HIP OR SPINE - CAN'T COPE MUCH LONGER
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hi, I've posted in the THR forum quite a bit because my GP told me my hip xray showed a narrowing of space around the joint one side plus a bone spur. I had been going to see her quite a bit because the pain in my groin was increasing at an alarming rate and so she sent me for a hip xray.
However, the pain has now spread to the other leg - both thighs are excruciatingly painful and I've still got awful pain in right groin. I found out yesterday I could no longer walk!! 
I'd been using a mobility scooter to get around but tried walking a few yards to put it in the garage and guess what? I couldn't even do that. That was the very first time I realised just how the pain level in both thighs had increased so quickly at an alarming rate. Now my GP believes the pain is coming from my SPINE!! - I've had lower back problems for years and years - but I believed my GP when she said the xray report of my hip showed I might well need a THR.
I was prescribed Morphine patches 5 mg 2 weeks ago but they're not touching the pain. I've now been prescribed 10 mg. I'm also taking Naproxen and paracetamol. Last night I didn't even drop off. The pain was a 10. I spent a lot of the night crying. Tonight I'm going to take a sleeping tablet because the pain only eases up when I sit, not when I lie down.
My GP has ordered another MRI. I'm so scared in case it's a tumour. I've never ever had pain like this. It was so frightening to find myself being totally unable to walk. Sitting isn't a problem, but the moment I go to stand, OWWWWWWWWWWW.
I'm going to try and upload my MRI results taken 18 months ago. Also a physio referal from 2014 when I'd been having walking difficulties with pain in my LEFT leg. (I'd forgotten about this. I've had so much pain now in my right leg I'd forgotten the previous years of pain in my left).
Do you think, looking at the MRI of 2015, that my excruciating pain could be spine-related? I'm sorry to have written such a lot but my pain has suddenly gone up to such a high level I can't even walk now. And I'm so scared.
Thank you for any advice. I know you're not doctors on here but I'm praying there's someone who understands my pain level.
Many thanks if you can reply,
Sarah
0 likes, 12 replies
sarah22500
Posted
allaroundanne sarah22500
Posted
I am a retired MD who did pain management, I can try to explain your MRI to you. BTW, it is a doozy, no wonder you are having such leg pains. That big word, sponylolisthesis simply means that the big bones surrounding your spinal cord, the vertebrate have slipped on each other and this can cause pinching of nerves as they try to emerge from the spinal cord to get out. You have and awful lot of disc protrusions. The discs are like the pillows between vertebrates, they provide cushioning in the system so that if you go jumping rope, all those forces aren't harshly transferred to your delicate nervous system. Your vertebrate are joined to each other by joints called facet joints, these are all arthritic on your MRI. Also, your protruding discs are blocking the nerves as they go by the facet joints too making the nerves that supply sensation to the facet joints all irritated too. Finally, your spine is kind of screwy in several dimensions, you have scoliosis, so it bends too far sideways and you have too much lordosis so it bends too much in the forwards/backwards plane. All of this leads to lots of ways to pinch nerves coming and going. I can easily see how what's going on in your spine could refer pain down into your groin and hip. I'd get a separate xray of your hips to make sure there is disease in there before replacing them! I'd also get a referral to a pain management doc and a rehab doc so you can get started on some conservative therapy like physical therapy and some appropriate pain management medications, also talk about a course of nerve blocks before you do any kind of surgery. Always see if you can get away with conservative therapy before any surgery is my motto. But, with your level of pain, you definitely need to be seen by more than a GP, you need a PM doc who will pescribe opiods and other PM drugs like gabapentin etc. You have a very complicated back. I wish you luck, this will take some hard work to feel better.
sarah22500 allaroundanne
Posted
allaroundanne sarah22500
Posted
caroline79096 sarah22500
Posted
Oh dear certainly sounds like your spine. I had the same DiD lesson in time. But rest and either heat or cold whatever helps. It's scary but sounds like they are on it.
