Back pain

[Danlos166]

I had severe sciatica 7 years ago. I had a discectomy but am still in constant pain still. I was prescribed morphine naproxen and codine. Have been taking these about 6 years now. I was also diagnosed with fibromyalgia this summer and was prescribed duloxetine. This has helped with the burning in arms and legs. I have now had an appointment with the pain clinic. They want to increase naproxen and duloxetine. And eventually cut out the morphine. They said morphine could be making my pain worse. I know it definitely helps especially first thing in the morning. I know my back is getting worse. I can hardly do anything around the house now. Everything is an effort. I know it’s my back that is worse not my fibromyalgia. I just wanted some advice if anyone else had a discectomy and did not recover as expected. I’m just scared that stopping the morphine will mean I won’t be able to manage anymore. I am also waiting for a response from pip. Sorry for the long post

[Hzhr7]

Hi Danlos166 , I can relate to your pain. I had sciatic 7 years ago and had an operation to decompress 7 prolapsed discs . Here I am and still on Buphrenorphine patches and Oramorph for the pain. I was also diagnosed with Fibromyalgia last year and tried various medications which didn't help at all. Have been attending pain management clinic but and have tried to reduce medication with bad results, pain increased dramatically and could hardly get out of bed . Only you know how morphine helps your pain, explain to your doctor . Hope it goes well xx

[Danlos166 in reply to Hzhr7]

Thank you for replying. I guess I can try and see how it goes 😀

[Hzhr7 in reply to Danlos166]

Forgot to mention that my husband had a prolapsed disc , cow fell on him whilst milking, he couldn't walk for 2 weeks but was operated on , 12 years ago and hasn't taken a painkiller for his back since.Hope this helps xx

[Bubba48 in reply to Hzhr7]

Try Lyrica.

[Hzhr7 in reply to Bubba48]

Never worked for me unfortunately, tried most things , but pain management and buprenorphine seem to be the best for me x

[Hidden]

Hi

You could try nortriptyline, zomorph, and oramorph. Please take care of yourself Lynne

[Painny]

Hello Friend

I have both sciatica and Fibromyalgia plus other conditions.

At present I do not take any medications because the side effects proved to be worse than the symptoms I have. I cut down on gluten and some of the foods I am allergic to.

Even with medications the pain won’t go away so I have restricted myself to physio and going to self help groups. Also forcing myself to walk. Sometimes medication is not a solution to the problems we have. Please try other remedies.

Hope one day a miracle happen and we all have a pain free day 💐🎄🌹

Take care of yourself and don’t let chemicals to rule our lives 😍🙋‍♀️🤛

[Lizabeth1368]

Hi do you get bad groin pain x

[Bella6]

Hi I don’t have what you have I have spinal stenosis herniated discs I know the pain well I went to pain management they don’t do narcotics I am waiting to try CBD oil but insurance does not pay for it also aquatic therapy all other things failed me with pain I hope you feel better soon will say prayers

[Tommyj1954 in reply to Bella6]

Surgery helped me

[Bella6 in reply to Tommyj1954]

I am not candidate for surgery surgeon said too many problems wishes ng you a Merry Christmas

[Tommyj1954 in reply to Bella6]

Ok Thank you

[secondhandrose2]

Although morphine kills pain I think it is also a relaxant and that doesn't always help with back pain and can in fact increase it as the back needs muscle tone for support so relaxed muscles is not good. My physio recommended I came off all other meds and just stay on Duloxetine but increase the dose , I did that - slowly of course- and then reduced the Duloxetine until now I am on a very low dose which seems to prevent the muscle spasms from fibro. I do still get some back pain especially at night, also sciatica at times, but try to do without meds for those and only take co-codamol or similar if the pain is very bad and I need to walk any distance.

[hosbay]

Hi Danlos166, I am 77 years old and I had a severe sciatic event 5 years ago after a cervical one the year before and discitis infection a year before that. After the sciatic incident I had all kinds of medication including Tramadol injection, Diclofenac, Cocodamol, Morphine Sulphate, Amytriptiline, Diazapan and Gabapentin. I also had cortisone injections and caudal infusion. For a long time the sciatic pain was intense and none of the medication or procedures seemed to help. I did, however, find that the side effects of the medication made me feel much worse (including impairment of cognitive functions) so I gradually reduced then stopped all medication. I also had an exploratory/decompression operation in my lower lumbar but this did not help. I replaced my medication regime with a combination of exercises, walking, cycling, mindfulness and relaxion techniques plus occasional rest and avoidance of activities which exacerbated my condition. I am not pain-free but I find that I can manage my condition such that pain levels are of much less intensity and duration and I am now leading a reasonably normal life. I still have the 3 damaged areas in my spine and associated nerves but my regime allows me to compensate for them. I now regard pain as my constant companion. He is not a companion I would have chosen to have but I find I am able to keep him under control now and he serves to warn me when I am doing things which will make my pain worse.

