Back Again! Back Pain Support Thread

[PavlovtheCat]

Only right I start the new one seeing as I was responsible for the last one ending so abruptly !

This is a support thread for people with back pain (that does not even cover the description of hell that back pain causes). It's for all types of back pain, for long term posters with chronic pain (including those on the upwards journey to recover), short term advice through tough acute episodes and all the in betweens.

We moan, winge, share successes, guide each other and hand hold through the maize of a million medical routes and options, treatments, investigations. We internet shop as a form of pain relief, drink wine, take strong painkillers, eat cake and we go through lots of heat packs!

We don't always have the answers but we do have a lot to say about it all

Here are the links to our previous threads:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/1871592-The-Back-Story
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/1992406-The-Back-Story-Continues
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2023274-More-Terrible-Back-Stories

Oh God, I really get the feeling pointless thing. Am embarrassed to say how few hours I work a week - have never gone back properly after having the boys (was a teacher) & now only do some A level. Don't even want to go back to that full time, but hard to think of a change of direction at the moment. Have never felt 100% brilliant since the underactive thyroid shit started, so it does seem a bit like one thing after another.

Sounds like you've done really well to keep working, but it must create stress too. I guess sometimes surviving & parenting & keeping relationships going really is the main purpose of life - it can be enough of a challenge anyway. DH is completely bloody lovely but I feel bad about how it's impacting on him. I'm at home most of the time & I can't even look after the house properly. Lucky I'm the only one who notices the mess .

& for you, pav - I've really appreciated your support on here. Nothing pointless about that.

Dr denial prescribes big hugs all round. Pavlov try not to worry about work future, one day at a time. I think sometimes we are in danger of talking ourselves out if a job.I'm in the public sector too, any action towards capability is very very slow. Wishing everyone a low pain evening

Loon am sorry your pain is back. I have another little bit of good news today. After over a year of "discussion" work have agreed to provide me my "special"chair for working at home as well as work.This will make an enormous difference to me hopefully.on bad days I can just work from home and not be really uncomfortable.

I feel that I give all my energy to children and trying to cope with work.Poor dp gets the dregs. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we are awesome just getting out of bed somedays.Everything else is a bonus;)

Aw sorry to hear about relapse loon it is just so hard sometimes when you think you are improving and doing well, then get worse again.

My mum always tells me you need something in your life as well as work, kids and dhs. Something that is worthwhile to you. She has lots of good advice like this as she is a mental health nurse, however her big hobby is playing on Farmville, not sure if that counts!

Denial so glad you got your chair :)Now you can mn in comfort.

thanks Dr Denial I agree that capability is slow, but it's been 2.5yrs of back problem shit and there is only so long they will manage this, but, I am still seeking options, so i think that they will probably start changing their minds if there stops being options and no prospects of improvements and regular attendance at work. So for now I will keep giving them signs of improvements around the corner However, I do know that my advocates, the hard nosed HR woman who interviewed me for my first job 12 years ago, who I actually get on with, whose DH had spinal fusion when he was younger, so gets it, and who I have developed a good working relationship with through my determination to never be 'done to' at work and her and me having some battles of our own, well she is leaving. So it will be a new HR person to come in and not have 12 years of history, to know me. This HR boss, she knows how I work. She knows I will be at work whenever I possibly can, and has seen me when I should not have been at work. A new person won't know that about me.

I am glad you got your chair. it makes such a difference to have something decent to sit on, and we have risk assessments at work, but not at home in how we sit and work. Glad they agreed it as technically if you are working at home they should risk assess.

live that's what I need to find again, that 'me' outside of work/children/DH. it used to be kayaking, bodyboarding, running, gigs, drinking too much alcohol on occasion with my friends, was about to get back into sailing again, then had DS, had a position lined up as crew on a racing dinghy with a man whose crew had moved, after being out of the loop for a few years, my foot in the door of the scary world of sailing clubs, but that fell through when I fucked my back up the first time as I missed an important meet right at the beginning. I have tried knitting. Really I have. I made a scarf for DS's dolly. That's about it. I need to make one for DDs dolly before I can stop though.

