Back pain

[Guest guest]

>

> >

> >Thanks for the response. Actually the morning wood is ok but I am gyno

prone. I had gyno since puberty and actually had the surgery 2 years ago. When

I was taking .5 mg of Arimidex every other day I could feel my nipples getting

sore so I reverted back to the 1 mg/day. I do think it is having an effect on

my joints though. I will try breaking the test dosage into twice a week,

cutting back again on the Arimidex and trying the ZMA. Thanks for the advice

>

>

> Even splitting the dose for 2x a week you may have very high T levels

> on 150/week. That can result in more spill over to e2.

>

> Most of us do 100mg a week. Some split that into 50 twice a week.

>

> What T levels are you seeing on that dose.

>

My total test is around 700 and I can;t remeber my free levels but they are

within range. Also I take 1mg eod of Arimidex; I think I accidentally said

every day in an earlier post.

[Guest guest]

Still this is a very big dose for a man if you don't have night time and morning

wood I am betting your Estradiol is to low get this tested. If your to low

below 15 pg/ml stop the arimidex and when your wood comes back go on less say .5

every 3 days or evern .25 mgs every other day.

Co-Moderator

Phil

> From: rich19007 <rsouders@...>

> Subject: Re: Back pain

>

> Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009, 10:17 AM

>

> >

> > >

> > >Thanks for the response.  Actually the

> morning wood is ok but I am gyno prone.  I had gyno

> since puberty and actually had the surgery 2 years

> ago.  When I was taking .5 mg of Arimidex every other

> day I could feel my nipples getting sore so I reverted back

> to the 1 mg/day.  I do think it is having an effect on

> my joints though.  I will try breaking the test dosage

> into twice a week, cutting back again on the Arimidex and

> trying the ZMA.  Thanks for the advice

> >

> >

> > Even splitting the dose for 2x a week you may have

> very high T levels

> > on 150/week. That can result in more spill over to e2.

>

> >

> > Most of us do 100mg a week. Some split that into 50

> twice a week.

> >

> > What T levels are you seeing on that dose.

> >

>

> My total test is around 700 and I can;t remeber my free

> levels but they are within range.  Also I take 1mg eod

> of Arimidex; I think I accidentally said every day in an

> earlier post.

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

On Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:17:04 -0000, you wrote:

>

>>

>> >

>> >Thanks for the response. Actually the morning wood is ok but I am gyno

prone. I had gyno since puberty and actually had the surgery 2 years ago. When

I was taking .5 mg of Arimidex every other day I could feel my nipples getting

sore so I reverted back to the 1 mg/day. I do think it is having an effect on

my joints though. I will try breaking the test dosage into twice a week,

cutting back again on the Arimidex and trying the ZMA. Thanks for the advice

>>

>>

>> Even splitting the dose for 2x a week you may have very high T levels

>> on 150/week. That can result in more spill over to e2.

>>

>> Most of us do 100mg a week. Some split that into 50 twice a week.

>>

>> What T levels are you seeing on that dose.

>>

>

>My total test is around 700 and I can;t remeber my free levels but they are

within range. Also I take 1mg eod of Arimidex; I think I accidentally said

every day in an earlier post.

I got the eod. It's still a very high level. 4x what most of us do,

[Guest guest]

Cheryl,

In RA, the cervical spine (neck) is the most commonly affected area.

What you are describing sounds as if it might be fibromyalgia. Be sure

to ask you rheumatologist about it.

Not an MD

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 3:14 AM, cheryl.dines <cheryl.dines@...> wrote:

> Hi everyone, I have started to get some pain in my back in between my shoulder

blades.  It feels suspiciously like RA pain but I haven't read too much about

pain in this area.  Rubbing the area, the pain is right on the spine.  Can

someone tell me if this is an area that RA attacks?  Thank you for your help

> Cheryl

[Guest guest]

I am having the back pain in the same area. I have no idea what is causing it

but do know that wearing a bra aggravates it. In fact, do any of you ladies

have similar issues with bras and can pint me to a solution? I am not overly

large so this is not a issue where breast reduction would be appropriate. I

think it does have something to do with the arthritis since it really started

happening several months after I had to stop the MTX and all my arthritis got

worse. I have just started ARAVA at a low dose (half dose for a month) and I am

not having any relief as of yet.

in No Va

[Guest guest]

Cheryl,

I have the same pain- in my case, there are degenerated disks in that area.

