degenerative disc disease and bone spurs Posted: 06-05-07 12:52pm
I have been having lower back pain for
many, many months and the other day I woke
up and could not get out of bed. I've
been to the docs several times over the
last year and she just gave me pain pills
every time. On Monday, I demanded they do
an x-ray and it seems I have degenerative
disc disease and bone spurs. I asked
them...okay, what do I do now? They said
nothing. There's nothing that can be
done. I asked if I'm supposed to live the
rest of my life not being able to move and
they referred me to a pain management
doctor who would give me epidurals.
I'm still sort of in a state of
astonishment...in this day and age, they
would just totally give up on someone like
me. I'm 55 but except for my back feel
like 35. My mom is 80 yrs. old and still
going like the energizer bunny. I'm just
not ready to lie down and stay down.
Appreciate any and all advice.
I already requested a second opinion and
the pain management doc wants an mri. I
guess my main question is it normal to
just give up on people with this problem?
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lintek
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 50 Location: New York
Posted: 06-20-07 05:20am
dee,
I too was just diagnosed with the same
thing. I think degenaritve joint disease
is the same things as degenerative disk
disease. not sure.
I don't think the medical feild is giving
up on us but they really don't know what
to do for people with arthritis.
scientists and people are in full force
tyring to come up with things and devices
to help treat people with it.
I just read something in the readers
digest on an article about back pain and
the multiple things that they're using to
help people. i found it very interesting.
one person has even put his own money in
doing the research on a device he thinks
will work. it's worked so far but causes
the skin to turn a dark pigmented color.
it's some type of band that stimulates the
back.
at least they're trying right? I was
referred by my family dr to have phsyical
therapy and I can't afford the weekly
fee's for six weeks. the radiologist who
read the report stated and MRI shoudl be
done but my insurance company is denying
coverage without me trying physical
therapy first.
that's usually the first course of action
that drs do.
then they do the MRI, and sometimes they
do surgery, but surgery is not 100%
effective.
so basically, we have to take care of
ourselves and do our own research and do
excersises to strengthen the abdominal
muscles.
I use a heating pad and it really really
works for me. plus I use muscle relaxers
at times, but don't like to take them.
I wonder if I'm going to wind up in a
wheel chair up the road because it's
detoriating at a fast pace.
it hurts especially at night when I'm
trying to sleep. just to turn over from my
right side is excruciating and god forbid
if I fall asleep on my back without
knowing it while I sleep. then I can't
move at all and takes a long time to sit
up to get out of bed.
I'm sorry you're suffering and have no
answers as to what can be done for you.
I hope you get this reply, being you
posted at the beginnning of June and it's
not the 2oth.
good luck and let me know if you find out
anything we can do.
Linda
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Just a lil Krazy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 12 Location: Upstate, NY
Posted: 06-20-07 20:03pm
I'm 26 and also have degenerative disk
disease, along with two hernaited
discs...
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lonestarguy
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 592 Location: , Hoosierland, USA
Thanks: 10
Thanked:1
Posted: 06-24-07 20:10pm
I also have had degen. disc dis. for the
past 7 yrs. and no relief yet. Was on
big-time pain meds for 4 yrs. and am now
trying pain mgmt.
Surgery is not possible so I am suffering
in silence. DDD is similar to arthritis in
the spinal column except the nerves are
usually involved. It's the worst in bed at
night like lintek said so I have to be
careful to sleep on one side or the other
and not on my back.
Life is almost not worth living when you
face chronic pain every day. But you have
to keep trying different approaches
because something might work.
Watch--they'll come up with a cure for
back pain the day after I die!
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lintek
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 50 Location: New York
Posted: 06-27-07 04:49am
Hi everyone,
lonestar, it's so good to hear you have
humor despite the pain you suffer. you
have an exceptional attitude considering
what you go thru everyday.
it is miserable to have to suffer everyday
despite the fact that modern medicine has
answers to almost everything it seems and
they can't cure or stop the pain of
arthritis?????
I wonder.
they say osteoarthritis is the most
debilitating form of arthritis and how it
effects so many people to miss work. yet
they still can't do anything about it.
I thought I was the only one with the
night pain lonestar and see you too have
it and especially falling asleep on our
back.
when I was at work last week and moving
boxes of files to put them back into the
cabinets that were moved from one loction
to another, I thought to myself "how am I
going to do this"? and not suffer the next
3 days for it?
but guess what??? I wound up with NO pain
what so ever in my back.
only the cuts in my cuticles on my fingers
and a scratch I got from the metal cabinet
hurt the next few days and not my back.
so I'm seeing that excerise really does
work. I didn't really give excerise a
chance in my life because i have no time
to make for it.
I work eight hours and come home so
exhausted that the last thing I want to do
is hop on the machine we have and
excersise.
but I'm seeing I have to become more
motivated if I want to at least try to
alleviate the daily pain.
I wish you all the best.
Linda
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lonestarguy
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 592 Location: , Hoosierland, USA
Thanks: 10
Thanked:1
Posted: 06-27-07 10:50am
Lintek...bless you girl for your kind
words. Every little bit of encouragement
helps in this trip down the pain highway.
I have also tried many hours of physical
therapy and few of the exercises worked
for me.
I am glad that stomach strengthening is
helping you because that is the first
thing the dr and PTs tell you to try.
You are wise to stay away from pain meds
and muscle relaxers as long as possible.
They do work but there are so many side
effects and, of course, the dependency can
also be a problem.
