Hi New to Chronic Pain

Hi all,

I am new to the site. I can't sit for very long but I wanted to just start out and say hello.

I have had fibromyalgia since 1988 so I am not new to pain but I had that pretty much handled with methadone 10 mg 2xday and oxycodone 30mg 3 x day for breakthrough.

This past fall/winter I got ill and I think my fibro flared and I was also probably hyperthyroid. Anyway I spent a lot of it resting. Plus due to a bad knee I had to quit teaching my one fitness class aqua fitness. I taught on the deck and it was getting to be too painful.

Now to the chronic pain issue before I can't sit (which is now so I'll be back). Since Memorial Day I have terrible pain in my low back and buttocks. The pain actually began in Fall 2012 when I would get up my legs would hurt for hours. Then I got upper back spasms and finally the low back and inability to sit happened. I did the chiropractor for 3 weeks before I could go to get Xray and MRI (chiro is 5 minutes from home).

I had facet joint injections last week on Tuesday July 23 13. The pain increased for the first three days and now I have this awful burning sensation just above my tailbone. I haven't been able to sit, drive, or do anything. If I do dishes I can feel the discs compress. If I walk it gets worse. I do stretch and am in pretty good shape so I am trying to move as much as I can but I am only close to out of pain laying flat on the bed. We had the MRI and the pain doc said it was degenerative arthritis. I go back Thursday for 3 more facet joint injections. At this point I don't know if I am better or not though this morning I felt pretty good and my husband says I'm better. I have kept a dairy (maybe I should print it out and read it - grin).

Any tips or anyone who had these injections (which didn't hurt) would be greatly appreciated. Or anyone with pinched nerves/herniated/bulged discs. I'll try to get back here soon. It really hurts to even type on my knees :-(

I hope everyone who is in pain is finding some serenity and pain free days, hours,moments whatever we can get. It's very difficult to be housebound and unable to do anything but lay in bed comfortably. When I am better I will post to others for inspiration but at the moment I am off to lay down.

Thanks everyone.
Sally

Welcome here, Sally.

Appreciate your post and your positive attitude, especially with such serious pain issues that you are dealing with. You should fit in well here with the CP family.

Look forward to hearing more from you, when you are up to it. Keeping a "pain" dairy is a good idea actually, been thinking about doing just that in my situation. So I can accurately track my regular CP days from the one I call serious CP days, and see if there are any patterns in the events. Also would be good to show my doctors, vs. trying to remember specific bad days or spells.

Wishing you the best,

David

Welcome Sally

Hope someone can pop in & give advise..

Prayers that your pain lessens

Hi Sally Welcome to Healing Well Chronic Pain forum, boy it sounds like your in allot of pain. The injections can take several days before you will feel any noticeable affect. It can vary from person to person, and the amount of pain relief you get and the length of time it last. Usually they are given in series of three, but that can also vary. I had lumbar surgery this past January, a framinotomy at L3 thru L5, but I was told I also have a very bad disk at L5 and will need a discectomy and fusion with hardware sometime in my near future. Lately I have been having allot of lower back pain and sciatica pain ( pain down the sciatic nerve, that goes thru the buttocks and down the back of the leg) usually caused by impingement of the nerve root around the L5 area. Anyway, lately I have been laying over a big inflatable exercise ball, to stretch out my back a bit. I lay on my belly over the ball, and I find it does give me some relief, at least for a while. I don't know if this works for others or not, I have just started trying it, as it was suggested to me by a friend who has also had lumbar surgery twice ending up with a discectomy and fusion. You might want to ask your doctor about trying it or a physical therapist. A Ten's unit might also be of some help??? I have never had any real luck with them, but some others have reported getting fairly good pain relief from them. Again talk with your doctor.

I do wish you all the best! I am sorry your having such bad pain issues but am glad you found us! I do think we have some of the best people you would ever want to meet on the internet. Everyone is kind and caring and compassionate, we might not be able to cure you, but we certainly can lend you our ears, and listen to you and give you all our support, and maybe a suggestion here and there along the way. When your here your part of our chronic pain family!

