AIBU? Have totally lost faith in my GP

[MissKittyBeaudelais]

Bad back 18 months. Had two lots of physio and given exercises. Had scan. No abnormality seen. Have severe neck problems but MRI showed cervical spine degeneration.

My symptoms are worsening. I can be walking around and then suddenly, there’s what I can only describe as excruciating pinch pain in my back at L4/5 and S1. And then...I cannot move. I have to shuffle and kind of drag my left leg in a pin-step motion. I can’t carry on like this. Today, I was in the hall with the cooker alarm going off and the dog going mad barking at it (And me) and there’s me...standing as still as I can, afraid to move. Eventually I shuffled in.

What on earth can I do? I’ve been back to my GP who has said that whilst she’s not suggesting I’m imagining the pain, it could be that I’m over sensitive to pain stimuli that I’ve “learned” over the years. But it feels mechanical. It feels like my nerve is being squashed and ground into my vertebrae.

Would a chiropractor or osteopath help?

Does my GP think I’m just a hypochondriac? AIBU to think that she’s just stopped listening to me and thinks I’m a crackpot?

YANBU. it could be that I’m over sensitive to pain stimuli that I’ve “learned” over the years ok dr if you think it's that what can we do about it then? Ask for a referral to the pain team, they can be really helpful. I hope you find out the cause soon and get some help. Being in pain all the time is horrendous.

Can you see a different GP at your practice?

I'm probably being thick, but how can you be imagining pain when you do have cervical spine degeneration? Is GP suggesting this is not cause of the pain? Could it be transferring in some way?

Have you been referred to pain clinic?

Osteopaths are brilliant. Go for it. A cranial Osteopath will be very gentle.

Get a second opinion. Good luck.

GP who has said that whilst she’s not suggesting I’m imagining the pain, it could be that I’m over sensitive to pain stimuli that I’ve “learned” over the years.

Your GP is talking about pain wind up. People who have chronic pain feel pain more rapidly and intensely than those who don't have chronic pain. So something that would be mildly painful to a "normal" person is more painful to you because your body is already geared for pain.
It sounds like you are having muscle spasms in your lower back and possibly some sciatica. Have a think about Pilates classes and weekly physio. I have horrendous lower back issues from disc disease. My physio carries out something called the Bowen (?sp) technique and it's bloody amazing.
This may all stem from your neck issue and poor posture because of it.

I’d been getting pain in my hips for ages.

MRI clear, all clear in fact.

Was in tears with the lain and booked in to see an osteopath.

Hips were fine (even though it felt like they were about to pop out of the socket).

My pelvis was out of whack from pregnancy. Four sessions and no pain.

That was 6 months ago.

I’m starting to get a niggle again. So I’ll just go get re aligned again.

I’d go see an osteopath if I were you.

That sounds really awful. I second a pp's recommendation of pilates. I go more as a preventative measure , but I have friends with back problems with who have found it helpful.

Please don't use a chiropractor. It's a pseudoscience and can be dangerous. I've heard a lot of bad things about it on some science podcasts that I listen to. There was also an episode of the Behind the Bastards podcast all about the founder.

If you listen to podcasts, you might find the episode of Invisibilia dated 08/03/19 interesting. It's called The 5th Vital Sign and is all about pain.

Go private ASAP
You do realise you’re a woman, and if they can’t explain it. The easiest job is to say you’re a hypochondriac

In my experience, GPs really don’t know anything about backs and really don’t know how to support. Needs a specialist at the least. My problem was mainly disc so used a physio in the end (post MRI etc), but the GPs I saw were less than useless.

Pilates will help to strengthen your core muscles which in turn will make your posture better, although you can do a lot of self-help with that too. Plenty Pilates exercises online but I'd be tempted to ask for a couple of 121 sessions with a teacher, just to get the very basics right as all other exercises won't be effective it you're doing nip and tuck or neutral spine etc. wrong

Have you heard of Trigger Point Therapy? It's a DIY solution that's free and works for some people, not all, but there again nothing works for everyone.
Very simply put, it is based on referred pain, i.e. you feel pain in one area but the cause is actually a muscle-knot somewhere else. Massaging that muscle knot releases the pain.
There are loads of charts online, if the muscle-knot AKA the Trigger Point is in your back or somewhere you can't reach easily, try putting a tennis ball between you and a wall and massaging it by moving in very slow circles, no need for the expensive theracanes a lot of the sites sell, nice but not essential. Tennis balls or pingpong balls will do in most instances for a beginner doing DIY treatment.

