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My adventure with lower back pain

#1
Magical Realist Offline
It's excruciating. It's sharp and jabbing like a knife and comes and goes in waves. It is only on the left side lower back. I thought: "OMG! A kidney infection or a kidney stone! The pain from kidney stones is compared to giving birth!" So I race over to the ER of the VA Hospital, I do urinalysis and CT scan. and all is well with the kidneys. We conclude muscle strain and they send me home. Next day I'm using heating pads, lidocaine patches, and Tylenol to stop this pain. I can't sleep and can't get it to stop. That night I go back to the ER and they give me ibupropin and gabapentin, a nerve pain reliever usually used for people with shingle/herpes. I take the pills and at last am relieved for like 3 hours. Then the pain comes back. I wake up this morning the pain is a little less and more constant. Took another gabapentin and I'm feeling better. Doc says you can strain a muscle and not even know it at the time. Should take about a week to get better. Thank Goddess! There's light at the end of the tunnel! Be constantly mindful in moving your body. The slightest error in bending or lifting can result in this!
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#2
elte Offline
That reminds me how bad lower back muscle injury can be.  When I was in high school, I was sled riding on icy snow when I slid into a tree.  I couldn't move at all for about ten minutes and was unable to bend my back for a week because of pain.
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#3
C C Offline
Hope you get to feeling better. My mother had chronic, severe back pain that resulted from spinal problems as much as muscle-related ones. She used sodium acetate heating pads back when they were still rare in stores. They released much more heat than electric pads, though that increased the chances of being burned if a thick towel wasn't used as a buffer (occasionally that wasn't enough prevention). A couple of resolute, unwavering days of keeping the pads consistently charged / active and attached to her (in bed, lounge chair, etc) often resulted in the pain ending. For however many months till the next bout.

Ordinary electric pads seemed too weak and timid to be effective for her, as they were designed to avoid burns. Some doctors and especially hospitals feared even using the latter kind for litigation reasons. So I guess she was going rogue in regard to medical advice.
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#4
Magical Realist Offline
(Jun 11, 2016 07:06 PM)C C Wrote: Hope you get to feeling better. My mother had chronic, severe back pain that resulted from spinal problems as much as muscle-related ones. She used sodium acetate heating pads back when they were still rare in stores. They released much more heat than electric pads, though that increased the chances of being burned if a thick towel wasn't used as a buffer (occasionally that wasn't enough prevention). A couple of resolute, unwavering days of keeping the pads consistently charged / active and attached to her (in bed, lounge chair, etc) often resulted in the pain ending. For however many months till the next bout.

Ordinary electric pads seemed too weak and timid to be effective for her, as they were designed to avoid burns. Some doctors and especially hospitals feared even using the latter kind for litigation reasons. So I guess she was going rogue in regard to medical advice.

There's confusion for me as to which is better--heat or cold. So far I've been using these air activated heating pads that just get warm. I'd rather they got hotter, but they last 18 hours. I put an old used one in the freezer and am going to try cold next. Seems heat would be more comfortable. There's also confusion as to what is better: moving around or getting rest. Even the doc said noone really knows for sure. I notice a decrease in pain when I go out to the store and back. When I just sit in my recliner the stabbing pain gets worse and worse til I just get up and walk around. Then I sit again and its like I reset the pain generator. It feels better. Tks for the consolation. I really feel sorry for people with chronic back pain now. What an burdensome and disabling malady to struggle with. Another thing is I don't notice the pain as much when on the computer. Doing things seems a natural anaesthetic, leaving the pain in the background like the birds singing outside you hardly ever notice. I should practice mindfulness on the pain: observing but no longer seeing it as something bad. Doesn't morphine sort of do that: remove the unpleasantness of the pain?
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#5
Magical Realist Offline
just got back from ER..They gave me lidocaine cream and muscle relaxants. Hopefully this will do it. They don't want to see me again there. lol!