Then I went to a chiropractor and now I have bulging disks as well. (This was

before I knew about not going to a chiropractor with RA.) I have found that

Flector (I think this is voltaran gel in a patch) works well for the pain- I

cannot take NSAIDS by mouth due to prior problems with ulcers in my small

intestines (caused by NSAID use). Those and hot baths can get you through a bad

patch with those painful vertebrae. They have been painful for me for 8 months,

but it is now a once in a while sort of thing rather than a constant pain.

I am told that this is osteoarthritis though it feels just like RA and is

painful to the touch, which I think is unusual for osteo...

~Marie

[ ] Back pain

Hi everyone, I have started to get some pain in my back in between my shoulder

blades. It feels suspiciously like RA pain but I haven't read too much about

pain in this area. Rubbing the area, the pain is right on the spine. Can someone

tell me if this is an area that RA attacks? Thank you for your help

Cheryl

.

[Guest guest]

Cheryl I have this problem also. It seems that the shoulder muscles start

stiffening a little and then the neck and next I have the soreness between the

shoulder blades. I've used moist heat from the bottom of the neck to the bottom

of the shoulder blades and it helps. When I see the RA doc he will then,

usually, give me a cortisone shot. The shots usually last several months.

I'm lucky because I also have heart problems and was very worried when this

started. But after a while I got to realize the difference. I hope this helps

you.

Tom g

[Guest guest]

I get similar back pain between my shoulder blades. The doc said it could be ra

related but when he took an xray it showed a muscle spasm. It went all up the

top of my shoulders. A good muscle relaxer, physical therapist and massage

therapist helped. It pops up again occasionally. Maybe get an xray to rule out

a spasm? beth

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

[Guest guest]

Cheryl,

My husband has RA and rheumatoid lung. He started having lower back pain and his

rheumy ordered back xrays. The doc called and said they found a compression

fracture in his back. The doc thinks it's caused by prednisone. They are

starting to taper him off. He has been on 20mg for a year. He has to get an MRI

today of his lower back and upper back. I am going with him as he might have to

be sedated.

Lynn in Louisiana, hubby with RA and rheumatoid lung, Sept 2008

>

> Hi everyone, I have started to get some pain in my back in between my shoulder

blades. It feels suspiciously like RA pain but I haven't read too much about

pain in this area. Rubbing the area, the pain is right on the spine. Can

someone tell me if this is an area that RA attacks? Thank you for your help

> Cheryl

>

[Guest guest]

The most trouble with pain and disability since being diagnosed with RA 8-9

yrs. ago has involved my spine. Due to this; I have searched everything

regarding RA and the vertebrae. The cervical spine is the most common area;

however, the lumbar spine and supposedly " rarely " the thoracic spine can also be

involved. It was due to severe involvement of cervical and lumbar vertebrae

that I had to quit working as a Physical Therapist. The main reason all the MD " s

agreed it was from RA was the presence of bone edeama and and facet joint

inflammation( the facet joints are part of the bony support system of the

vertebral column and are synovial joints}. I also have thoracic pain frequently

--some from fibromyalgia; some from RA. The difference is very distinct..

Right now the muscles all along both sides of my spine in the middle of my back

are very tight and burning--typical fibro pain. At other times it is a deep

throbbing or aching that is somewhat

releived if I lie on a flat surface and twist my lower or upper body until I

hear and feel a cracking in my spine. Strange sounding i know--and I wonder if

anyone else has experienced anything like this. Sorry to go on about this ,

but I went thru too many Dr's who have not kept up with current research and

thinking about RA and the spine. I have found recently that Lidoderm patches

help more than Tramadol or Voltaren Gel--at least for me. Louise

[Guest guest]

Bad Back Treatments

Back pain -- it’s not so much a question of if you’ll get it, but when. Four out of five people experience annoying lower back pain at some time in life... and it’s natural to want to do something to fix it. But before you do, know this: The scientific evidence now shows that for lower back pain, waiting it out is just about as effective as more dramatic (and risky) treatments, such as surgery, narcotics and steroids.

Back Attack

Before we go further with this, though, we need to be clear on one point. Back pain that is of sudden onset due to a fall or blow to the back, or accompanied by other symptoms that could indicate a heart attack or other medical emergency requires an immediate trip to the ER. And if you experience back pain and you also have other medical issues (such as cancer or neurological problems), see your doctor to be sure it isn’t a sign that something else is going on.

