Back Pain Support Group
Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical care. In fact, about 3 in 4 adults will experience back pain during their lifetime! The term back pain includes pain affecting the neck, midback and low back. Acute back pain may begin suddenly with intense pain but typically lasts fewer than three months. Usually, chronic back pain is persistent, steady, and...
Long story...short version.
5 weeks after having a microdiscectomy (sp?) l5/s1, I slipped on some ice & my pain started over again. New MRI (Feb. '10) now shows a annular tear. My Dr. says the only thing they can do for it is a fusion, but that we need to post pone that surgery for as long as possible. With the long recovery period, I have to agree with the postponing. This is not my first surgery, many other heath issues in my past, including a fusion in my neck. Which has caused a lot of debt. So my family & I decided to start paying things off & saving for when I have to have my fusion.
Begining of this month my boss decided he only needed me part time, so I got another part time job to make up the difference. Now I'm working 55+ hours per week & I haven't got my first pay checks yet, but I'm sure its going to be significately less money.
Now that I'm having to sit alot, my back & leg pain is getting worse & I can't take pain meds while at work. So I take them only to be able to sleep, which btw has not been helping as much as I would like, and on the weekends.
I asked for a refill on my Soma meds & my Dr. filled it but with a note that says I have to be seen before another refill. I hate having to rely on the Soma and Lortab10. And especially because I don't want to be a drug addict. I'm always afraid I am becoming one & will stop taking them until I'm at a point where I can't even function at all.
I'm afraid to see the Dr. again & have him tell me that I have to have the surgery, that I can't just keep taking pills. I'm very frustrated & afraid of all that the surgery will include.
My family can't afford for me to not work, but I feel like I'm making my back worse, and speeding up the need for the fusion. I just don't know what to do.
5 weeks after having a microdiscectomy (sp?) l5/s1, I slipped on some ice & my pain started over again. New MRI (Feb. '10) now shows a annular tear. My Dr. says the only thing they can do for it is a fusion, but that we need to post pone that surgery for as long as possible. With the long recovery period, I have to agree with the postponing. This is not my first surgery, many other heath issues in my past, including a fusion in my neck. Which has caused a lot of debt. So my family & I decided to start paying things off & saving for when I have to have my fusion.
Begining of this month my boss decided he only needed me part time, so I got another part time job to make up the difference. Now I'm working 55+ hours per week & I haven't got my first pay checks yet, but I'm sure its going to be significately less money.
Now that I'm having to sit alot, my back & leg pain is getting worse & I can't take pain meds while at work. So I take them only to be able to sleep, which btw has not been helping as much as I would like, and on the weekends.
I asked for a refill on my Soma meds & my Dr. filled it but with a note that says I have to be seen before another refill. I hate having to rely on the Soma and Lortab10. And especially because I don't want to be a drug addict. I'm always afraid I am becoming one & will stop taking them until I'm at a point where I can't even function at all.
I'm afraid to see the Dr. again & have him tell me that I have to have the surgery, that I can't just keep taking pills. I'm very frustrated & afraid of all that the surgery will include.
My family can't afford for me to not work, but I feel like I'm making my back worse, and speeding up the need for the fusion. I just don't know what to do.
Addiction and dependency are two different animals, and those of us that need pain medications to function, we are dependant on them in order to be able to sleep, work, function, we DO NOT take them recreationally, so get that idea out of your mind.....
If your pain management Doctor is like every other PM Doctor that I know, he is going to want to see you monthly in order to give you your scripts, I do that too. Soma is not a schedule II medication, but Lortab is, and he can not write an extended script for the Lortab, he needs to write one every 30 days.
Why can't you take your medications at work? Do they make you sleepy? One thing that you might want to talk to your PM Doctor about is to put you on an extended release medication that does not contain Tylenol. Tylenol has been proven to really damage patients livers, so try to get something that does not contain Tylenol. Extended release medications are better because they give you sustain pain relief for at least 12 hours, that will give you relief while you are at work, and it will help you with your daily pain.
As far as the surgery goes...... Do you have a teaching hospital in your City or close by?? Teaching hospitals will take patients with no insurance or under-insured and will perform surgeries, etc, in order to train the new Doctor's of the World, and they have the brightest minds in their hospitals, so going to a teaching hospital will not only help you because of your financial situation, but it will also put you in a place were state of the art surgeries are performed day in and day out.
PM Doctor's will give you medications as long as needed, if this Doctor that you are currently seeing is not a pain management Doctor, ask him to refer you to one until you have the money to have your surgery, or you find a teaching hospital that can do it for free, which ever comes first. Take care and I hope that you can get your pain under control really soon.
Tipper
Yes the medication can make me sleepy, but mostly it makes my brain foggy. Im currently only seeing my spine surgeon. He has not mentioned sending me to a pain management Dr.
I have some pretty decent health insurance, through my husbands work. Its what is left over after the insurance pays and all of the time off work that scares me. I do believe that Heavenly Father will take care of me & my family regardless of what happens. But I also feel like I need to do everything on my part to help.
With all of the drug seekers out there I feel like if I make any kind of suggestion to my doctor about what medications I should be taking, he will think that I just want the drugs.
Another thing that has been worrying me is the nerve itself. If it is left too long with the disc leakage, will it permanently damage my nerve?
I'm just really frustrated, because I thought when I had my discectomy back in Oct that things would be back to semi normal by now. Guess I shouldn't be too surprised, complications seems to be my middle name when it comes to medical stuff.
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Doctor's know who the drug seekers are, specially if this is a Doctor that's been treating you for a while, he should know that you are a legitimate pain patient and not one that wants drugs, so asking for something else for pain, is not going to make you look like a drug seeker, is just going to let him know that you are under treated right now and that you need help.
Take care and I hope that something can be done for your pain.
I have had 2 friends who have had a lumbar fusion, and so far it has worked out for them both. (One 3 years out from surgery, the other only 7months.)
Thank you so much for listening to me. Sometimes that is all it takes to make a person feel better. Hope you both have a wonderful week.