jenl2881
08-14-2005, 03:10 PM
This post is concerning my mother, who is a 55 year-old RN with chronic backpain, and who weights 230 lbs (5'3"). She sees a chiropractor once a week, and this pain has been progressing for quite some time.
It started out as just a numbness in her right leg and foot, and then she started having cramps in her legs at night (VERY painful). She started wearing her shoes and socks to bed, as well as closing off the AC vent in her room.
A while back she recieved a shot in the nerve in the back of her thigh (cyatic [i'm unable to spell it, but that's what it sounds like]) and was told not to see a chiropractor for a while. She, stubbornly, went anyway and has been getting worse. She thought walking more would help, but it only makes it worse and sitting is excruciating.
Recently she had her mold rotted bathroom gutted out (she thought maybe the mold was making her sic) and it was done in a very poor fashion. Her room was covered in a powder, which she cleaned up, but she still has some sinus problems. The mold was not Toxic, thank heavens.
Her idea is that she is overweight, and this is causing the pain, or that she has a bone spur located near the nerve. I'm very worried about her :( she is in so much pain she knocks herself out at night with pain killers and alcohol(she would be mad if she knew i told you this). I don't want her to die, but she tells me it hurts so much she would almost rather have a bullet to the head.
PLEASE help her :(
It started out as just a numbness in her right leg and foot, and then she started having cramps in her legs at night (VERY painful). She started wearing her shoes and socks to bed, as well as closing off the AC vent in her room.
A while back she recieved a shot in the nerve in the back of her thigh (cyatic [i'm unable to spell it, but that's what it sounds like]) and was told not to see a chiropractor for a while. She, stubbornly, went anyway and has been getting worse. She thought walking more would help, but it only makes it worse and sitting is excruciating.
Recently she had her mold rotted bathroom gutted out (she thought maybe the mold was making her sic) and it was done in a very poor fashion. Her room was covered in a powder, which she cleaned up, but she still has some sinus problems. The mold was not Toxic, thank heavens.
Her idea is that she is overweight, and this is causing the pain, or that she has a bone spur located near the nerve. I'm very worried about her :( she is in so much pain she knocks herself out at night with pain killers and alcohol(she would be mad if she knew i told you this). I don't want her to die, but she tells me it hurts so much she would almost rather have a bullet to the head.
PLEASE help her :(
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gardenandcats
08-14-2005, 04:02 PM
Sounds like it maybe coming from a disk problem in her back. has she had a MRI done on her spine? That would be the 1st step see a orthopedic doctor and see is its coming from a disk problem.
Kari7171
08-14-2005, 06:18 PM
I agree it does sound like a disc problem. It can also be a bone spur. Either way it's pushing on her sciatic nerve that runs all the way down her leg. I know the pain she is feeling very well. Tell her not to go to a chiropractor anymore. My small disc protrusion turned into a large herniation with severe nerve compression. If it is running down her leg like that it sounds like the nerve is being compressed pretty badly. Have her go to an orthopedic spine specialist. I was so bad 4 months ago because of Mine I seriously could not walk to the bathroom without help. I had to have surgery but they have new modern minimally invasive procedures now that you can recover from very quickly. Her weight could make the pain worse but I am only 125 lbs and 5"7" and I was in severe pain. So it's not always a weight issue. She needs to have an MRI done so they can see the damage that has been done and figure out what to do to fix it. By the way I am pain free now. I can walk for miles and never have any pain. So there is hope and help out there. Just no more chiropractors. It obviously is making her worse. They will say they can help and mine did too but after going to him once and then the next day I could hardly walk was enough evidence to the contrary to me. Wish her luck.
jenl2881
08-15-2005, 01:52 AM
i gave her the message, thank you! Hope she listens as she is VERY stubborn.
feelbad
08-15-2005, 09:30 AM
She definitely should not be mixing any sort of painkillers with alcohol,for many reasons but the biggest here really would be the direct damage to her liver and kidneys when mixing tylenol with alcohol.and as a nurse, I am sure she is very much aware that she should not be doing this to herself.She also is way overdue for an MRI to really find the source of her pain problem.She is not doing herself any favors here by trying to treat this herself.i hope she will seek the right help soon.FB
Kari7171
08-15-2005, 12:46 PM
When I was in pain I never mixed alcohol and pain killers but there were times I would just have alcohol and it does seem to numb the pain for the moment and then the next day it's worse then it was before. Alcohol inflames the nerve. I avoided alcohol for 4 months completely to try to heal. I had some about 3 weeks after my surgery and I was not on pain killers anymore and the next day after just 3 drinks my foot hurt really bad. My foot was bad also by the way it was numb and painful. So she may think the alcohol helps but it causes more pain actually from my experience. I don't know if you could tell here this since if you did she would know you had mentioned the alcohol and pain killers thing. Maybe you could just bring it up by saying I mentioned it by coincidence. You are in a tough spot though. It's hard to make someone do something if they don't want to. If she wants the pain to go away though she needs to see a spine specialist.