The Back Pain Emporium, Internet Shopping, Drugs and Dealing with Doctors. Thread 6.

[MatildaTheRedNosedReinCat]

For anyone experiencing back pain it can be a very scary time. What is wrong? Who can help? How long will this last? We,on this thread are here to support you;offer empathy and help to navigate the almost impossible task of getting a diagnosis and the right treatment.We are not doctors but people who have trodden this path slowly and painfully. We also chat a LOT and welcome all newcomers. It is strictly non competetive regarding pain and no niggle is too minor.

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. Not to mention the pain of dealing with claiming disablity benefits .

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,sometimes drink wine , 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 brew and say hello

This is our 6th thread, here is the 5th, which has links too the others:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/a2203923-Back-Pain-and-Internet-Shopping-Thread-Number-5

I honestly don't know what I want her to do. Maybe give me some more diazepam as I have none left. It's just a pain that I sm not familiar with. I have had the same pain for nearly two years and all of a sudden this one is new. I just don't know why it's started or how to get rid of it. But the diazepam and zapain did ease the problem and I slept on and off

Oh good there is something she can help you with then. Are you able to go/go back to the Consultant? (sorry I can't remember your story)

Sorry Mags my last post sounds awful. I really did mean to commiserate with you and your ear rather than use it as platform to talk about me again!

I am in between hospitals at the minute. I have been referred to another hospitals pain clinic who also have pain psychologists. My consultant goes to that hospital too. So I have to wait for the referral to speak to him and get an appt

Good luck Msdj. I agree a home visit would be better. Our GP surgery doesn't do them either.
Freedom, glad to hear you are making progress even if the physio thinks you are a bit stiffer than she would like. It sounds a much better system, tand I am sure it is better to go gently.

Crumbs, what an unlucky bunch we are, CSF leaks are pretty rare, honest. Sorry to hear so many people are so sore and msdj hope you've got your diazepam. If this pain is suddenly different do watch for any Red Flags.

Mags, nice to see you again. All that driving sounds really tough. Sometimes I realise my head is very spacey when I'm driving and have to force myself to concentrate.

I had a better day. Not a lot of appetite but not feeling sick. Around lunchtime I was feeling pretty ropey and had a headache so I took one 8/500 and one 30/500. Back was moderately sore. I then felt a bit better so am wondering if I'm also withdrawing from the codeine even if it has been replaced by something even better? I itched like mad all night. It's odd, i do it a bit in the day but loads more at night. Good news is that I'm feeling as if the patches are helping. It's weird not being tied to certain times for taking cocodamol even if I still need the gabapentin. Early days, I guess.

Also, I've been very, very short tempered which isn't so much like me. Actually I've had quite a lot of very annoying things going on at home, so it could be a coincidence. Doesn't mention turning Into a complete bitch on the list of side effects .

Back from the doctors. Grr bloody memory lol. Sat waiting at the doctors. Ten minutes early so there for 6.30. Got to 7 and I thought this is dragging. Looked at my phone which had the appt on. And I was an hour too early!!! Anyway finally got in at 8 and she was lovely. Very patient and examined me thoroughly. Said that I had a muscle spasm, which all you lovely ladies said. She prescribed me diazepam and also put me back on Baclofen which I was on last year. She said its a muscle relaxant so the spasms shouldn't happen again but if they do to take the diazepam. So am now back in bed resting and starting to feel floaty lol. Thank you for your help

Hooray!
Glad you are back safely and feeling fairly comfortable and floaty.

Pavlov - sorry to hear you have had such a raw deal, I hope the leak settles and you start healing properly.
Matilda- I can understand why you have got waspy, I feel like that too atm
Pink, please tell your manager it's a choice between having an employee long term sick, or have one being productive and fit.
Everyone else, I hope you have a relatively pain free time.
Now, fair warning, i am going for the long rant - if you wish, just skip it now

I saw the spinal specialist today. my vertebrae is still crumpling, but he still wants conservative treatment for another month, and if it has collapsed more on next appointment he will then operate to inject the bone cement in to stabilise it. He did see the problems I was having with the brace, and he and the physio's got together and they have found an alternative one which is still supportive but more comfortable. He also reluctantly signed a fit note to say I could go back to work on amended hours and duties, which I thought work would be pleased over, as we have so many audits etc to catch up on, but they said that I either come back to work in my appointed role or not at all , so now I am going to have to cope on SSP. My friend took me to the appointment and then we went to a mutual friend who invited us to lunch at hers, but when i got home dh is being an arse over the whole thing and saying we won't manage financially on that and his wage, blaming me for our situation, saying I am swanning around doing "ladies who luncheon" and has generally been quite nasty, which has left me very tearful, yes, I'm to blame for this situation, but it was an accident, it's not like I put in my diary "1st January - fall down the stairs!!" I have contacted the mortgage people, I have tried to go back to work, I have been in touch with CAB and applied for all the help they think I should go for, I have spoken to my credit card people and others to try and reduce our outgoings, and done everything I can think of to put things right, he hasn't done anything himself with regards to trying to reduce outgoingd or bring extra money in. My friends have all rallied around, cooking batch meals for our freezer, offering to help with housework, dog walking and shopping, which is more than any of his friends have done, and (not so)dh is having a go at me for being with them for a couple of hours.
Sorry, rant over, but I had to tell someone, and you lovely ladies happen to be available.

