Terri
#150193 - 02/15/05 06:24 AM
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BL
Reged: 06/01/03
Posts: 3522
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Although I hate that your husband is going through this too, I'm glad to know someone can sympathize with how I feel, especially at night. My mother keeps telling me to just relax. I feel so guilty telling her about my pain.
She says she has the same problem and at night, when the pain wakes her up, she just takes a deep breath and rolls over and goes back to sleep. She makes me feel like such a baby! Obviously, her pain is not as intense as mine. There's no way I could roll over and go back to sleep with this disc pressing on my nerve! I have to jump out of the bed and walk around to relieve some of the pressure.
I took a narcotic pain pill last night---and I still woke up about 5 hours later, in horrible pain! If this does not get better, I can see that I will be asking them for long-term pain and sleep medication. I cannot see living my life like this----not long-term. I am trying to be patient, but it's not getting any better.
Maybe the physical therapy will help, although last night, it made my back worse!!! Dang therapist! I hope she knows what she's doing!
Oh, I feel for your husband. It is not an easy thing to live with. Can I ask what meds he takes?
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Gayla
#150195 - 02/15/05 06:26 AM
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BL
Reged: 06/01/03
Posts: 3522
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Thanks for your encouraging words. Please pray for me. I don't know how much more patient I can be. This is painful---and I need my sleep.
So you have the same pain too? Does it wake you up at night?
During the day, I feel pressure in my lower back (where my tailbone is.) But at night, when that disc presses on that nerve, I have all kinds of crazy things going on in different locations in my back. I'm almost afraid to go to sleep because I don't know what's going to happen!
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Everyone has different pain threshholds BL. Just because my dad can stick it out doesn't mean you're a wuss at all. Its tough to deal with pain when you can't sleep at night. That can be difficult. Just hang in there.
As for my dad, if I can be half the man he is then I will be ok in life.
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for your words of encouragement to me. They have meant so much!
I was so hopeful that my doctor could do something to help me. It is just now beginnning to sink in that he told me there's not much I can do for this except try physical therapy----which is extremely painful!
I don't know how much longer I can stand this pain at night. I know I don't have a choice but to deal with it. How do people deal with this?
I am having a problem with my mother---and need your advice. She has had an MRI done in the past and they told her she has some degeneration of the same area of her back (wonder where I got this?) ----and she never takes any pain meds. She tells me that she just takes a deep breath and goes back to sleep when her back hurts. She makes me feel like a wimp! There's no way I could do that!
Obviously, the discomfort she is feeling is not the searing hot pain I have running up and down my back at night! When it hits me, I have to get out of bed and walk around. Last night, I felt like I was going to throw up or faint. That's how bad the pain was---and that was after taking a narcotic pain pill.
So I feel like she thinks I'm exaggerating---and that I'm a hypochondriac. Every time she calls me, she says, "I know what you're going through. I have the same problem. Why don't you take an Advil before bedtime?" I have told her that I've taken 4 Advil and 2 muscle relaxants (yes, at one time!) ---and still couldn't sleep because of the pain.
What part of this does she not understand? Isn't it obvious that if someone takes 2 very strong narcotic pain pills at night and is still woken up from a deep sleep that they are in extreme pain?
I don't want to hurt her feelings, because I know she means well. But I am going to explode the next time she calls me and says I need to relax!
Please pray that I don't totally lose my temper with her.
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...pointing out to her that everyone has different pain thresholds (and maybe her's is really good - that kind of thing tends to go down well) and people get the same problem but get affected by it differently? I've had a similar problem with my Mum and my Fibro...she's always saying stuff like she has trouble sleeping and she's always tired, etc, etc. It's taken a while, but she's getting there. For me, pointing out that on a bad day, I don't have the energy to even wash the dishes, got through to her. I think she thought then "I don't get THAT tired!" 
Good luck. Always a difficult one to deal with.
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Here's the meds my husband is on for his back:
Hydrocodone 7.5 mg / 4 times a day (these are lortabs)
Amitriptyline 75 mg 1 pill at bedtime (for sleeping)
Without these, my husband would be suffering a great deal more!
