L5-S1 Lumbar....

[rpowell01]

I need some advice since I haven't been getting much help from Neuropain after telling them my Lower lumbar needs urgent attention and that they only want to work on one part of the spine at a time.

I am getting a lot of pain in the ridge of my lumbar, enough to put tears in my eyes. I now have more radiculopathy, more pain in my calves and front of the thighs.

I don't take any opiates because the VA will not give me any. I guess this is the new policy. I do take Tramadol 300mg per day and Gabapentin 3200mg per day.

Is there any thing that will help this pain. I have tried ice but it comes right back. I can't lay on my back because it gets worse. The only thing I can find that helps is to lay on my stomach.

Are there any other home treatments I can try? I know about heat which never has helped me, its always been ice that has helped but not this time.

Thanks

Rob

[sambo808]

I need some advice since I haven't been getting much help from Neuropain after telling them my Lower lumbar needs urgent attention and that they only want to work on one part of the spine at a time.

I am getting a lot of pain in the ridge of my lumbar, enough to put tears in my eyes. I now have more radiculopathy, more pain in my calves and front of the thighs.

I don't take any opiates because the VA will not give me any. I guess this is the new policy. I do take Tramadol 300mg per day and Gabapentin 3200mg per day.

Is there any thing that will help this pain. I have tried ice but it comes right back. I can't lay on my back because it gets worse. The only thing I can find that helps is to lay on my stomach.

Are there any other home treatments I can try? I know about heat which never has helped me, its always been ice that has helped but not this time.

Thanks

Rob

Clean diet, light exercise, and minimize stress in your life... that is better than any medications available on the market today... diet, exercise, minimizing stress have no known bad side effects to date...

[Trigirl13]

My favorite treatment for my back is an epson salt bath. Unfortunately the results don't last too long, but just to have that relief has been huge for me. Also, I find that if I can maintain some sort of movement, walking, swimming, etc and keep it very moderate the stiffness and pain are reduced. My problem for my back is slightly different from yours, I suffer from Ankylosing Spondylitis ( I have fused vertebrae in my spine, and my lumbar spine is straight instead of curved), but I wanted to give you the things that I do to help. Some days nothing works and I just have to move slow and hope the next day will be easier. Have you discussed other medication options? I take a biologic medication called Enbrel, it has made a huge difference for me. I know that there are many options for the different types of arthritis out there, If your doc. isn't willing to do the research, you should and then print your options out and take the ones you are considering into your next appointment so you can discuss them with him/her.

It took me 6 years to get diagnosed and then another 3 before I found a medication that worked for me, so hang in there!!

[rpowell01]

I am finding out some things that is causing a lot more issues than it's helping. I am prescribed 3200mg of Gabapentin and believe me its very sedating and causing me to sleep 8-10 hours per day. I get up and it takes me 2-3 hours to get out of bed. So, I have had enough that crap and decided to only take half of that and now I can get up after 6 hours. Yes it takes the normal 30 minutes to get up out of bed but I don't hurt as much in the mornings. Laying in bed too long is bad for us with arthritis in the back.

Finally, the VA has fee based me to a Orthopedic Doc who is going to do 2 ESIs in my Lumbar and 2 in my Cervical. He told me that I have some serious issues because I can't bend backwards whatsoever so after he completes the VA fee base request he said he will get approval from the VA to work on that issue. He said he can't believe how many veterans come into his office and has a different mindset than the civilian population. He said the Veterans want to get fixed while the civilians just want the opioids. I told him I don't take opiods even though I wish there were days I had it. I have taken opiods for shingles so I know what they do to a person but again after long term use people get use to it because I take Tramadol.

Anyway, I am hoping and praying that this Doctor can fix me enough where I can go back to college and then be able to go back to work. I hate sitting around the house, this is worse than the pain.

[Trigirl13]

I can totally relate. I hated it before I got diagnosed because the doctors would immediately mention a pain medication. I had to go through several doctors before one took me serious. I hope everything works out with your doctor and you are able to find something that helps!!! I almost forgot to mention that I have found that there are certain foods that make things worse for me, and I have learned to avoid them. Everyone is different though. Just hang in there and keep trying to find a solution, because there always is one!

[iceturkee]

My favorite treatment for my back is an epson salt bath. Unfortunately the results don't last too long, but just to have that relief has been huge for me. Also, I find that if I can maintain some sort of movement, walking, swimming, etc and keep it very moderate the stiffness and pain are reduced. My problem for my back is slightly different from yours, I suffer from Ankylosing Spondylitis ( I have fused vertebrae in my spine, and my lumbar spine is straight instead of curved), but I wanted to give you the things that I do to help. Some days nothing works and I just have to move slow and hope the next day will be easier. Have you discussed other medication options? I take a biologic medication called Enbrel, it has made a huge difference for me. I know that there are many options for the different types of arthritis out there, If your doc. isn't willing to do the research, you should and then print your options out and take the ones you are considering into your next appointment so you can discuss them with him/her.

It took me 6 years to get diagnosed and then another 3 before I found a medication that worked for me, so hang in there!!

i'm curious, does your fused vertebrae show up as such on a normal spinal x-ray? my degenrative disc disease in my thoracic spine has gotten bad enough where you can see the lack of discs from about t-5 through t-9. its hard to see on a computer if they have started to fuse but it looks close.

[Trigirl13]

yes mine do, when you look at my X-ray there is no space between the ones that have fused together and there is minimal space between the ones that aren't quite but will possibly fuse. The progress of my disease has decreased since I started my new medication, since it has decreased the inflammation significantly. Unfortunately, I had to do a lot of trial and error with the meds before I found one that worked.