My spines screwed but over time the bones grown where my discs were. So less pain just stiff.....
Mri should show the problem. But if in agony keep asking for better pain control. I find amitriptyline is brilliant helps me sleep. Along with zomorph etc etc..... Good luck x
caroline79096 sarah22500
Posted
Oh dear certainly sounds like your spine. I had the same DiD lesson in time. But rest and either heat or cold whatever helps. It's scary but sounds like they are on it.
My spines screwed but over time the bones grown where my discs were. So less pain just stiff.....
Mri should show the problem. But if in agony keep asking for better pain control. I find amitriptyline is brilliant helps me sleep. Along with zomorph etc etc..... Good luck x
janice150172 sarah22500
Posted
CHICO_MARX sarah22500
Posted
Been there. Severe sciatica through your hip and butt, then down the leg. Had some of these caused by "trauma" (falling on my hip playing hockey without pads); they were quickly fixed (in like 10 seconds) by a chiropractor. Some sciatica can also come from hip misalignment or locked SI joints in the hip causing the pinched nerve. Again, chiropractic can fix this in a few weeks of sessions.
However, one time was not hip related but was caused by a bone spur at L4/L5 literally "crushing" (doc's wording) the sciatic nerve root. MRI was inconclusive so the neurosurgeon went in and found the spur. Quick laminectomy with decompression and I was back to normal in a matter of days...all pain gone.
Then last October, I developed sciatica down BOTH legs. This was caused by spinal stenosis at L2/L3 (above my L3-S1 fusion). Had the operation to fix this last Friday (3/24). Stenosis completely gone, just handling the temporary post-op pain. Go to YouTube and search for "Globus RISE-L". You'll see an animation of the device implant that now saves people from complete fusions, when applicable.
So, for you, the first task is to find the source of your pain. If it's simple alignment or a pinched nerve, then a chiropractor can be useful. If it's actually spine related (bone spur, stenosis, etc.), then it can only be fixed by a neurosurgeon. Being on opioid painkillers does not solve the problem...
sarah22500 CHICO_MARX
Posted
Thanks but I don't have pain down the back of my legs or in butt. It's all down the front of my thighs and now in my knees as well. I don't have sciatica. Did you not read my MRI results? Thanks for your input though, sorry you have been in a lot of pain too
Laura3333 sarah22500
Posted
You have three bulging discs, one or more is pressing on your sciatic nerve by the sound of your letter.
You need an MRI to find out exactly where the nerve pressure is.
Sciatic pain can be excruciating, if your Dr thought it was anything more serious, you would have been fast tracked through the system.
Take sleeping tablets, if you have them, and use heat - hot water bottle or heat pad, it will help relax the muscles.
I hope you get some sleep tonight, even if it's in an armchair.
sarah22500 Laura3333
Posted
Thank you for that Laura but I don't have sciatica, my pain is down the FRONT of my thighs and in my knees now. I might be wrong but I think it's the femoral nerve that's affected, not the sciatic nerve as the femoral nerve goes down the front of thighs. Like I said I might be wrong though.......
Laura3333 sarah22500
Posted
Sarah, Look up a condition called meralgia paraesthetica, it's a condition that involves the lateral cutaneous nerve that originates in the back and runs down through your groin where it can get trapped. It generally causes pain down the side of the thigh, but can be down the front. It's a sensory nerve and causes numbness that can go down to your knees,,also causes sharp severe painful stabbing pains when downward pressure is put on it ,standing walking etc. It's made worse by being overweight.
I have had this for years and it can come from your back or can be trapped in your groin as it passes through.
I had injections,which didn't help, the only way is surgery to release it in you groin, but was told that can cause more problems.
it's not all that common, and difficult to deal with, the nerve pain is the worst thing. One test for you to try. If you can dig your hand in your groin,many sort of lift you lower tummy up and out, if the pain eases your taking pressure of that nerve,,that more or less proves what it is.
I have DDD, so similar back issues, have lived with this, trying to manage it for many years.