Hope you are feeling better Palov
Ins would be good to hear from you.
Freedom Good to hear from you!

I'm on your behalf bubby

I have no real advice, but ultimately it's not your fault at all, what an arse.

Msdj glad you are not quite so uncomfortable.
Bubby sorry your DH is being grouchy. I hope it is because he is worried - about you, the future and the family finances (mine was both quiet and very techy when I was seriously ill- but it wasn't me he was mad at -although it felt like it at the time -but the situation). Networking with friends is very important especially when laid low (and need the sort of support other mums are very good at). Personally I need to chat to others to find my way around difficulties. DH like many men is more a silent problem solver (typical engineer)- he can be scornful of my need to chat or socialise (fat chance most the time) whilst I can be astonished and upset by his solitary decision making - especially decisions that are family ones. It took my DH a while to realign (months) and accept the new status quo - a less able wife, and I think we adapted at different rates - but he is brilliant now - very practical - although he will always have an engineer brain IYSWIM.
Matilda good you are feeling a little better.- yes I struggle with concentration for driving. I have been struggling today especially keeping ds amused during a 1.5 hour delay for his last appointment! He was not really being any more challenging than normal but it was me that was grouchier.
Berrie your post was lovely as they always are. I can't help with your Dad, but may be it rings a bell for someone.
better get some sleep. Hope everyone gets a good night.

Good morning.

Bubby, I am just so and to read your post. Your employers sound vile and unreasonable. Have you only been there a very short time hence getting only ssp? Why on earth they wouldn't bite your hand off for doing some of the work is beyond me ( though in all honesty it probably isn't the best thing for you, sitting, concentrating and working, even if modified is still working and you are sick). Anyway they sound like a bunch of mean gits total twats. As for you 'D'H, well words fail me. As generously as asked above, could it all be down to worry? But that still doesn't make sense. We aren't on Relationships so I won't shout, 'LTB!' But crikey.... Very pleased you have nice and supportive friends. I've had such fab support from friends it has really kept me going. DO keep seeing them. You are even allowed to take a morsel of dry bread with them should your meeting happen to take place between 12-3.

Berrie, I would love to come up with the answer to your dad's issues but having trouble with this one. Does he feel it is linked to food? .

Ok, need to get up and go swimming. Bed feels cosy. Have been extra itchy all night .

Well possibly Matilda It was worth a pop. The Doctors have not solved it so no reason for you to!
Bubs so sorry for you. I don't really know how to help. You should be able to expect to be treated with compassion and care especially when you are vulnerable. Is he any good at making you feel cared for normally? How did you react to his unreasonable response? No need to reply. You are allowed to rant and then not want to talk about it any more!

typing is a bit tricky as can only type lying on side. if i sit up, banging headache and pain in neck returns, although nowhere near as bad as it has been. Those who mentioned it, agree, the head pain of csf leak is indescribable. I have however got up and had a coffee with DH, used the bathroom, walked up and down the corridor a little to keep moving, before crashing back into bed again.

Anyway, am reading and making appropriate faces at mean partners, faces for diazepam and fluffy feelings, noises to pain and frustration felt by everyone these past few days.

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing ok today :)

I had a call this morning to tell me my appointment tomorrow was cancelled, and could they rearrange, I got a little panicky at having to wait weeks for another appointment but thankfully they could fit me in this morning!

She asked me about the pain, what it was like, when it started, very thorough. She then got me on the bed to test movement, oh boy she moved my leg in such a way that I'm surprised the whole of the southeast didn't hear me scream! Anyway she said that something was pressing on my sciatic nerve, and gave me another prescription for co-codamol 30/500, naproxen 500, and a stomach liner. She gave me a sheet of exercises that she doesn't expect me to be able to do but to look at and see what I can do iyswim, and she's going to refer me for physiotherapy.

It's what I expected really, I've not moved as much as I have today, and I'm feeling it.

Now to see about esa.

Pav, did you call the hospital? It's quite a serious post op complication, they should be advising and in the loop. Glad it is slowly improving.

