A&e, doctors or wait it out?

Just seen this thread. OP this happened to my husband 3 years ago. As well as a shit-tonne of painkillers/anti spasmodics, the thing that he found helped most at your stage was one of those heating pads that you can get for the elderly - 3 heat settings and switches itself off automatically after a while. He could lie on it and the heat helped with the pain when even the drugs couldn't help.

He also found sitting way worse than walking - it was either walking around or lying down for him for several weeks.

Once he could sit in a car for half an hour physio massage really helped too. We paid privately for this.

It's barbaric, OP, I'm so sorry for you.

I had a bulging disc for years and years, it got progressing worse with shorter periods between flare ups, before it finally ruptured.

The pain all the way through was excruciating and I empathise with everything you've said.

I had surgery to remove it and it was the best thing I ever did.

Pain, however severe, just seems to be the lowest priority for the NHS, which is just awful as it affects your life entirely.

Are they sure you're not a candidate for surgery?

I've also just googled and seen this service for helping with disc problems - are there any similar services near you?

www.axishealth.co.uk/idd-therapy/

Does that work? It’s the institute for soft tissue therapists. The lady I see is L5 trained and id tried chiro & physios in despair trying to get better but found the sports massage gave the most relief along with a good pilates teacher.

www.theisrm.com/

OH we have a walk in shower. It's stuffed full of all the bunk cushions he took off the boat for the winter 🙄😁

But you're right. You have to think about everything. Two dogs, all their toys are a trip hazard. Shopping, forget the super big carrier bags. I use small ones, hang them over the wrought iron mini fence. Descend gingerly the five steps to the front door. Unhang bags one at a time, carry in and unpack.

Going to bed, undress in the bathroom, carry out ablutions, take pills, come back to sitting room, let dogs out, dog's in. Give them a treat. Throw cushion on the floor for exercises, do exercises. Hide all the feather cushions, puppy chews them . Collect phone, tablet, ear plugs in a bag, grab cane, turn off light. Grab glass of water. In bedroom plug in tablet, struggle into bed, put in ear bud, turn on tablet for a streaming program to put me to sleep.

All the above takes me 40 minutes every night minimum sigh....

OH and the log burner won't get going. Husband in surgery this morning for cataract. Friends taken him. Wanted the sitting room nice and warm for when he came home. 😩

My sciatic nerve is squashed this morning. Done all the exercises and extra. Had a hot shower when I finally managed to climb over the bath. Blooming thing just wont release. Must have slept wrong. 🤬🤬

I found a really good sports massage therapist more beneficial in long run than physio because they helped to release the muscles that were tightening up to “protect” my back but were causing huge nerve pain. A good place to find a level 5 trained therapist (who often do have a physio background) is here www.theisrm.com/

My husband bought me a grabber on a long pole. Very useful for picking things upe

For getting dressed, my husband found his walking pole (which he initially refused to have) very useful after back surgery.

Used it to hook his underpants and pull them up. It was summer so he did have the advantage of shorts as well.

Later the same technique was applied to socks!

It was also good for remote controls that slipped out of reach.

Ah that's good. My physio said baby steps. When you want to clean the house break it up into three tasks. Do the first task, stop rest. If you feel able to do the second task then do it and rest. Some days you can do three tasks some days only one. Don't sweat it.

Socks are my biggest challenge, mule slippers now binned. Stable footwear only.

@autienotnoughty

How are you settling in at home?

One thing I find I need tena lady. Takes longer to get to the loo and sometimes I leak. So I keep a pack in the bathroom and a spare in the bedroom.

I forgot to say I have now used a saddle seat and a sit stand desk at work for many many years because of my back issues. It takes time to adjust using a saddle seat but it’s the only way I could use a desk for 8hrs a day. Plus I use wedge cushions for driving the car and sitting in all other places

I hope being at home you can get better quality rest and continue to make slow progress. Focus on what you can do not what you can’t at this point. So move every day in what ever way you can every hour. I spent 18mths recovering from the hell of budlging discs but had young toddler kids at the time. The fear of that pain doesn’t fully leave and I used a walking stick for 6 months. I’ve had flare ups twice in the last 15yrs but none as bad as I’ve focused on building a strong core. I found in my first recovery I could hardly walk a few metres but I could cycle on a bike set up well for me. My DH raised the handle bars and angled the seat. A stationary bike then a real one could help in a few weeks time. Pilates to build core strength too. Gentle yoga stretches when you can, to get the back muscles moving out of spasm mode breathing exercises to expand the rib cage as when in pain we tend to hold our breath more. I wish you well it’s not an easy journery but keep hope your get there

Have they shown you how to get out of bed? Google log roll out of bed if not