Degenerative Disc Disease

[JadeSeahorse]

Sorry if I sound like a wuss - I promise I'm not but would just like any advice from anyone else who suffers with this.

I am 68 years old, in great health and very fit and active. Not overweight - size 10/ 5'3".

Around 6/7 months ago I suddenly started with lower back pain which was just irritating but bearable. Since Christmas it has become progressively worse so in March I paid for a few private sessions with an osteopath who gave me some exercises to try - which I still do daily - but tbh there has been no benefit from these sessions.

Finally phoned the GP surgery yesterday but apparently I had to speak with the physio for back problems and so had a telephone appointment yesterday. I must admit she was lovely and very thorough and after going through my symptoms has diagnosed me with DDD. Basically told me there is no cure and I just have to learn to manage the pain with exercise and OTC
Ointments/ibuprofen. She also suggested I invest in a tens machine which I have ordered and is due to arrive in a few days.

My question is does this ever get any easier? Sleeping and getting out of bed is absolute agony and actually takes my breath away. Yes it is a little easier during the day but the pain is constant and very debilitating. It is making me so depressed as I have never had back problems before and there doesn't seem to be anything I can take or use which actually takes this ongoing pain away. Ibuprofen/Voltarol etc. don't really touch the sides.☹️

So sorry for the long post but can any experienced fellow sufferers enlighten me further or do I just have to suck this up for the rest of my days?😥

It gets worse not better I’m afraid. But it is very variable from mild to severe pain needing surgery. I would strongly suggest you get a scan of your spine. They will try to fob you off but if your pain is that bad you need to know exactly what is going on and no physio can tell you that.
I have severe ddd and a cyst on my spine and now bone on bone arthritis.
All misdiagnosed and missed for years. Now I am at the point where even surgery may not help. Life could have been much better if I had been correctly diagnosed years ago.
Pain meds wise I am on buprenorphine, oromorph, naproxen and amitriptylinne.

Gordon Bennett Blackcats7 that sounds horrendous!

Thank you so much for responding.

I don’t want to accuse anyone of fobbing me off just yet but if things are just as bad by the end of this month - and after hopefully trying my tens machine for 3 weeks - I will push to see the G.P.

Might have to resort to telling the receptionist I have something else to get past the guard post.🙄

Sorry, but no. It gets no better.

52 here, 30yrs of it and now I can barely walk.

Have they not given you an MRI yet? Pretty sure they cannot diagnose DDD without seeing the results of a scan

A physio can’t diagnose DDD without even looking at you! How ridiculous!! It’s a disease which progressively gets worse, exercise and stretching will help in occasions but no fix! Start putting pressure on your GP. You shouldn’t be fobbed off.

Lots of people have DDD, me included. I was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago. I have some periods of pain but it hasn't got horrifically worse. I've had many more years pain-free than in pain. Everyone is different. I hate how some doctors diagnose without a scan though. In truth they cannot know without a scan.

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to reply.

I must be honest Rantypanties I too was somewhat shocked to be diagnosed over the telephone without even being seen let alone not being scanned.☹️. Apparently she feels an MRI would be a waste of money to obtain the same result. Surely, even if it is DDD I should be able to see the GP for stronger painkillers. My DH has arthritis in his hands and takes so many pills he almost rattles and he is with the same surgery.

I was doing some research last night and there is a private clinic only 15 minutes away where I can book a private lumbar spine MRI and I don't need a GP referral so I have decided to see how I go with the tens machine and book one, if I am still in constant pain, in a month's time. Fortunately we can afford for me to go private but what about those who can't?🤬

Just annoys me so much as I am one of those people who never goes to the doctor - apart from usual vaccinations and annual check ups for my under active thyroid - and yet am blocked from using the NHS correctly when I need it (Well that's how it feels.)☹️

I was diagnosed with DDD a few years ago, it was manageable for a long time but suddenly got worse a couple of months ago and got to a point where I could only just get around the house bent double.
My daughter found a private clinic that offers IDD therapy which stretches the spine.
I needed an MRI scan to enable them to target the treatment precisely, the clinic referred me for a private one which I had 2 days later and they sent the results directly and treatment started the next day!
I'm on week 2 of a 6 week programme and starting to feel improvement, it's very gradual.
As you say, I'm very lucky we can afford to pay.
Hope this helps OP and you can find somewhere near you that offers this treatment.

BewitchedBotheredandBewildered, that sounds really good. I would think the clinic - it is quite big, pretty new and offers loads of private treatments - may offer something similar.👍

i am a newcomer to chronic pain due to arthritis and DDD in my neck. Diagnosed by an orthopedist here in US after an X-ray.
Steroid shots nor laser therapy have helped but the physical therapy is helping but pain is still there and apparently will remain. I am grateful that it’s only in my neck and not my back.
I don’t want to take gabapentin due to severe side effects so it’s Tylenol time release for arthritis for me. I am 77 but had a very active life so it’s been a bit of a lifestyle change. Lots of support from husband and adult children so I feel very fortunate. I know it could be so much worse. Thinking of those who are in similar circumstances 💕

My mum has DDD and had surgery to remove the discs and then replace with others. She also has injections into the area often which helps a lot. But she is forever on strong pain killers unfortunately too.

She has private healthcare though so not sure if different options on NHS?

