I have a history of low back pain with sciatic pain on the left side. I had an L5 S1 Laminectomy last January and seem to have been pain free for almost a year. That is up to 3 weeks ago. I have been in agonising pain ever since. There were a couple days where the pain was so intense I had to stay in bed. I am at least able to get up but not fast sudden movements. Its hard to do anything and I have 2 toddlers age 2 and 3. I had an MRI and Dr said I have osteoarthritis there and sees nothing elses so he determined thats what is causing the pain. I am confused because i didnt think arthritis hurt so bad you cant move. Mind you I am only 26 years old. Does anyone else have these severe pains with their arthritis?

I've had OA since I was 10, I'm now 40 and yes Arthritis can hurt so bad you can not even walk or move if it is bone on bone contact. I've had several hip replacements because the pain was so severe and the joint so deteriorated with the last one at age 27.

OMG! This is terrible pain. I am surprised it can cause so much intense pain. Is there a way to help the pain? How have you lived with it? Do you have any advice for me so i can try and live a normal life?

Hi everyone... I too have OA / DDD and noticed that the less active that I am, the more pain I am in... I have fairly mild DDD in three discs, and one of them has a small tear, but it still causes stiffness, and also, it isnt just the osteoarthritis part that hurts, but if you have degenerative disc disease, then the disc leaks and the leaking fluid causes inflammation, which is swelling, which can cause nerve pain, and also causes muscle spasms, which causes even more nerve pain, and so on.. So, it may not just be the arthritis part, but the oa is just part of the entire snowball effect..

I read a book called THE ARTHRITIS CURE and they recommend "glucosamine with condroitin plus msm" which is a natural substance.. However, it must be accompanied by the correct excercise.... A good analogy is a rusty, squeeky hing on your car that has not been used.. You spray some grease on it, and then you need to move it back and forth until it moves smoothly... Well, the glucosamine is the grease, and excercise is the "back and forth" which lubricates the joints... I swear by excercise.. At first, it was nearly impossible to move, but did it on the floor laying down (leg lifts, pelvic tilts) and moved up to bike and eliptical and light lifting weights... It took over 4 months to get there...

How bad did your dr say your OA was? Was there any mention of tears or cracking? Also, did your MRI mention facet joints? They too can cause pain (research on Facet Syndrome )

Get better!

Maurice

He never really said exactly how bad it is. I know when looking at the MRI you can clearly see that the part of spine facing my spinal cord, that right at L4 and L5 that the bone looks very jagged and there is spaces between the bones where it has erroded away. All I know is today my pain is so intense I cant cough w/o excrutiating pain. If I could just get past this hump and not be in as much pain then I could do gentle stretching. I have tried to stretch sitting down but the muscle just pulls and aggravated the pain immensly. Also when I am able to take the pain pills if they decide to work I do gentle stretches and walking but right now I just cant move. I am walking like an old woman who talks like a sailor, lol.

Hi! I'm sorry you are having so much pain...I understand how you feel. I have arthritis in the facet joints at L4-L5. I go through periods when the pain is REALLY bad, and then sometimes it is not so bad. For me the weather makes a big difference too. I use ice and tens machine on the muscles around the area-you might ask your doctor about this. Unfortunately, resting my back as much as I can is the main thing that flares it down-then I can get back to the stretches/exercises. I know how hard it is with young children-I have four kids-the youngest are 2 and 4. My best advice is to have them climb everywhere they can-into the car seat, into the highchair, etc. I bought tall stools so they can climb onto the potty. One morning I spread out a big towel on the floor, and put out their playdough/art stuff, while I supervised from the couch. You do what you have to. Good luck-you might ask your doctor about facet joint injections-those have helped me. Kera