new dx = facet arthritis have questions

  Hey everyone, I am new to the arthritis forum, but not to healing well.  I have several other problems including ibs and fibromyalgia among other things.  I am hoping you can help me with some questions about this new diagnosis.  I got the results of my mri today and it revealed facet arthritis worse at L3, L4 and L5.  Also said smooth flat something as well.  The nurse called me and was telling me, i don't have the report on hand.  Anyway, I have an appt on the 10th with my doctor for my routine appt, but until then I don't know much except he said he thought I may benefit from facet injections.  The nurse didn't know what it was and I am not sure either.  He said I could go to pain clinic or surgical clinic in our area.  I decided to wait and talk to him at next appt. 

  Could anyone explain this to me I have never heard of facet arthritis until today.  I did look on internet and got some info, but still not about injections.  Also, would this be a type of degenerative arthritis. 

  I have had low back pain for years off and on; I am 39 y/o and since 1990 with my 2nd child, I have had pain in buttock and down leg above knee, but mri said no pinched nerve - it comes and goes; could this facet arthritis cause this pain without a pinched nerve?

   Also, I take oxycodone and use a fentanyl patch, mobic and skelaxin and the pain breaks thru this, that is why he sent me for the mri.

  I also am curious how I could have gotten this; Last year I was checked for RA and one of my lab tests was elevated ( can't remember which one ), but not both, so doc said basically that didn't mean anything since both were not elevated.  Didn't see a rheumatologist though.

  I also am having pain in my thoracic area on 2 different discs and they stick out - doc doesn't know about this yet.  I also have a lot of pain in wrist, elbows and hands, but have had it a long time and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last year because of widespread pain and such.

  Sorry this is so long, but just wanted some advice / opinions and explanations of disease and injections especially.  Any advice would be appreciated = next week seems a long ways off to wait.

sheryl=jk, i am sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with arthritis too. I have felt soo bad lately and in so much pain. I hope to get some answers on the 10th when I see the doc. I don't know a lot about my report yet. I have swollen or protruding disc at about T12 & T10 I think as well as a lot of pain there too. The lady doing the mri said that the mri would go up that far so I hope to know what is going on there as well. My mri was only done on my lumbar spine, because my doc wasn't aware of the pain and problems in my thorasic area at that time. Between my ibs (which is horrible today - lots of spasms and multiple trips to the bathroom with excruciating pain and nausea) and lower back pain from the arthritis. My pain meds hardly touch this arthritis. I have been so depressed today because of all this pain. I feel so useless anymore, I have very few good days at all anymore. I am just not the person I use to be and I absolutely hate it. I don't know if my depression medicine is working anymore or if there is just so much going on that nothing will work. Everything is just bad right now here. I am sick with something all the time anymore. My husband is never sick, but for the last 6 weeks, he has been really sick. He has had 2 surgeries in less than 2 weeks for kidney stones. Then he got pneumonia, pleuracy and partial lung collapsed. Then he had to have an EGD to check for scar tissue or cancer, which thank god turned out to be neither false reading. He doesn't get paid if he is out of work and he has hardly been able to work and I have had to take care of him and that has been really hard for me. I didn't do as good of a job as I feel like I should have either, due to my health problems. I haven't worked in over a year and we are already struggling financially and behind on our house payments. Now we are in even worse shape. I filed for disability over a year ago and of course was denied; now I am waiting on a hearing with the judge. If I ever get that and the back pay, we will be fine financially, when i ever get it. That is if we don't lose everything before then. Anyway, I have just not felt good at all lately emotionally or physically; which stress makes my condition worse too. I hope I can find something to help this back pain though. I haven't been able to do anything today due to illness and I have these days a lot. I hate it so badly. I feel worthless a lot of the times. Like I said this has been a bad day. Sorry for the long post I just needed to vent I guess. Thanks for responding to my post though.

I am 39 too and the mri said major changes especially in the l3,l4 and l5 area, not sure about the rest yet, because the nurse was telling me over the phone. Like I said I go to the doctor this thursday and I am going to try to find out some answers and I will let you know. I don't know if mine is degenerative or osteoarthritis or what - all I know is facet arthritis and the nurse didn't know anything about it either or about facet injections... all I know for sure is that I hurt really, really bad and this is breaking through my regular pain meds (fentanyl patch and oxycodone) although I would hate to see what it felt like now without. My back has bothered me off and on for years, but lately it just doesn't seem to stop.

sheryl=jk, I am sorry I haven't been on here lately; I have been so sick with pain and fatigue. I was too sick to even go to the doctor. I rescheduled for this Wed, but I will have to see the PA instead of my doctor, because he is on vacation. Hope I can get some questions answered, but the PA is fairly new and in the past, I haven't been impressed with her too much. I have to get my meds refilled though, but we will see what she says. I will go back and see my regular doc in a few weeks anyway, so one way or another I will find out. I will let you know what she says though. Again, sorry, but I just could not even make myself go and I really want to know about this stuff and I am considering those facet injections, no matter what they are, because I have been in so much pain lately. Even when I get it calmed down some, the least little thing I do, I comes right back. My lower back is on fire and I have pain in my buttocks and down my leg and I have a hard time finding a position to get the pressure to release. The heating pad has helped quite a bit. Hope you are doing ok.

Oh my goodness, I feel so bad for you. I know about the financial strain; trust me, I know all too well. I haven't been able to work in over a year, really a year and a half. We struggle constantly to make ends meet and really don't, because we are behind on our house payment and I often have to go without some of my meds or get samples from the doctor. My Mama helps us out as much as possible, but I feel guilty for that, because she doesn't have a lot of money either and I feel like we are putting her in a bind as well. I have filed for disability and briefly here goes on that subject: My doctors all agree on it; My primary doc wrote a letter to them as well and this time I have a lawyer. My diagnosis are not ones that you get disability on automatically, so between that and my age of 39 and my education, I am having a hard time and I am now in the 2nd appeal stage, where I go before a judge, but my lawyer feels sure I will get it and is asking it to retro back to initial application in pay, because I barely missed the appeal date and tried to work casual part time and was unable to do so had to quit after just 3 weeks. My husband stays frustrated and upset and often angry about the whole situation. He works hard and there still isn't enough money and the house stays a mess. He resents my illness very much and sometimes doesn't handle it very well; I saw numerous doctors before they really took me seriously.... after a few visits and they couldn't figure it out or fix me, they got aggrivated and started acting like I was crazy or something. I finally found some good and I mean really good and caring doctors, but it indeed took awhile, so don't give up. I know how frustrating it is, but do not give up. You have to keep going and trying to get answers and some help from them; find another doctor if you are not completely satisfied with the ones you are seeing. I had some docs (specialist) tell me there is no such thing as fibromyalgia or ibs and they didn't believe how much pain I was in and I cried many a day and night, but their are doctors out there who really care and will help you, so find another one and another one if you have to. Good luck with that, I hope you get some good help. I want answers too and if I could just get to my doctor again, I could get us some answers. Good luck, I hope you feel better and your spirits get lifted as well. And one more thing, you only see the disability doctors if social security admin makes you see their doctors; the first time I filed they did send me to a psychiatrist to be evaluated, but otherwise no other doctors - and they pay for that, you don't.