hi, my name is cindi, i have been having chronic back pain, going on 3 years now. i was walking across the road and a car went thru a stop sign and hit me, witnesses said i hit the roof of her car first and then went flying (did't know i could :), 20 feet, all my things, shoes, glasses, purse, etc were all across the road, thats how hard she hit me, people said. since then i have been trying, first a doctor who doesn't think i am "drugseeking", a doctor that can figure out just WHAT is wrong with my back, a doctor who has bedside manners, any out there? i have been going to a pain clinic, they have done a no. of tests, meds, and injections (which are not fun) and haven't helped me.i need to get my life back or something close to it. i have 4 children, a husband and 1 grandson. most of time is spent in bed or on the couch( for reasons i may go into later, if anyone is interested). i was very depressed in the beginning , but now just mad and aggravated, i have to work my life around my pain.
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Cindi,
I have read all of your posts and you don't identify exactly what your back injury is. If you would let us know exactly what your injury is, some of us may be able to offer you advice on how to get yourself better pain relief based on our own personal experiences.
I have herniations and a buldge at L4-L5 and L5-S1 which is the lower back. I have had all the injections, pain meds, and physical therapy. I may be able to offer you some advice if I knew what is going on with you.
If you don't want to post on the open forum send me a message and I will be glad to give you any advice I can based on my own experience. Of all of my orthopedic problems, my back pain seems to be the one I have been able to contol the best.
Hope I can help.
Dean
hi dean, thanx for getting back with me. with all the tests, they have taken, they can only find a bulging disc oon my lowest spine. gosh, i don't don't know if that makes sense, but after almost 3 years, they told me i can not be having such severe pain, with the bulging pain. yes, i have done the pain meds, injections, chiropractor (no help) physical therapy, which helped me geet stronger but after 2 years he was hoest enuff with me to tell me there was nothing else he could do. i have it written down where exactly my spine is bulging and what kind of injections , i have had, so if you can be patient with me, i will write these all down tommorow, i know i should probably know this all by heart by now, but i don't, no reason why, except that nothing has worked and i jsut gave up on remembering everythig. pretty sad situation, hey? but sometimes i jsut get so aggravated with docs, appts, different docs, more appts....what my life consists of (oh boo hoo cindi:), thanks for your interest and if you can help me, boy , i will be sending you a kiss over the puter:)! take good care of yourself, cindi
me again, dean, are you doing o.k. with your back? do you live your life before this happened AND what did happen? cindi
My injuries are all related to my occupation as a police officer. I have had several injuires over a 22 year career. I have had about 13 surgeries but none of them on my back.
It sounds like the bulge your describing may be affacting your sciatic nerve. Do you have pain that radiates down one of you legs? Maybe some numbness and a pins and needles feeling sometimes?
hi dean, again, the doc don't really know what is causing me such pain, when they do the injections, they are concentrating on L4 and L5, since the injections have not helped me at all, i don't know why they KEEP giving me them, maybe troubleshooting? i just wish they would find out and i can have my life back, as it is now, i don't leave the house (because of the pain) and the only times iget out of the house is to go to the doctors, so you can see , this getting just a bit depressing. i am (was) a very actiive person, involved with my 4 chidrens sports and school activities and in the community. i walked 3 miles a day( i know not a lot:), did pilates everyday after my walks and even got into tie bo ( i know thats not how you spell it:), so for me to lay around the house with a heating pad on my back 24-7, i have NO life, altho i am trying to kick this pain in the ass (oops) and am starting to do more things, the only thing is, when i do , do things i pay for it for days!! my son told me to "man up" and really i don't think my family knows the extent of my pain, i mean i cry mmyself to sleep, IF i sleep. oh boo hoo cindi :), you are probably so much worse off than myself, but i do tryy! and by the way , you never told me theextent of your pain, care to share? keep a smile on your face, cindi
I keep my pain under control pretty well, especially the back pain. As I told you I have 2 herniations and a bulge. The TENS Unit and Ice Pak along with stretching and a relatively low dose of pain medication keeps my back pain at about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. I have more pain in my shoulders than anywhere else other than the recent ankle reconstruction but even that is improving each day. Don't get me wrong there are mornings I can wake up and for no apparent reason my back can be at a 10. When that happens I take my regular dose of pain medication and take an extra day of bed rest if permitted. During that time I will apply stimulation and Ice three times that day. The next day always comes with an improvement after that.
You are using heat all the time and for extended amounts of time. It is not working out for you. I understand that heat should help with the muscles around the injured area but you problem may be related to a nerve and heat isn't going to do much for that. Try mild stretching in the morning and the other things I recommended to you. You have nothing to lose.
Also, are you getting those injections in the hospital with an x-ray or is the doctor just sticking you with the needle in his or her office? What type of injections are they, Facet or Epidurals?
hi dean, i just reread thiis post and my bulge is at my L 5 and L4, i just went to the doc yesterday and they are suggesting a discogram ( have i told you about this already), i was just wondering if you had one of these and what it was like, the doc said this is kinda like the end of the road, because of all the injections i've had (9) and only one worked for 2 weeks. after that is surgery, but anyway the doc told me it IS very painful and if you get an injections, you could land in the hospital for 3 months, becauuse no blood flows thru there, so i am really, really, relunctant to do this, but if i don't , they will stop my pain meds, which makes no sense to me, because they are a "pain clinic". so if you did have this procedure, could you tell me your experiences or if anyone you know has, i would SO appreciate it...in fact i won't give you anymore grief about not smiling :) hoping you are having a day, without too much pain, cindi
p.s. i can't get into the forumss, what are the difference between them and these shareposts????