I have lived with pain for so long now. It started when I was about 28 and it has been steadily getting worse over the years.
I an now 63 and have had this neck /Back pain for 5 years of my life longer than without it, in other words for 28 years I had no bad pains. And for 35 years I have had neck/back pain which as said before is getting steadily worse despite the stronger drugs.
I have tried Chiropractors, had acupuncture, been manipulated by an osteopath, had dye put in my spine and it then X-Rayed had various MRI scans as well as Ultra sound scans. They have tried pulling my head off (at least that is what it felt like). All this has lead to two Spinal decompressions (which after a few years I am not sure they have made any difference). Also having various tests in the hospital (University side) to see the effects of my spine on my brain and reactions of my body etc. all this as well as taking numerous drugs for the pain as well.
When I have spoken to the doctors about it they say ‘Well there is not much that we can do that you have not had done. But there are breakthroughs all the time so something may turn up in the future’
Some doctors are honest (which is what I want from a doctor) and they tell it as it is ‘live with it because it isn’t going to get better’
Is it really too much to ask for, just to not have any pain.
I am now on a new regime of medication (Drugs to you and me) and I hope that it will work but the main thing being the doctor is trying to help with different drugs and if this does not work he says there are others to try.
Hope for the future
Take care all and Kindest regards
Terry
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tettridge
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Hi terry , sorry for your troubles, I had been on many medications for severe pain and muscle spasms which originated from a car crash for quite a few years, in fact my GP reckoned I was on more pain meds than many cancer sufferers, the side effects of meds were slowly but surely destroying my entire system , ie organs, mental health, physical and physiological functioning ,, eventually , after many attempts to try to stop meds against doctors orders , I managed to stop all meds completely about 6 months ago...haven't felt this good in a long time although at first I believed I was dying I was in so much agony and going through withdrawal effects like you could never imagine,, was always told same by all docs and specialists " nothing we can do , learn to live with it".. But meds were making me worse and became severely dependant on them ... I still get some back and neck pain but have managed to learn to live with it WITHOUT MEDS ( SO FAR SO GOOD) occasionally when I get my flare ups I simply use heat packs , have made huge changes to my diet and have started walking and continue gentle exercises and gentle stretching.. I believe I am too young to give up on life to sit about being limited by my pain and drugs, do look online at foods that can help with pain, you will be surprised, especially vegs, I do still eat everything else but in moderation, enjoy your foods the right way and enjoy the benefits,, don't you think it's amazing that after all docs tell you they can't do anything for you that they still dish out severe drugs that don't REALLY help.. They are just a bunch of drug dealers and keeping themselves earning lots of money everytime you visit...
I used to have so much pain for many years. I hoped and hoped it would burn out, or the sensitive nerves would just stop functioning. But here I am having made major life changes, and on prescribed designer meds! The pain is minimised and I am trying to recreate my life. I hope you get rejuvenation very soon. best wishes from whitedaisy.
So much appears to masked by the various drug regimes you have been on.
Drugs always have side-effects and the research into pain killers tend to be very limited.
There is a lot of things you need to be looking at that will hopefully help to reduce your pain even if it does not get rid of it.
Changing of medication when you have been on the same drug for a long time can be problematic because of withdrawal effects.
I have been receiving McTimony chiropractic treatment every six weeks since 1993. It will not cure the problem I have. It will not totally remove the discomfort I have. It however helps keep my pain and discomfort at a lower level than it would have been without the treatment. I have learnt the hard way what happens if I miss my six week treatment very painful where the body is concerned and it takes several session to get the pain down again.
I also engage in the Alexander Technique which enables me to move and relax into pain. Pain has a habit of increasing muscle tension which in turn can make the pain worse.
I also I practise meditation and Mindfulness according to the Buddhist tradition which helps remove the emotional impact of pain.
Lastly I have to watch my sleep regime quite closely. Pain interferes with my sleep at night. I have found that if I run up a sleep debt my pain can increase quite considerably. To counteract this I sleep about an hour and hour a day.
If you want to discuss this more please reply to this comment using the “Reply to this”. This will notify me that there has been a reply.
HI i suffer from intractable chronic & servere pain and I find insead of using the cracking method of chiropractors and the like a more effective treatment alternative than drugs is reflextherapy not the general refexoloy for chronic pain conditions first brought out to help with whiplash victims well worth a try if you can find a good practioner.
McTimony chiropractic is very gentle compared to most other chiropractic treatment. There is no cracking as such.
Reflextherapy can be fairly good. Have used parts of it for aching teeth before discovering sensadyne and similar toothpastes and for being accidently hit where it hurts in a Martial Arts practice a long time ago. Thanks for reminding me about it. I will try and find out a bit more about what it is now.
Hello
Their is little you can say here about pain we all have it here, we take the meds, bite our lips and suffer with pain and flustration that we will always be with us. We need to keep taking our tablets and look at those who cannot understand what we go through, We are all creaking gates and we all see the healthy off and a creaking gate just needs a touch of oil to keep us going. We are watched more keenly by the medical fraternity who pick up what is wrong with us as we are always at the doctors.So here we are all giving support to a growing fraternity, that is brave and stronger than many who are healthy
Not having pain is what we all dream of. The problem is that pain is processed in the brain, a fantastic organ that we still don't know very much about.
