In so much pain and feeling poorly

[strawclutching]

Hi folks,

Last Friday while squeazing the edge of the mattress into the corner of a fitted sheet I had an excruciating shooting pain across the middle of my back. After that I could barely do anything without serious pain. Ever since, I've been falling asleep all day, had nausea, bloating & painful gas and am barely eating, though I had some similar stomach issues 2 weeks ago which seemed to resolve after a few days.

Then I had all the symptoms of a UTI (again) and got some antibiotics yesterday. The receptionist wanted to make me an appoinment with a physio for my back but I insisted I couldn't even contemplate exercises without some pain relief first. The Practice Nurse stuck a blood oxygen measurer on the end of my finger, rubbed my shoulders & asked if that hurt then gave me a script for some Diflofenac diethylammonium 1.6% gel but she forgot to sign the flipping thing. So I haven't been able to get that yet - tomorrow I hope.

With regard to my stomach issues, she said she only had time to deal with one issue and that was the back pain.

The pain moving around in bed is like the devil's got hold of my back muscles and squeazing the life out of them. The neighbours must think I'm in the throes of passion.

My CRP taken 4 days afterthis happened has gone up to 8 when It's normally less than 1. I'm currently trying to decrease the Pred from 14 mgs to 13mgs very slowly as I flare easily. Also, I haven't had a bowel movement in 6 days since the accident. Maybe that's because I can barely move and it hurts sitting on the loo.

1. Should I continue to try to decrease or stick at 14mgs until all of this gets better (if it ever does).

2. Could the UTI be the cause of nausea and not wanting to eat? This being day 2 of the antibiotic taking.

3. Can anyone suggest an oral pain killer apart from Paracetamol which is doing nothing. Can I take Ibuprofen with Prednisolone?

4. I should also mention that my spine is almost see-through at -3.9 at the last Dexa scan.

Thanks for any help & experience you can offer and sorry for the long moan, but this morning I thought today might be the day for a visit from the Grim Reaper .

[PMRpro Ambassador]

This is exactly the event I use my flooding dose of ibuprofen - 800mg - and sit with a hot water bottle over the painful area, I sit bolt upright, preferably in a supportive arm chair, loads of pillows/cushions will also work.

If it is any comfort, when it happened to me in the early morning, I had to call 112, our emergency number, and go to A&E! I live alone, no handy neighbours, I could not move. The ED wasn't much help but luckily I had a rheumy appointment later - I was in the middle of a course of neural therapy but the 2 days of the weekend brought it to a head. By the time he'd finished with me I was able to leave on my own 2 feet.

And for do get something to sort out the constipation - the longer you leave it, the worse it will be.

Not impressed by the nurse - no judgement and failed at the one job she chose to do.

[strawclutching in reply to PMRpro]

I've been doing the hot water bottle thing every day. Not exactly the bolt upright thing though. I live alone too, and my daughter has offered to come up and help but she has two little ones and a full time teaching job and lives 60 miles away. Maybe I'll aske her to pop in at the weekend.

I wasn't sure about ibuprofen but thanks for confirming I can use them. I'll take something for the constipation before bed and hope for the best. DidThe muscle strain take long to clear up? The nurse who took my bloods on Tuesday said the same happened to her and it took months of heavy pain killers before it got better.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to strawclutching]

Depends - a few times it has taken 4 or 5 days to get to mobile. I've been fighting something similar for months - mainly because there have been a few things going on together. It also depends on how you deal with it. If she tried to carry on as normal and work it will take longer.

I take it it was a normal double spring mattress? Heavy, awkward? I have 2 single foam mattresses with a double stretch fitted sheet and that is the only way I can manage changing bedlinen myself! Even so, it is mostly the cleaner's job!!

[strawclutching]

I have two foam mattresses one on top of the other but the fitted sheets are really tight. I should get some stretchy ones to save this happeing again. Yes, the nurse was still going to work, so that's probably how it took so long to heal. Do you think I'll be okay continuing with the slow taper or should I wait?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to strawclutching]

I'd certainly wait until at least the worst is over. I have amazing fitted sheets - wish I'd splashed out on them years ago!! Weren't cheap mind!!!

[PMRnewbie2017]

I've gone back to flat sheets. Even with the extra deep fitted sheets they still ping off the mattress and trying to get the last corner on drives me mad.

[strawclutching in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

Maybe they should come with warnings. I'm all for swapping the lot with something extra stretchy or flat sheets. This is pure agony!

[MiniSpec in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

I've found that lifting the end of the mattress up high so that it's bent helps, as it effectively shortens the mattress in comparison with the fitted sheet. Once the sheet corner is under the corner of the mattress it pulls quite tight when I let the mattress back down to its full length.

[strawclutching in reply to MiniSpec]

Thanks Minispec, that's what I was doing when the pain hit. I had the mattress raised and was trying to hook the edge of the sheet over it, but didn't get the chance to complete. Still in much pain more than a week later and my stomach's been playing up too. I reckon I'm ready for the knacker's yard. 😬

[123-go]

Have sent message in ‘chat’.

[LMali]

I really feel for you, it is horrible when other conditions, intestinal and muscular, are heaped on top of PMR. If I have learnt one thing from this lovely forum is to deal with those things and not try to deal with PMR at the same time. i.e. do not reduce pred dose whilst grappling with a painful back, stomach pain and constipation. I have taken paracetamol plus and co-codamol in the past for non-PMR pain (I particularly like codeine as it has a very quick effect and helps you sleep but it does make you constipated). Taking senna at bedtime counteracts the constipation effect of codeine quite well. I have "deep" fitted sheets for a deep mattress and they do seem to have extra fabric in them, not tight at all, in fact a little bit loose which means they are easy to get on. I hope you can try to keep the back warm and rested so it can right itself and meanwhile address the stomach issue. I wish you well.

[strawclutching in reply to LMali]

Thanks LMali. I've tried codeine, Ibuprofen (tablets & gel) and paracetamol but the pain seems to be getting worse. I've got the hot water bottle on my back too. The pain seems to be spreading to the pelvic area and because my CRP was raised last Tuesday I'm thinking I'm into a flare. After taking a laxative I had the runs yesterday and still feeling nauseous. This morning in desperation I raised the Pred from 14mgs to 20mgs in the hope it might help me just get through the day and maybe get some sleep. I'm also waiting for an ECG after several irregular beats Lead 11 readings on the Pulsebit. So many things to deal with. I will get some looser sheets, rest assured, and thanks for your kind wishes.

[Miserypants]

I had the same thing before last Christmas. Got up from the table, walked around it and my back pinged. Xray showed another fracture on my spine T5. Already have T 6 &7. After Christmas I spread out a towel on the dog bed and it pinged! This time T2!The pain was unbearable. Given Oramorph. Had a fall and made L1 worse and another fracture on L3. Maybe you have fracture.

[strawclutching]

That's a terrible story. How did you get it investigated? Our GP nurse only offered the Ibuprofen gel 1.17%. I found a 10% one online. My bones, particularly the spine was -3.9 at the beginning of 2022.

How did they treat the fractures? And how long did they take to fix?