how to cope with long term back pain

[PavlovtheCat]

Over the last year i have 'put my back out' 4 times. I suspect it is disc related but not had it investigated due to a) lack of interest by gp and b) laziness in following it up - the first time it happened it was so so bad I had to call the out of hours gp unable to move at all for several days. Saw GP a few days later and was told poss disc, poss tendon damage, either way, no real treatment, get on with it type of thing oh and btw will take weeks to recover. thanks

So, next time it happened, over the weekend, i called ooh for painkiller/anti-imflammatories, and have done this each time. Been given a range of stuff, but what seems to work the best is codeine/paracetamol/diclofenac combination.

Anyway, two weeks ago or so, back went again during a coughing fit, improved after a few days with just co-codemol, then due to DH and DS bot being ill and us going on hols I had to do everything to get it all ready with DS on my hip and it went, again, fully, in the supermarket day before christmas eve.

Spent the last week in agony, emergency gp on boxing day gave me co-codemol and diclofenac, and it has slowly improved. However, it is not great, and every twist and turn and any lifting makes it feel that it will go again majorly at any moment. GP was going to give me some diazepam but I was reluctant as DH was away at footie so had kids on my own.

Sitting it the worst, cannot get into a comfortable position. This is not going to go away any time soon and I know I should see GP, will do that next week, but can't see they will do anything to help me sort it and I don't want to be on medication forever. It am also expecting this to now be re-occuring.

So, how do you manage your long term back problems? when it is at its worst and walking is impossible, do you use crutches? I was thinking this might help, as last week I just simple could not walk.

argh! i have been swimming and it seems to have aggrevated it! not excrutiating, but pain down left and right legs, numbness in backside increased today during and after swimming, although subsided now.

No MRI but I have an osteo appt. is pain inevitable when swimming? i thought it would alleviate it/ease it not make it worse? could it be due to doing breast stroke ? (not intentional, could not do front crawl as forgot to take my lenses out!).

if it is a problem I will still join the health club I am looking at, as I will just have to do 30 mins jacuzzi followed by 12mins steam/sauna .

I had thought I was helping it, but worried it might make it worse if I continue? I feel a bit like I am just going to end up not able to do much at all other than plod along.

Hey, not sure if anyone still around.

Osteo appt, very productive. I have between 1 and 3 slipped discs, between 1-3 i think he said. Did series of tests and extensive questions, ad watched me walk in, sit down, etc apparant I have a 'gait'! Anyway. He said no entrapment apparant, but concerns at increased severit of pain over last year. MRI is in the plan, but he said at this stage MRI if I surgery is considered only, because otherwise treatment would be the same even if MRI told me exactly what sections were affected.

So, I had acupuncture today, got steroid injection in two weeks, if neither work, then MRI. He thinks that it will go again imminently if not aggressively treated but pain ok today so hoping this plan will work.

He understood how I felt about it all and I felt listened to for first time in a long time.

hi pavlov glad you are getting somewhere now re your back.

I have to disagree with your Osteopath though, it is better to have MRI to know exactly which disc is causing pain and why. An osteopath cannot tell if you have a nerve trapped or not.

Jax. I guess it is all money saving. Saw him today. Acupuncture did not work, been in a lot if discomfort this week. He said he prob made it worse by examination as he put pressure on discs to check how they reacted o something like that. He said he is fully anticipating me needing a scan as the disc prolapse is 'substantial' the one he is sure of anyway. So I just don't get why he won't o it. He just says lets wait and see how I get on with epidural then he will refer.

But. This sounds odd, in the last week, I have had pins and needles in feet (both but not at same time) and also in in my hands, and one arm hurts. I am guessing that is because I have changed how I move/carry?

