Ruptured Disk Realities OT

For what it's worth, I've known some people to get pretty good results contacting their state senator......might not always work but they are suppose to be there to help the people of THEIR state.

The pain / mobility cycle is a vicious one. You can't do x or y like you used to so you start to gain a little weight; you eat because your depressed.....more weight for your back or injured area to carry......just a real pain in the arse.......

Just don't quit like a relative of mine.....she gave up walking because it hurt too much, muscles attrophied (sp?) and eventually became dependent on a wheelchair......don't think she had the grit and determination like you guys.
 
I was mechanic for a long time and I insulted my back constantly. I was diagnosed with a ruptured disc and arthritis and bulging discs and so on and so on, they gave me pain meds and physical therapy and steroid injections in my spine(steroids and diabetes don't get along well together) and I got to the point of walking like a knuckledragging ape all bent over. They did another MRI and cat scan and found I had spinal stenosis. I had two separate surgeries to remove excess bone IN my spine that was crushing my nerve bundle. It was too little,too late and as stated elsewhere surgeons operate to make money and maybe correct a problem also but the cash inflow is their main consideration. I hope you have a much better outcome for your discs, play nice with your back or it will bite you later on in life. I always took the attitude the job came first and back pain was an indication you had been working hard.In reality back pain usually indicates you were working incorrectly.
 
fenryr said:
1- The pain / mobility cycle is a vicious one. You can't do x or y like you used to so you start to gain a little weight; you eat because your depressed.....more weight for your back or injured area to carry......just a real pain in the arse.......

2- Just don't quit like a relative of mine.....she gave up walking because it hurt too much, muscles attrophied (sp?) and eventually became dependent on a wheelchair......don't think she had the grit and determination like you guys.
Click to expand...
1- Fenryr you've got it nailed as well. I've gained back several pounds of what I spent a lot of money to lose last year, But Not All of it thankfully.:D

2- I can most certainly understand someone giving up but I haven't came to that point, yet.
Hopefully if I ever do it will be because I'm just not able to go anymore instead of giving up.
However there's a lot of similarity in giving up and giving out.;) :grumpy:

Giving up leaves a bad taste in my mouth as I had an uncle who had brain surgery due to a tumor. He walked to the car and when he got home he walked back into the house, the first time, and kept going from there although everyone knew it was a struggle for him.
The second time he did the same but when he walked back into the house he never walked out again.
He chose the wheelchair instead of his own power sadly. I always thought he had more strength than that and I hated the fact that he gave up.
It's hard enough to live with myself in the condition I'm in but it would be even harder on me should I give up.:(
On the good days I have my Barbie and me still go to workout and we keep the payments going in to the health club even though we could really use the money elsewhere.
Both of us figure that it is an expense we can't afford Not to Have!!!!:D
The few times we get to go seems to keep me in some degree of movement and strength. I'm quite proud of the fact that I can still do 3 sets of ten 190 pound reps on the leg press machine with my back the way it is.
When I started out maybe a couple of years ago I could only do one set of ten at 50 pounds so I figure I've come a long way!!!!:D
 
Pain is God`s way of telling us we are hurt, the elusive part is he never told us where the off switch was ! Every problem has a pathway to healing. Every pathway requires that you find the switch. Each problem is unique, and all healing comes with endless probing and patience.

Floyd
 
munk said:
Otaru- I used to admire Yvsa for being in such pain until I got there too. Now, I'm not sure what to admire.
Just make sure your lower back and hip pain is not a disk. That's how the sciatic nerve manifests too.

munk
Click to expand...

Thanks for the concern but don't worry, it's nothing that serious... more or less..

My knee, hip and lower back pain originates from my flat feet (collapsed arches fibrous tibras or something...). It continually annoys me and for the past few years I have not been able to walk around as much as I like without first bad foot pain (more like an ache) which turns into knee, hip and back pain due to bad posture (when my feet are flat, it's very hard for me not to lock my knees, and when I do that I can't stand up straight, so the back pain comes from bad posture in a roundabout way). Getting custom orthotics has made a big difference (in the past I could hardly stand up for more than 30 minutes without great discomfort, now that's a few hours...) but I haven't been able to get them adjusted for a while and that needs to get done. I'd like to find a better solution though as I'm only "okay" when wearing shoes. It is a huge pain in the ass to sit in front of a computer for hours wearing shoes. Some people it doesn't bother, me I like bare feet.

Anyway, I regularly go the chiropractor (monthly) and I had been through physical therapy so I'm taking care of myself... Well I honestly have slacked a bit the past few weeks. It's funny how when one feels bad and is stressed, rather than doing things good for you, you don't do them and instead do bad things. Small example is if I feel sick and have had a bad day I might not brush my teeth before going to bed. But if you let things slip too much then you lose your grip on them... *cough

As for "admiring" hmm... Well I don't really feel that way, like I said it inspires me not to give up myself (the pain is one thing, being unable to breath another). But I don't envy anyone their pain, I know there's no glory in being unable to do something even if you're otherwise toughing it out. I can remember when my arthritis used to be so bad that I couldn't move my arm. Maybe some people would admire me for not crying out or complaining but in reality it just really sucked and I don't wish it on anyone. I worked hard and that hasn't happened for years.

Well aside from that, my advice to avoid any injuries are first to just not push yourself too far. Second is to try and maintain a good condition through exercise. Third is to stretch regularly, it's amazing how being more flexible helps prevent injury. Fourth is to ALWAYS warm up at least a little bit before exerting yourself.

