i have had chronic back pains for about 7-8 months now. I have had mri’s and nothing is found. It is constant every single day very severe it controls my life its all i think about. I have been to physical therapy and to the chiropractor and nothing helps its the same thing every day. My legs hurt mildly(compare to walking all day) all day also. I occasionally take advil/motrin and i does absolutly nothing. I really never see comfort in my life and the only thing i have found to work is oxycodone/other opiate pain killers how ever i will not get perscribed them.
#1 by Mary K on February 25, 2010 - 2:21 am
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I wish you had put your age in your question. It makes a big difference. I have suffered with chronic back pain all my life. I am 53 now. I have been through the whole gambit of cure all, including surgery and pain management. Now, at 53, my biggest problem is arthritis. Even if you are young, you can still have arthritis. There is nothing that is actually safe to take on the market right now. Of course, doctors will tell you different. But if you are your own health advocate, you will have done a lot of research and will know what I know. Back pain can’t really be diagnosed unless it is so bad that it can be seen in an x ray, cat scan, etc.. By that time, it’s really too late to stop it from getting any worse. Basically, you have to live with a certain amount of pain for the rest of your life. I have done all the opiates and patches you can think of. You not only still have back pain, but the opiates really do a number of your well being. I am a great believer in Excedrin. I use it for just about everything. It really works for me. But, I do take between 6-8 caplets a day. And yes, they can make your stomach bleed if you have an ulcer. But what it comes down to is the lesser of two evils.
Also, I know your gonna say WHAT. But if your the least little bit depressed about something or stressed, those feelings will go to the weakest part of your body. Like your back. Maybe you might like to talk to your doctor about an antidepressant. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Pain and depression go hand-in-hand. Hope you feel better or at least find a way to cope with your problem.
#2 by Anonymous on February 25, 2010 - 6:35 am
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I’ve got the same issue. And I’ve done what you’ve done.
I also have been doing back stretching exercised AND (believe it or not) self hypnosis – pain management through meditation. It actually has helped. Go to iTunes – there are numerous free podcasts to get you started on meditation to alleviate pain.
Good luck!
#3 by Violet V on February 25, 2010 - 9:15 am
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If you are in or near a larger city there should be a pain clinic, that is their specialty. You might want to check into accupuncture as well.
#4 by squeakyw on February 25, 2010 - 9:17 am
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If you’ve got insurance, keep looking for the cause. Mine was first diagnosed as arthitis and degenerative disc disease, triggering debilitating muscle spasms. Physical therapy, chiropractor, accupuncture did nothing to relieve it. Continued testing included a neurologist and urologists, several series of x-rays and MRIS and consultations with several orthopedic specialists. None saw anything more than that and said I’d have to live with it, and prescribed muscle relaxants and opiates in relatively small doses. Somewhat effective, but the pain persisted. Had trigger point injections for the spasms but these provided only short-term relief. Added epidural steroid shots and facet joint injections but with relief. Found a pain management specialist who spent 90 minutes with me going over the MRI films and located multiple old microfractures in several vertebrae and a rib that had healed with bone spurs that were somehow invisible to the other dozen MDs who read the MRI report and just glanced at the films. He tried zapping the nerves with RF rhizotomy (2 treatments-16 nerves) but didn’t help. So now I’m in pain management program with increased meds that allow me to function relatively pain-free. Fortunately I’ve got very good insurance that fed their money mill. Just wish I’d seen that last doc first and not wasted 12 years running from one to another while suffering needlessly.
I’m reading too many stories of doctors who don’t make the effor to study a problem and properly diagnose it, instead just churning out office visites to dispense a few pills and prescribe physical therapy to feed a monster medical business machine. But how many doctors will spend an hour and a half with you studying a set of films. Not many I bet.