I was inspired to look into run-of-the-mill back pain when I read a study published in the medical journal Spine, reporting that people with back pain were getting complicated treatments that don’t help and may in fact cause harm... while less than half get a prescription for the safe, effective and simple self-treatment proven to make things better -- which is exercise. I called the study author, Carey, MD, professor of social medicine at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, to ask some questions. Dr. Carey told me that low back pain does not always require tests, such as CT scans or MRIs. Unless you have a history

of cancer, osteoporosis, fever, weight loss (these are sometimes called red-flag symptoms) or current muscle weakness or urinary difficulty, it probably makes sense to wait one month before proceeding with such tests.

Why Tests May Cause Harm

A recent study from Stanford University showed that in regions of the US where there is lots of MRI technology available, there are far more back surgeries -- and also that having an MRI early in the course of back pain not only doesn’t tend to lead to a better outcome, it may actually induce health-care providers to suggest unneeded surgery. Aggressive use of CT scans also can lead to overtreatment, Dr. Carey noted. "These imaging techniques provide wonderful pictures of the anatomy of the back, but the images are only loosely correlated with how the back functions," he said.

Dr. Carey’s advice: Before agreeing to undergo an imaging procedure, discuss with your doctor what next steps are being considered. As Dr. Carey points out, "if the results aren’t going to change treatment, then there’s not a good reason to get the test."

We all know the dangers of narcotic drugs, which are often overused for back pain, Dr. Carey told me. He authored a study (also reported in the journal Spine) that looked at 732 people with chronic low back pain that had lasted longer than three months. Sixty-one percent had been treated with narcotics. "These can have significant side effects and can be habit forming, and there’s very little evidence that they work well to improve patients’ functioning," he added.

What’s a Back Patient To Do?

Meanwhile, only half the respondents in Dr. Carey’s study had been given a prescription for exercise even though there’s strong evidence that engaging in aerobic exercise several times a week helps alleviate back pain. He told me that exercise can be very effective if you take it seriously as a therapy and really do it. "Just as you take a medication at a specific dose, a specific number of times a day, for a specific number of days, exercise also needs to be structured," he explained. If you aren’t particularly fit or haven’t been exercising, Dr. Carey advises walking briskly 10 minutes a day for the first week, then checking with your doctor before extending your workout to 20 and eventually to 30 minutes a day.

Try this: Also good are range of motion exercises for the spine, such as slow rotations. Gradually (over 30 seconds or so) bend from one side through the front and then on to the other side -- then reverse the movement. Do this for five to 10 minutes before aerobic exercise, said Dr. Carey. The stretching and strengthening that yoga offers can be helpful in relieving back pain, too. He said it's best to "get out and get moving," noting that prolonged bed rest is bad for the back and should be avoided. He acknowledged that people with back pain may find exercise increases their discomfort initially, but he urges sticking with it. "You’re not damaging your back, and after a week or two, the pain level will start to

decline," he said.

If you do need a pain reliever, several are effective and safe when taken for a short time. These include acetaminophen (Tylenol)... over-the-counter NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (Advil)... and prescription muscle relaxants, such as cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril), especially if you’re having trouble sleeping. All muscle relaxants tend to be sedating, so be cautious if you’re going to drive, and never combine them with alcohol. (Willow bark is good alternative or Tumeric for anti inflamatory)

You may have an uncomfortable week or two while recovering from benign low back pain but, with patience and conservative treatment, most such back pain improves, notes Dr. Carey. In a small number of cases, the pain doesn’t improve -- and then it may be time for more doctor visits and tests.

Source(s): Carey, MD, MPH, professor of social medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and director of The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, Chapel Hill.

Suzi

List Owner

health

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

[Guest guest]

>

> Bee, I went to buy oregano oil since you suggested mixing it with olive oil

and rubbing it on the pain (from sciatica and pinched nerve). At Whole Foods

they told me there are 2 types--one that's already mixed with oil that is for

skin and the other for internal use (a tincture). On your website, I got the

impression that one was good for everything, so should I buy both and take it

internally for the pain as well as putting it on my body, and if only buy the

one that's already mixed with oil, do I still mix it with more oil and can that

one be taken internally (I was only planning to use it on my skin originally).

+++Hi . The tincture is the not the right kind.

Most oil of oregano has olive oil in it, which is the kind that is diluted 50/50

with extra virgin olive oil in order to apply it to your skin.

Taking it internally doesn't alleviate pain. It sometimes helps alleviate pain

if you sniff on the full strength bottle, getting it up into your head, or put a

little bit of the 50/50 mixture just under your nose so you are sniffing it

more.

You can take White Willow bark capsules for pain; follow the directions on the

label. Also applying heat helps with pain, or soak in a hot Epsom salt bath.

Bee