Severe back pain

Thanks for your advice Jane. I frequently suffer from lower back pain but normally soldier on with co codamol. This time however was unbearable and have been barely able to make the journey to the bathroom and back to bed. Doctor prescribed me the tramadol and a short course of diazepam to try and bring the pain under control. He said to top up with the paracetamol if required. I think the throats infection has come on due to being run down...lack of sleep due to the back pain and the nurse advised to take ibuprofen and paracetamol as too early to give antibiotic. I'm having a disasterous time at the moment and wondered if anyone has been in the same position.

Again....thanks for replying. Appreciate it

Perhaps you need to change surgery!!

Neurophen can damage your kidneys and also cause bleding in your somach.

​Personally I would see a physio for an asessment on your back. If you take ibupriofen you are increasing the risks you are already taking. I would stop the medicattion and go to a physsio who may suggest alernative therapies such as exercises, infra red treatment, tens machine to control or minimise the back pain as much as possible. Taking all these pain killers is my opinion is not the answer as it is not dealing with the root of the problem.

​Have you injured your back ?

 

I haven't that I can remember but I do recall 3 years ago feeling a pop in the base of my back and being unable to straighten myself. I took some paracetamol and put deep heat on and worked on as couldn't take off. Since then it comes and goes. But this time was the worst.

Hi I emphasize with you as I have suffered with chronic back pain since slipping in the rain many moons ago.  I get attacks like this and the last one was around 4 months ago.  For about 2 weeks I was bent double and the pain was awful.  Unfortunately I couldn't get to the doctors as I could,  like you,  barely walk to the toilet and back. 

I didn't bother going to the doctors when I could coz they always dismiss it with 'It's just a sympton of ageing,  do exercises'  etc.  I have been  prescribed 15mgs of cocodomal but even doubling this up doesn't help with even the normal pain let alone anything worse.

I have been told that the best treatment is very gentle exercise and plenty of rest.  Also hot and cold alternatively is supposed to help too,  though I have never tried this (due to not being able to stand up long enough to do it!   If I lived with someone I would have done all sorts of things to help.

I hope you can get this sorted as back pain is horrible.  Take care x

i think advice from lethal god for alternative pain relief would benefit  you, certainly if you're considering self medicating along with prescribed drugs. please ask your doctor before doing this. i know someone on 8 50mg tramadol a day got oramorph added and now still in pain, obviously their gp is now reluctant to keep prescribing this as 2 week supply then ran out in 1 week. opiates play mind tricks with you,beware. i wish you a better future jane i really do.

frank I think your msg was sent to me by mistake instead of to lethalgod!!

Jane

xxx

Hi Frank

​Just to clarify. I was prescribed co codamol for a dislocated shoulder. ANyway I got side effects on a very small dose. Ten days after going CT

I would rather have the pain than go thru withdrawal again. Even a tiny dose causes serious problems as I found out four months ago. Never again. Hope you feel better.

hello jane. yes i was prescribed co codamol in my 20s when going through period of prolapsed discs and trapped nerves, i can say it helped keep me in work. i can't remember problems with withdrawal, guess i got lucky. all the best.

hi Frank

I was advised by a friend who has similar back problems that a device called a spinal cord stimulator has helped him cope with the severe pain. This is available under the NHS . All the best.

Take care

hello jane. no i'v not heard of that, i will enquire though thanks for the tip.        live long and prosper.

is that the same as a tens machine??

Do you know if Gabapentin and pregablin work if you take it now and then rather than regularly? I'm asking about another question I was asked the other day not about this question.

You have to take it regularly, i used to take it three times day. I was on 1800mg of gabapentin, and eventually swapped after a few years to pregabalin 100mgx3 daily, .....be careful it all I would say, In my experience it was like a magic bullett ( amazing stuff ) for first 6-12 months, the first 3 months side effects were a bit grim but I stuck it out I was in so much pain.....it was at about a year in I noticed side effects affecting my memory, short term, inability to remeber what I was talking about half way through a sentence etc .....i fely like I was suffering from alzheimers ! and 2 years after weaning myself off it still do, although less than when I was taking it.

I don't know if it's available in the UK but I get a lot of help from the muscle relaxer called Tizanidine. That is the generic term. It is also called Zanaflex in the US. It does make it impossible to function on but it is an excellent muscle relaxer when you're in bad shape. So I typically take baclofen during the day and Tizanidine at bedtime or if I'm in really bad shape I'll take that in the daytime and then lie down and sleep.

Yes I have used Zanaflex and had good results. After my last nerve root block injection a year ago I was doing better so my MD discontinued my RX. It's been an adjustment for me because I took it at night and it would help me rest better. By the end of the day my back is nothing but spams. I feel it's time for me to request another Rx because I'm having a terrible spell that is depriving me of sleep. It's not unusual for me to not fall asleep until 5-7am and once I fall asleep I only sleep 3 hours due to the pain waking me.

I'm experiencing so much guilt and embarrassment because my family don't really understand how bad the pain is when I have these spells. I'm laying around using my heat pad, irritable, unable to perform my household duties or wifely duties. I have been told I'm now suffering with severe depression... I seldom leave my house because I hurt so much. How do you help them understand? My husband is good to help but I know he is growing tired of eating takeout. I'm so frustrated, angry, and exhausted from the PAIN!!! How do I find a way to stop it controlling my everyday life??? Any suggestions?

I don't have any suggestions. If I did I would be a billionaire. LOL But that's where support sites matter. So do therapists. No one can suffer chronic pain without suffering from depression. And so antidepressants are a typical med in the chronic pain person's arsonal. But you also need a place to vent on a daily bases. And I think I already gave you a place to go. I wasn't kidding about that. It has helped me immensly. Much more then this site. I actually mostly use this site for another disease I have called PMR. A very painful disease. Please consider joining the group I told you about. Or at least a pain group on Facebook. They are all so full of caring people. You can get on there and complain all you want without upsetting anyone. You can get ideas on how to handle meds, or how someone handles doing a chore. There are sometimes discussions between women regarding their "wifely" duties. If you are interested send me an email and I will give you my name on the site so you can find me. Take care of yourself. There are lots of us out there with the same problems you and I deal with.

hello. suggest you log on to NHS CHOICES, its proffesional help, its helped me navigate 60 years of spinal problems and pain. go on you might just get lucky.

opiates increase pain and spasms. Best to wean off them and try natural remedies .