Back Pain and Internet Shopping. Thread Number 5.

[PavlovtheCat]

Those who have long term back problems know that the best way to help manage back pain is to internet shop for shoes, bags, and back support devices. Those who are new to back pain, these are important lessons to learn.

And here within this thread is where you will learn those lessons.

You will also find other helpful advice on pain management, different treatment options from hydrotherapy and physio to surgery, experiences of others navigating the big and scary medical world, both private and NHS (and abroad from the UK) too, as well as issues around work, being a parent while managing pain and disability, and the impact on the relationships around us.

Between us all, we have a huge wealth of knowledge and experience, and more than the practical advice, the jargon and information, we know what back pain is like, how much is affects everything around us, and sometimes, all we need is to have people listen who Get It.

We talk painkillers regularly, have hot water bottles and wheat bags galore, and hold hands a lot. It's potentially all very Unmumsnetty as we do actually show some lovin' from time to time, although we Never Ever call each other hun.

If you have advice, need advice, need a hand to hold, want to do some shopping, then come in. We are friendly. We talk a lot. Come in, have a and say hello

You will see just how much we do talk if you read our previous threads (where you may glean lots of answers about pain relief, surgery etc, best winter boots etc):
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2049637-Back-Again-Back-Pain-Support-Thread
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

Sorry to just jump in again but I'm sat in my car in floods of tears and I need to try and get a grip before I can go back to work.

I have just had my xray for coccydynia and the guy took one of me lying flat on my back. I said that the Dr told me I would be having one standing up and one sitting down to see what position my coccyx is because she thinks I have coccydynia.

The response I get is "we don't do standing up ones and anyway we don't xray for coccydynia cos there's nothing we can do about it"

I don't know what's upset me more. Being spoken to like that. Being fobbed off yet again, or being told there is fuck all they'd do anyway.

Please help calm me down!

Oh dear Tickle. He could well be wrong. The GP could be wrong that you have coccydynia!
I guess the worst thing is that you feel no further on in finding out what is wrong with you but you have taken another step towards it. When do they say the GP will have results? Make sure if you can to have an appointment on that day so you don't have to wait around any longer than you have to for your next step.

Silly thing to say anyway...presumably one has to test for things on order to rule them out whether there is a treatment or not.
Someone should be talking to him about how to speak to vulnerable feeling patients too! on your behalf!

Ther person taking the X-ray should surely take the pictures he is asked to and certainly not make remarks he is not qualified to make.

Please go back to your GP and cry if necessary and say this can't go on.you need a diagnosis and some hope of actually getting better.

Not good enough.

I have a new regime of meds and taking cocodamol four times every day plus tramadol sr and naproxen, gabapentin and amytriptiline. So why, oh why does my back still ache so fucking much???!!!

Tickle, I am so sorry the radiologist (or whatever his polite title is) upset you with his dismissive brushoff. Just to let you know a professional had a similar effect on me when he told me I would be in a wheelchair by 30, and well I am well past that now and still on my feet. Silly 'sausage' (couldn't use the word I am thinking) must have left something out! Dismissive black and white statements with no other information are not always accurate. As Berrie says you are one step forward in the important stuff of working out was is and is not causing the pain, and hopefully other causes can be ruled with an lying down Xray. ((gentle hug))

Thank you so much.
I have called in to make a complaint about him. He shouldn't have said that to me. It's miserable being in this much pain (as you all know!) And I don't need him telling me there's nothing anyone can do for me!
Going back to Dr on Tuesday as that's when she's back in

Matilda, (I missed your post) did not mean to ignore you- you are always there with good advice . Sorry your new regime is leaving you in pain. I hope it just needs a little time for it to be effective. My memory is at best useless but have you just gone back onto gabapentine?
Tickle according to medicinenet it says the vast majority of people with coccydynia get complete recovery in response to conservative treatment. That sounds very different.
I am a bit sore and tingly today after seeing my chiropractor following the indignity of a fall at the weekend, that left lots of me rather stiff. However hopefully I'll be more mobile in a day or two. I don't think it did my back any harm thankfully!
I have ordered a sacral wedge (called a sacrowedgy) thing you lie on a bit like a back block (therapy not to sleep) in the hope that it will help ( and because I keep hoping I will find my long lost block and don't like to buy another due to hopeless memory failure). I will report back in due course if it helps. Not as nice as new shoes.

Gosh Matilda that's a lot of pills Does the woozy feeling grow less for you over time or are you half asleep all day? Sorry for your pain.

Tickle Not long until Tuesday. Lets us know what she says.

First Bupa Physio session tomorrow then am hoping to be well enough to pop into school for a planning meeting - oh and need to pick Halloween outfits up from Tesco

Thanks for the support everyone. Yes, it is a lot of pills. I've actually had to top up with oromorph as well today. I'm not sure why it's so bad today, there isn't that much rhyme or reason. I going away for a few days with my amazing BFF next week and hoping I will be on better form for that.

