Back Pain Newbie

Brandon79 · 10-18-2003, 02:21 AM

Hello All. Up until this past February, about 8 months ago, I had not experienced one ounce of pain from my back. I should explain that I am 24 years of age and I was watching some tv on the couch. Well, I was sitting in a very odd position for about 2 hours and when I went to get up my lower back felt terrible and it has felt so extrememely painful ever since that moment. I went to a chiropractor and they said one of my legs were longer than the other and they rubbed on my back for a couple of weeks. Well, this did not help at all so I went to a pain specialist. They shot some steroids in my back which made the pain even worse. I then decided to seek some advice from an orthopaedic surgeon and he did all kinds of tests on me. The X-Rays and MRI did not really show anything and he also took an X Ray of my pelvis but nothing serious was found. I should mention that prior to this injury I was in my last year of college partying somewhat frequently, poor eating habits, no exercise, and a heavy smoker. This back injury has changed my life and I have quit smoking, I try to eat right, I stretch my hamstrings every day, and I have been exercising and lifting weights since late April early May. The next thing the doctor wanted done was a discography and CT. The discography supposedly worked since one of my discs leaked out the dye and sent an enormous amount of pain to that area when they performed it. The doctor had told me that one of my discs had begun to wear away and that this was the source of my pain. I don't know the number or anything but it is in my lower back on my right side just above my hips. I am now scheduled for a procedure called IDET and am currently taking some anti inflammatory drug called Bextra, which is just marginally working, and am getting extremely worried because I am currently just starting my career out and my whole life has been changed because of this injury. I can barely sit in a chair long enough to type this message and falling asleep at night is a nightmare every night. I dont have really any leg pains and it is pretty much around that area but the start of the Thoracic?(area above lumbar?) feels so extremely tight along with the incredible sharp pains above my hips and nothing I have been doing seems to be lessening the pain. I guess I was just wondering if anyone has experienced this before or had an IDET and has any suggestions or tips on what got them through it. Sorry that this post was so long too, haha.

Thejude5 · 10-18-2003, 01:15 PM

Look into a drug called Enbrel before you have ANY SURGERY. Believe me I wish I had. Please see my posting at "New Hope For Back Pain" Your condition as you describe it seems like you would definately benefit from an injection of Enbrel. Feel free to ask me any questions about how and why this works.

Brandon79 · 10-18-2003, 04:50 PM

thank you. I am very new to all of this and I have never heard of Enbrel but I will mention this to my doctor and hope it works.

Tomorrow · 10-18-2003, 05:09 PM

Hello

Brandon,

Welcome to the Healthboards. I am very sorry to hear of all the pain that you are experiencing. First I want to start by saying that it seems as if all chiro's tell their patient's that one leg in longer than the other, or one hip is higher than the other. They have you stand a certain way before taking the x-ray so they get these results and then they do indeed have a patient that needs care. Although some people do find pain relief from chiro care I just would not trust them or their methods of treatment.

I had also tried Bextra and it did not work for me. Have you told your doctor that this med is not working and maybe he will write a script and try another medication. Before agreeing to surgery you should research and become very familiar with the pro's and cons of the surgery. Plus it is always good to get a second opinion. I think that it is great that you found these boards and I am sure someone who has had the IDET will come along and reply. I myself have not had this type of surgery, so I cannot help you their, sorry.

Again, welcome to the boards and I wish you the best of luck in finding pain relief.

Take Care

------------------
Cervical MRI 10/02
Loss of cervical lordosis with reversal of the curvature.
C4-5 and C6-7 disc bulges resulting in flattening of the ventral margin of the cord.
C5-6 there is a left foraminal herniation which results in moderate foraminal stenosis In addition, there is flattening of the ventral margin of the cord due to bulging disc.
Cervical Epidural 5/19/03

Lumbar MRI 10/02
Lumbar Lordosis
L5-S1 disc herniation with moderate thecal sac deformity.
L4-5 disc desiccation with bulge which results in mild thecal sac deformity and mild bilateral foraminal stenosis.
L2-3 disc desiccation with Schmorl’s nodule of L3.
Lumbar Epidural 1/30/03
Lumbar Epidural 2/12/03
Lumbar Epidural 2/26/03
Lumbar Discogram 5/23/03
Lumbar CatScan 5/23/03
Posterior Fusion & Infuse with Laminectomy on L4,L5,S1 6/30/03
Instrumentation = 2 Rods 6 Screws & Disc Spacers
Lumbar X-Ray 7/24/03
Lumbar X-Ray 8/27/03
Still no pain relief....
Lumbar CT Scan 9/24/03

Brandon79 · 10-18-2003, 05:55 PM

Thanks for the advice Tomorrow. So far I have tried Darvacets, Vicadin, Ultracet, Celebrex, Indocin, and a couple others that I can not recall right now but basically everything that I have tried just barely works. I could notice the pain pills working a little better but the pain is still too extreme to handle. I wish I had found this site a couple of months ago though because this looks like some very useful information. Thanks!