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8 months into chronic severe back pain
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survivingbackpain posted:
I cant believe I'm posting for the first time after reading this stuff for 8 months. I hurt myself with a simple twist at work. Since then, I've lost my life! Doctors cannot see my injury, But I can feel it. I can't lay in my bed w/out having to go to the emergency room when I run out of the smallest dose of medicine allowable. They only give shots. At a conservative pain level of 8.5 they give shot only to traumitize the patient more, they do help but ptsd is bound to show up somewhere. My husband just now is beginning to understand only after watching me run out of meds for 8 days. I don't expect anyone to understand, except the doctors. Aren't they supposed to be supporting me in explaining to my family what is hard to understand. The doctors are just now trying to find out what's wrong. They found buldged disc, but "That can't cause this kind of pain" they say, " Well what can" is my response. I know I will be in the er getting shots once a week just to not bang my head against the wall! Damn Politician locking up doctors!
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Anon_1421 responded:
If the place you are going to only wants to do shots and you are still in too much pain then they are not adequately managing your pain! There are many different things that can be tried to get pain under control-physical therapy, tens unit, different meds are a few. If I were you I would try to calmly tell whatever doctor you are seeing that your pain is NOT being managed well and if they can't come up with a better plan, as what they are doing so far isn't working, please refer you to someone that can come up with a more comprehensive plan using different modalities. You have to be careful-the doctors and clinics that just want to do injections every time you turn around and nothing else are usually not in your best interest-if the injections you are getting contain steroids, you are only supposed to have a certain amount of those a year, otherwise you might start having problems from the steroids. Not trying to scare you, just trying to warn you-if all they seem to want to do are lots of injections, you need to find a different pain managment doctor that uses a variety of things to try and manage your pain. And yes bulging discs can cause pain! You need to find a new doctor that won't give you the run around and treats you with the compassion and respect you deserve. Hope you find a decent doctor and get relief!
 
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susiemargaret responded:
hello, S --

i am so sorry you are having such pain and that no one seems to be able to reduce it!

have you tried going to a pain management clinic rather than the ER? i know you are working with drs who are trying to find out the cause of the pain, but at a pain mgt clinic they treat the pain as a problem in itself; this is in addition to looking for its cause.

let me suggest also that you might want to check out a few communities in addition to this one for good advice and emotional support --

-- the pain management community, where there is an expert on-board, http://exchanges.webmd.com/pain-management-exchange ,

-- the back pain community, http://exchanges.webmd.com/back-pain-exchange ,

-- the back and neck pain community, http://exchanges.webmd.com/back-and-neck-pain-exchange , and

-- the pain management support group, http://exchanges.webmd.com/pain-management-support-group .

two other communities, altho they do not focus on pain or backs specifically, often address issues involving muscles and might be able to give you some ideas --

-- the fitness/exercise community, which has an expert on-board, http://exchanges.webmd.com/fitness-and-exercise-exchange , and

-- the sports medicine community, which also has an expert on-board, http://exchanges.webmd.com/sports-medicine-exchange .

i hope you can find some relief soon; please keep us posted on how you are doing.

-- susie margaret
what good is gold, or silver too, if your heart's not good and true -- hank williams, sr.


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