouchy (from the pain) employee at lunch!