Good morning, everyone.
I can relate to the chronic pain issue causing you to basically be removed from the real world. For the past 3 years, I have been dealing with right-side oblique/flank muscle cramping that goes from when I get out of bed in the morning until I go back to bed that night. All day, every day at an average pain level of 7/8. Rarely does it drop below this, but it gets worse depending on my activity level throughout the day.

This has caused me to cancel a vacation and avoid scheduling any type of activity that uses my core muscles. So you can see the problem, how do you do anything without using your core muscles? I cannot do activities I've done for most of my adult life; tennis, martial arts/boxing, stair climbing (we have a group of climbers that meets every weekend, and we have been climbing a 75 floor building every September for charity), and I can't even do basic exercises for my physical therapy, as just those simple movements lock up my side and I have to lay down.

For the past 6 months, the only reason I leave the house is for doctor appointments or physical therapy. I still have not driven a car since October of last year, as I do not want to take the chance of a severe cramping episode causing an accident. I am basically a hermit, coming out into the real world a couple of times per week, but even this will be stopping after this past week's experience with my pain. This physical therapy place I've been going to for three weeks works on body mechanics, proper movement and lifting techniques, and breath work as well. 6 sessions over three weeks has not improved anything, and it has even resulted in more pain over the past few days.

I have been to chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, and I have tried trigger point injections as well as Dysport (a version of Botox the insurance approved, as they would not approve Botox), all with no improvement at all. I have had 3 epidurals, with the 3rd one back in February this year causing more pain than I had before the procedure. On top of the additional pain, my right side muscles are cramping easier as well.

And I sit at home all day, every day, researching, watching videos, writing to people all over the world, thinking that someone, somewhere, has heard of this, had this, or treated this, as I cannot be the only person in the world with this medical issue. But the longer this goes on with no one having any idea what is wrong, and the more I read about the people commenting here on the Mayo Clinic site, I am starting to believe this is what the rest of my life is going to be. I have been going through this for 3 years, but that is a fraction of the time many people on this site have been dealing with their conditions.

This is so sad that this is what is has come to in the US for medical care. I served my country, I worked for 30 years and retired debt-free in my 50s, I saved what I needed to for retirement, and within a year and a half of retiring, this happened. I've done everything they say we are supposed to do in the US, worked my butt off, provided for my family, with two successful grown children as the result, served my country and was very successful in my career. And now I'm a hermit with no end in sight to my pain.