Severe lower backache
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hello everyone I'm new to this site and came across it browsing my situation is I've had bad lower backache for the last 5 months the pain is unbearable at times this pain has been constantly I've been taking Co codamol but nothing has helped every tablet I've taking ha's been no good since having very bad lower backache the longer I've had it I've started to get stiffness and pain in my upper back mostly in the center it's worse in the morning and eases off through out the day then comes back on me at night same nights I have pain down my left leg at the front only to my knee and some nights left hip pain this lower back pain has over takingy life I'm 32 and worried about this its been hard to live with day in day out when I sit down and lean forwards I can feel like a heavy pull on the right side of my spine in my lower back it's hard to describe some nights the pain is on the leftrain and others on the right like it changes sides got an mri scan in 2 weeks feeling anxious on what's been coursing this pain for so long any advice or similar story's would be great to here from u hope this gets sorted 😕
0 likes, 9 replies
caitlin46698 eileen_34875
Posted
Mines sort of similar to that except I don't get it in my hip or knee, would be good to hear what it is that's causing it for you, hopefully it gets better!
eileen_34875 caitlin46698
Posted
Hiya caitlin my scan is in the 30th of January I actually have it at 7.30 in the morning so early but can't wait for it to be over with I've never had one before and I'm pretty scared on what to expect I am worried over it thinking why has the pain been there constantly every day since end of September beginning of October time and it's never gone away I will keep you updated on how it goes and let you no how my results go hoping to get my life back on track if it wasn't for me keep going back to see my doctor saying I'm not happy with this situation I woulded be getting an mri they just kept palming me off with different tablets none of them which has helped or eased the pain at all I went with my gut instinked and new I had to get this looked into I will get back to you thanks for replying x
steve722 eileen_34875
Posted
eileen_34875 steve722
Posted
Thank you for your reply I hope so to the pain has been unbearable to live with so eager to get my life back on track and feel normal again well I'm hoping to my mri is one week away scared and anxious just want it over with I've never had an mri hoping it's nothing serious 2 main things I keep asking myself is why has the pain been constant everyday for 5 months and why has no tablets helped ease the pain even strong painkillers this is why I'm worried will give you an update on how I get on 😏
amkoffee eileen_34875
Posted
I'm sure your MRI will show what's going on with your lower back. It will probably show degenerative disc disease which sounds terrible but it's typical for most people. Almost everyone gets it eventually but most people don't have pain with it. It's basically a deterioration of the back due to age. Another thing it might show is a bulging or herniated disc. You can look that up on Google so I won't describe everything. There are several things that could show. Since you're having some pain down your leg it could be sciatica.
Most of the problems that they will find on the MRI can be helped by physical therapy. So I'm going to suggest that you spend some time with a physical therapist and be prepared to do the exercises at home religiously. And plan on spending more than a couple weeks with this physical therapist. Early on it can actually do a world of good. For me I did not do it early enough. But when I started a good course of physical therapy with a great therapist I could barely walk for more than a few minutes. He literally had me just walk around the house for 3 minutes and of course I did some exercises. But once I got used to doing that we up the amount of time and I would start walking around my yard and then of course I extended it to walking around the block and eventually I actually did a 5K walk. I came in last which I'm proud of but I did it. I can't say that it got rid of my pain because I hurt like hell still but I got my flexibility back. And I worked with him for one whole year. That's longer than most people do but I made a commitment to myself.
Good luck on your MRI. Have you ever had one before? Let me know if you haven't I can kind of describe to you what to expect. I've had many and I am very claustrophobic so I've developed a way to get through them without having an absolute hissy fit. LOL
I hope everything goes well for you. Stay healthy
eileen_34875 amkoffee
Posted
Hiya thanks for replying no I've never had an mri before I do suffer with anxiety as well one more week to go and I can't wait to get it over with think I'm more worried about the mri because I'm having a full spine check it says it will take an hour and the thought of lying still for so long on my back as well
I'm hoping I don't need any operation on my back I keep going over and over in my mind it must be something or the pain would have gone bye now the pain is actually coming from my tailbone I think it's my tailbone I can't sit for to long specialy not on a chair I tend to sit on my side then the other it's absolutely horrible and to have 3 kids to look after has been hard hoping I don't have to wait to long after my mri for my results I have gained weight since having this problem because of comfort eating and not being able to be as active before this came in me I had depression for 12 months and I'm wondering if it could be linked we shall see some advice wod be great about what to expect on the mri scan hope it's not to scary I'm trying my best to carry on but I'm gonna find it more harder this week as my scan is getting closer 😏
amkoffee eileen_34875
Posted
I will tell you what I do to get through a MRI. Bring a wash cloth with you to put over your eyes. Then when you get there the first thing you do after laying down is put this over your eyes, this way even if you're tempted to open your eyes you still won't see anything. That way you're able to put your mind on other things without thinking about what's going on around you. Now before you get into that MRI a few suggestions i might make are I ask the technician not to talk to me during the MRI because it interrupts my thought process and I want to stay focused on my thoughts that I'm using to block my mind and I don't want the interruption. The only thing I ask her to do is to tell me when it's almost done. Another thing you need to know about the MRI is that it is loud, it makes a lot of clicks and bangs and all kinds of weird sounds. But don't let that concern you. Another thing is I'm very overweight and I have found most MRIs to be quite tight for me. And this freaks me out. Now what I mean is that my elbows will rub on the side as I go into the machine. I try to keep my arms folded on my chest to avoid this because the feeling is terrifing to me. However my last MRI was a much bigger one and I didn't have that problem. Lastly ask if they have headphones with music. Most will have music playing to offer but the headphones are awesome. They really help to distract you from what's going on. Oh and I can't get over that they told you it would take an hour. I've never had an MRI on my back or my head take an hour, typically it's 20 minutes. They may have said an hour because that would be the whole time you would be at the appointment. You can certainly call the place and confirm that but I just can't imagine you being in that MRI for an hour. And before you go to the appointment come up with some ideas of what you can think about while you're in there. Don't wait till you're in there to try to think of things to think about.
I've had lower back pain for 11 years and I cannot sit on a chair either. So I use cushions. I use the kind of cushions you put on kitchen chairs that you can buy from a department store. And just because you have back pain does not mean you will have to have surgery. As a matter of fact early on I was told by two different doctors of two different specialties that I was not a candidate for surgery. And I think that's actually a good thing because I didn't have to make the decision whether to have surgery or not. Because there's such a high rate of surgery failures in back surgery.
I hope this helps in some way. You can private email me through this site if you want more information. Or of course you can ask them through this thread. Good luck on your adventure. LOL
eileen_34875 amkoffee
Posted
Hiya thanks for all the advice and what to expect will definitely be taking a flannel with me sounds like a good idea to cover the eyes it says on the letter it will take an hour there scanning my whole spin from neck to tailbone it's not the backache that's the worst it is some days and others not someday 's I can't move out bed and can Bearley walk with it it's the stiffness in the middle of me back and the pain that's the worst I didn't have that at first it's only been these last few weeks I think it's immolation & athritis looking forward to getting to the bottom of it if it does only take 20 minutes that would be a bonus 😊
amkoffee eileen_34875
Posted
If they're doing the entire spine from neck to lower back then it may take the whole hour. In my case they only did the lower back. And I've got to warn you it's going to hurt your back to lay on that hard surface for an hour. You might ask your doctor for a muscle relaxer for you to take to help your back feel better while you're laying on that hard surface. It will also help to relax you. But you'll need a driver because most muscle relaxers will make you too tired to drive.