Berrie good luck with the physio! let's hope she's good. ( or he, of course!)

magso, thanks for the lovely flowers. I've been on gabapentin for ages but recently tried pregablin for a while so yes, I'm a bit messed up. Think I need to try to get settled and get used to the wooziness and hope it wears off. In conversation I keep forgetting what we are talking about which is rather embarrassing.

tickle, good for you in complaining. I've become a professional moaner. I've met some fantastic people in this long process but jeez I've also met some incompetent idiots. They need to be complained about because often everyone knows they are awful but can't do much without tangible evidence.

Remind me what your condition is Matilda...sorry can't remember from first
reading of thread. (OK if you feel too woozed to do it though )

What are you going to do with BFF?

Matilda, did you decide to swap the pregabalin back to gabapentin? Was it not working as well? I thought you were already on co-codamol, but am doubtless getting mixed up. I hope it will help once you're more settled on the new regime.

Have just managed to have a couple of days away with the family & did better than usual with the car journey. Had all the normal problems with not being able to manage pain / meds. effectively, though. Did loads of walking yesterday, & standing around, & had very little pain (just on diclofenac) for ages, & then it suddenly came on - more back than leg again - & was very quickly intolerable. Was then in a bit of a state while I waited for the co-codamol to kick in. Not good when out in public in the middle of a big city, kids in tow. I hate the way back problems make me feel so vulnerable. I'm frightened of the pain, & its unpredictability. It was good to get away, though!

Loon I so get the vulnerability. And never knowing quite what your tolerance is to any given situation. Yes, I did switch to pregablin but seemed to be gaining weight and the only reason I'd changed was to see if my cognitive function improved. It didn't. I may not have given it long enough but weight gain is a big no no for me. I was on cocodamol but not regularly just as and when. So previously I would have taken it 2-3 times a day but now four plus the tramadol sr so it is an increase but not up to the narcotic level.

Berrie, I have a nerve root injury from badly performed spinal surgery. Also severe scarring around the damaged nerve which causes impingement on the nerves.. I'm not a big fan of surgery.

Hi everyone, I have managed two weeks now with no painkillers, hoping it stays that way, I have been off work 20 wks, I am due back in on the 13th november, have reduced my hours for now.
They're advertising for bank receptionists now so said to head receptionist can I do it, she said, yes she would love to have me, but when she spoke to my line manager, my line manager said no, apparently I need to concentrateon mmy care shifts.
I think my line manager knows who her good staff are and doesn't want to lose them. My friend asked to transfer onto housekeeping as she has had enough of the hard work, no breaks, constantly running ragged ad a care assistant, again our line manager said no.
It has been a hard werk at home as half term and have had kids knocking all the time, ihave said no sometimes.
I didn't get the ta job that I applied for but will continue to look around.

I forgot to say, I am still having physio, and do still get back pain but no leg or bum pain, when I get the back pain I use it ad a reminder of how bad I was and how easily I could be like that again, soi just rest for a while and know my limits.

pinkkoala It sounds as if things are looking up for you!

I've been good all week but today was worse again. Could one missed Naproxen yesterday have done this? It would be the day I had to go out for Physio meeting at school
It was so lovely to have the BUPA physio with someone who had time to listen to me, let me cry and explain things in detail to me. She said that she would normally recommend for me to keep going to work if I could but that since work seemed to be aggravating it and that the two weeks that I'd had off had helped then I should get signed off for a bit. She thought that the muscles had turned off and the nerve was aggravated and that in 4-6 weeks it would be better if I did the strengthening exercises and took some time off to rest.
It was just so comforting to talk to someone who was confident about what was wrong and had a plan!
School was all closed and locked up so we couldn't have our meeting which is probably a very good thing. I told my colleagues (outside the locked gate) that I won't be back next week so I guess that's that for now. It's a bit of a relief not having to worry about whether I'll manage or not.
I've just made a nice cup of tea, had a tramadol and I'm going to watch some more Grey's Anatomy (watched the whole of season 5 so far -I tried to blame DH for my bad dreams about delivering lambs with their innards on the outside because he made me watch The Waking Dead but have just realised I see far more guts and gore in Grey's!
Anyway- I've gone on a bit! There is no-one to chat to except the dog and he doesn't say much!

Hi all
Thank you so much for all the support yesterday, I made a complaint and had a phone call this morning asking me if I wanted to make it an official complaint. I cried all over her, so I think I made my point that living with debilitating pain day in day out makes you sensitive to people who should know better telling you that basically you're screwed for life.

She seemed to take it seriously as I was so upset.

I need to ask another favour I'm afraid - I have another Dr appointment this afternoon as I need to see what pain relief options I have, I literally can't carry on like this.

At the moment I am on tramadol - what other options do I have that I can ask for to take alongside tramadol, or alternating with it?

Thanks again for all your help - I hope you are all having a good day pain wise!

