I signed up for this forum today after seeing another thread about
this procedure, but I guess it's too old for me to post in, so I started a new thread.
My name is Carl and I'm in the Houston, TX area.
I am scheduled for the nerve burning procedure tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping it will get me off the pills for a while. I've been taking Hydrocodone and Tyzanidine 3-4 times a day essentially since Dec 2010. I've had times where I've been able to back down on them a little after getting a cortisone injection, but for the most part it is a 3 time a day ritual. My wife is tired of me taking them, worried about "addiction" although the only addiction I have is I'm a bit of an adrenalin junkie. I'm just kind of tired of being drowsy during the day for a couple hours after I take them, and I'm sure continued use of them isn't good for my body.
A little background, I'm 38, and have had back pain since I was in my mid teens I believe. I recall having fairly severe pain for several days when I was around 17. One day I recall being at work (worked at a family owned video rental store) and rolling around in the chair to assist customers because I could hardly stand up. I don't recall what I had done at the time to cause it, but it hurt like crazy. I hadn't had any other major problems like that one until 2010 when I strained the lower back muscles. I had managed my normal daily pain with just over the counter Ibuprofen and Tylenol, so it wasn't all that bad.
So fast forward to 2010 when I strained it. I was leaning forward and extending my arms out to sit a 45-50 lbs printer in the back of a mini-van, basically in an over-extended position with that much weight hanging out away from my body trying to put it far up in the back of the van. I didn't feel any pop or anything, just got that instant feeling of "oh crap, that's going to hurt tomorrow." Well, sure enough it did. I went to see my family physician and got a prescription for Hydrocodone and a light muscle relaxer and spent the next two weeks wearing a back brace for normal activity. Then while still in pain I Overdid things putting up Christmas lights on thanksgiving weekend (Saturday) and that was all she wrote. I woke up the next morning and my lower back was "locking up" and I couldn't even roll out of bed it was so painful. My description at the time was "locking up" but it was essentially cramping and going into muscle spasms. The pain was unbearable and it took everything I had to just sit still and breathe. No one could touch me to try and move me. It finally eased up enough for my wife to help me get to the bathroom, but it went into spasms again as I sat on the throne (sorry, but it leads to my next statement). I couldn't even tend to myself, so imagine my embarrassment as a 34 yr old man who's wife had to assist him in the restroom and then to get up and walk into the living room.
I had already scheduled an appointment with a "back doctor" for the following Monday. So I went to see this Dr who I had never seen before, but someone recommended. Someone has to drive me there and I walk into his office wearing two back braces and on crutches because I can hardly stand or move without my back going into spasms. They call me back to the room and I'm standing there on crutches and he asked me to get on the table. I told him that it would be difficult, but he insisted. This guy obviously didn't realize the pain I was in. Maybe he thought I was faking and was just a "pill head" looking to get a fresh prescription and acting. He prescribed a very weak dose of Hydrocodone 5/325 and a 2 mg muscle relaxer. This stuff was weaker than what my family dr had given me and I had to take 3 times the dosage just to get any relief at the time. He also prescribed physical therapy. I went to therapy for a week and essentially all they could do for me was give me a massage and tens unit treatment because I couldn't do any stretches. At the first appointment I went into spasms just trying to get off the massage table and was literally in tears. So I went back to the Dr after a week of PT and told him the prescription was too weak and the PT wasn't helping and I wanted an MRI to make sure I haven't really damaged something. He didn't want to do it, but he ordered it and it just showed what I already knew which was a bulging disc at L4/L5. He gave me like 15 more pills and told me to go see a pain management doctor. Geez, thanks for nothing. Needless to say I haven't been back to that quack.
Now the problem was, I have just 15 pills and I can't get in to see the recommended pain doctor (recommended by my family physician) for another week. So I basically sat around the house mostly in bed for a week while my mother in law stayed over to help take care of things.
I get in to see the pain Dr on Monday and realizing the pain I am in, he scheduled me to come in on Tuesday for a cortisone injection. Again same story, I'm in his office wearing two back braces and on crutches to get around. After that first injection, I didn't have another spasm for nearly a year. That was great. I still dealt with some pain and stayed on the 10/325 HC and 4mg Tizanidine prescription, which I have essentially been on for the last 4 years. I've had several cortisone injections, about once a year, sometimes twice since, but they didn't seem to help as much as the first.
I think my back started getting worse sometime around 2008-2009 and I started occasionally seeing my family doctor to get pain meds and steroid dose packs. It was off and on, but there was really never any "pain free" time. I was always on Ibuprofen or some other OTC pain reliever. Over the years from then til now I have tried Chiropractic visits for a couple of months. I've tried physical therapy. The only things that have given relief are pain pills, muscle relaxers, and occasional use from a TENS unit (aside from the cortisone injections).
In early march 2014 the PM Doc decided we would try the nerve burning procedure. So we did the blocker injection and it felt great for about two days. This indicated that the procedure should work well on me. So I'm scheduled to do my left side nerves tomorrow at noon and am hoping it feels as good as it did when he did the blockers. That night that he did the blockers, I didn't "need" to take any pain meds. We are supposed to do the right side of my back on April 22, 14.
Sorry for the long read, but since this is my first post I thought you all might want a little background.
Post Edited (BackPainStinks) : 3/31/2014 9:36:37 AM (GMT-6)