I have done better since coming off medication. The pain is still here but I feel human again. This isn't an option for some people, I know.
Sorry if I have miss-led you but was having a down time and that was the result.
Thank you all for your responses I will be looking at some of these ideas but some are a big step and am not sure how brave I am. At the end of the day could it be worse?
I was really just having a bit of a rant about me in general. I know there are people much worse off than me, I know some of our friends are.
We have a brilliant spa but the pump has gone and these things are not cheap.
Hi It sounds like you have no idea what is exactly wrong and they have been messing about with you for manys years, well there is allot of it about. Take a look at a site called arachnoiditis.co.uk and read what it says it might give you some answers etc although please don't think their is a cure but its nice to know that your not the only chronic servere intractable pain patient in the world. Take a look and jion the suupport group or speak to me again. much hope for you Sue
This does seem to be a probable cause for my problems, can you tell me if it is the same at the top of the spine as at the bottom. The reason I ask this is because I had the Berium meal (sorry for any spelling mistakes on the medical terminology) many years ago, in the days when it was the bad stuff they put in the spine. I dont know if anyone has actually had one of these but that is the pain I associate as the worst pain the number 10 as the pain in the brain was so bad I can still feel how scared I felt at just moving to get a drink, it was so bad I didn’t bother .
Since that I have had two spinal cord pressure relief operations where they have put wedges in the top of my spine, from C1 or2 to C7 or 8 not sure as I was asleep when they did it, both times because they did the top 3 and the next year they did some more because I was getting the same problems. Now six years later and have the same problems but two reasons I would not have it done again, the first is because the pain I actually have in the neck where the tissue that covers the spine at the back on me it doesn’t. the Second reason is that I think it would keep coming back and that would mean more and more operations and I have had enough of those.
There is also a third reason I just thought about and that is the fact my wife no longer gets private insurance and we just do not have the £25,000.00 to £30,000.00 it costs for the op.
Sorry for waffling but it may give a bit of an insight of what and where with the Spiderweb.
Thanks for the link,, it could be as O have had a couple of mylogramss many years ago and although I had problems before it could be a reason why it is not getting better.
I think it is highly probable that you have a form of arachnoiditis just because you have had so many opps on your spine and it can't be a good thing as these along can cause this horrid condition also having had mylograms is a indication also that there will be arachnoid damage done as when these were done it was all supposed to be removed after the proceedure very few were and thats the number one reason for arachnoiditis and probably why it was diagnosed and stopped years ago. However people are still being mutilated by water based dye and steriods etc except now because there water based they spread and are harder to pick uo on MRI scan ( the damage cause by these injections etc) If you want to join a group of people like us who's lifes have been shattered by these proceedures etc I can introduce you, we support each other trought highs and more importantly theLows and can be a very effective way of getting information from the people suffering from the same etc we suppport and also have a laugh as we know what pain is and its sometimes easier to talk to us than worry family and friends who are symphathic but really don't know what its like. Love Sue
I am seeing Dr on the 15th and will bring it up as although there is nothing to be done the fact I am now on morphine and other meds may make a difference to the approach with meds.
Terry are you taking gabapentine or pregabalin which is newer as these along with morphine and many other drugs such as amiltryline ( excuse spelling ) help with nerve pain and long term troubles I wish you well at the Doc's let hope he is open to ideas from you. Is it your pain consultant, or other or just your GP as do not be supprise if they tell you it is rare etc you have to be aware that none of these professionals want to admit that It could have been caused by one of their treatments so softly go where we all travel and good luck.
I am also taking 200 mgs of pregabalin and have found this a great help. This is all fairly new to me, after being in hospital for twelve days last november I was so glad to come out armed with my medication, and so far have managed to get my life back. I also find tai chi a great help. This very gentle exercise seems to make my back more flexible, I would really Recommend this. Hope its of some help. Kind regards Williams 38.
Have you been investigated for bacterial infection? I heard on the news a while ago that a massive amount of back pain is reckoned to be caused by bacterial infections which can be cured with an appropriate course of antibiotics, after everything you've been through it can't hurt to ask the question can it! Good luck.
Know how you feel, damaged my lower back over 40 years ago found out 20 years after the event it was probably a ruptured disc (a blind physiotherapist made that comment). Nothing was done at the time no X-rays etc. over years got to recognize the signs of when something was going to 'go' but not always. The pain was unbearable when a nerve become trapped found my own version of traction to relieve it over the years. Frustrated as hell and constantly waiting for next attack, although as the arthritis has progressed attacks are fewer but left with permanent tingling in right foot sometimes both legs get it. So know how what you are going through and as a result of the back issues I am now having problems with my feet as I do not walk right. Never ending is it. I do hope you get something sorted one point have you tried different types of pillow support or changed your bed I discovered memory foam is brilliant. Good luck anyway,
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