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Posted 1/12/2012 4:23 PM (GMT 0)
I've been diagnosed with O.A., FMS, CFS, degenerative bone disease (was on prednisone for almost 2 years when I was 7 years old which my rheumatologist believes caused me thinning of my bones)...I've been on every kind of medicine you can name and I have a few more diagnosisis which I will leave out...but I stopped seeing my rheumatologist for about 6 months now to detox off of everything I was on. I was on a lot of stuff...I was doing ok for the first 2  months, but these past 4 months have been a living nightmare...my right leg  starting with my lower back (I believe a disc)..I have a sharp pain like a knife going down my lower back through my whole right thigh and down through my calf and to my ankle and foot....I have always had Chronic back pain. But this is new and started 4 months ago and has been getting steadily worse...I've tried a stretching regime for about 3 weeks and it only made it worse...I have been walking with a limp that is steadily getting worse and it hurts so bad...When I was 18 I used to work out a lot and was squating weights and I tried way too much weight and gave myself a hurnia on my right crotch part...it got steadily worse till when I was walking with a limp that got worse each day until one night I was literally paralized and my parents had to carry me to the car to the emergency room...it had burst and gave me a hematoma the size of a softball from what the scan showed...well the hernia comes back still every once in a while...so I don't know if the pain I'm having it associated with that....I have even been wondering if I'm having muscle atrophy? I don't know what to do and I really don't want to get back on pain medicine, but I am at that point...If someone has any answers or suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thanks and god bless
Posted 1/12/2012 5:38 PM (GMT 0)
Your symptoms are indeed classic for a herniation of a disc in your lower spine. A good orthopedist would likely do an MRI to evaluate. Herniated lumbosacral discs can sometimes be treated with traction, and are among the easiest back problems to treat with surgery. If treated appropriately, you probably wouldn't need to be on pain meds long. If you've had a problem with dependency in the past, they'd probably be really sparing with the opiates and try to get it fixed quickly.

Regardless, you need to get it diagnosed promptly. Chronic disc herniation can indeed cause some muscle atrophy over the long term, and you can throw other joints out of kilter and cause problems with hips and knees.

Good luck to you, and let us know how you're doing.
Posted 1/13/2012 4:14 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the response...Yes that's what I kind of figured. Other people have told me that as well so I'm betting that's what it is. I have OA in my hands and feet pretty bad so I'm sure that's not helping at all. Back when I was seeing my rheumatologist I never had this issue...I hate it and it's just getting worse....I was on 4 roxycodone 10mg a day, 4 Soma 350mg a day, 90mg cymbalta, Ambien 10mg at night..for a while...other things I've tried...Arthrotec (pills and topical solution), sevilla, lyrica, hormone shots, flexorill, hydrocodone & percocet (both upset my stomach horribly along with a lot of what I'm listing) , trazadone, adderall, xanex, klonnopin, and every anti-depressent you can name, I'll name some....lexapro, zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, Welbutrin, Effexor, Celexa, Elavil,....gabapentamine, risperdal, seroquel, abilify...and some others all in the past four years....I just turned 22 a month ago...I'm sick of medication all it does for me is change the way I think and for the most part has bad side affects. The only real thing that did help deal with my pain was obviously the roxicodone and the soma but I am iffy about getting back on that...
Posted 1/13/2012 4:30 PM (GMT 0)
Ouch, I've had increasingly severe musculoskeletal pain since 1987. Because I don't want to take opiates for chronic pain that I know will always be with me, I've learned to make do. I take Mobic every day, Tylenol arthritis most of the time, and Tramadol when I need to (usually at bedtime in hope it will help me sleep.) And I've learned to ignore a lot of pain by distracting myself and refusing to pay attention to it. Sounds crazy and impossible, I know. I think I just got tired of having my life on hold while I thought about how much I hurt.

The down side, of course, is that I sometimes ignore pain that needs attention. I once walked on a leg with two broken bones for about three months - long enough for it to heal crooked and have to be re-broken and set with a plate and pins.

As I'm sure you've found, the pitfall of most of the strong medications is that we develop a tolerance to them and tend to need more and more to help with the pain. I may be in pain all the time, but at least when I have some sort of excrutiating pain I can still turn to stronger pain meds for them.
Posted 1/13/2012 5:22 PM (GMT 0)
OUCH9030

Good Morning.  I have a disc herniation at L5-S1 with nerve impingement.  I used narcotic pain medication for about 4 months but felt I was to dependent on the medications so I switched to NSAIDs which I use very sparingly.

I was also referred to therapy.  I have been very lucky so far as I do not have a lot of trouble with my back. When it does bother me a heating pad helps.

I wish you well and hope you can get your pain under control.

Kindly,

Kitt

 

Posted 1/15/2012 6:13 AM (GMT 0)
I've tried a lot of NSAID's and they all really upset my stomach....even tylonol, advil, excedrin, alieve, they all really hurt my stomach and do not help whatsoever....The pain is so sharp running down my right thigh to my calf, ankle, and feet it's ridiculous. It feels like I'm being stabbed with knives all in those areas. I've been tempted to grab a knife myself and make an incision where the sharp pain is concentrated at. I know that's not a good idea but there are times that I have been so tempted....I really think that my whole right leg muscles are becoming atrophied. I think I am about ready to go back to my rheumatologist. There is no position AT ALL where I have no pain and I am near my breaking point.
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