Currently, I MN. That's bad, but thank you loon for saying I am helpful here sometimes. Useful somewhere eh

denial I agree that DH gets the dregs. He resents it too. Sometimes he seems put out that he is last, after work, the children, that he is not getting me and he resents it sometimes. But he is not last. I am.

I have tried and failed at knitting too Pavlov. I even used to go to a knitting club for a while. I just don't have the dexterity or whatever. And I too now mn as a hobby. Oh well I do love mn.

Wishing you all a low pain weekend, esp those who have been having a bad time this week. and this evening for you all and maybe a little online shoe shopping?

I am not allowed to do Any More Shopping. For quite a while

So I am stealth shopping by getting domed shelves for the children's room, sine fairy lights and a timer to stop ds waking dd up asking if it's time to get up, some wicker boxes which are 'essential' for decluttering etc...

But I DO need some new shoes for work. Which is not fun shopping, it's essential shopping...

Happy low pain weekends everyone.

hello everyone,

Im new to these boards and mumsnet Im really happy to have found this thread!!

I will read through the whole thing when I get a minute but Im hoping if I post a quick 'this is my story' someone wiser than me can offer some advice.

I live everyday in pain, mainly in my back I am 34 and feel like I live in the body of someone 150 years old! Im a busy mum although recently have just had to accept I cant do what I need to and things around house, jaunting about out with kids is just not worth the resulting pain. Ok the pain - I have pain in my lower, middle back and shoulders/neck. I recently had a short course of diazepam and that seems to have dealt with the middle back pain but the rest remains. I live on the highest dose of Ibuprofen and take cocodamol when kids are in bed which helps but I cant function if taken during day. The lower back pain is constant and I also get pain in my hips especially when trying to sleep and a pain in my left lower side of tummy, intermittently although regularly. the pain in my neck im always aware of but If i move my head becomes a sharper more intense pain. I dont sleep due to frequently having to change position, when I get up in the morning Im incredibly sore and stiff all over but esp in feet, I hobble about until this eases. Heat also eases things a bit, im in and out a bath all the time. Im aware of the pain becoming worse since my last baby, 18 months ago, when I was pg (I was in pain a lot but put it down to hormones) but the last 6-8 months my daily life has been turned upside down with this. Iv had to reduce my full time job to only two days and even at this I struggle.

Back and forth to gp, Iv had methocarbamol? i think and some other one they tried first but these had little no/effect. I have been referred to gynae and for physio but apart from that i think my gp thinks im mad. ( I had a terrible pregnancy and was referred to cmht as had mega anxiety attacks following his birth, but he wasnt very well and in special care too so there was a basis, this resolved without any need for their input).

My family etc are saying get back to gp but Im a bit hesitant partly due to the mh thing. I also feel they have referred me on what else can they do?

Any advice? meds etc should i keep harassing gp? Sorry to hijack with my sob story!!

Thanks for reading x

Hi littlebme I am sorry to hear you are in so much pain, and also that your G.P is not being helpful. Don't let them make it out to be a m.h issue when it isn't. Severe back pain is likely to be some kind of spinal problem, like a disc, or it could be related to arthritis. Yes I think you should go back but if your G.P is not helpful could you see a different one? You can get more pain meds for one thing and then they should be looking into the cause of your pain. I expect some of the more expert of our thread members might be able to help more than I can with what might be the cause. Ideally you should have an MRI scan I should think.

Hi little - sounds horrible to have the pain in so many parts of your back. Did it start in one particular area, & then spread? I think sometimes you can get trouble in one bit of the spine, & then muscle spasm can become really widespread.

OTOH the widespread stiffness, down to the feet, & esp. in the morning, might suggest some kind of inflammatory arthritis. I think you really do need to hassle your GP (or as live says, change to a better one) to do some proper investigations, including blood tests.

And if ibuprofen helps a bit, a stronger anti-inflammatory (like naproxen) would be a good idea. You should be on a stomach protector if you're taking any anti-inflammatory regularly - ibuprofen can be just as damaging to the stomach lining as prescription-only NSAIDs; so it would be worth talking to the GP about that too.

