My Story/and I really needed to vent

So i've only been a memeber here for about a week and the little sharing i've done so far seems to make me feel a bit better.  Maybe because this is the first time I have ever been able to share with anyone who in one way or another is going thru the same thing so here's my story.  I started back in August of '08 at this time I was 23 years old in good health a bit overweight but nothing I wasn't working on.  I was a bit of a workaholic working 1 fulltime job averaging 50-60 hours a week and two parttime jobs that probably added another 20-30 hours.  One day at work either the 25 or 28 of August '08 I was at my fulltime job where I was a printer.  On some jobs the paper had to be a weird size so we had to trim it.  So the first two hours of the day I was trimming paper I had about 20,000 sheets trimmed and only had 2,000 to go.  I had the trimmer just about full and went to throw in the last little bit, grabbed at max 5 pounds of paper and hit the ground in the worst pain ever.  I was sent home and went to see my family dr who did what he could but said I needed someone more specialized with back problems.  So he sent me to Dr. Schienski an osteopathic dr.  This man is the best most down to earth and just flat out caring dr I have ever meet.  He did what he could but to no avail.  So he started to send me out to different specialist ranging from chiropractors, physical therapy,  and a few drs from a local neuro spine and neuroscience  clinic.  In total 6 other drs that all gave up saying there was nothing to do or there was nothing wrong with me.  Dr Schienski didnt give up so we kepted plugging away at it he got me medicated on Opana ER (Oxymorphine extended release).  I was at this point diagnoised with degenerative disc diease.  I have minor problems with most of my lumbar discs and one is tearing rather fast.  This is where are first big problem came in he started sending my case to all different surgeons around wisconsin and not a singal one would even talk to me because of how young I am and that its more than one disc.  Then he said there was one more dr (dr. Singh) he would like me to see but that he had to get my case aproved by his clinic.  So we waited with are fingers crossed and we got the phone call that he would see me!  It was very exciting for me since I did alot of research on him and found out alot of people classified him as one of the best Pain mangament dr in the country (whether that is true or not it made me feel better).  So Singh started plugging away at my back starting with injections then nerve blocks and discograms.  Nothing worked, once again I could tell he wasnt getting upset with me but upset with the fact thaat he couldnt help then.  Then we tried this neurostimulator the first trial was just a joke what he said should take him 45 minutes took more like 5 hours and when they turned it on there was stimulation through out my whole body except my low back so they took it out.  A few months later after more research he said there is another way to to install it thaat works better on the lower back.  We gave that a shot and it seemed to work pretty darn good.  So we did the permanet installation.  Besides having to be awake for the installation the procedure went rather good.  The following month went really good they took me off my meds and all was good I was looking at off the meds a 50-70 percent improvement.  I thought things were finally starting to look for up for me.  Untill a week ago yesterday Just while sitting on a couch my back started to hurt worse and worse.  So i turned on the stimulator that didnt work turned it up that didnt work then I took some of my fast acting pain meds that didnt work I ended up in the ER with a blood pressure of 230/120.  The next week I eneded up in the ER 4 more times getting turned away once cause I was just looking for drugs.  I really haven't been able to sleep and there is more pain than ever.  Dr Singh is out of the country and all his partner would tell me to do is turn up my stimulator which it was already maxed out at 10.5 and to use it 24/7.  which now it was become almost a game to keep it charged they told me it would have to be rechaarged once or twice a month now if I dont charge it everyday I have a chance of it going completly dead which ruins it.  The sensation from the stimulator has gone from helpfull to annoying my back pain is worse than ever and i'm back on the meds.  Im starting to think maybe my body doesnt like the implant cause the leds are starting to hurt more and even the stimulator pack hurts.  So thats it, that brings me up to present i'm 25 years old in the worst pain i've ever been in I can barely sleep my pm dr is out of the country and i am just about at the end of my rope.  I've had 30-40 different injections, discograhms, and much others that I cant thinkof right now.  Thanks for those of you that choose to read this and taking the time to listen to me.  I hope it wasn't too much complaining but it helped to get it out there with people that would understand.

peace and much love

Wisco

   Dear Stuck,

     Good evening! It is good to hear from you again. *hugg* How are you feeling today? I hope you were able to rest at some point last night, though I imagine your evenings are probably very hard.

     I am so very glad you decided to post an introduction. It helps alot to talk about how you got to the point where you are at. We have many members here with Degenerative Disk Disease (DDD). I wish there were more ways to treat it, but there are very few.

      It sounds like you are going through a very hard time right now. Digenerative disk diease is just that. Disease. You will get worse. Having degerative disks puts you at risk for so many different complications. Though I know your doctor is out of town, you need to get into a doctor right away and begin to up date your tests. You need MRIs with contrast and quickly. You have had DDD for so long that you are able to withstand alot of pain, so if someone like you is stopped dead in your tracks.... it is liky that something very urgent is going on. Even with your normal doctor out of the country you cannot wait. I think if you just make an appointment with your primary care physician they can begin the process of getting updated blood work and images. You simply cannot wait for your doctor to come back in town.

     I am so sorry you were treated in such a horrible manner at the Emergency Room. Though I wish with all my heart that I could say it is unusual... the sad fact is that it happens ALL the time. If it can be helped I would suggest staying away from ERs. In worst case cenarios maybe an urgent care... but more often than not chronic pain patients are rediculed, belittled, and ignored.

     I hope you are able to get atleast a little rest tonight. PLease, stay strong and know you are in our prayers here.

*hugg*

  dani