Bad Back...tylenol? Yeah Right!

[Jen in SoCal 189]

Ok, do I have had serious back issues for years. I have the worst muscle spasms to the point that it has affected the natural curvature of my spine, not to mention I have arthritis due to my excess weight.

Just a couple weeks ago I was commenting to a friend that although my knees didn't feel much better yet, my back was feeling fine. Then I went in vacation took a 6 hour flight to and from Hawaii and BAM! I'm right back to where I was before surgery.

I tried taking my muscle relaxers prescribed to me before I had surgery. They had no effect on me whatsoever. I think it must be a malabsorption thing. My biggest problem is pain relief. I used to take NSAIDs, aleve or Advil and they really helped. Now I can take nothing but Tylenol which is absolutely useless for my back pain!

Help! Has anyone had the same issues and been able to find an alternative they actually works? I had to call in work yesterday because i could barely walk and I used up all my sick time for my surgery.

Sorry for the ramble but I really need to vent. I've literally felt disabled since Friday and I could just cry and I need some kind of pain relief.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

[purpleamy 7]

Hi Jen, please try a pain doctor. Mine does Epidurals and Caudal blocks. We are in the same boat and I know how you feel. I'm scheduled for a caudal block this coming Friday because my tail bone out of control. It takes about 3 days to recover from the shots but they last about 1-2 years (hopefully). Look in to it.