Pink your line manager is way out of line. It's surely ideal for you to work on reception? I beg of you contact hr and discuss. You have suffered a serious injury almost certainly in the workplace and need that kind of workplace adjustment. It's scandalous that you have been blocked from doing so. I'm absolutely certain your GP would agree. Do you have Occ Health? If so you should have a back to work assessment and that is exactly the kind of thing they would suggest. please take this further!!

tickle I would be asking the doctor about trying combinations of meds as opposed to simply taking huge doses of ( highly addictive) tramadol. Naproxen would be ideal if you can take it because it's an anti inflammatory. With that you need a stomach protector like Omeprazole. Also you should be taking regular paracetamol which is very effective and enhances the effects of opiates. If there is any suggestion of nerve pain then something like gabapentin is excellent ( again if you can tolerate it. This needs perseverance and a very slow build up to get used to it) as is amytriptiline at night. Another suggestion would be to switch to cocodamol x4 doses daily plus slow release tramadol. There are loads of different ways of combining. If your GP looks horrified, ask for a pain management referral. Also, remind your GP that you still don't have a proper diagnosis and want an MRI! Although this would be done lying down...

Hope that helps

Berrie, glad you are taking the nice physios advice. Time off work is so important and so is not feeling guily about it! It's a case of playing the long game as you know. It's just so hard to actually accept. Must try Greys Anatomy, am in need of a new box set fix!

Matilda you are an absolute star, thank you so so much!

Wow Matilda that's a lot of drugs ... poor you! I have started getting the nerve pain in my legs again (7 years post-op) so have decided to try something different and am trying the Alexander Technique. Early days yet but he sounded convincing and I will try anything to stop this getting worse again (he says its quite common years after surgery as you are still using the same joints with no disc to protect you). I really feel for you Matilda (and anyone else with constant pain - sorry I can't keep up here but brain left the building due to age and hormones) as that was the worst year of my life with the constant nerve pain. Hope you can find something that helps! .

I'll report back when I have done a bit more of the AT.

Matilda yes i am supposed to meet with bupa occ health, but so far havent had any letters, been off 20 wks. My gp agrees reception would be good, as i like care work he said there are plenty of other jobs within the care village with no lifting that i could do. Due bk to him on the 11th november as note out. At the moment i am not on any meds at all. I still get bk pain every now and then just to let me know its still there.
I do wish the rest of you could have some pain free days.
went trick or treating with dd tonight and one of the kids that play and her mum, it wasnt too bad actually, took our pup with us.
Dh bk on 4 on again tomorrow til tues, and dd got school trip tues for a ww2 theme day, they need to wear child evacuee outfit, any suggestions. We did the gas mask box already.

Pink, have you ever actually got hold of Bupa's Sickness and Absence policy? You really, really should. I've no doubt that having assessments by Occ Health both during your sickness and prior to a return would be mandatory. You have to look out for yourself. Your line manager sounds as if she has very little regard for your well being. I've worked in healthcare all my life until now and I know what it's like. Once you are there you just have to get on with it. Nobody really wants to hear about your back and what you can't do so you just do what needs doing.

Sorry but that's how it will be. Act before you go back. Remember that pain at it's worst if you need motivation.

Pinkkoala Blimmin' dressing up days! Hate them! The very best thing about being off work was missing Egyptian day. I was looking forward to the activities but loathe dressing up. Now...were I slender, then I might have enjoyed a bit of a Cleopatra costume but the bingo wings rule that out so all I could think of was wrapping myself in bandages and how much it was going to hurt trying to do that
As to WW2 costume. I guess for a boy it would be shorts (or chop some old school trousers), shirt and woolly jumper or similar. For a girl swap the shorts for a skirt. (sorry don't remember without scrolling back up whether boy or girl)

Matilda Grey's Anatomy is a load of old rubbish really but it passes the time - there is loads of it! and I'm actually a bit addicted to it now

Ally good luck with AT. Hope it gets you back on a pain free track.

Pink OH should be there primarily to protect your health. I think those who work in health care are particularly likely to feel driven (by staff shortages etc. as well as the type of people attracted to health care)to overdoing it or putting them selves at risk to protect their patients - so really need OH to give extra support. Today I slipped into the desk at work (on a wet patch) and bashed up my other side (fell over in the street at the weekend- honestly I am not senile quite yet- just behaving like it!). My back is extra dodgy now. And yes I carried on as you do when it might have been better to stop for a cold compress and a sweet tea!

WW2 theme - labels (Paddington bear style) ration books, socks (long grey for boys, short white for girls) and shoes with shorts (boys) or dress (girls) maybe. Ribbons in hair? Old fashioned small suitcase (from cardboard perhaps).

Hope it's okay to jump in here; I noticed references to Alexander Technique, and wanted to say that I've benefited from sessions (and try to practise it as much as poss - which, as Matilda said, is not always easy to remember). There are a few 'lessons' on Youtube, which give a basic idea of what it's about - but I have found a lot of other useful tips on posture generally, which often seem to just be another way of reaching the same aims as AT if that makes sense.
This blog I've recently come across, has really good advice on sitting/standing posture, plus a couple of demo vids. I've found her tips on standing have loosened up my hips a lot over the last month or so - I realised I was thrusting my pelvis forward which was wrong wrong wrong.
I've had pain/discomfort resulting from scoliosis in varying degrees since having my DCs 19 years ago - small potatoes compared to some of the things I've read here and my heart goes out to you. I hope no one minds a busybody popping up - maybe it'll be useful in some small degree.
If I can remember some of the useful AT sites/blogs I'll post them if no one objects.