Just to echo the others - I don't think it can be diagnosed by a phone call !

I had a disc which degenerated years ago - I eventually had a spinal fusion. But several MRIs and scans were involved, and another surgery, and lots of physio. But until the MRI they couldn't see what was going on.

@JadeSeahorse my other half has disintegrating discs and fracture in one of his vertebrae plus Scoliosis which has all developed over the last 5 years of Physio/Pain Management/GP appointments.
He now is in constant pain we eventually had to go privately to see a Consultant as the waiting list for NHS was in excess of 12 months.He is on the waiting list for surgery currently varies between 5 & 6 years however there is no guarantee it will ease the pain and may even make it worse.
The only thing that helps him short term is a Spinal Epidural which makes the pain more bearable for 10/12 weeks which may be an option for you but again we have to go private for that as NHS waiting list is 12months+

Wow WelshyWitch that sounds horrendous.☹️

Thankfully mine isn't anywhere near so bad.

Following my last post I have continued
With the exercises twice daily but what has really helped is use of the tens machine I bought. I am MUCH improved now thank goodness. The pain is still there but more of a niggle as opposed to the agony I was suffering previously. I too was going to pay for a private MRI but with the recent improvement I don't feel I need to at present.

Really hope everything improves for your DH.

Yes I have it along with severe, degenerative arthritis in multiple point in my spine, now my spine has begun to curve with it. I was fine until four years ago though my DM had always warned me to watch for signs as she & her mother had really bad arthritis from far younger than me but in knees & hips not spine.
I had a severe fall down a flight of stone steps, 5am that I struggled to get up from, very early in the first lockdown which seems to have been the biggest trigger. So it was six months before I was sent for X-rays to assess the damage. I then got a phone call diagnosis. Since then it has rapidly become much worse so that I struggle to do day to day things, even walking. Because I can’t pick my feet up properly I tend to trip easily, four times in the last two years, once flat on my face breaking my nose & ending up with two beautiful black eyes 🙄 so am now on strict instructions from DH to use a stick to steady myself, which I hate having to give into.
Drugs are mainly paracetamol & ibuprofen, Naproxen, Amitriptylline when the sciatica flares. GP, we’ve recently got a new replacement one, is much better than the last we had, always locums & phonecalls, & is now talking injections & pain clinics, nice to have someone who listens now.
Sorry for the essay. It’s really hard to accept the constant limitations more even than the constant pain when you’ve spent your life tending livestock & being very active, pretty fed up about it all really.

I haven’t posted for a while but still trying to carry on as much as possible with arthritis and some degenerative disc disease. I have been encouraged to consult a rheumatologist but I’ve not done so yet. The thought of more dr appointments does not appeal to me especially since I feel like I’m improving somewhat.
Going back for another round of laser therapy this week! Fingers crossed!
I am sorry for the posters who are struggling much more than I am . I know it could be worse so I am thankful for what I can still do!

I have DDD in my spine along with hypertrophic facet joint disease, arthritis and 3 herniated discs. I also have arthritis in my knees, fingers and feet.

As @Darklane described, I can't pick my feet up properly. This is caused by nerve damage from the sciatic pain; when it first started, my GP fobbed me off twice with just paracetamol. By the time I was referred to the hospital, it was too late and the damage was done.

Because of my experiences, I always say to people experiencing similar symptoms to keep pushing for an MRI and to ask for an occupational therpist assessment. I'm now permanently disabled and, after a failed discectomy, I also have Fibromyalgia. I need a walking aid and often even a wheelchair. I have loads of aids around the house to help make life a bit easier, but I'm not going to lie, it can be miserable at times.

I take Gabapentin, Zomorph, Oramorph and Naproxen. I can't work any more and have cognitive problems on top of all the physical difficulties.

I know this thread was started a few months ago, so I hope the OP managed to get some better treatment since.

I would be very Interested to hear where is this clinic please. I have ddd and in pain so much pain. Thanks so much

@viio
I went to the Sussex Backpain Clinic in Hove, I believe there is one in Eastbourne.
Hope you find one suitable.

Amazing thanks so much. Did it help you? I will look ok for one in London as I am based in London. I am in so much pain but even after mri and ct scan they can't find much else except DDD. The pain is exhausting.

It did help quite a lot, but didn't cure completely.
But, mine is complicated by stenosis, (curvature) and the two things are ganging up to cause sciatica and make an operation too risky at the moment.

The IDD is quite intensive, five days a week for two weeks and gradually diminishing. I think the ideal is that the minute stretching each time promotes regeneration in the space created

It doesn't hurt!
In fact I found it really weird that I could feel the table thing moving but couldn't actually feel anything in my back.
Good luck, fx for you finding somewhere.

Thanks ever so much. This is very helpful and I will definitely look into it and try. Hope your back stays better x

I have spondylolithesis I'm in agony and sick and tired of not having a life I was told by my surgeon to loose weight so I've resorted to Weight loss jag which has been great and got me nowhere he wants I have an appointment with him in April to see about a spinal fusion (last resort) but I'm going for it I can't live like this

@MaidOfSteel you sound so much like me constantly taking painkillers that dont really help but scared not to take them were not asking much I'm sick of crutches sore cold hands in this weather Hope you have a kinda decent day