Final update: spotted a nasty looking rash in groin and upper thigh area only with no pain or itching. I had read that shingles sometimes presents with lower back pain and rash. So one last trip to the ER and it is confirmed: shingles. I'm on antibioltics now. But I just want the pain to stop. We'll see what happens.
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#6
C C Offline
(Jun 12, 2016 05:55 AM)Magical Realist Wrote: Final update: spotted a nasty looking rash in groin and upper thigh area only with no pain or itching. I had read that shingles sometimes presents with lower back pain and rash. So one last trip to the ER and it is confirmed: shingles. I'm on antibioltics now. But I just want the pain to stop. We'll see what happens.


Ah, I didn't know this had been updated since early Sunday and was starting to get worried. The incredible pain of shingles explains your absence. It's horrible to endure, but it will eventually end. Just hang in there. I can't exactly remember, but it took at least a month for me to approach feeling normal again. The first two weeks were the worst.

EDIT: Woops. You're taking antibiotics, so don't dread it necessarily taking that long for you.

I got shingles in my late teen years. The rash spread around my torso and everytime I had to bend it was like being electrocuted. Being young is probably why I was able stand the pain enough to still move around intermittently to do things on my own.

Shingles have got to be more debilitating when older. So hope you've got somebody around to check in on you or help out. Get well.
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#7
elte Offline
Sorry to hear about the painful shingles yet at least that provides resolution soon once it goes away.  Isn't shingles caused by a virus, the chicken pox one?
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#8
Magical Realist Offline
So nice to hear shingles talked about in a past tense. There is healing then. This morning I wake up with flu like feeling, so I take more antibiotics and keep fighting. One thing I found is that antidepressants reduce shingles pain. Sure enough the pain of the blistering itself hasn't been all that bad maybe because I already take a high doseage of antidepressants. The only thing I'm still worried about is postherpetic neuraligia which is permanent back pain due to the damage caused to the nerve. So far it's better though. Yes elte, this is basically just chickenpox reemerging from your spinal cord after years of dormancy. One forgets how sensitive we are at all times immunity-wise to the emergence of any of dozens viruses or bacteria that constantly lurk in our system. Compromise that system just a little, and BAM! the onslaught of illness is upon you. Tks all for your sharing and concern.
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#9
elte Offline
You're welcome. I'm thinking that some extra vitamin B-12 might provide a bit of extra protection for the nerves. Maybe that and a B-complex. I'd probably watch my blood sugar extra well during the illness and during the recovery since sugar is hard on the nerves.

As virus that seems a bit spooky to me reemerging later on is the cytomegalovirus.
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#10
C C Offline
(Jun 15, 2016 05:48 AM)elte Wrote: Isn't shingles caused by a virus, the chicken pox one?


I must have had a stealthy form of chicken pox, because neither my parents nor I remembered my ever coming down with it. But my dad got shingles at almost the same age. Never thought to ask him if he had suffered chicken pox earlier in life.


(Jun 15, 2016 04:06 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: One thing I found is that antidepressants reduce shingles pain. Sure enough the pain of the blistering itself hasn't been all that bad maybe because I already take a high doseage of antidepressants.


Due to zero medical care, I smeared repeated applications of raw egg white over my rash, letting it dry. It seemed to make that aspect of the pain tolerable, as well gradually diminish the blisters. The establishment probably abhors that and warns it being dangerous for _x reasons, though, so don't attempt it. Especially since you're not in the same fix.

Quote:The only thing I'm still worried about is postherpetic neuraligia which is permanent back pain due to the damage caused to the nerve. So far it's better though.


Yeah, even what little I had available to read about shingles back then had me concerned about some kind of permanent damage. It's possible that I just lucked-out with that as in so many other illnesses and accidents over the years. But I'm taking the POV that it rarely happens and you'll likewise not have any lingering effects. I'm praying for you in a secular way [I guess that amounts to good wishes]. Maybe it'll jiggle the balance of probability in the right direction. Wink
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