Lower back pain

I have been suffering from lower back pain for several months now which mostly occurs when laying down in bed at night or sitting. I went to the GP and the doctor ordered a routine blood test to look for inflammation and it showed I have an iron deficiency but the pain in the back has obviously not been resolved. Taking painkillers is doing nothing and the pain has been getting worse and I can barely move on the bed to get comfy and am waking up due to it. Is there anything I can do?

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  • Did you get a ferritin test? I'm in similar situation- lower back pain (OA) iron deficient but very high ferritin ( which could be due to the Inflamation ) I'll be getting an ESR to determine that aspect when I return to the dr.

    I have been offered an epidural for the back pain- not sure about going with that - but options seem limited.

    Hope that gives you some pointers.

    Cheers.

  • I'm not sure they did a Ferritin test I'm certain it was just a full blood count which showed my red blood cells are lower than the usual range for my age range. I've booked a doctors appointment for tomorrow because this past week its been getting worse where my partner has had to slowly move me to get my comfortable as I couldn't bare to move myself with the pain. So I will mention that to the Doctor tomorrow. Thank you :)

  • Check out the signs of inflammatory back pain on this website:

    nass.co.uk/about-as/getting...

    If you think you tick all or most of the boxes for it, then go back to your GP, make sure they understand it is not injury related and ask if you can be referred to a rheumatologist to be screened for inflammatory back pain. You could also ask for a trial of prescription strength NSAIDs - if they give you any relief, then that is another indicator that it might be inflammatory back pain.

    If you don't tick sufficient boxes for it to be inflammatory back pain, then ask for a physio referral.

  • Some of the symptoms match but it was more of a sudden onset pain and has continued and I think I said above that anti inflammatorys don't work. They previous Doctor suggested Physio but when I move with the pain it becomes more severe I understand physio would work after a while depending on what the pain actually is but if it is going to cause more distress to me then I'd like to avoid it if that makes sense.

  • Check your vitamin D blood level caitscase12, especially if you already had an iron deficiency, if you have one deficiency chances are you could have more, they often go hand in hand. My lower back pain and other symptoms resolved almost overnight once on my own safe dose of vitamin D3 vitamindcouncil.com for up to date safe doses and a vitamin D deficiency chart which differs from NHS charts.

  • See a McTimony chiropractor. You can get a second opinion which would be useful. If you have a muscle micro-cramp problem then the the chiropractor should help reduce this.

    Hope this helps.

  • If you find out anything that can help you please share, I have the same problems with my back and hips, but I don't have an iron deficiency. Take Care

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