1 step forward, 2 steps back

[Luvin_Life125 558]

I am feeling down today. I have severe chronic back pain and have had this for over 15 years. The pain finally got bad enough 3 years ago that I haven't been able to work since then. I have had the lowest pain levels in 4 years since my VSG surgery and I thought for sure I was finally on my way to getting my life back in all aspects. The weight loss helped immensely and I have been able to exercise, walk, and just live more of life that I have in a long time. My world crashed around me 3 days ago and my pain has come roaring back. I barely survived walking around an aquarium for 3 hours with my son's class and had to lay flat since I got home. I am back to maxing out my pain meds and they are only bringing the pain down a little bit. I am going to schedule a follow up visit with my pain clinic to see if we can mess with my meds to give me a bit more pain control. I guess I just need to vent a bit.

I am afraid the sudden stop to my physical activity will halt my weight loss efforts. I am so afraid to lose all of the muscle mass I have worked so hard to build along with all of the physical conditioning. I am afraid the pain is back to stay again for years. I don't want to lose what little I have gained in the last 4 months. It would have been tolerable if I didn't have a taste of what life could be. Grrr, sorry for the downer everyone. I just am trying to sort the emotional changes from surgery and pain together and reconcile it. I may contact the shrink and see if they can maybe help me with the emotions, fears, and stress.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Sorry to hear this. That truly sucks.

I hope it gets better and soon.

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

Oh, the woes of the spine. I can totally relate, my dear. Have you tried chiropractic treatments? It helps me to maintain. I don't know the particulars of your pain/injuries/disease, but I have learned a very valuable lesson from my dearest aunt who suffered tremendously with rheumatoid arthritis: use it or lose it. No matter how much it hurts, keep it moving, if you can without causing further harm (may be very painful, but should not cause harm to the afflicted area(s)). You could use the program Sit and be Fit (on PBS here in Washington state, or get DVD's of the program). I used it for my exercise prior to my surgery when the weather wouldn't allow me to walk. It is as hard as you want it to be! I wish you the best, and pray your pain will again retreat.

[Luvin_Life125 558]

Thank you everyone. I was having a really bad week and just couldn't get my mind in the right place. I have tried and worked to get my head in the right place and I think I am getting there. I am forcing myself to continue to he active everyday no matter how bad the pain is. I walk at least a mile everyday even though some days it takes an hour or more. I can't let the pain win and I refuse to let it rule my life anymore than it already does. Thanks for the support and encouragement! It really helped me gain some perspective.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

@@Luvin_Life125

If this is a new, different or worse pain from what you have experienced before then you might need an MRI to see what is going on. You could have a herniated disk. If so, it can be surgically repaired rather than suffering until it heals on its own.

I have multiple and chronic back issues and when I lost weight with the lap band my back problems not only didn't improve - they got worse. It can happen.

Hope you get the help you need and feel better soon.

[Luvin_Life125 558]

@@Luvin_Life125

If this is a new, different or worse pain from what you have experienced before then you might need an MRI to see what is going on. You could have a herniated disk. If so, it can be surgically repaired rather than suffering until it heals on its own.

I have multiple and chronic back issues and when I lost weight with the lap band my back problems not only didn't improve - they got worse. It can happen.

Hope you get the help you need and feel better soon.

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately the pain is nothing new and it waxes and wains at its own schedule. I have no discs left that low in my back to herniate. All of them have been destroyed and I am now working with bone on bone and my spine has started fusing itself. As more bone builds around my lumbar spine nerves sometimes get trapped or flared and becomes miserably painful.

I am so so sorry your back did not get better with weight loss. I am hoping weight loss will bring some pain relief. Even if it doesn't, I know I at least tried it. If nothing else, the weight loss will help me feel better about myself than I have in a long, long time. I win no matter what, even if I don't hit a home run! I hope you get some relief soon.

[LSF 264]

What position do you sleep in? Before my band surgery, I used to sleep on my stomach and would have a lot of back pain. After my band surgery in 2008, I couldn't sleep on my stomach because of the port , I started sleeping on my back or side and my pain got so much better. After I had the sleeve, I started to go back onto my stomach and the pain was starting up again.

[Luvin_Life125 558]

Hmm, most often I wake up on my side. I usually sleep snuggled up to a body pillow and that same pillow rests between my knees to help support the alignment of my hips. I will definitely try laying on my back and see if that might help some on the not pleasant days. Thank you for the suggestion! I am always open to trying new things. You never know if they help until you try.

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

So a few questions, if you don't mind? Have you had your back re-evaluated recently? How about disc replacement, or spinal fusion? How about laproscopic surgery?

Then onto a different tangent; have you tried a Sleep-Number bed? I have one, and the fact that I can adjust it to suit my spine is very helpful. There a lot of different options with this bed, including the ability to raise it to a sitting position, a heating/cooling full length pad, optional extra cushioning pads...the list goes on. Now, some folks HATE them. It took me quite awhile to find my perfect "number", and that can change daily, depending on my back or hips.

Just some ideas, I hope you can find some relief soon....

[Luvin_Life125 558]

So a few questions, if you don't mind? Have you had your back re-evaluated recently? How about disc replacement, or spinal fusion? How about laproscopic surgery?

Then onto a different tangent; have you tried a Sleep-Number bed? I have one, and the fact that I can adjust it to suit my spine is very helpful. There a lot of different options with this bed, including the ability to raise it to a sitting position, a heating/cooling full length pad, optional extra cushioning pads...the list goes on. Now, some folks HATE them. It took me quite awhile to find my perfect "number", and that can change daily, depending on my back or hips.