That last one doesn't seem like a big deal but I've found out the hard way that it's the difference between being fine the next day and tearing a ligament.

jia jian
 
Otaru said:
I can remember when my arthritis used to be so bad that I couldn't move my arm.

jia jian
Click to expand...
Otaru I have a form of Rheumatoid Arthritis called Stills Disease that I suspect I've had for many years although it was finally diagnosed in 1998.
Problem is with mine is that it's systemic which means it can affect the whole body and not just the joints. So far I've been pretty lucky with it since the initial flare.:D

What kind of arthritis do you have if you don't mind saying?
 
Who knows? From what you just said I probably have/had the same thing heh... it's a really stupid story but the day I was going to get tested for arthritis after seemingly suffering from it for a while, I said something weird to the doctor's assistant and was forced to go in for a mental evaluation -_- I was a confused kid (I believe I was 12 or 13 then), I have horrible luck and I was misdiagnosed by doctors. Long story short my mental health is fine I just have a weird personality.

So... most people think I have osteo arthritis from playing video games too much. I used to play 4-16 hours a day from the time I was four 'til I was 16 or so. Now I just use my computer a lot which probably isn't that much better :rolleyes:

However the time when the pain started to get noticeable, I was only like 10 or so. No one would believe me at first when I said I thought I had arthritis. And seeing as I seem to have it in most or all of my joints, and miscellaneous bone pains, I probably have some form or other of rheumatoid arthritis.

I think I'm pretty messed up from taking NSAIDs almost my entire life (I started taking advil for headaches when I was like 7), it's probably the main source of my digestive troubles. They were so bad at one point I thought I had an ulcer when I was like 17. Doctors can't seem to diagnose that problem for me so I just call it irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) like others (my mother, my cousin has Krone's (cronz?) disease). Lately it seems like it might have been food allergies all along. At the least I have developed a milk allergy.

Ah I got sidetracked there... when I had my job is when my arthritis was the most limiting, I had to go on Viox for like a year before I stopped taking it due to how much it was bothering my stomach (was fine at first, but got progressively worse). That only solved some of the pain anyway, I still had the same stiffness problem in my fingers.

It's strange but the last healthy period I can remember was christmas two years ago. I stopped taking all my medications and myseriously felt better for a while. Then during the summer of 03 I started having really horrible asthma which turned out to have been triggered by the fact I'm allergic to all but five things (one tree, mushrooms, dogs, feathers (which to me seems like it should be birds in general) and dust). My health has been an uphill battle since then because I HAD to take medication to control my asthma and stay alive.

Ah sorry that's off the arthritis. Anyway, I went to acupuncture for it and some other stuff until about mid december. My arthritis actually reached a controlled enough level that I stopped getting treated for that there. My only problem with it now is that my fingers still get stiff in the cold and hurt with a lot of use. Other than my fingers really lacking dexterity I don't let it limit me though.

As such even though I think about getting testing there's not much point. Western medicine can't cure it and I can't afford to get the testing done since I no longer have insurance. heh actually having a lack of money for everything but some money to spend in order to keep my spirits up (like buying a nice knife :D ) and the essentials (including three medications) is the main source of my problems.

After some hard work I managed to find ways to solve all but my bowel and personality (I am who I am :p ) problems completely (and the bowel ones would be mostly taken care of), it'll just take time and money.

I have been very hesitant to, but at the moment it is now clear to me that even though I'll have to incur thousands in debt, my health is worth it. If I don't take care of it now who knows how it'll end out...

The real hard part is not being a bum anymore. I left school when I was 11. I've learned and experienced a lot of unique things which will benefit me in various ways but... Somehow I slipped into an easy, comfortable and worthless lifestyle where I never really get anything done.

That basically comes down to I've been doing aimless things for so long I find myself doing them automatically, by the time I snap it together each day there's nothing left of it.

I'm not sure why I lack motivation but I just do. Frankly a lot of the time I just feel like it's all I can do to not give up. *shrugs I guess in the end I'm a bit too weak for now. *sigh I'll change that someday, hopefully.

A~h sorry to ramble there, thanks to anyone that actually reads all of that. It's hard to say whether it's really that bad or not, I'm not exaggerating but I somehow end out sounding really bad when I say things like that. Most of the time I'm "fine but unhappy and extremely disappointed in myself". I just had too dreams that were too big and didn't reach hard enough for them, now I've lost my chance for a lot of them and for some reason I still find myself not working hard enough for the big dreams I have left. As a side note, lots of people have helped me out and maybe they're the reason I'm still here. I'm greatful to them. I'm someone who is "always alone" and thought I was used to it, but in reality I really need other people to support me. I think everyone is like that though, needing others to support them that is.

The moral of the story is "mother's don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys". They'll never come home and they're always alone, even with someone they love.
 
Stuff happens.

Don't want the H.I. forum to turn into a "Dear Abby" column, but at the same time the forum offers one of a very few places to open up on things and that, when it happens, is as gratifying to me as it can get. For me, fostering, mentoring, sharing, caring- or in turn placing myself in the hands of my elders is living the path I've chosen.

Nothing replaces a good heart to heart, and the people that stick here have very good hearts. Thank you, all of you.
 
You'll probably laugh, but after 6 years of pain and refusing to take pain pills of any kind, I found a temporary cure totally by accident.

While wandering through a commissary, I came on one of these gaint bottles of multi-vitamen and mineral supplements.

I started taking two of those bad boys every morning with breakfast.

I would chew them up to get maximum dispersal. They taste awful but it works.

After about a week the pain started subsiding. I can now skip the vitamens
for 3 to 4 days before the nerve pain starts to return.

I told the orthopedic doctor about it and he said sure it's probably the "B" vitamens that help keep the nerves in good shape. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top