Lower back pain from you know where!

[jule1]

Does anyone else have this?? I've had it for days and it is horrendous pain like flank pain but more at bottom of spine and radiates up lower back! It's excruciating and makes it hard to bend sit and only eases up when laying straight!

Is this the nerves at base of spine?? Hubby says you have a ball of nerves at the base of spine and thinks they are inflamed and this is why it happens??

Heat and cold seemed to help some but now is becoming more painful as the day has worn on.

[carolyn]

I have a lot of that going on (mine's the opposite, though, in that lying straight makes it worse) right now. Course, mine's an actual injury, but the pain sounds similar to what you're talking about. Mine is definitely sacral pain that radiates up to the lower back and down throughout the glutes.

Heat/ice are good -- alternate them 10 minutes each a few times per day. I can give you some stretches, too, that my PT gave me.

Also -- and I hate to recommend it because I hated doing it -- taking ibuprofen really helps reduce any inflammation and reduces pain. I was up to 600mg 3x/day on doctor's orders, but you could do 400mg 3x/day and see if it helps.

If your pain goes on for more than a week, I'd go to your doc to see if it's something that PT would help with.

[jule1]

Thanks so much Carolyn. I will keep doing the heat and cold. I took a 200 mg of ibuprofen yesterday and it did nothing to help. Maybe I'll try 400 mg but my stomach is a mess too right now with the gastritis and all.

I definitely could try some stretches. It's so painful and I never had this this bad before but will try and wait it out.

[Aeroman]

welcome to my world! I just took 800mg of ibuprofen and see if this flare up goes down. I'll try some PT stretches too...

[carolyn]

Here are the stretches my PT gave (keep in mind this was for my particular case, so there are likely others that would also help):

Hamstring stretch: 30 sec per leg

Extend one leg in front of you with the foot flexed. Bend your other knee and lean back slightly. Your pelvis should be tilted forward. Keep your upper body upright as you hold the stretch.



Piriformis stretch: 30 sec per leg

Sit down on a chair with legs spread shoulder width. Put one ankle on the thigh of the opposite leg then lean forward to feel a stretch in your butt. Note that I often have to push down on the knee a little to feel the stretch.



Traditional piriformis stretch: 30 sec per leg

Essentially the same pose as the sitting piriformis stretch except it is done lying on your back.



Hip flexor stretch: 30 sec per leg

Note that this one is still too painful on my back to do, so don't force yourself into the lunge if your back complains!!



Low back stretch: 30 sec or however long

I do this one as much as possible!



I'll post some exercises in the next post...

[carolyn]

I'm only going to post the "beginner" exercises that my PT gave because I don't know why any of y'all's backs hurt and I don't want to give you something that would make it worse! But these were all OK to do even when they weren't sure whether I had a spinal fracture, so I'm sure they'd be OK anytime.

Cat/Camel

Start on hands and knees. Carefully arch your back and hold for 3 to 5 seconds (1st pic). Gently sag your back and hold for 3 to 5 seconds (2nd pic). Repeat 10 times.




Tail wag

Start on hands and knees. Carefully wag your butt from side to side, slowly. Basically, you're just shifting your butt to the right, then over to the left. Repeat 10 times.

No picture that I can find online, but hopefully that's easy to understand.

[pboy]

Ive tried that cat/camel stretch before and I remember it was quite helpful. My mum has back pain too and she said it helped her.

[LinLou]

Google "Back Joy".

I just got one about 3 weeks ago, and it is WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a butt orthotic. You sit on it when you're sitting at computers, or where ever it is you sit.

I was in excruciating pain and now the pain is g.o.n.e.

I love this thing

[jule1]

Interesting Linlou. Will Google. Those stretches look good Carolyn but I hurt just looking at them!LOL. Will try anything at this point though.

[Aeroman]

Here is the epic center of my pain (anjopom knows this image )

[carolyn]

Ugh, that looks familiar. Juan, you had an MRI, right? Did it ever show anything conclusive?

[jule1]

That is exactly where my pain is too Juan!! Like in the tailbone or something. I've had MRI's and CT's so I know it's withdrawal.

[LCrawford67]

My back pain is more muscular in nature and it's my hip that hurts the worst. And, my pain goes in to my butt cheek and like in this picture, radiates out to the sides sometimes; like in my ribs.

Nice butt, by the way, Juan

[jule1]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

My back pain is more muscular in nature and it's my hip that hurts the worst. And, my pain goes in to my butt cheek and like in this picture, radiates out to the sides sometimes; like in my ribs.

Nice butt, by the way, Juan

LOL!!

[scotty]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

Nice butt, by the way, Juan

roflmao!

Ah, back pain is my life. Mine is a congenital thing, but I can tell you that 200mg of ibuprofen isn't going to do it. I take a minimum of 600mg to get any relief.

