Re: excruciating back pain

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

About 7 years ago I woke up one morning with excruciating back pain on

my right side and thought I had a broken hip. I began searching for a

doc to check this out. Long story short, I had a herniated disk (not

due to CMT) and when a disk is herniated, not only is it painfull but

it sends out a substance into the body which only intensifies the pain.

After all the conservative measures (rest, physical therapy,

medications, epidural steroid injections, etc.,) I had a lumbar fusion

at L4 and L5 that was very successfull.

I'm sure your orthopedist can give you some answers after looking at

your MRI.

Gretchen

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the hope Gretchen. I hate to think what my life would be like this

with this pain everday. I hope the orthopedist can give me some anwers and I am

going to a topnotch doc who performed the same thing(you had done) to my friend.

She said it really helped her after suffering with her back for a year.

[Guest guest]

Gretchen, Would a herniated disc show up on a MRI?

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Yes, a herniated disc will show up on an MRI, that's how I finally

found out what the exact problem was.

Gretchen

[Guest guest]

Amy,

I agree about the pain meds. I don't like being on them either, but I can't

perform my job in pain. I do have pain also in my arm, sometimes in one or

both, but it doesn't compare with the pain in my back. It also seems that when

my arm is hurting, my back doesn't, and vice versa. Very strange.

Currently, the most Tramadol I take in a day is 2 doses. My neuro told me the

most I can take in a day is 4 doses. So, I haven't maxed out the dosage as of

yet. My neuro told me to take a Tramadol w/2 tylenol first thing in the

a.m.(which is about 5a.m). If the pain worsens at work, I take another dose

w/tylenol about 9:30a.m. That will usually hold me until the late evening.

Then I can lie down and go to bed. I take Lyrica before going to bed. I

started taking that when my back got bad. I also take Wellbutrin,

Amitryptiline, Prevacid, and of course, the Tramadol. I do not like being on

all of these meds. I went off the Amitryptiline all this summer, but really

felt I couldn't manage w/out it so I started taking it again.

I'm a little weary about mixing the Citicoline with all this prescription stuff.

I also take Ginseng to help with my energy level. My wife is concerned about

mixing all of this and she is real good to call our pharmacist and check, but we

know that prescription meds and supplements aren't tested in combination.

I can stand the arm pain without meds if I could get rid of the back pain.

[Guest guest]

Gretchen,

My MRI didn't show anything significant except some degeneration in L-3 and L-4

vertebrae. The radiologist (a family friend) felt like it wasn't enough that it

would require surgery, or enough that it would be causing me all this pain.

Hopefully, the orthopedist can figure something out on Wed. of this next week.

Thanks.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

You may want to consider nortriptyline in place of amitriptyline. I

switched because of side effects.

Just a thought.

[Guest guest]

,

My MRI sounds similar:

mild diffuse desiccation of L1-2 and L2-3

mild hypertrophic facet degeneration of L4-5 and L5-S1

Translation - Your back is not in bad shape but why did my back, butt

and hips cause me pain? Go to an expert Physical Therapist who has

been trained in Sacum Dysfunction or a Osteopath who is an expert in

maniplation.

My problem was " Backward Sacral Torsion - RST on LOA " this is chronic strucural

hip low back dysfunction. I was nearly disabled at 42yrs old!

The great news .... I am close to normal and disability is a distant memory.

Prolotherapy treatments have treated me(15 treatments and still counting)-

along with gait correction( I wear AFOs 70%of time).

So the good news for me was I am healthy except for CMT and once you

get with the right experts ligments and tendons can be fixed.

Good Luck