Osteo just did mores acu and said wait to see how I get on over next two weeks after injection.

its so frustrating though. constant but not severe pain which feels like it is going to any time. ds is clingy atm, does the deadweight thing when trying to put him down, pulls on my back. he is a fighter to get in his car seat and very twist and turn hurts and feels like it is going to 'pop'. he has also taken to jumping on and over my back, pulling on it. i feel such a shit mum constantly saying to the kids 'careful!!' all the time. poor things dont understand. dd is better at being careful, but loves running at me for hugs and taking feet of the floor. i love that too but back doesnt. it is so unfair on them, they should be able to do all that with me.

if anyone is out there.

OUUUUCH! i just had the epidural steroid injection, wow that is painful! was ok ish being done, uncomfortable more than anything, but now my whole back hurts! having taken codiene (30mg/500paracetamol) and ibruprofen but wow it stll hurts!

saw another doc today, the one administering the injection, he said 50/50 chance of success if i am lucky. he said if it works, it may be that this is all I will need, as many many people have herniated discs with no problems as long as they are pain free. He said however that if this does not work by next appt in two weeks, then MRI scan it is, with view to considering surgery depending on what it shows! . I asked if he agreed with osteo about it being a disc or could it be muscle/etc and he said no, certain it is a disc.

i am in more pain recently, but not as much as at christmas, it is just constant and there is so much I cant do, in particular anything related to physical fun with the kids, jumping around, swinging them about, lifting them. most housework is hard, getting my shoes on is difficult, but I can walk ok, just hurts a bit. My general movement seems ok as long as I don't twist, bend, or stretch with ay weight. doc says I have quite limited movement in lower back but reflexes and flexibility in legs seem good, whatever that means!

I really hope this works, as I am Officially Fed up now.

he also said he thinks it first occured much earlier than now. DH reminded me of the first time I ever had back pain, at work a good few years ago pre children, i dont even recall what I did, nothing strenious, I recall going to the chocolate box! anyway, before i knew it, on the floor unable to move and colleague had to drive me to docs! unable to stand up straight, however, valium pain killers and diclofenac for like 3 days sorted it out and i never gave it another thought! doc says this was probably a bulging disc and I may well have lived with problem for years before pain.

I am totally fed up. Pain has returned, after around two weeks pain free, where, although I could feel a sort of swelling in my back, and occasional throbbing, i often forget I had a back problem, although I suspect that is not necessarily a good thing.

Gradually over the last week it has returned. I saw osteo for review just over a week ago and he said, as there was some minor pain he thinks I need a further injection, said that often two closely administered is more successful that one of its own. He said that he does not want to offer physio or exercises to support muscle strengthening yet until I am completely pain free. No MRI.

Pain is now largely in my coccyx area, where it has been largely this episode at Christmas and onwards. As other pain has subsided this has always been there. It throbs, and aches, and hurts. I can't sit down for long periods as it goes numb, but is seems not numb in the true sense of the word as osteo had asked whether I would be able to feel a pinin that area, and I did when I had the injection! But pain radiates through lower back too. Sciatic pain in both legs, often only in feet, in fact that is almost constant, but up both legs, into buttocks. And if I do ny exercise, I can feel the bulge (on of them if more that one) the whole back throbs. I wonder how much the cortisone is masking what's really going on?

I feel miserable. DH is not so sympathetic as I am moving. And relatively freely compared to Christmas. He thinks as there is improvement I should be pleased. That to me is saying I have to accep this improvement as the best that I am going to get. And this wha I feared. That I will end up having to avoid things and deal with pain from now on.

And I don't want this second injection. It hurts for days after and the success is short lived. I can't see how it is going to fix it long term.

I am going to medicate with alcohol tonight the to bed to lie down and wallow in self pity.

Pavlov just reading this have been following your story, Don't give in to the pain keep pushing the docs. I have bowed down and shut up too often and now I have daily pain, daily drugs and still no / few answers. Hope you feel better this evening, watch the alcohol and the drugs its a killer hangover

denial not really taking meds at the moment. Cant work well on codiene based painkillers as I feel a bit disoriented for the first hour or so, which generally has me looking at my colleagues and clients, a little blankly! and paracetomol does nothing. Out of diclofenac, so only taking Ibruprofen. And, to be honest, I am being stubborn. I don't want to be tied to medication forever to cope. But I know I need to keep it under control so will start again with pain releif.