Hi!
Can I come chat too? I've had back pain (+ shoulders, neck, pelvis yadda yadda) for years. Finally saw a rheumatologist a couple of on the ago who said either AS or fibro. Regardless, some days I'm great, some days I'm a barely functioning she'll. I've had enough of medication and promises of physio and pain clinic. I saw an osteopath today- really hurt, but wow! I have some rotation this evening. He is talking about exclusion diets, going sugar free, vibration plate gyms, but all that has past me by today. I'm a wee bit more bendy!

hi

The lower back pain has been the constant, actually after being pregnant I had first started seeing the gp about pains in my joints, sharp pain when I tried to use them, hands etc lifting kettle was a problem, it would sort of change sometimes daily as to which part of me would be painful. This is why im worried about what the gp thinks. If it was straight forward i have a sore back right here then i think it would be clearer, I feel like I go all the time with this bit sore that bit sore and blood tests show nothing so i must be mad!

Defo not imagining things tho, it gets a bit complicated i think when I add in that during my pregnancy an ovarian cyst was found which was huge, this ruptured on its own and my god the pain. Im not sure if this is related to the back and side pain but referral to gynae been made to check things out. Hardly sleeping and being in pain makes me very weary at times, Im now starting to plan my life around it and i find that really hard. My friends are all moving on in their careers etc and I feel i cant do anything about it until this is sorted and noone seems to be doing that much. Have thought about having a private health assessment done where they will possibly listen and look at the whole story, does anyone have any experience of these? bupa etc?

Thanks for the advice re meds my gp is aware of how much ibuprofen im taking and has never mentioned the need for any protection for my stomach! but reading stuff now I see its very much highlighted. Deary me! Time for a change there.

Hope everyone is bearing up ok.

have had a nightmare two days so am going to ask for my painkillers to be re-assessed. The ones I'm on are just not strong enough so am going to make a fuss, fed up being in pain and miserable. I feel like I'm taking too many combinations of weaker meds when one more powerful one would make more sense.

I have my MRI scan this week so I hope that gives me some answers but I'm not convinced it will.

My osteopath wants me to start exercising (I already walk a lot) but I just don't feel ready and my instinct is telling me that it's not right for me at the moment.

Woe is me!

What meds. are you on, Nancy? And what kind of exercise is the osteopath recommending? I walk mainly too & do some basic yoga exercises. I was pushed to do more - specifically a lot of hyperextension poses - by an NHS physio, & it made things worse; so I'd definitely say to go with your instinct.

I don't have experience of private health insurance, little, but would certainly have considered paying to have an MRI privately if the GP hadn't referred me for one (after 4 months of pain). Which blood tests have you had? I'm definitely not an expert on these, but I do have a relative with sero-negative rheumatoid arthritis - ie. she tested negative for rheumatoid factor - so I know you're meant to have a whole range of tests, for various inflammatory markers. Are pain & stiffness your main symptoms? Do you ever get swelling / redness / heat in affected joints?

Hi drink, that sounds tough. It's hard when you never know how you're going to be from one day to the next - do you tend to overdo it when you're feeling good? I know I have a tendency to do too much when I'm having a good day, though I don't have an inflammatory condition - just disc prolapse, as far as I know!

Sounds like your osteopath has done well to increase your mobility, but not sure if that necessarily makes him an expert on all the other stuff? Not sure what the evidence is for links between food intolerances etc. & AS or fibromialgia; but I wouldn't personally embark on an exclusion diet unless I had a whole host of digestive problems too. Maybe that's just me - I tend to scepticism when it comes to pinning every condition going on diet. Though I guess sugar-free wouldn't harm any of us - just might make life a bit less fun! What kind of meds. have you been on?

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend. I'm not as bad walking as a couple of days ago - but if I stand still for 2 minutes, literally, the leg pain & cramping comes on really badly. Thinking of getting a foldable stick from Amazon for times when I need to stand in queues, or watch the boys playing sport or whatever. Anyone got any experience of good ones?

nancy hope you get some results that show something from MRI. Awful to say that we want there to be things wrong but it explains the pain, and it makes sense of what is going on.