[Flossy61 in reply to hosbay]

Hi , can you tell me how long it took you to stop pain meds and what exercises you ,how an average day pans out for you . I am booked for a decompression, but not certain I want it . I've had and done all the usual ,I do go to the gym to do cycle and core work . I was managing but 2 rear end car accidents this year have totally blown that . I've had constant chronic pain for ten years and cannot walk up right without increasing pain. Any help would be appreciated

[Danlos166 in reply to Flossy61]

Hi. I haven’t stopped my pain meds yet. The pain clinic have said it will take a year to get the morphine from my system. I’m still deciding what to do as least i have some life while I’m on it. They have said increase naproxen instead but I don’t know if this will work as well. A friend of mine also had a discectomy and she is totally fine. I guess I was just unlucky. Hope this helps 😀

[hosbay in reply to Flossy61]

Hi Flossy

Sounds like you were probably progressing on the right path since you say you have been exercising, etc but then you had 2 rear end car accidents. I do not know your situation/condition (your original post is hidden) but I would imagine the rear end shunts caused whiplash injury which is usually in the top area of the spine .

You have asked me to tell you some more about my "journey" so I will try to give you more information. Remember, however that everyone is different in terms of age, defects, physiology, attitude, behaviour, etc.

The first medication I stopped a few years ago was morphine sulphate, then I stopped gabapentin about 4 years ago after being on high dosage for about two and a half months (I found the gabapentin severely interfered with my awareness and memory and made me very irritable). I continued taking diclofenac and cocodamol on a fairly regular/routine basis. Apart from the very early extreme episodes of upper cervical then lower lumbar spinal trauma I regularly exercised once a day and tried to walk and/or cycle for at least 20 minutes every day or two. I knew that muscle strength deteriorates very quickly and is essential to keep an imperfect spine and other parts of the body properly aligned and functional. During this time I still had quite strong pain from damaged tissue and nerves and I was unable to tell really if the anti-inflammatory and opioid medications were making any difference. I then had and exploratory/decompression operation (L4/L5/S1) about two and a half years ago which, on reflection, made no difference to my lumbar spinal defect pain but which set me back due to post-operation recovery time.

Shortly after this I decided to try to reduce my remaining medication as much as possible and stopped taking any about a year and a half ago. By then I had learned quite a lot about physiology, defects, neuropathic pain and control and moderating factors.

I consciously embarked on a strategy of moderate exercise, mindfulness, stress avoidance, pacing, avoidance and occasional rest and I found that my pain levels reduced gradually over a period of a few weeks.

It was a gradual process and I still have pain from my defects but generally I find I am almost totally pain free first thing in the morning and, very occasionally, it will stay like that the whole day but normally it will increase as the day goes on depending on what I have been doing. It normally is at its highest level after around 5 or 6pm but at this level it is still tolerable (say level 5 or 6 out of 10) but I find if I rest for 30 or so minutes it reduces to much lower levels.

My exercise regime is by no means rigorous. I simply spend about 20 minutes a day with a combination of simple loosening, stretching, strengthening and relaxing exercises like rotating arms, bending forwards, backwards and sideways, moving legs and trunk whilst lying on my back, resting torso against a door then pushing it up and down using my legs and the some very simple Tai Chi moves to improve coordination, balance and mindfulness, etc. I try to walk at least once a day for at least 20 minutes and cycle for the same time every day or two. During the day I frequently take time to take stock of my condition and behaviour in an effort to avoid anxiety and stress, plan my activities and avoid any activities which will exacerbate my condition.

I know this has been a bit long-winded but I think it is important to convey to you that individual conditions, circumstances and defects are different but changes can make big differences if they become regular habits. The improvements will undoubtedly probably be gradual but persistence can eventually be substantial.

Hope this is helpful and feel free to ask me anything else.

If you explain your condition and circumstances it can help me understand better. You can do this by private message if you want.

[Flossy61 in reply to hosbay]

HI Hosbay and thank you for that..its a bit like comparing notes , we know our situations and we respond are different but hearing someone else's view can sometimes help.

Like yourself I have spinal stenosis lumbar and cervical , arthritis hands fingers toes and spondylothesis. Mine was sadly set off after a fall at work 10 years ago,went from walking at least 7 miles a day ,gym 3-4 days a week to barely being able to walk . I'd got myself to managing and improving my mobility in the last couple of years ,then these accidents I now have pain both legs ,bottom etc and severe neck upper back. Anyway I like to try and add new moves to my tiny arsenal ,I try to ensure I never have a total rest day,but some days require a little more than others . Apart from the longer walking and outdoor cycling oh and taichi ,my stretches,core,weight work is similar to yours .