One med that might help you is a nerve
pain reliever called Lyrica. It does not
work as well for me but it could be a
non-narcotic answer for you. Remember, few
people, even doctors, have any idea what
type of pain you are feeling. It is
difficult for them to empathize with you
if they've never had this type of
major-league pain.
Let me just say that you were lucky that
you got through the files deal without
incident. That's how I originally hurt my
back in 1990 and then cruised for another
10 yrs before my present back problems
began. I ended up having to go on
long-term disability from work and was
forced to retire early.
Please listen to me. I don't know what
your situation is at work but make sure
that they know you have back problems.
Don't tempt fate and don't do any
unnecessary lifting because you never know
when a nerve might be pinched. If that
happens, you will not be able to walk and
the pain is unbearable.
It happened to me a few times at work and
it was very embarrassing to be wheeled out
in a wheel chair. Chin up, it sounds like
you still have chance to find a pain
specialist who might be able to solve your
problem. There are still epidural nerve
blocks, steroid injections, etc., to try.
At any rate, here's hoping you get help
and don't give up. There are still people
out here in the dark who want you to be
pain free. Please contact me if you need
anything explained because I have had most
procedures.
lsc (rick)
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lintek
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 50 Location: New York
Posted: 06-28-07 06:33am
thanks Rick. which procedures did you find
to be most helpful to you?
I don't think i"m going to go the distance
though.
it's more of a gnawing deep pain and not a
sharp pain all the time.
it hurts sharply for breif instances such
as when I turn abruptly.
the neck part, where the middle of the
back of the neck is seems to be getting
worst. there's always a lump there now,
where it would only become enlarged when I
was under stress. Now it's there all the
time and I can hear the bone crackling
when I turn my neck and it feels like my
neck is going to get stuck permanently in
one positon at times.
I can't imagine having to be wheeled out
in a wheel chair because you get stuck in
a position of excruciating pain. this has
happened to my ex husband. he had to call
the ambulance to get him to the hospital
because he couldn't move.
he too has degenerative disease in his
spine and was told he'd one day wind up in
a wheel chair permanently.
he can barely walk anymore and sits in a
chair all day every day. he refuses to use
a walker or a cane to assist him.
he is on disablity for a couple years now
and he's in his late fifties.
he's 12 yrs. older than me and I'm afraid
to wind up like him.
we thought he had some type of
neurological damage. when his symtoms
first started, his ablilty to sign paper
work or to write anything looked like a
grade school child had written it.
he started walking as if he was
intoxicated and even a person had called
the cops on him when he was at a deli
getting beer a few years ago.
he had been drinking, but not enough to
make it illegal for him to drive.
they treated him so cruelly.
there's nothing they can do for him, so
basically he's given up and will die that
way. he has a miserable attitude towards
life and has no positive attitude what so
ever to fight. I think bitterness only
makes ones life end sooner, don't you?
he's not a fighter like me. I will not
give in and am determined always to try
and change a situation I am faced with.
it just blows my mind to see a person who
one day was so normal and then years later
wind up looking like he's on his death bed
and has lost his sanity.
he used to spray chemicals on trees when
he worked on an estate.
back then they didn't require
certification to be able to handle
chemicals and they didn't have suits or
face masks to protect themselves.
plus he used chemicals on the rose garden
alot too. I wonder now if chemicals have
a play or role in this degenerative
disease?
I want the MRI and I'm not going to stop
complaining till I get one.
it's all up to the insurance companies of
course and the doctors have no say in it
like they used to.
physical therapy is not going to tell us
the amount of damage that's there. I want
to know the extent of it.
did it take you a long time to be able to
get an MRI? and did they too send you for
therapy first?
I wonder if all insurance companies are
the same when it comes to getting
procedures ordered by the doctors?
how long have you been suffering now?
I didn't tell my job that I have a problem
with my back. I wrote it on some paper
work on my orientation when I was first
hired. they ask you if you have any
medical conditions. this was after I was
hired, so had nothing to do whether it
would effect them hiring me.
when you work for a hospital and are going
to be working with the public, they have
to know your medical history.
I don't know the extent of my osteo's, so
there fore can't say to my company that I
can't do anything demanding as far as
lifting things goes.
I was just very very careful and took
things slow. I slid the boxes to the
cabinets rather than lifting them. I took
breaks in the bending position because I
do know that aggrivates my back even
further.
last summer when i was doing a project on
my property for weeding out bushes and
things, I thought I was going to wind up
stuck in a frozen position. I was sore for
many many days and even though my mind
wanted to finish up the job, my body would
simply not allow me to.
I knew then that this was going to be a
problem and that was before i had the xray
to show what I had.
my mom had a bone disease called "gorhams
disease" she had in different bones than
my brother who had it only in his ribs.
he is on pain medicaiton for the rest of
his life and has been on it for many many
years. another name for this bone disease
is called "vanishing bone disease". it's
pretty rare and because of this, my
brother went undiagnosed for many years
while in pain.
it started when he just joined the service
back when he was 18 or 19. he's now 59.
the pain is horrible they say. but his
pain meds work for him. he jsut has to go
off them from time to time because he
builds up a resistance to them. they put
him on something else during those times.
I've written far too much and I apologize
for going to the extreme.
I tend to do this from time to time so
please forgive me. I promise I will keep
things more brief in the future.
I'd be glad to hear more from you if you
have the time.
sincerely,
linda
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lonestarguy
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 592 Location: , Hoosierland, USA
Thanks: 10
Thanked:1
Posted: 06-28-07 11:32am
linda....I don't know where to start.
Maybe we should try a private message
instead of tying up the posts. Just send
me a pm if you want to continue to discuss
the back problems.