[jule1]

Will take 400 and see I think. I'm just afraid the ibuprofen will tear up my alreday torn up stomach.

[carolyn]

Originally Posted by jule1

Will take 400 and see I think. I'm just afraid the ibuprofen will tear up my alreday torn up stomach.

I hear ya. I was able to go up to 600mg with only minor stomach cramping, so 400mg a couple of times a day, if taken with food, *should* be OK. I hope it helps!

[jule1]

Thanks Carolyn! Had an extremely hard time cooking dinner tonight. Every time I bent over to get the food out of the oven it was excrutiating! Will see what 400 does to the tummy. Thanks again for posting the stretches.

[Aeroman]

Originally Posted by carolyn

Ugh, that looks familiar. Juan, you had an MRI, right? Did it ever show anything conclusive?

Carolyn, I had an X-ray done initially from the general doc and he said "degenerative joint disease". He gave me pills for the pain and it did nothing. A couple of weeks later, he had me go get an MRI. Yep, I had two MRI's, one week apart. The first was without contrast and the second was with contrast. The wording on the MRI report was "probable arachnoiditis", "nerve clumping".

This was back in Feb 2009. After doing some research on it, I didn't fit the cause nor the symptoms! So, deep down, I believe the diagnosis was not accurate. I've never had surgery in my spine, no trauma, no epidural injections, nothing. I have this chronic dull nagging ache (level 6-7, from a scale of 1-10).

I have this feeling that Lexapro w/d has caused inflammation on my nerves making it look like I have arachnoiditis? I say inflammation because breathing issues have also have been an issue (asthma) and I feel that inflammation has been more apparent during w/d.

Of course, I could get a 2nd opinion. Shoot, I just want this pain GONE just like all of you!

[Aeroman]

Originally Posted by jule1

That is exactly where my pain is too Juan!! Like in the tailbone or something. I've had MRI's and CT's so I know it's withdrawal.

what did you MRI's and CT's scan say? everything normal?

How long has it been since you quit SSRI

[Aeroman]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

Nice butt, by the way, Juan

LOL!!! Thanks, it took a lot of work to get it that ripped.

[Toby 4 ever]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

My back pain is more muscular in nature and it's my hip that hurts the worst. And, my pain goes in to my butt cheek and like in this picture, radiates out to the sides sometimes; like in my ribs.

Nice butt, by the way, Juan

LC didn't you have a shoulder and upper back pain issue? That is where my pain is (mostly left) how is that now??? I got a massage (gentle) and it made me kind of sick even though I drank gallons of water

Whenever I take Advil I get anxiety so that is out - tylenol does not do much - this stinks....epsom salts and heat patches are my new best friends....yoga helps a little too...

[jule1]

Originally Posted by Aeroman

what did you MRI's and CT's scan say? everything normal?

Yes everything was normal.

How long has it been since you quit SSRI

22 months since the last Effexor

[LCrawford67]

Originally Posted by Toby 4 ever

LC didn't you have a shoulder and upper back pain issue? That is where my pain is (mostly left) how is that now??? I got a massage (gentle) and it made me kind of sick even though I drank gallons of water

Whenever I take Advil I get anxiety so that is out - tylenol does not do much - this stinks....epsom salts and heat patches are my new best friends....yoga helps a little too...

Yes I did, Toby. In fact, last April, that's what I went to the ER for. I had this shooting pain in my upper back/shoulder/rib area. They thought I may have been having a pulmonary embolism and took CT scans etc., then my heart rate and BP were all over the place, so they ended up keeping me for two days because of that....

Long story short, that pain is completely gone now. It plagued me for 2-3 months, before getting really bad. Then, just started to disappear.

It was around that time, my doc took an x-ray of my hip and three doctors (two at the hospital and my GP) all said they believed my back/shoulder pain to be muscular in nature. I've never had a CT or MRI on my back and don't feel it necessary at this point.

My doc did suggest massages and I get one once a month now. I posted, too, about my first one making me sick for a couple of days. But, now that I get them regularly, that's not the case. They do seem to help, especially when she does "trigger point" massage. It's not comfortable, but the benefits after are good.

I take one Advil, only when necessary (except around my period, then it's two) and every now and again, a Robaxin, which is a very mild muscle relaxer. I haven't taken one of those in a few months though. I do love me some Epsom Salts! I didn't start those till this started over the Spring.

None of my pain started till I was a year off of Paxil. Except for the hip, that started when I was 36.

Oh, and they did an ultra sound of my gall bladder, liver, and pancreas and all is well. Had a CT scan of my kidneys, lungs, heart, spleen. So, it's certainly muscle/joint.

[Aeroman]

Originally Posted by jule1

22 months since the last Effexor

ok...i was thinking I could take my MRI films and show another doc. I've read somewhere that you have 10 radiologists looking at 1 MRI, you can get various diagnosis/opinions.