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I have suffered from lower back pain for many many years. I have had epidural, fusions And many other treatments. I presently have an implant of a spine stimulator that needs to be readjusted. Oh, and I forgot that I am also getting faucet injections that are not really doing anything. We shall see when I get the third one shortly does anyone have any comment or advise for me to relieve this incredible pain I can hardly walk or do anything even think clearly. I’m sure a lot of you guys have had experienced these symptoms. Thank you.
Replies to "I have suffered from lower back pain for many many years. I have had epidural, fusions..."
@louisp2 I have had lower back pain since March 5, 2011 when I herniated the L4/5 disk and ultimately found out that I have a congenital defect in my spine. My vertebrae are misshapen, more concave than normal, which makes them wider than normal and inherently unstable, and that causes faster deterioration of the disks and facet joints. I am now fifteen surgeries into it and now have severe stenosis at L2/3 and SI joint deterioration. I have had all kinds of injections, acupuncture, etc, two fusions (now fused L3-S1 and need one for L2/3 and maybe SI), two artificial disks (do not get them!) that were fused over, spinal cord stimulator with in-line leads (removed), neural stimulation (3 batteries, 12 electrodes, 3 remotes--all removed), another SCS with paddle electrodes (still have it) and a pain pump (still have it) and now am having Placental Tissue Matrix injections (3 rounds so far in the SI and L2/3 facets), which are similar to stem cells in that they are supposed to be regenerative in nature. I say all of that to show that I have tried almost everything. The thing that helps the most is the pain pump, I wish someone had told me about them years ago. I have Dilaudid, Baclofen and Bupivacaine in it with microdosing (0.9mg Dilaudid/day). The medication is delivered into the cerebral spinal fluid, is concentrated and very little of the medication gets into the rest of the body, so no foggy head, nausea, etc. The jury is out on the SCS, and the PTM injections have definitely helped but start wearing off in about six weeks, are expensive and not covered by Medicare (the medicine is not but the doc's fee is, go figure). The jury is also deliberating on whether the PTMs are regenerating anything.
Bottom line, investigate the pain pump (medically, intrathecal pump), it is covered by insurance. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can hopefully help more.
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@louisp2
Yes. Relentless pain. Ineffective treatments. Thinking clearly is a planned for event. Yup.
If 2 of something doesn't work, I've usually found the same with 3. 'A+' for trying tho. One never knows & if it helps that'd be awesome.
Haven't tried those gadgets that they put inside.
Have heard good & not so good about them. What makes the case for getting it?
Red light therapy seems helpful for some & ultrasound therapy. I suppose there's the type that sometimes find the pain culprit & a 'different' type that relieves pain. Looking into trying for sure.
I hope you will find some relief. Hang in there & keep trying. All the best. ♡