Spent the evening in the ER.....

I was having severe back pain like I have never had before. It went on for 5 hours and I finally broke down and went to the ER. It felt like I had been stabbed in the back with an ice pick! It was on the left side (bra-strap level) and it radiated around my side up under my rib cage. It was coming in waves and it was worse than child-birth!! I could NOT breathe because expanding my chest was impossible.

ER doc examined me and said that he thought it was muscle spasms and gave me an injection of Toradol. He also gave me some Valium for the spasms. 20 minutes later, I could breathe again, but the pain was still there so they gave me a shot of Dilaudid. That got it all.

Then, the doc came back in and said that my urine tested positive for blood and he wanted to test me for a kidney stone (even though the pain was a bit high up for that). So, one CT scan and 2 hours later it was determined that there was no kidney stones, the urine dip was a false + for blood and this was "just" a bad muscle spasm.

Has anybody ever experienced muscle spasms like this? I cannot take a deep breath today because it is so sore. I didn't do anything yesterday to bring this on, either. It came out of the blue. The way it wraps around my chest is weird, too. They did do a chest x-ray and it was clear, so it's not my lungs.

I go to my PCP on Monday for a med check and I think I will have her repeat the urine dip just to be sure. I am going to have her run some blood work to make sure it's not kidney-related (or anything else organ-wise). They didn't run any blood tests on me in the ER.....I thought that was odd (especially when my urine came up + for blood).

Anyway, I can't do a darn thing today but lay in bed. My 4 year old was very worried about mommy in the hospital last night. When I came home he said "Mommy, did they finally fix your back?" That broke my heart. Then he wanted to know what color the Tylenol was there! 

Hope everybody is having a better day than me... 

Jenny B

Hi Jenny,
I can certainly sympathize with what you are going through - I am just glad that your ER experience was a good one, cause we all know how those can turn out. That dilauted is good stuff, but it also wears off awful fast (at least it did for me). I agree with PALady about heat, as my heating pads are a wonderful friend to have. If you do not have one already, pick up an extra long one - that has been one of the best investments I have ever made!

I would think that the flexeril would be helping. I am sure sorry you are having to go through this, and I hope that you are able to get back on your feet soon!

N8

Sorry to hear about your horrible spasm experience. I do get frequent muscle spasms just like you described. Mine start in the exact same place and then radiate around. I always tell people it feels just like a muscle cramp charlie horse you get in your leg. The muscles just cramp up and there is northing you can do. I would think that the Fexeril would help. I use to use it and then it got to the point that I needed Baclofen. The Bacllfen does a great job stopping the spasms of spasticity. Even thought the pain is horrific, I have found the pain meds only help with the sore muscles after the spasms. They did little to dull the pain while the spasms were actually happening. In my experience, fast acting medication to relax the muscles involved did the best. The pain medication them helped with the muscle pain after the cramps simmered down. Discuss options with your doctor. Medications that I found helpful in the past for muscle spasticity were Flexeril, Zanaflex, and Baclofen.

Good luck. I can relate to how horrible the pain is during these spasms. I just remind people what it is like to have a charlie horse in their leg - and then imagine it in your upper back and diaphragm muscles having the same pain for hours on end. It is so hard to breathe when they tighten up.  I thought the pain was worse the natural childbirth.  Boy, was I feeble minded at the time to get talked into that one.  I was all the rage in the 80's.

Keep us posted as to what your doctor says.  Let's hope they find the right meds for you fast.

Thank you all!!  I am feeling better today, just really sore.  I have to be careful how I move....if I move just the right way, I get the ice pick in the back again, but at least I can breathe!  Whew!

I am going to ask my PCP about Zanaflex or Baclofen to have to have on hand in case this happens again (which I'm sure it will).  Going to the ER just plain STINKS!

Jenny B