Its not horrendous, so i guess that is where the issue is. If I was struggling to walk and to daily stuff like get dressed, or, like each time it has 'gone' not even been able to stand up straight, then there is a real, visible problem. But, this low level, constant, naggingness followed by the odd sharp intake of breath momentarily, well its not debilitating is it? And. what can they do? really, most people I speak to seem to say 'its there for good get on with it love' or words to that effect. I have spoken to one person whose osteo says just go straight for surgery, whip the disc out, lets not fuck around. But everyone else seems to have partners or loved ones with pain management only. Only on MN have people told me to push or fight, but i dont feel like i will get anywhere.

I mean, what will happen if I chose not to have the second injection? if at the next review next week I say, I don't want it. what else can we do? then what? he will likely say, ok well thats your option love.

I did body balance this week, and pilates, for the first time, and both instructors said it is really difficult to do some of the exercises while I have the effects of the injection, because my body is less able to tell me when to stop/ease up/avoid. They have both said it is ok to do, but to take it really really easy. And both have, as the session has progressed with each movement said something like 'stop at this level if you have a back injury' or 'go into child pose for this if you have a back injury' so I know what to avoid. The body balance instructor said to keep an eye on the ones that i can feel helping, and she and she will help me to develop those exercises outside of the class.

denial do you have a diagnosis? how long have you lived with pain? I don't want it. I refuse to accept this. I am fed up with for example going to the park with the kids and not being able to spin the umbrella as fast as the kids want me to. Or rather I can but it hurts. Or, this evening, I picked up my lovely huggable 5.5yr old DD who curled her legs around and we had a love in as she had a fab school report and I wanted her to know how much i love her. And as I did it, i felt a sharp stabbing/pulling in my back, and down my leg and knew I should not do be doing it, but, she needs these things. Not for me to say 'i cant pick you up darling, mummy has a poorly back remember'. not again.

Pavlov sorry I didn't get back last night. I have had upper back pain on and off since I was a teen. I have had a few diagnoses, eons of physio, three mris. I go through phases of living with it and it does go away for a while sometimes. Recently other joint have joined in the fun and I have major problems with shoulder (tendonitis). at the moment its my right hip and knee. It has affected work and I have had to train the kids not to be lifted etc. I have pushed for referral to surgeons for shoulder surgery and had effective treatment of the worst pain but its not gone. I have pushed for referral to rheumatologist who has declared me hypermobile and I may have anklosing spondylitis which was mentioned about ten years ago too. The rheumatologist was lovely and very thorough but his letter is just ridiculous no treatment plan nothing just we will review you again in september. I'm wondering if my gp got a better letter but I can't get an appointment!

one thing I have learnt is that painkillers and anti-inflammatories can help control the symptoms but you have to take them regularly. Get another diclofenac script , my gp reckons about two weeks for it to build up in your system. My friend has seen the pain clinic and they swear by plain paracetamol every day every six hours. The idea is to stop the pain building. At the moment I take naproxen twice a day, 1000mg paracetamol morning, afternoon and 1 otc (8mg) codeine and paracetamol and 1 normal paracetamol at bedtime . That's on a good day ;). My aim in not to need any codeine or paracetamol. I am resigned to the naproxen.

what i meant to say was a disc problem should be easier to fix than intractable old injuries. the longer its left the harder to fix I think

Denial, I had napraxen, but had a reaction to it, make me throw up so violently it ripped my oesophagus and I threw up blood. I will try paracetamol daily for a while then, as cant do my job on codiene based drugs, see if I can build up in my system.

Today has been particularly painful, dumb yet painful rump area, sciatic pain down both legs, sore bruised feeling back, feels like there is a lot of pressure there at the back, hard to explain hoping you know what I mean. But at Christmas I could not bend straight due to muscle spasms I think, as I can straighten up I just can't get comfortable. And keep doing that wriggly dance as I go to twist or bend slightly and pain shoots down back and legs.

