This is The 3rd time my back has seized up completely.i can hardly move, walk etc.the pain is intense and debdebilitating and I'm at my wits end . I've had an mri scan which showed wear and tear and a nerve being slightly touched causing pains down legs.i live with back ache daily but have adapted life around it, but this time it seized up,2 days ago, it came from no where . I'm bedbound with my poor husband doing everything. I'm on cocodomol, naproxen and diazepam just for a week to help with spasms . I'm so depressed and would love to know there is someone who can identify with me and have any ideas how to cope better with all this.
Hello Nixxy,
I can identify with you as I have suffered back pain due to osteoarthritis for 19 years since the age of 40. I also get spasms and it Is very debilitating. I take Naproxen and also take Gaperpentin and Nefopam for other arthritis I have had since the age of 11. Coedine helps me sleep at night. As like yourself I have adapted my life stlye around my pain and disability, thou I am In pain most of the time. I do find that gentle exercise such as stretching the spine helps. I lie on my bed and bring my knees up till I can feel the bottom of my spine stretch. Also lie on your front and with your hands on the bed pull yourself up from the shoulders till your spine Is stretched and your almost half way up off the bed. Do this when your spineal spasms ease. I live alone so I have to carry on as usual.
Hope this helps.
Elizabeth.
Hello Nixxy, I am so sorry to hear how badly you are suffering. I depend very heavily on gabapentin. It's brilliant. I have had serious bad problems for over 20 years and found osteopathy very helpful, but I'm lucky enough to live within striking distance of the British School of Osteopathy where I could get treatment very cheaply. There might be a school near you. I recently had a spinal injection which has worked second time around. Good luck, hang in there
D
Thank you for your reply. I'm 47 years old and have no idea how I would cope without my husband.we have a labrador who beeds twice daily walks and there is no way I could even put on a pair of shoes!so, I have great respect for you being on your own.
when you get spasms does it leave you completely bed bound?
Thankyou for your reply.i have never heard of gabapentin, but will now research it . Thank goodness for an ipad whilst confined to bed.i have tried various physios but just makes it worse.
I look to the future with sheer dread, at 47 is this how the rest of my life is going to be.
Hi Nixxy...I can totally sympathize with you...it really is AWFUL isn't it.....but I can reassure you that it will get less and less painful over time....take all the medication that you need...also try a warm hot water bottle ....or....wheat bag on your back and leg...and very importantly, try not to get too stressed it will tighten up your muscles and cause more pain...just think if it was your husband...you would pamper him also...try to read a book, watch a film even try sketching to take more mind of the pain....
I spent nearly two weeks in hospital when a disc in my lower back ruptured one one side...and then on the other also...I really thought that I would never walk again..but now I only have minor problems such as lack of feeling ( I was offered an operation but turned it down become the consultant surgeon said that he could not guarantee success....I also have a bulging disc and osteoarthritis of the spine....but with pain control.....pregabalin......tramadol....co. codamol ......sertraline.....and heat pads I now manage very, well....I garden and do pretty much everything I used to do...
So please just try to hang on my lovely ....relax and never forget ...it really will get better with time....chin up ...and keep thinking positive....I send you big, big hugs my lovely .... take care of yourself and others.....Deirdre xxxx
There is also Lyrica.
I do know and I do sympathise with you. I have had a wretched back since 1959 after a road traffic accident and it has been giving me the run around for all those years. Up until now I have had to, like you, live on pain killers in bed whenever it chose to lock, but last November following a fall it really went to town and I am getting no relief at all. Cannot sleep, sit or stand for any time. Yesterday I had two MRI scans on lower back and pelvis, but can hardly move again this morning and another sleepless night. I cannot take muscle relaxants as they knock me out and I have to be on the ball to look after my husband who has Alzheimer's and of course, little sympathy.
i f you can do a few simple exercises like cat stretches and rolling both knees from side to side that may help. I am relying on a Tens machine used daily to get me through.
Good luck and don't give up. Perhaps it is time to ask to see another consultant?
Hi Derek, I hope that you are well young man...just a quick note...LYRICA AND PREGABALIN...ARE THE SAME DRUGS.....
Nixxy, have you been referred to the pain clinic ?. I went many times and had injections on my lower back..( six either side and also a spinal block in my cocyx....I also attended a group by BARTS HOSPITAL IN CONJUNCTION WITH WARWICK UNIVERSITY... it was to find new ways to aid pain relief....we learnt how to use distraction !! Very useful....exercise ....meditation...and just talking to others in the same situation.....it was a PILOT STUDY...and it is now used in hospitals...ask your DR to refer you to a pain clinic and or a physiotherapist ...all these options help greatly....once again, take care my lovely..also all the others on this forum ...big hugs to you all....Deirdre xxx
Thank you Derek, I'll research this medication as well.
