Hello all!
I first started with back problems in 2006 after the birth of my first son. I had sacroiliac joint dysfunction and had to have my pelvis rotated and lots of physio. I had had a crash c section under general anaesthetic, both things apparently increase the risk of damage.
I had what I would describe as a weak back ever since. My second son was born in 2008 and I had some sciatica during the pregnancy and then needed some physio after due to my back 'going' on several occasions.
I had kind of just plundered on since then, but last year my youngest son became seriously ill and I ended up having to carry him virtually all of the time because he struggled with his mobility and was very clingy. Obviously I am not blaming him for this, but I think a year of carrying, lifting, leaning, in and out of hospital beds etc weakened by back further.
In February this year I was lifting my son off the worktop and my back pinged. I had a massive electrical shock feeling shoot up my spine and down my leg and that was it then. To cut my very long story short, I was diagnosed with a 'small' disc bulge and a torn annular ligament, spent some time in hospital with suspected cauda equina syndrome, was shouted at by a consultant that the disc bulge was really minor and he had several that he couldn't feel (nice!) etc etc. I was on stacks of tramadol, gabapentin, naproxen etc and was in agony as the teeny weeny disc bulge was actually compressing my nerve, hence the severe pain in my leg and difficulty moving. I tried so much stuff to help (including an embarrassing acupuncture session!) and eventually paid for a private referral to a top spinal surgeon nearby.
This was in April. He was lovely and said that the size of the bulge was irrelevant and that nerve compression was nerve compression regardless of the size. He booked me in for a nerve root injection which I had in May (back on the NHS). Although this was initially awful, the pain did subside greatly and I was able to wean off tramadol and start coming off the gabapentin. After about four weeks, however, the pain came back :-(
I was then put on the list for a microdiscectomy, although they were unsure if it would actually work as the bulge was so small (it didn't feel small!). Because of the level of pain I was suffering and my complete inability to be a half decent mother or carer to my littlest boy (who is thankfully very well at present) they agreed to give it a try, but they did try and terrify me with talk of double incontinence, paralysis and death. I think it says something about how much pain I was in that I still begged for the op!
I managed to get a cancellation and had the operation almost five weeks ago. The difference in my pain levels has been incredible and I am so happy I went ahead. I feel vindicated too, as apparently the disc bulge WAS small, but the nerve it was compressing was also trapped in a groove in my vertebrae, so they had to shave out a big bit of bone too. Ha! I told them it was hurting me and now they know why! I ended up having a discectomy and lumbar decompression.
I am now weaning off gabapentin and taking very low dose cocodamol perhaps once a day. I am driving again and able to move about. I do get back ache now that I didn't have before, and my leg feels a bit achy from time to time, but it is so dramatically different.
I am sorry this is so long! I feel a bit traumatised to be honest that I had 8 months of constant intense pain now that it is wearing off. It has been a really horrible time and I feel for those of you going through it. My physio thinks my nerve has been struggling since 2006 so it will take some time to recover.
My biggest tip for anyone new to this back pain business is to make a fuss! I was so British and polite and should have rocked up to A&E whenever the pain was so severe that I was crying on the floor unable to move instead of just tolerating it all and waiting for my next appointment.