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Does anyone have gluteal tendinopathy? Any successful treatments?
Chronic Pain | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (68)Comment receiving replies
I originally started taking LDN for my lumbar and sacral spine pain 2 years ago. I have degenerative disc disease, mild scoliosis and arthritis, all of which I've been getting help with for 10+ years. My sacroiliac joint is a mess too. BTW I am now 72 years old. I started LDN for that pain, 1 mg then 2mg then 3mg and now 4mg. Yes, it also stopped helping as much as I wanted after almost 2 years. So I stopped taking it and OTC pain meds to find out just what my baseline really is. It is HORRIBLE, I have never been as miserable as I was during that week when I stopped taking everything. In the meantime, it was 'discovered' that I have gluteal tendinopathy (GT) in my left hip, and that is what was the major source of pain now. A specific MRI of the hip was done, I don't know technical terms for what. I had gone back to the Spine Clinic for reevaluation after not seeing him for a year and a half. BTW the doc was arrogant and condescending, but I convinced him to do the MRI any way. It revealed GT and a few other messy things going on in that hip. I have a separate pain management doctor who is a neurosurgeon that got tired of the hospital BS and opened his own offices specifically for pain management. He is who I get the Naltrexone from and have gotten steroid injections for the lumbar spine as well as trigger point injections. So, when I resumed taking Naltrexone it has helped quite a lot, but I am not pain free ever. But I can still function in spite of the pain.
I'm not sure how much longer I can tolerate it, but there is no alternative. There is no surgical remedy for GT, only meds and physical therapy from someone who knows exactly how to work with GT. BTW doing the "clams" exercise is contraindicated in cases of GT, it makes it worse. Hope I answered your questions and forgive the long rambling nature of my reply. I could write a book about this stuff. Good luck to you bayhorse.
Replies to "I originally started taking LDN for my lumbar and sacral spine pain 2 years ago. I..."
@dpadg, thank you for all the information! You certainly weren't rambling; all of it is helpful, especially as you sound an awful lot like me (scoliosis, severe lumbar stenosis, slipped discs, arthritis all over the place). But my sense is that something is also wonky in my right glute, and I can't get anyone to pay attention to that possibility. Very interesting that a neurosurgeon is now solely doing pain management -- I think you are very lucky to have found this person, and I wish there were such a creature here in Austin, Tx. As for PT, it seems that every exercise I'm given makes things worse, so thanks for telling me to nix the clams, which are always on the menu! 🙂
If, by any chance, you have your MRI report handy, would you be willing to take a look at it and let me know exactly what your order was for? I seem to need to make very specific suggestions to my pain doc!
Also, when you went back to LDN after stopping, did you go straight to 4 mg, or did you have to titrate up again?
Wishing you all the best, and again, thank you for your response!
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Try to find a therapist that does MFR deep myofascial tissue release. It sounds like it would be helpful for you. Also look into the possibility that you may have gout. Buy a $20 supplement called ZAZZEE (on Amazon) tart cherry capsules. If that helps you and you will know right away then you have are having an inflammatory issue. After 30 years of suffering, with the kinds of things you explain they were all tied together because I had gout arthritis. The doctors never looked on the osteoarthritis because it was so prevalent. I’ve had many joint replacements Successful, and I’ve had many injections which have been helpful. The injection stopped working when it’s time for surgery however, the tendinitis and connective tissue pain was entirely related to inflammatory pain which went on undiagnosed. The medical industry is not good at looking at a specific and at the same time standing back to look at the hole. They no longer take a long-term approach with our bodies and they just look to stick Band-Aids. They just look to find things to treat on x-rays or MRIs. I can’t tell you how I suffered for 30 years with gout. That was after I had had Gout flares sending me to the hospital with pain in my 40s. I am not paying free at 68 because arthritis takes its tolls and so does degeneration. However, my attitude is way better, knowing that being on gout medicine (allopurinol), which can put me to a dead stop if the weather is wrong is now remedied. I supplement all this by going two times a month to a good deep tissue myofascial release therapist because evidently when we get older, our muscle fascia glues together and moves as a unit, thereby stressing the tendons and ligaments and connective tissue.