Annular Tears, chemical radiculopathy.

[CajunRich]

MRI says nothing is wrong

4 Different Physicians are blind due to me having a history of opiate problem.

I have not been dx'd yet with anything. I have had severe lower back pain, Near the lumbar/Sacrum area. Then my upper thies will hurt after I have sat down for a little while. Next my Heels will hurt like heck if I am on them to long or drive for long distances. Actually the driving of long distances has been out lately due to my buttock hurting so bad.

My back hurts so bad I have to cut all my boxer shorts so the waste band does not put pressure on my lower back. A belt is out of the question. On bad days it radiates to my hips. After reading all these forums I feel like there is no real fix which is disheartening. My wife and daughter are really suffering b/c of my lack of participation in events with them. This is the first summer in all my life I have only played golf once. (hold...I have to shift my sitting position The only thing I feel is different than what I have read is my heels hurt but not the top of my foot and not a tingling sensation.

I am tempted to just check into a local hospital and not leave till we get a solid DX. MRI said nothing is wrong. Neurosurgeon said it should only be one side not the other if it was injury related. PT made it worse....Chiropractor did help a bit but did not fix the problem. I do feel my skinny butt is helping inflame the nerves. I am just started celebrex and lyrica (yippie)

I want to know can medication cause this pain? What else should I do ...I am lost. Working nights for years in the hospital I would sleep at night in my chair leaned back right on my lower lumber for hrs in a leather chair. I really feel that, golf and my terrible posture is the culprit of problem.

Any thoughts?

[Keano16]

Get a second opinion... (neurosurgeon or ortho surgeon, use SMISS or SpineUniverse doctor finder).

[Maria]

Get another opinion or two or three would be my recommendation as well. Keep complaining if you keep feeling the pain because no doubt you have something going on "in there" that's causing the pain.

I remember when I was told my various problems couldn't be causing bilateral pain or pain that moved from side to side tho it did and I continued to complain until I had all the diagnostics that rendered findings and allowed me to get sufficient spine care (thru Worker's Compensation).

Maybe your habits and posture have contributed to the problem tho it's most likely there one way or the other so the plan would be to get it diagnosed and treated no matter what has made it exist.

I also went for years where I could not even think about wearing jeans because of the waist bands or other pants that had a waist band that would bind or I could feel in that area. Even hosiery that used to feel somewhat tight in the waist area would bother me!

Good luck and keep complaining until you get further diagnostic testing that will help reveal what the nature of your problem could be.

[dshobbies]

Hi CajunRich and welcome to the forum,

Ditto to previous recommendations. Don't know what kind of doctors you've seen but you definitely need a specialist. In addition, I would also recommend a pain management specialist since they are more familiar with drug interactions and what may or may not be related to your opiate use.

From someone having been there with absolutely no medical expertise, it does sound like you're having nerve involvement with something. Keep searching until you find the answer. Some doctor will believe you and explore further.

Good luck and please keep us posted. You might also consider starting your own thread.

Dale

[CajunRich]

Thanks guys/gals for the recommendations. I agree there is something wrong..something is pinching pulling piercing binding ...something lol.

I have gone to Pain Dr..but he only did injections which Im not quite sure if it worked or not b/c 2 days after the SI joint injection I went golfing....boy was that a mistake!!!! I want do that again! Then I went to this "great" Neurosurgeon in downtown Indianapolis..I had high hopes...It sucked. Unfortunately my history with opiates was in the chart b/c that Dr. was in the same system as some previous engagements with some of the other Docs. So i was pretty dam sure I got a sideways look from him. He was the one that said It was less than 2% chance I had an injury related issue b/c it the pain was on both sides and not just down one leg. Urrrrg....he was making jokes and cutting up. Needless to say i wasn't laughing then he straightened up a bit. He then referred me to a neurologist which is where I am now.

I told this Doc that I know how the medical system works when someone comes in with a hx of drug use or and addictive personalty the Dr's put up a barrier right away. He kinda looked at me strange and then i just about broke down crying with him telling him how bad it was and im not here to ask for any pills...I just need to get to the bottom of this. I told him he was the 4th Dr. I had scene and if he couldn't give me a 100% percent look then tell me know before we even waist time here. He then looked at me as I could barely sit in there chair....and there was awkward silence lol...then he just kept on with my work up. He then said the Neurosurgeon said you have neuropathy? I said yes...he said that guy is clueless...that kinda broke the ice. This Dr. gave me Celebrex and lyrica...not exactly the path I wanted to take but hell Ill try anything about now.

He then ordered and bone scan which I did friday and waiting results. After reading a lot of information on Chirogeek. com it sure does seem like I have spondylolisthesis. The chiropractor I went to said I surely have terrible posture and that my lower lumber/sacrum area is binding which is consistent with spondylo.

I have to go on a trip next week for a 10 hr drive. Then caddy for my daughter for 4 days then drive back. This could be the trip that does me in...we will see if I can last.

My wife and I are tempted to just go down to the hospital and say uncle and not leave till I get a Dx.

[Aaron]

I have a herniation at T6-7 that I had discogram for. The discogram was positive at T5-T7 and showed tears in T5-T8 but T8 asymptomatic. I wish they would have continued up my spine until I did not have a positive result, I could have had painful tears up to T1-2 but they stopped at T5 which is usual for testing T6-T7 ( disc above and below) but when positive result occured at T5 it should have changed to keep going. Annular tears are very interesting because doctors dismiss it but the unexpected tears and positive discogram other than at T6-7 caused a surgeon to halt a surgury plan due the new results because he felt T6-7 was not my only pain generator as earlier expected. The sitting pain seems to be a common when dealing with tears, the pain increases at a much faster rate. Most times it gets to the point where I must lay down but every once in a while the pain peaks and actually goes down to a manageable pain while sitting. I attribute this to the possibility that the disc has pushed out any fluid in it through the tear. The SED procedure is very interesting but as chiro geek says unless it is put up for the double blind testing it is all hear say about its results. The pain I feel does not radiate much but the burning is terrible over the spots on my thorasic and it increases when sitting by 10X. Its all so confusing, not many disagnosis have so many variables to deal with. As I have said before I was treated so much better when I was diagnosed with cancer. Surgeons so compassionate and caring along with people in general and it was only thyroid cancer. I could not help but think if I was treated this way for my spine I would have made much better progress by now. Dealing with this constant pain and talking to so many about it I have come to the realization that seems to never be addressed, back pain does kill people. Often from suidcide and often it seems they die inside. There are no rally walks for the spine as there are with mental illnesss, cancer etc. There are no celebrities out there saying help donate to back problem cures. It just seems like we just have to live with this so oh well.

[Maria]

I truly think we should have some kind of "walk" tho many can't walk when pain is on.. can't sit.. so we'd maybe be able to be pushed in gurneys and thus causing some other people back probs..

Anyone that has watched a loved one suffer with horrendous spine related pain and disabilty would likely champion this cause. I know I would.

We as a collective group of sufferers may out number any other incidence of condition out there except the common cold which I keep hearing there's going to be a cure for down the road.

Yep.. back pain sure does cause death. At least of life as we once knew it.

Even tho I have been a long long time spiney I have to say that relief is sweet and I hope that all others out there get it no matter the route.