Long, no mention of a scan? Do take the meds and take regularly. If the leg pain breaks through all that you can ask for gabapentin as well which is better for nerve pain.

Hope everyone else is coping. My pain is okish. I'm sore now but have had a swim and a cup of coffee so out most of the morning. Am resting and debating whether to take top up cocodamol or try to brave it out. Theoretically the patches are giving me slightly less opiate than I was getting with the pills but if I do take them I start to feel pretty spacey. Lots of adjustment time needed I feel.

Glad you got seen today Longdistance, and that the Dr was thorough. Good luck with ESA- and hope the referral to physio is not too long a wait.

On rereading my post to you Bubby I realise it sounds unsympathetic, and I am so sorry it came out like that. Its difficult to imagine why anyone would be unkind to someone with such a painful injury as yours, unless they were distracted by worry and it came out wrong. I was cross for you! But Matilda and Berrie put it so much better.

Pavlov lovely to hear you are able to get up a little for coffee, but I hope the CFS headache (and more particularly its cause) are resolving, and that your recovery otherwise proceeds smoothly. flowers

Loon wrote you a post about rubbish doctors but laptop has given up...on phone now...lap top looking terminal! Just what we need with DH leaving this weekend!
Hope your adjustments resolve fairly quickly matilda.
Waves at Pav.
Bleeding lap top...invalid process attempt anyone?

magg- no, don't worry, it was not unsympathetic, to all others who responded to my rant, thankyou. DH has apologised today, he said he was very worried and overreacted yesterday. He though, for some reason, I was not taking our potential financial disaster seriously, but later realised I had spent the afternoon googling things, ringing my employees, finding out what is available and applying for help, even going as far as ringing an old employer and asking if they need any admin help. I have been with my employer since last March, they state in the contract they do not pay sick pay, so that wasn't a surprise, and I know they have been cutting nurse hours lately, but they do still have an impending CQC inspection which, if they want to keep their outstanding status, does need a lot of background paperwork, so their attitude to my help did surprise me. I have had only 2 days off sick since I started, after I continued to work with a chest infection and went on to develop pleurisy , so it's not as if I am constantly on sick leave. It was the deputy manager who told me, but I might talk to the actual manager when she returns tomorrow to see if I can get them to change their minds.

matilda I called the ward, they said they are happy for my GP to pick it up this end as it is manageable at home, but to let Mr S know as he'll want to know for records etc. So, tried several times to call his secretary, no avail so emailed the details across, so she can send to him.

Spoke to my GP again today (locum actually, but also very nice). Discussed how I am feeling. She has said that she is not surprised I still feel rough, and that as long as the general direction is that I am improving she will be happy with me staying at home and not going into hospital for blood patch etc to be considered, just need to ride it out, continue to stay flat for as much as I can and let my body do what it needs to. She has said to add diazepam for the stiff/painful next that is accompanying the head pain as I can't move head or arms very easily when it's bad, said it sounds like there is muscle spasm there. She said to keep in touch and give them an update at the end of the week, or earlier if symptoms take a negative turn.

Hi Ladies, sorry so many of you are having a rubbish time of it but I am dancing round the room here - final results today - now in writing my mouth is a C-free zone!

YAAAAAAAAAAY! Ally!

That's brilliant news, ally! So pleased for you.

Pavlov, that head pain etc. sounds grim. Hope you're being looked after at home. Has your DH been able to take time off work or is there someone else with you? Thinking of you & hoping recovery is as quick as possible, given the nature of backs!

Bubby, sorry you've got all these additional stresses to deal with. Glad to hear your DH has apologized at least.

Matilda, are you off the co-codamol completely now you're on the patches? Any more skin irritation or has that eased?

I'm still having problems with left leg pain but have been better when walking, so as long as I don't sit or lie down I'm brilliant!

Took an amitriptyline from my very old store (still in date though) last night as I want to save diazepam for real muscle spasms, even though it does seem to help ease the nerve type pain a bit. Had a much better night & may talk to the GP about trying it regularly as I'm not as dopey / hungover feeling today as I was last time I tried ami. It totally knocked me out then, so it's weird that I'm fine today.

Pregabalin did help too when I was on it but was having to take that 3 times a day & I did have a few side effects. Can't help thinking (probably irrationally) that 10mg ami at night would be less of a big deal if I can make it work for me than having to take pregabalin all the time. Has anyone else found ami helpful right away? It may just have helped me sleep, rather than actually dampening down the leg pain, last night of course.

Waves to everyone. Not sure I'm fully up to date so apologies if I've missed anyone's updates.

ally YEY!!!!! I am so so happy to hear that