Be guided by your own instincts if you feel you are not ready for physio, but it is different to walking. I was very about hydrotherapy as I swim when I can and the exercises are so 'tiny' but actually they seem to work, but, they also hurt from my experience, so if not ready, then take it as you are able.

drink little and other new posters. Sorry, not ignoring, but easier to type quickly to posts I have answers to that are quick, once the children are settled I will reply to yours too!

Thanks Pavlov - I am not an unfit person, I've always exercised but right now I'm certain that it's the wrong thing to do. As you say, I just want answers now.

At first docs were certain it was muscular but I don't see how it can be. If it was muscular it would eventually get better wouldn't it? Not drag on for months and months.

Loonvan - osteo wants me to lift some light weights and is suggesting doing some gym work such as bike and cross trainer. I'm currently taking about 150g of diclofanec potassium a day, as well as about 8 paracetol with co co codamol (15/500 dose) as well as the occasional 5mg Diazepam

nancy I think it is foolish of your osteo to suggest weights and bike/cross trainer without a diagnosis (especially the weights, even light ones can prolapsed a disc even further! not saying that's what is going on, but your osteo cannot know for sure if it's not without the MRI results).

My GP 'diagnosed' muscular, from the outset, and for about 18 months (it did get better and worse and better and worse during that time), including the very first time it 'went' so badly I absolutely screamed when DH tried to move my legs in bed so I could get into a position that was not agony, when it took me 45 minutes to crawl across the hallway into bed, unable to even get off the floor to get the phone, and having to get DD aged 4 at the time to climb on a chair to get the phone for me so I could call DH to come home, and could not get into bed and had to lean my arms over it and hug it crying til DH came home, and 20 mins to get out of bed and wee in the potty next to the bed, crying in pain, as I could not get further than that. As it happened, I had very likely broken my vertebrae from an injury the week before, but didn't realise it. I ended up going back to my GP some 18 months later, and insisting that he do some investigations when it went again almost as badly, as it HAD to be something else. I fully expected the MRI to show nothing much, but it showed disc prolapse, dehydration, problems with the end plates (and also a slipped vertebrae which was not spotted/mentioned/considered to be of consequence until another 8 months/year later).

If you are fit and exercise regularly, you will know what muscular pain is like, and you will know that in time, it will ease.

and, also, if it were simply muscular, the diazepam would 'fix' muscle spasms enough for the muscles to heal.

Sometimes, HCP make me

I can't remember who's osteopath is looking at diet for ? as? there are a lot of people of people who are evangelical about diet for inflammatory arthritis. I'm on the fence.a lot if my family already have restricted diets due to coeliac and allergies and I'm loath to add another to the mix. I'm sure it's no harm to try diet but I would want a firm diagnosis first and as early treatment is considered key to inflammatory arthritis I would want to be clear on the risk of delaying big pharma treatment on progression / bone damage etc.

I am actually considering trying an exclusion diet but i will continue meds.

Pavlov, yes you're right. suggesting an exercise programme without knowing the injury is daft. I even believe that Pilates made me worse, so I'm not about to start lifting weights!

have you had surgery Pavlov?

nancy yes microdiscectomy in june last year. It was successful in that it appeared to have fixed the initial horrendous problem. But, after a few lovely weeks of only having surgical pain, standing straight for the first time in 18 months, and feeling like I was on the mend, things have deteriorated and I am back on the hamster wheel of referral/diagnosis/being fobbed off/accepting this is possibly forever. Surgeon was considering fusion at last surgery. He has considered fusion since. And he has now said no fusion atm.

Talking of exercises that made things worse - cobra exercise 'encouraged' ('if you don't do this, despite it being likely to increase pain short term you will not stand straight again and any surgery will be pointless') by extended scope spinal specialist physio. I went from some pain, to my let leg no longer working properly and numb foot/calf! so, yep, I definitely think they can make things worse. AND this guy had my MRi in front of him