Oh well, seeing him tomorrow will see what he has to say.

And what I don't really understand is why, before Christmas, the times my back went, it was for a week or so excruciating, then slowly eased with medication, then went back to normal apart from some mild and infrequent sciatica (it was always there but I never new what it was as it had back pain with it). But...this time, it had not gone back to 'normal' like before, although excruciating pain is gone, why is the other pain still here does that mean it is wors now than before? O

Oops posted too soon! But you get my rumblings...

Osteo has finally said I need MRI. He is concerned about the base pain (since found out this is the sacrum? I think anyway) and pain in both legs rather than one. He said I currently have 'loss of lordosis' where the muscles have spasmed at the back to protect the disc, low down, something like that. I told him it felt swollen/tight and he said there was a pocket of swelling which meant this. He does not think there is nerve entrapment still as I have good reflexes and movement in legs, however accepts MRI is needed to see what is happening.

Also, hospital no longer used for this due to lengthy waiting list, there is a portable MRI scanner in a truck that comes to a local hospital once a month, all those referred tend to get seen each time, so maximum I have to wait is one month, could be as quick as one week from monday (I have to see yet another doctor to do the referral . as to why he could not have just done this in the first place I dont know, I would have had it done by now.

He agreed to hang fire on a further epidural injection, until after MRI, accepts this is not necessarily goint to help much more, as it helped for such a short time and I am in more pain now than before I had it.

I am in quite a lot of pain at the moment actually. I thought until today that maybe it was just deceptive because the injection gave me some pain free period so my brain is adjusting to pain again. But lots of pain today, could not sleep last night due to not being able to get comfortable. osteo had raised eyebrows about that too.

Anyway, just offloading into the ethos. DH not really getting it, not til today i think, when a colleague at work told me I looked on the brink of pain and the osteo said he saw that I was in pain and was clearly uncomfortable walking.

mri = good more pain =bad. I hope they give you some answers soon. Is the osteopath involved with the nhs?

it seems acceptable to the medical professions that you would be in pain all day but they act on not being able to sleep cos of it, I have noticed this too. Seems odd to me I can drug myself to sleep but I need to function without the stupid drugs in the daytime

denial yes I was referred to him by my gp so he is NHs funded. Although he does not seem to have authority to refer for MRI or administer the injection, that is another doctor there who does that hence yet anoth appt for that.

My friend just told me her husband had MRI using portable MRI scanner that I am being referred to, on Monday just gone so that means 3 weeks from Monday.

Re night pain I agree! I talked about pain releif in the day. He said I really need to take stronger painkillers at night. In the day, he said talk to gp about changing meds and suggested tramadol. He said not everyone has adverse side effects from this, some can function in the daytime well on it. He can't medicate Apparantly. It seems not an awful lot can actually do. But he is nice enough though...!

I agree that you need an MRI as soon as you can get it because you need to know exactly what is causing your pain. It's impossible to give effective treatment for your pain until you know the exact reason for it. The sciatic nerve is so big that pressure in different places will cause a variety of symptoms and pain. The only way to tell what is going on is by scanning your spine.

Have you been to visit a physiotherapist? It could be helpful to find out what sort of exercise will help you once your problem has been diagnosed. The right type of stretching and flexing can really help you get more movement back. A physio can also advise you about suitable footwear and the type of chairs/bed/carseat you should be using (which all affect your posture and can aggravate back pain further).

mouldy finally the osteo agrees, that we have to find out what exactly is going on. He is convinced it is a disc, but want confirmation of what dsc, how etc.

No physio. Osteo seems to not want to go near exercise til pain is sorted. All exercise is my own doing.

I can function okish on low doses (otc strength) of co-codamol. Tramadol makes me hallucinate! My gp likes to refer to the 30/500 co-codamols as horse tranquilisers

I have some 30/500 cocodemol, I have taken them at night and they are fine, but not trying them in the day. Maybe I will try it daytime x