A&e, doctors or wait it out?

[autienotnoughty]

Off and on back pain for past 15 years. More on in past two years. Symptoms include lower back pain, painful spasms , shooting pains in thighs. Being managed with physio, Pilates, walking and yoga.

Last six weeks pain has got significantly worse. I keep experiencing weakness in my legs, periods of not being able to stand/needing support to walk and get up.

Today my back has locked three times leaving me unable to walk, getting worse each time. I am now laid flat on my back, I can't sit up. Dh had to drag/walk me to the toilet. I can't walk. I can't turn over. I'm applying heat and cold.
I'm also feverish . I have shooting pains/tingling in my legs plus the back pain and spasms.

Do I go a&e?
Ring doctor Monday?
Ride it out?

Definitely happy to be home tho

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.

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.

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

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/

Thank you that's really helpful

@Jingle10thWay sorry the link didn't work can you repost it or give website name please

I have a grabber and a walking pole. Both have been very helpful definitely. I was given walking frames too but not needed them much

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. 🤬🤬

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. 😩

@justasking111 it's awful isn't I literally have to think about every single thing I do and if I can do it. I can't get on bath either but thankfully we have a walk in shower

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....

www.theisrm.com/

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.

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/

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.

That's great thanks

@autienotnoughty

How's it going?

Not great tbh. So I had about 6 days at home feeling stronger each day and pain was manageable. I had a months supply of a strong painkiller that i was taking twice a day, no direction of what would happen after that, no one to contact. Because my pain was manageable I decided to miss a painkiller and see what happened, I was in a bit more pain the next day but not too bad. The next day I took my normal dose but I rang the Gp discussed it with them and she suggested a lower dose with a view to weening my self off them. The following day I took the reduced dose. the next day I woke up in a lot of pain and it has pretty awful since. I've gone back to full dose but pain hasn't eased yet. I feel like I've messed it up and set my self back. I just don't like opiate painkillers but clearly I need them.

I don't have an appointment with orthopaedics until mid jan. My physio is due to start tomorrow . I don't have anyone to discuss pain or anything with other than GP who I don't feel fully understands.

I've also been crying constantly for past few days I don't know if it's a side affect of the meds or if I'm reacting to my pain increasing. I'm scared the pain won't go or my body will get use to the pain killers and stop working or I will get addicted or the doctors will stop them.

I can't really do much, i can get out of bed and get ready, I can sit or walk for 10/15 minutes at a time. I've managed to do a few pots and brush ds teeth. Order Xmas pressies, pay bills. Dh is working full time and having to do all dog walks , house work and school runs. He's exhausted and I don't see an end in sight. At some point he needs to go into work but there's no way he can at the minute.

I can't believe how much my life has changed in such a short space of time. It's frightening and all I can hope is it doesn't last forever (which is more than people with chronic pain conditions have)

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.

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.

Thank you no one has explained this to me and I assumed I was feeling less pain due to the movement but obviously the meds are masking the pain. Hopefully it will settle .

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!

@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.

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!