Thank you Deirdre for your kind words and you're absolutely right that keeping positive is the key to getting through this.
perhaps when some of this pain has subsided, I will be able to think more positively.
Many thanks for your reply Jenny, the word "locked" that you used is exactly how my back feels.its completely locked.
my heart goes out to you and your troubles but I appreciate you taking the time to answer me and once I can eventually move again, I'll try your exercises.
As soon as I get mobile again, if ever, I'm making an appointment with my gp about a pain clinic.no professional has ever suggested it.so thank you.
Not so much the Young Man please! I'm 81 but actually only part of me is.
I was recently in hospital and the night nurse I had been talking to who had just come on duty came out of the office with my notes. I've just been reading them she said, 'Are you really 80?.I hope that I look like you when I'm that age.
I'm so new to those drugs that I have not taken any yet as the write ups scare the s**t out of me. I see that Lyrica is the expensive version of Pregabalin/Gabapentin..
My back problem is relatively new and I just recently privately had a CT scan after months of a neurologist looking for obscure genetic reasons for numbness in my feet that I kept on saying came from my lower back.
Hi Nixxy; yes, I, too, know how you are feeling...........this has happened to me twice over the last couple of months (and yes, it just happened that I was here on my own, too, as hubby was away working).....it did scare me a bit as I thought "what the hell am I going to do?".....started with the Hot-packs to warm up the muscles, took 2 Brufen and a valium, and lay down....this went on for a couple of days, treating the same way.......and then it just disappeared to.....but re-occurred about a month later.(I do, too, have Osteo plus other probs)......I feel that by having cut back on my Physio/massages as I was thinking that I was ok, this in fact was the reason that the muxcles seized up.....so it has been back to physio on a regular basis again (every 3 weeks approx).......they have given me gentle exercises to do, to keep the strength in back....this one is quite easy ......"lay front down of floor/bed and lay arms by side, with palm uppermost, and stretching them down longways....as if trying to reach your toes...keeping shoulders flat on bed and breathing normally...then raise your hands approx 1 inch or so off the bed and hold for about the count of 10....then relax.....do this about 4-5 times.".......you will definately feel the lower back muscles tighten, which will strengthen them......hopefully neither of us have to go through that experience again.....good luck...........Bron
Hi Nixxy. Dianne here again. I would add a word of caution re exercising. Your condition may feel exactly like Jenny's but what works for her may not be right for you. I would suggest an assessment by a physiotherapist or osteopath before you attempt any exercise. I have just finished a course of physio which I enjoyed much, to my surprise. I rate osteopathy very highly they sorted out the hideously painful spasms I used to get and which left me bedridden for days. Please keep us informed on the treatment which helps you most when you can get treatment.
D
Dear Nixxy
Your symptoms sound remarkably similar to what I experienced.
Have a look at my previous posts. It might be very helpful.
The reason (going by my experiences) for the bouts of seizing up and intense pain is that you may have an infection/cyst in your back, around the spine or in the main muscles, that becomes ruptured. Maybe by leaning back onto a low backed chair or lifting something. The infection in the cyst then spreads through the
muscle and around the spine and nerve strings that run through channels in the muscles causing intense pain, refered pain running down hip and thigh, locked up
spine and possibly abdomen pain. Do you experience sudden intense pain at about
3.30 in the night or half way through your normal sleep?
If this sounds familiar, then you may have a yeast/candida/fungal infection.
A safe way to get clues to your ailment would be to make an evenning meal with lots of coconut (1 can of coconut milk (75% coconut minimum)) Chilly con carne works well. I know it sounds a bit bonkers, but the coconut acts as a lubricant for joints and seems to ease the movement of the nerve strings through the channels, thus easing the refered pain (sciatic like pain). The coconut also has antifungal properties.
What I'm trying to say is that If you notice a big difference then it gives you a big clue as to the cause.
The drug that I CAUTIOUSLY used to really get rid of the infection is capsule fluconazole plus coconut.
Hope this helps
I have read good reports on coconut oil for various conditions. Have you used it?
Yes. Read my previous discussion. "Mycotic Arthiritis" There's a big difference between coconut oil and whole coconut.
Note to Nixxy - Maybe not a whole can of the coconut milk. Half is enough.
I wish I could be of some help but I don't have this type of problem. My back doesn't seize up but there are times when I can hardly move my legs to walk. Lots of times I just slide my feet. So sorry wish I could have had some type of advice for you. I know how debilitating back pain is as I have been living with it for years. Have had numerous MRI's and cat scans, wish someone would give me some other ideas besides the numerous drugs and visits to the pain clinic. Anyways good luck, hope someone can point you in the right direction.