He was on Gabapentin (Neurontin) for a while and it TOTALLY eradicated his pain. He was actually able to walk, stand, sleep and feel totally normal again. It truly is a miracle drug. BUT, he had severe side effects to this medication and his personality became very aggressive and mean. He stopped taking it and returned to his normal, happy self. We found out later that he was started on way too high of a dose and that's why it caused these severe symptoms in him. I'm just telling you this in case it is suggested for you. As long as you are on appropriate doses it is a miracle drug! My hubby's doctor offered to start him on it again, at the proper dose, but he was too afraid of it. It also helped his diabetic neuropathy.
I told my husband about you having the same thing as him, and it made him feel good to also know that he is not alone in the severity of it. Before he started on the Amitriptiline, he was only sleeping maybe 2 hours at a time and then he'd be up. He thought he was going to go crazy from the lack of sleep. At least now, he is able to rest. This stuff really knocks him out good, but it's been a blessing to us.
Hang in there. I know first hand how very hard and life changing this is. It's such a shock to us! It has changed everything in our lives. He is on disability because he can't work or do anything. It's very sad, but he keeps on trying.
He never gives up. He has an appointment today with his Ortho doctor. For 2 years, he has kept on going and trying. He has it now in his shoulders, so he wants this specialist to see if there is something that can be done about it.
Just keep going, bl. Keep letting your doctors know how you feel and don't let up until you are at least getting a good night's rest.
My heart goes out to you,
Terri
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*HUGS* I really hope your doctor is able to help you, BL. My dad has a lot of issues with the discs in his back ( I don't remember the details at the moment) from a severe car accident that happened my freshman year of college. He's on generic celebrex and oxycodone for the pain, and he has a special Homedics chair next to the bed for his back. I'll see if I can get the info from him about the chair, though I think the cat sleeps in it more than he sits in it sometimes! He drives for a living, he's a hardware salesman, so that makes his back even worse. I've seen how much pain my dad gets in at times, I'm so sorry you have to go through this.
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Melissa
Friendship is thicker than blood. ~Rent
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I think it's time for some honesty. Just say, "You know... I know you mean well but I'm having a really hard time right now and when you compare my situation to yours it makes me feel worse. Obviously we are not in the same "place" so if you could just understand and respect that it would validate my feelings and make it a lot easier to talk to you".
Sound well rehearsed? It is. My mother means well but drives me plumb NUTS. 
Big hugs. I'm SO sorry they can't do more for you. You know, new treatments and meds and procedures are coming out all the time - it could be in time that they have more options for you. In the meantime, prayers and maybe the therapy will help? Hang in there!!
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Take care,
Michelle
...the greatest of these is LOVE. (I Cor 13)
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Ya, not surprised that you already saw it as I just did a quick google search.
I am a HUGE wuss about pain and I don't know how you do it. It must be very hard. 
It will get better. Just make your doctor help you! That's what I did (IBS) and I'm glad i was so insistent.
Big gentle hugs to you.
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BL
#150286 - 02/15/05 09:48 AM
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You are a STRONG woman! When I got the fibro pain in the beginning I didn't even get out of bed some days! And here you are geting out of bed and going and doing. And it sounds like you're pen is a million times worse than mine was...
As for your mother--that is TOTALY unfair! She probably just wants you to feel better and it hurts her that your in pain...but I agree with what everyone has said so far--letting her know that it's making things worse. You have enough to deal with right now and taking care of your mother's feelings should NOT be on your shoulders!
When I wake up in the middle of the night from fibro pain I try and do something to take my mind off of it...like read (if I can hold a book in my hands!), wash dishes, etc. I try to be productive. Sometimes the pain is too severe. I don't know if this helps you...it sounds like it doesn't that the pain is just too much...but I wanted to throw it out there just in case.
I wish I could do something...and I will pray for you! My grandmother gets the cortisone shots. And I have a friend whose mother has slipped disks. And it is awful! I am sorry that such wonderufl people are hurting so much *hugs*
Feel good and I pray that your pain should lessen every day!
With love,
Ruchie
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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