Hi Lula,

I'm so sorry you hurting.

I have not been hurting for that long, you are one strong woman

I have been hurting only for 4 months, but it seems like much longer. I'm 42 yo (female)

My pain (sacral/right hip/right inguinal) came on suddenly in October of last year.

Went to Ortho who did an MRI of the L/S spine which was normal.
Went to Chiro for a awhile... Didn't work
Went to Neuro, who sent me for PT. I have gone periodically but in the real world (I'm still working because noone else in my house is), it is impossible to be consistant with going to appointments.
Went to a Spine specialist. He thought it might be coxxydenia and gave me a coxxyx injection. It did not work.
Went back to Spine specialist and he did some bloodwork to rule out rheumatalogic diseases (normal) and I just had a pelvic MRI (don't know the results yet).
I have refused narcotic pain meds (scared of addiction), NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Aleve) don't work, muscle relaxers do not work and Neurotin puts me to sleep (again, gotta work)

I'm going broke trying to find an answer that noone can seem to give me.

I am sitting here in front of the computer today, in pain, near tears, looking for support because I'm scared.
I'm scared that this will be forever
I'm feeling like maybe I'm crazy cause an answer is not being found.
I'm tired of my day is focused around pain.

I would be glad to be your "buddy" on this sight .... We could support each other...
I know you have been living with this for much longer and I hope and pray you find relief soon.

Becky

Hi I sympathise with you both I have lived with low back pain since my teens due to deformed L5/S1 this turned into severe sciatica with foot drop,I am now 48 and have been driven crazy with this pain.

I have done the pain clinic route with no great relief,a recent change in hospital and new spine specialist and all has changed I was offered surgery in Nov 2011 and what a relief this has made to my back pain,only downside is my leg/foot pain is still there although it has improved,I think the longer we leave nerves compressed the longer they will take to heal.I was previously told nothing can be done to help me,it is a case of getting the right specialist I believe.

I tried all types of treatments all to no avail so gave in to surgery and glad I did,I still have a long way to go but I can now see light at the end of the tunnel at last.

I am also waiting for neck surgery so have a few issues.

One thing I have concluded is different specialists read the MRI scans differently so a second opinion is always a good idea. My surgeon who offered me surgery spotted my problem but when he done the surgery it turned out to be far worse than he first thought as a two hour planned operation turned into five hours so my conclusion is not everything shows up with these scans, or he would have known before starting,he came and told me about it while I was waking up after the op.

Lulurocks have you been seen by a spinal/orthopaedic consultant ??? as you have been suffering for so long now.

Good luck with your search for answers and treatment

Des

Des!

I am currently seeing an orthopaedic consultant. I have been since the diagnosis.

They have said that there are a couple of different surgeries they could perform but they don't want to take the risk at my age, 34!
There is no gaurantee that they will work and could leave me worse than i am now. As such they don't want to take the risk just yet as i could be left worse for longer.

If i could find a happy medium between managing the pain and some quality of life i'd be happy to prolong the surgery as long as possible. The idea of it utterly terrifies me!!!

No light at the end of this tunnel just yet!

Hi Lulu X ,

Seems like a lot of us on this site are in the same boat. Pain is horrible, whether 14 minutes or 14 years! I am going on about 6 years now with my battle. Put my "Resume of Pain No Gain" on my profile. Mainly, I am dealing with Cervical DDD, Cervical Dystonia, Chronic pain and all of the "goodies" that come along with it. Last procedure I had was a 2 level ACDF at C5/7 & C6/7 in 2009. Got about 60% pain relief. Slowly but surely pain level has increased back to . Working with Pain Management Dr. Just not ready to consider another surgery, especially on spine (neck). Each of us knows our limits, though. Yes, you will find wonderful friends on this site. Keep us posted or just talk when you need to talk. Sure helps me. Sending you a buddy request. Would love to talk through PM's (Private Messages) so as not to take up board space. Take care and know that your friends are here. God Bless.

Unfortunately, it seems pain and problems at the L5/S1 has become a recurring theme. That's one of my problem areas as well. And, aging probably puts a lot of us in to the degenerative realm as well. From your post though, you seem to have some positive results as some of your injections are helping you for a while. That is fabulous! I alternate a heating pad and an ice bag to try to get some relief. These simple treatments are cheap with no side effects. I had a St. Jude's permanent SCS implanted on 2/2/2012 and I'm dealing with the pain at the wound sites and the leads, but I'm looking forward to getting my SCS programmed and trying to get some relief! I live alone and this pain forum is a real lifesaver sometimes, especially after a long very tough day (my wife lives in another state until her son graduates from HS in June).

I have been struggling with cervical pain and constant headaches for about two years now, I UNDERSTAND where youre coming from. Ive had five differant types of injections, none wworked. I just joined here & still trying to figure out how it work.I KNOW NOW THAT IM NOT ALONE now.I know that when youre hurting you feel so alone.I HAD THE RF done two weeks ago,hoping that it will help some.I pray tou will find relief. Katlyn