I've suffered from very bad back pain for many years -- 7-8 years ago.
It's in the middle of my back, where you cannot reach it.
I was gardening. Trying to lift a load of bulbs. They didn't move; my back did. It is not a disk; a surgeon cannot help. It's the core of my back/body.
Since then, I've been in pain, and it's gotten worse. It goes down my leg, down my arm and up my neck and into my head. On the worst of days, my entire right side is in pain. I've woken in the middle of the night, with my arm in such pain, I honestly thought I was having a heart attack! All of this is from my back injury.
I've taken naproxin. It helped a bit, but never took the pain away. It did, however, begin to hurt my stomach. I went to physical therapy multiple times. I exercised to build up the core. Heat, cold, you name it. Message hurts it.
I started taking Topamax about a year ago for another purpose. As a wonderful side effect, my pain was relieved! I was soooo happy! I told my doc that I would take this med the rest of my life, rather than return to that pain again.
Unfortunately, a few days ago, it began to return. And today, I've been in horrible pain again. My head is throbbing. And it's going down my arm and leg, just as if nothing had ever changed. I'd forgotten how bad it was before. And this time, I've got a new symptom. An intermitent sharp pain in the right side of my neck. Scared me the first time it happened. But, that happened on July 4th. I remember, cuz I was at a party. It's continued, though.
I'm not interested in opiates. I teach school, and would never be able to do so on strong meds, cuz I am VERY sensative to medication.
But, has anyone tried a chiropractor?
How about acupuncture?
I'm desparate. I can't go on with this again.
It may just be temporary. I was helping the nurse and a nurses aide tend to my mom, and it did stress my back. And, I've been through a LOT of stress lately too. Between the two things, that could be the reason for the flair up. Maybe.
In the meantime, any other ideas?
Shalom!