When did you last have an MRI? Have you any numbness in saddle/groin/bum area? Any difficulty with urine or bowels? If you have any of the last two please go to a&e straight away
I wouldn't touch a chiro. It could be referred pain but it also could be an issue lower down now and the foot drop/drag concerns me. I'm not a HCP but I have had a giant herniated disc with cauda equina and something is just niggling me
Can you see another GP? A decent physio can usually send you for another MRI

I was 7 years with dreadful pain in my hip

Dr referred me to a consultant who didn’t even look in my direction (just kept his head down and fired off questions that he wrote down the answer to) recommended me to the physio team
No scans, no x rays and just going on what this consultant said. According to the consultant I needed a new hip but I wouldn’t get one till I was 60

Eventually went private and saw an osteopath. In 15 minutes she had diagnosed me with slipped discs, worked on me which gave me 15 minutes of pain relief a few hours later, sent me for an mri and 6 months later I was without pain.

Unfortunately if the NHS cure you it is a miracle. I think they are only there for respite care or A&E for accidents.

Physio and pain relief
This is all you can do

Is your gp referring to the fact nerves learn pain and this can change how your brain perceives pain signals.

I would avoid chiropractor.

can you see another GP at the practice; if not, can you change practice.
read some reviews of local one taking new patients. may have catchment area. if you have money/ insurance go private.
good luck.

I had 7 years of physio but they were working on the wrong bit.

Physio is only good if they know what is actually wrong

I agree with avoiding chiro. I have had chronic pain for over 30 years & last year got sick of it & decided to invest in getting better so I could get a job. Sadly, 6 months & almost 2k down the drain I was in the same position as before. Have you looked into healing? I got more in 3 healing sessions than all the chiro sessions.

Go in and pretend to be a man. Walk out with referral

I have a bulging disc in the same spot, when I’ve set it off (doing nothing) I have trouble moving my right leg. It’s actually a fairly mild injury but the pain is immense. I don’t have sciatica but the physio thinks it’s likely I have piriformis syndrome.

My dr has said that the pain people feel with back problems doesn’t actually correlate to the severity of the problem. My disc is an old injury probably done in my teens but no pain until my pregnancies resulted in poor abdominal strength, over active pelvic floor and weight gain. When I work on those things my back pain is lessened greatly.

Go to another doctor, I'd been suffering from horrific anal fissures and haemorrhoids for 4 years, my GP kept insisting it was 'diet', which i knew was impossible as I'm a healthier eater, after 4 operations to try get the fissures fixed, still nothing, went back to the GP and questioned if it was anything underlying, he flat out said no, and then went on to lecture me about diet and exercise (i'm a size 10 and work out 4 times a week). I ended up trying a different doctor and got referred straight away, turns out I might have had crohns disease all these years....

"Go in and pretend to be a man. Walk out with referral" pretty much true

Failing the ability to do so take a man with you to next appointment AND see a different gp.

I'm very mistrustful of gps having many many years of misdiagnosis and being dismissed under my belt.

I've a degenerative spinal condition that went undx for 8 years mainly because not only am I a woman but I have MH dx and at the time I first developed the condition I'd only been dx with the mh stuff a few months earlier - the car accident I'd also had in the meantime was apparently irrelevant!

Get a second, a third, a fourth opinion...

Don't be fobbed off backs are not to be messed with.

Wow...lots of input and excellent advice/suggestions there! Thanks 😊
No chiropractor then.

I was referred in October 2018 to the Musculoskeletal Clinic. They referred me to physio:- exercises given. Not much good as even with persistence, I felt worse and worse and was sometimes stranded on the floor, unable to move or get up. Then, had the MRI March 2019. Then sent to see the psychologist (part of musculoskeletal team) who offered me CBT which I said I didn’t want. He sent me back to physio who referred me to hospital in August 2019 as have strong history of family autoimmune conditions and he felt it could be psoriatic arthritis. Still waiting for hospital appointment. Went back to GP just before Xmas. She gave me an antidepressant which is shown to help fibromyalgia (that’s what she thinks it is). Went back last week explained worsening and that I felt I was losing my “push” when in the loo and as a result was only doing small wees often (sorry, so early in the morning for this!). She upped the antidepressants.

I changed surgeries last year. This IS a new GP.

I have Aspergers (high functioning...have a degree/had a career in people based profession). Also, mentioned to her my mum had recently died and GP said that kind of stress/grief can have a detrimental effect on health. No shit, Sherlock!

Am seeing her again on Thursday morning. Will put my best “man attitude” on and see where it gets me. Considering I’m on antidepressants, I’m so fucking miserable with this pain.

I would highly recommend a series of sessions of Alexander technique.

We are a product of our habits.

AT will help you to use your body in it's intended alignment, you will influence that by adopting advantageous habits which are essentially basic physics in practice rather than unhelpful but very common movement patterns.

I trained as a classical dancer (same boarding school as Darcey Bussell). Went from lower to upper school and danced briefly with the company. I think, as some of my friends have suffered, that I am reaping the “benefit” if that career. My friend has recently had a hip replacement on the NHS at 55. I was having various joints injected with steroid from the age of 12. My skeleton has been through a lot. I know I have to gain greater core strength/alignment but at the moment, I’m frightened of moving one way or another!