Unbearable Back PainIt all started when I was 22 years old and working night shift at Wal-Mart to try and pay the bills while in college. I would work 10pm to 7am then go to classes from 8am until 2 or 3pm. One afternoon after getting off work going back to my apartment and getting some well needed rest I woke up almost unable to move from severe back pain. I had never experienced anything like it in my life. I quickly called the campus doctors and got an appointment right away. At first they just gave me some Ibuprofen and told me to rest. Later that evening I was rushed to the hospital because the pain was unbearable. They put me on a Prednisone taper, Ibuprofen (1200mg, 6 times a day), Vicodin (10/500mg, 6 times a day, Robaxin (750mg, 6 times a day) and Flexeril (at bed time). They also ordered an MRI and x-ray.Needless to say all of the medication that I was on made me a complete zombie and I was unable to drive for around 3 months. I was going through Vicodin and muscle relaxers like they were going out of style, I was getting my prescription of 100 Vicodin refilled every 16 days, it was out of control. Eventually because of all the medications I was on they stared to eat away at my stomach lining and I started to have internal bleeding at which time they took me off most of the medications. Eventually I received the results of my MRI and x-ray, I had a ruptured disk between L4 and L5. They set me up to start physical therapy once a week. I attended these and it didn't seem to help at first just made it worse but eventually it was feeling a little better by the time my physical therapy was finished. I then graduated college and moved back home with my parents. I was still having pain but it was nothing compared to what I was dealing with the months before. That all changed one week, right before I was getting ready to start my new job, I started getting the stabbing pain back again. I decided to get in the hot tub to try and relax the pain away. Halfway through putting on my bathing suit my back froze up and shot a paralyzing pain all through my body and I collapsed on the floor. I was then rushed to the hospital again where I was put back on the Prednisone taper, Ibuprofen, Vicodin, and Robaxin and was to make a follow up appointment with my family doctor. They recommended that I start going to see a spine specialist. I went and had my first appointment and their course of action included trigger point injections. I started the trigger point injections which actually hurt worse than the pain I was in to start with (I actually ended up passing out a few times during these shots) as well as bruises the size of dinner plates and the inability to drive after some of them due to the location they were in. I went through the 6 week procedure to have minimal relief after all of that. The specialist I was going to did not believe in pain medication at all. It was then recommended that I got back to physical therapy and come back in for more injections if I felt it was necessary. By this time I was exhausted and said no to physical therapy because I had already done before it and it hadn't help me then, I was just tired of everything. I really wish I could say that I am pain free but it really looks like I will never be, I have built up a pain tolerance to be able to get through my days, I do everything I can to help with the pain such as heating pads, icy hot creams (unfortunately all of the and what not but unfortunately that only helps for so long before my back goes out again and I am in agony. They have told me that surgery is an option eventually, but that I am too young to go through that right now. I have basically come to the realization that I will never get rid of my pain and never be pain free. To make things even better, my back just went out again this morning. - Erin
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