A&e, doctors or wait it out?

My dad had a bulging disc a few years ago and they did what you’ve had - opiates, Physio etc. did not help, partly because he does not tolerate opiates well so they struggled to control side effects.

He ended up having surgery and recovered within a couple months fully (he is very active and skied several weeks within 4 months of the surgery). We are not UK though and have excellent health insurance so options were more flexible, I would have a look at what the NICE guidelines recommend and see if you are getting that care or a more aggressive approach is warranted.

I like the tag teaming analogy. My husband just can't understand how I have hip, leg, foot pain, when it's my spine. He doesn't understand how sometimes it's the left side, sometimes right side, sometimes both. I wish he'd Google it because I'm tired of trying to explain.

remember, you've injured yourself, and it'll take time to heal.. think of it like a sprain, which takes a good 8-12 weeks or longer to heal, its a process, and even if you are left with pain, you do learn to adapt and live with it.. sometimes that means finding a new normal, and sometimes it's mind over matter and knowing that today you do stuff, tomorrow you rest (or tomorrow and the day after)

i have an autistic 18yo, and i've been suffering badly with pain with my back most of his life, it does limit the stuff i can do, but i have always tried to make sure his life isn't less.. we just have to adapt and work around both of our needs, and he's actually recently, even though i'm HIS carer, started being much more thoughtful and considerate of my limitations.. he's started carrying the bags and things rather than assuming i'm the pack horse, lol.

i moaned at my gp again this week because my pain levels have been slowly increasing recently.. i do have a degenerative condition with my spine, but my joints, muscles and ligaments have started playing up and tag teaming each other recently, and i think i've cried more this last fortnight than i have in a long time. spent 3 days with the right side of my back in spasm, and today i feel like there is a knife between my shoulder blades.

They're sending me back to the gp physio, i hope because i've raised the question of hypermobility which would explain a lot of my issues, but if not i'm going to scream.. i've already had a course of physio with the hospital this year, and i'm back on the waitlist with the Musculoskeletal team, so i'm not sure what the gp thinks their physio is going to achieve that the hospital physios couldn't.

Posted on wrong thread, have reported myself!

@autienotnoughty what did the physio say?

@HollaHolla my husband is delighted I got the blue badge. He wasn't amused dropping me off and parking miles away if we were out together.
It really is a god send. Especially if I'm having a bad day.

I watch people much older than me walking fast, zipping around and feel sad. But they've their own problems I tell myself.

Everything takes longer. Showering, getting dressed. Cooking a meal because you cross a kitchen back and forth many times.

I use a laundry basket when tidying up if stuff is in the wrong room, gathering it up to move on. I have a fantastic round tray with deep sides which I use for transporting food, drink, dirty dishes from a to b and back again.

I have a lovely bag a friend made me into which goes my tablet, phone, kindle, ear buds at night to put by the bed.

You do learn little tricks.

I’m 12 years and 4 surgeries into the back pain journey. It’s shit. Im still angry and frustrated by it, but the way I get through has changed.

So, first off, I refuse to believe this is permanent. Maybe it is, but it helps my self- reasoning where I tell myself this is just ‘for now’.

I take Pregabalin, Oxycodone, Paracetamol & Naproxen every day. But that helps me kind of function, and go to work a couple of times a week (otherwise WAH), and go to swimming/pilates/see my friends.

i have a cleaner, and have accepted the house isn’t as tidy as it used to be. I live alone, so no one else to share the load.
Accepted I need a blue badge temporarily. It’s on a 2 year period (I just got it a few months ago). It’s not forever.

I have to keep to a routine of movement and rest. I don’t drive the length of the country as much any more…. I don’t go out all weekend any more…. I build in more rest time now…..

it is shit, but the alternative is to lie down and weep all the time - and that way disaster lies. I really hope that you can get through this, OP, and that it is a one-off flare up for you. Concentrate on building the strongest core you can. Take care.

Well the tree is sorta done. Haven't done the top because frankly I'd fall into it. Husband will have to do that and the tinsel. He appears to have buggered off again after saying he was doing some outside lights 🙄

I found gabapentin was the only thing that helped the nerve pain. Opioids were rubbish and amitriptyline just made me sleepy with a dry mouth, no pain relief.

Doesn't help being married to a Duracell bunny who still expects all the Christmas decs done despite the fact that I can't climb steps any more.

the cold/damp definitely doesn't help.. I'm kinda wallowing a little this week, at that point with chronic pain where I'm shifting between angry and crying my eyes out at how unfair it is.

It's my own fault really, I had to do some stuff at the weekend because of the storm that i really shouldn't have done (lifting/moving fence panels that had fallen over) and I'm paying for it big time, the backlash pain flare is making things hellish

Existing hurts atm, just got back from the shopping which my elderly mother had to help me with.. we go together then i can drive, and she can push the trolley, lol, and i will not be moving from the sofa till school pick up. It'll be take away for dinner too!

Xmas decs tomorrow, but will probably just do the tree, then put a few bits out each day over the next 2-3 days. I'm my own worst enemy sometimes, i push myself too far, even though I'm the first to tell people to pace!

@WinterBones I'm on gabapentin for spasm twice a day. Took ibuprofen at 8.30. little effect. Did my exercises, It's the cold I think. Did a womble around the co-op this morning. Have now taken paracetamol. Determined to decorate the Christmas tree this afternoon. I'm having a glass of wine going to put something Christmassy on the TV and plod on.

Did some research on cannabis oils last night. No THC but might be worth a punt. Need to learn more.

pain and painkillers as a long term thing is a delicate balance. You need them to be able to move, but you have to be careful that you don't move too much.. its a game i am very bored of playing with my back pain :/

i don't like taking them, i take my gabapentin because nerve pain is unbearable, but general pain relief i tend to try to cope without to a point day to day, then take it if i'm going to go do stuff.

At the moment i can't really stand for more than 5 mins, or bend over for more than 5 mins before the pain becomes unbearable and i have to sit/rest. i do better if i'm moving, so i can just about cope with the supermarket on my crutches as long as we're in/out within 45 mins tops, but i lean on them heavily every time we stop to take the pressure off my lower back..any longer and i need either my wheelchair or the supermarkets scooters.

You have to remember you're at the beginning of this journey, and your tolerance for the pain isn't great yet, so please don't feel defeated if lowering your dose brings you more pain. Take them as you need them, don't over do it, and have patience. You will get there!

I know these are scary times for you BUT You have pain and need painkillers. For them to work you have to take them regularly and at the prescribed dose. Moving will help you get better and pain relief helps you to move. Try not to think ahead to potential future problems with your medication, that’s a problem for your future mobile self, not a now problem. You are in the acute phase of your condition and all of your focus needs to be on getting past this phase and well into recovery before you start to think long term. Hubby will cope in the interim, your only job is to get better.

Mmmm. Taking the full dose of painkillers allows you to move more. Moving more helps most people. Speak to your physio tomorrow. My physio was as a young woman, single mother, in a wheelchair for a time. She's late fifties now but very sanguine about pain meds. Exercise. So keep taking them.

My son knows someone who grows weed for personal use. She has fibromyalgia. I was thinking about this the other day.

@autienotnoughty

How's it going?