White Beard

Hi Sally welcome to the chronic pain site , and sorry you need to be here.

 I have had a recent battle with sciatica. Just last week I was in agony! relentless is the word! I have been on Cymballta for 10 days and it is like a miracle! I have no nerve pain at all.  I hope you can get to a doctor and get similar results.

Lesley

Hi and welcome!(I'm actually new too).

I have a bulged disc/herniated/pinched nerve.

Meds, icyhot patches, and staying relatively active is how I keep the pain under "control"(still get flares every now and again).

I sometimes have to just "freeze" when a pain spasm hits me from my nerves being hit from my back.

Don't know where to start this but just to say that I am happy to have stumbled across this site. My life has become a challenge with always a 'fight to smile'. I am 59yrs old and have 4 wonderful children but unfortunately they don't understand chronic pain and I hope they never have to experience any pain. I have had 2 spinal surgeries the last one which left me with (2) 4" bars; 8 screws and (2) T-bars through my spine to try and straighten me out. I have degenerative disc disease; a right total hip replacement which left me with my left leg 3" shorter; and a breast cancer survivor. I cant remember a day where I could get out of bed without crying inside. The first thing I do is take a 7.5 Loratab so that I can straighten up or I look like a question mark (?) LITERALLY bent over from the waist.

Well 2 of my children just think that I am addicted to pain killers or as one put it I live with my head in a pill bottle. Huh what the hell do you say to that, which by the way they have stopped talking to me totally. I went to my oncologist who after seeing my MRI's sent me to a back specialist, who then sent me to a back surgeon (this is after my 2nd surgery), who sent me to a pain management dr. He gave me an epidural shot in my back and since then the pain from my sciatic nerve is devastating. My husband would watch me get up from a chair and literally scream as it felt like someone was stabbing me in my butt and across my back. The pain is increasingly worse everyday. The pain management dr told me that it was just my brain sending messages for the meds'. Is he kidding??? On the weekend when I don't have to work I try very hard not to take pills. My GP put me on Gabapentin which seemed to have helped a little but now not so much. I cry inside because I don't like people to see me in pain. Doe anyone out there know what the right med's are for this? I am afraid that the loratab is going to make my liver fail and if I can survive cancer I don't want my liver to fail. I've been reading up on Norco (?) can anyone tell  me if that will help this horrifying pain I live with. I'm sorry to vent so much but it seems that people don't understand chronic pain or any kind of pain that lasts forever.

 

Thanks and hello to the veteran's and newbies. Lexi I agree sometimes some of the treatments make situations worse rather than better. Remember they are "practicing medicine" - grin.

Hi fight I am so sorry for all that you have had to endure. Most people who do not understand pain or pain management haven't a clue about narcotic drugs. I have a friend who's sister-in-law calls her an addict and her brother following his wife, asks, "when do you think you can get off the morphine". I loved her answer it was, "when they find something that works as well I would be happy to get off".

We lose a lot through our dis ease.

Lastly muscle relaxers don't seem to work on me plus I can only get two types from my insurance. The pain and the spasms are lightening up but if I walk to much my legs burn and the back spasms, same with sitting. Do you know of any that do work well without sedating? If they are cheap enough I could pay cash.

Well friends I am off for tonight as I'm starting to hurt. Plus I agree with LexiRae time to move to another thread this was an intro so I'll be back when I can sit again for a bit.

I send everyone positive and loving healing vibes.

Sally

What are they injection you with? I've received over 200 injections in my neck. They inject me with anti-inflammatory as inflamation is why we are all in pain. Anti-inflam pills don't work for me. I have another neck surgery coming.

I take a daily pain pill called Exalgo 8MG which has changed my life. I take it everyday at 8AM and use percocet and nucynta daily when needed.

As for Muscle Relaxers I've tried everything. At night the bulging neck discs touch the nerve and the pain wakes me up. Flexeril, Rybaxin, etc. did nothing. Only one that works is Soma 250MG. I know people don't like Soma as it's really strong but I only take this at night to sleep (never during the day).

Like mentioned I found a great PM Doctor which has helped me manage pain.