Severe back pain only when lying down

Hi Guys,

I have been having the same back pain as yours for A YEAR. It started last summer. I went to a doctor. She asked me to do all kind of postures so I spent around 45 minutes in her room. It was also obvious that she did not have a clue at ALL.  She said I had the typical back pain that everyone had. She gave me painkillers and hot packs. The pain was gone for  a while but it came back and I started to suspect that there was something really wrong with my back. 

So today, I went to a different doctor. After telling him all the symptoms, he asked me to stand up. He pat on my backbone two times, stood behind me and observed my body for 15 seconds, then he said "You got an S shape backbone, it means that you have a bad posture since you were a kid. Starting from now, you need to sleep on the floor everyday. The pain will be awful for the first three days but it will get better through time. It is the only way to get you better besides surgery. ". HE ONLY TOOK 30 SECONDS TO TELL WHAT IS REALLY WRONG WITH ME AND HE DID NOT NEED XRAY.

He did not advise me to do the surgery because I am young so my bone is still flexible. He also subscribed me some pills that I need to take few times a day.

You guys might have a different problem. BUT THE POINT HERE IS, IF YOUR DOCTOR DOESNT KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, IT MEANS THAT HE IS STUPID, GO TO A DIFFERENT DOCTOR.

 

You need to find a reputable orthopedic surgeon, back specialist, who will start with a good set of X-rays and follow up with an MRI, then listen carefully to your symptoms, then recommend a reasonable course of treatment, not an extended sleep on the floor. Good luck, Rebecca!

 

I had this problem and finally figured out what it was -- now it's totally gone. A little history... I had this problem for about 2 years. It would wake me up in the night and I'd have to sit up in bed to get any relief.  It used to be just when I was lying down but then it got steadily worse and worse until it was starting to give me terrible pain when I was walking too. I'd have to sit down to make it feel better. I went to my GP who offered meds, which totally didn't work. Then my Dr. sent me for an ultrasound (because the pain was starting to feel like it was throbbing in my lower abdomen) and they found nothing. Out of desperation I went to a chiropractor  (I was sure he was a total quack -- but like I said, I was desperate). He cracked my back a couple of times a week, for a couple of weeks, and I still didn't have much improvement. BUT THEN the chiropractor says he thinks it's my hamstring muscles. What?!! I told him: "Absolutely, no way this has anything to do with my hamstring muscles. It's my BACK not my Legs!"  But, according to him, the hamstring muscles get tight as you age and they are so much bigger than your back muscles that, at night, they pull and pull your back muscles, for hours, and it jacks them up. Anyway he was insistent that I do stretches several times a day for 20 min. each time, to stretch out my hamstrings. I was totally 100% sure his diagnosis was absolute nonsense, but I had nothing to lose, so I did it.  And It ABSOLUTELY worked. After about a week the pain was totally gone. Totally. And the pain is still gone – as long as I keep doing the stretches, because if I forget, the pain at night comes back. But basically it is all better: I don't take any meds and I don't go to the chiropractor either (he solved my problem but I don't see any reason to keep getting my back cracked.)   Nobody was more surprised than me.  You can find tons of hamstring stretching exercises online -- do the ones that don't put stress on your back ( do the lying down ones) and if it works for you, pass on the info to others and ask that they do the same. The more people who get well and don't have to take meds the better. Hope this helps! 

I have the pain too, i feel pains when i lie on my back, my own extends to the waist region, and it weakens my legs too. Doctors i have been seeing haven't giving any right solution. This have been long too.

Hi Rebecca204; I to have been experiencing the same pain for some years now.until the other day I had to go to the ER they took xrays and diagnose me with a pinch nerve and gave me a bunch of anti-inflammatory steroids meds and referred me too an orthopaedic well he looked at my crazy and said I had arthritis in my spine and neck and wanted to do physical therapy but I'm only off work one day of the week and that would defeat the purpose so I asked why an MRI haven't been done after going back and forth and me getting extremely upset he finally agreed. My pain is so severe I hate bed time and I forgot to mention that the pain is starting to be in my hip area mostly on the right side and I'm up going to the bathroom urinating also.So I will keep you informed on my results.

This might sound lame but you should try stretching your hamstring muscles. I had terrible "night-only" back pain for a couple of years. It got progressively worse until it was no longer just at night and it was getting hard to walk. I had xrays and ultrasounds, etc.. nothing. A chiropractor told me to do 20 minutes of hamstring stretches, three times a day. I thought he was crazy, but I was desperate, so I did it. After about a week, my back was SO much better and eventually totally fine. Today, no pain. At all. Hope this helps! Good luck. 

Rebecca204 , I have the same symptoms , did you ever find out the cause? Karen12034

No idea. I wonder if it is arthritis?

Rebecca, insist on an MRI. I experienced this pain for 5 months and kept pushing the doctors. I knew this pain was not something any one could live with and certainly meant something was not right.  Its too intense, too severe.  There are a few classic signs that you have, which I didnt know until after they finally, FINALLY figured out what was going on.  The waking up in severe pain, the being ok, during the day when you are upright, the pain gets worse during rest.  If your doctor won't order an MRI, go see a neurologist!.  Mine turned out to be a spinal tumor.  You can google the signs of spinal tumor and see if you fit that critieria.  Funny thing is, 6 weeks, before, I was finally diagnosed with an MRI, I googled my symptoms, spinal tumor came up, and i thought, "I Dont have a tumor!". WRONG!  All very classic signs!

Hi Rebecca

I have had the same symptoms as yours for months now and been suffering from lower back pain for years. The difference now is that lying down or sitting for long time is very painful. In the past back pain occurred in cycles and after osteopath treatments got better and so on. This time it feels as if it's inflammation. I am about to do blood test and want to get scan too. But in the meantime after long research, I have started taking turmeric an di devil's claw in tincture. It's been only a week and the pain has almost gone. I still can't believe that I can sleep without waking up in pain and I can move much better. I also trying a diet without carbs or at least I am soaking grains and legumes before consumption to get rid of phytic acid which cause inflammation. Gentle yoga stretch and deep breathing is helping a lot too!

I would highly reccomend you try turmeric and devil's claw, it's doing wonders to me and finally I don't have to take harmful painkillers and rubbing ointments or using heat patches. Inflammation is reducing drastically in only 5 days.

If you are interested can tell you more about dosage etc.

All the best

Kat