I would like to run down the meds though

[Hidden]

Have you imaging to see what is going on in your spine now?

[Danlos166 in reply to Hidden]

Do you mean mri ? I asked for one of those. The doctor said no unfortunately

[Hidden in reply to Danlos166]

I have always believed that you need to know what you are treating to know how to treat it! An MRI would give you that information. Keep pressing.

[Danlos166 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you your right of course but it all comes down to money but I will ask again

[Hidden in reply to Danlos166]

I wish you well and am sure that thought goes for everyone here who has to manage their own long-term health problems - and often fight to get a good result.

[Tommyj1954 in reply to Danlos166]

Yes push for mri

[Davek723]

Hi there I took mst morphine for 10yrs. Also topped up with liquid, I was taking lots.

I decided to try life without it, I was still having lots of pain no matter how much I took.

So after stopping which took over 12 months,

I still have pain I still have flair ups but i can cope better mentally as I'm not all full of brain fog.

I understand my condition better and can control things like pacing distraction etc much better. I can also work my self management much better, which it sounds like your struggling with. I can work on planning not over doing it, doing things differently and now I have a better quality of life.

It's taken alot of hard work and big life changes

But life is so much better.

Try and get to a good self management course and learn some techniques they really do work.

I got so much from self management I ended up becoming a volunteer tutor about 4 yrs ago.

So rewarding.

My life is so so different from before i have accepted it won't be the same as before but that I can still contribute to life and do other new things. One important thing is learning to say no sometimes, I found this difficult , but people around are more supportive than you believe they will be. Most understand if you communicate your situation correctly.

Hope I've helped

Take care dave

[Danlos166 in reply to Davek723]

Hi Dave. When you reduced your medication how did you manage to do anything? Like now i find hoovering very painful. I take some medication and wait for it to work then do what I can. I’m still in pain just not as much. When I first get up and pain meds have worn off over night I can’t even bend down. I’m just really scared of not coping.

[Davek723 in reply to Danlos166]

Hi not saying you should stop your meds , that would be something to discuss with your doctor.

Just I found lots of triggers for my pain I was unaware of, biggest example for me is stress, which leads to anxiety then to sore muscles and so on. So it wasn't initially the pain that was the problem, so i worked on stopping things developing from the stress.

So if you go to bed stressed dont sleep properly or well this could be a trigger.

So dealing with these may help.

Self management is all about stripping things all the way back .

A good example is a person I met who said Im fine all day but sitting down causes me pain.

So we looked at her day and she would Hoover clean polish etc etc for 6 hours , then because her pain kicked in when she sat down

She linked sitting to her pain.

The real thing is she was totally over doing it.

Once she started pacing using base lines she realised this.

Hope this kind off makes sense.

Cheers dave

[Davek723 in reply to Danlos166]

Hi again, I get a bit flimsy on replies lol and sometimes lots of things pop in my head after I reply lol.

Looking at your post mentioning hoovering.

I had a person say to me once you wouldn't step in front of a moving car because you know it would hurt, yet many of us with chronic pain will Hoover which causes pain ,

This is where asking for help comes in, yes it's always difficult to ask but like I said earlier if you can learn to explain or communicate people will defo help and understand.

We should never do things that cause us more pain. And also although we think others should know we need help they usually don't as they have their own things going on. So never assume because we usually don't tell people whats wrong, so there is a chance they may have issues you are unaware of.

What is worse , asking for help or making yourself ill or immobile for days over a bit of hoovering or dusting, these are not massively important things in the grand scheme of things.

Good luck all the very best

Dave

[hosbay]

Sound advice from Davek723.

It is possible to manage your condition better and move from a condition of high pain, medication and bad side effects to one of lower medication (or zero) lower pain and less side effects from medication but you have to be patient, determined and focussed with a plan and goals. Little steps can eventually make a big difference if you incorporate mindfulness, exercise, rest and relaxation whilst listening to your body as the pain/medication "fog" slowly dissipates.

Unfortunately everyone's condition, circumstances and capabilities are different so there is not "one size fits all"

Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions which you feel might help you if you decide to follow this path.

[Danlos166 in reply to hosbay]

Thank you 😊

[Alanjones]

Hi Danlos, I know exactly what you are going through, regarding the burning in your legs, they told me it was ''nerve damage'' and prescribed me ''Pregabalin''. I am on a large dose 250mg twice daily, but the important part is that it worked for me. Hope this helps and my Best Wishes to you for the future.

[Danlos166 in reply to Alanjones]

Hi yes the surgeon prescribed that for me. It didn’t help but taking duloxetine now and that is working for me. 😀

[Danlos166]

Yes thank you