Just some ideas, I hope you can find some relief soon....

I don't mind answering questions at all. I am always looking for anything to try or new approaches. I will try just about anything if it has the potential to possibly help. I have been re-evaluated about 4 months ago. It included a MRI and consults with my primary care, pain clinic, a neurologist, and a surgeon. Unfortunately, the general consensus is I am not a surgical candidate because my spine is working hard on fusing itself and is steadily making progress. The thought is an auto-fusion will be so much better than the surgeon going in and breaking all the bone built up by my body and then turn around and fuse it surgically after all the trauma. I have a lot less chance of the pain continuing longer than 10-15 years if I let my spine continue. The fusion may leave me worse off long term. I am only 37 years old, which is a negative when considering disc replacement or any other devices/implants. I would need them to last for so long and unfortunately the technology hasn't advanced that far. The hope is eventually the nerves trapped between the bone will eventually die from lack of nutrition and constant inflammation. I have had over 40 steroid injections into my spinal canal over the last 12 years. They used to help a lot, but haven't worked much in the last 3 years. I had a spinal cord stimulator trial to see if it could potentially help alleviate some of the nerve pain. It didn't help the pain much, but made my leg even number and with less control than I usually have. They have tried radio frequency nerve ablation, but couldn't get to the part of the nerve causing most of the pain. We have been playing with medications for over 5 years and seen to need changing the meds every 5-7 months because I build a tolerance and start losing ground quickly. I just keep playing the game and buying time hoping we will find a combo that works for a while.

We have looked at the sleep number beds and are seriously considering getting one. Thanks for the info on how much yours helps. We have a supportive inner spring with a built in memory foam as the top layer and it has made a difference. We are considering the switch though.

I welcome any other suggestions or questions you may have. I really am open to any suggestion that I can discuss with my healthcare team. I am willing to try just about anything if it has potential to give me some of my life back.

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

@@Luvin_Life125

As I was laying in bed last night, TRYING to get to sleep, I was thinking I should tell you what I have learned about the Sleep-Number beds. First, if you can, try it out somewhere before you commit. If you know someone who has one, ask to try it for a night, or for a few hours, to see if it will work for you. The big downside of Sleep-Number is that once you buy it, you can exchange it for another one if you don't like it or it doesn't work for you, but I don't believe you can get your money back if you decide it isn't for you. So make 100 percent sure you LOVE it before you commit to it. They tend to be very expensive, and if you don't like it, or it makes your situation worse, you may be stuck with it. What my husband and I did was get a twin size, xl, to fit alongside his twin xl regular mattress, to fit on our king size frame. It works well that way.

Another point is they tend to be HOT. Especially in the summer. I purchased the warming/cooling pad that fits on top of the bed, and a fan pushes either warm or cool (NOT cold) air throughout the pad. Each setting has 3 fan levels, but the room temperature needs to be at about 72 degrees for you to really notice the cooling effect. And then it has just a regular fan that pushes through room-temperature air, if you choose. The fan is rather loud, but I have learned to ignore it. Ask to hear it before purchasing it, because again, you can't get your money back, they just exchange it for another product. My husband doesn't notice the noise, but a bomb going off wouldn't wake him, either! Not sure how long the fan will last, and again, it is expensive.

One nice feature about it all is the fact it is so lightweight. The mattress, with all the upper pads, are quite deep, requiring deep-pocket sheets, or at least the sheet grippers to hold them in place. It took me a LONG time to finally find my correct number, and that still changes from time to time. My set-up is as follows: the bed, the 2" memory foam pad, the heating/cooling pad. We adjusted the box spring on my husband's side with additional composite wood panels to accommodate the height of my set-up. Now they are the same height, so the bed doesn't look weird! Good luck in your endeavors, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

Ok. I had a thought last night (as my cat would NOT let me sleep - too much sneezing - I never knew cats could catch colds!!!). Did you (like I) notice the easing of your pain when you went on your pre-op diet? My arthritis pain in my lower back and hips left me ENTIRELY until about 2 weeks out from surgery. Then it came back in full force, all of a sudden-like. I was totally off any pain meds (under Dr. orders, for the surgery), and only on the liquid pre-op diet. My NUT and I think the inflammation is being caused by something I eat, because there doesn't seem to be any other explanation for it. I am trying to pin-point what food it could be, but no luck so far. I have ruled out dairy (that's what she said it could be - apparently it can really play a large role in inflammation) because I have been drinking the Protein shakes with whey powder in them, both during and after the surgery.

HOWEVER, it could be dairy, because the processing of Protein Shakes may neutralize (or whatever you want to call it) the whatever it is that is or is in whey, and things like milk, cottage cheese, cheeses...may undergo a different type of processing that doesn't affect the dairy in the same way (I know this is very confusing, I'm just trying to figure it all out!). But I am really starting to think it may just be the dairy, because the other things I eat (protein, carbs...and the different varieties of such) don't appear to have inflammatory effects. Or as much, anyway.

So I guess I am going to try to 1. re-evaluate my pre-op diet, to see what I omitted then that I am now eating again. 2. Evaluate the dairy I am eating now, then try to test the results of them (go off of each item individually) to see which - if any - are contributing to or actually causing my inflammation.

If you haven't thought about this yet, or tried any of this yet, it is an idea. I'd love to have that time back where I was in no pain (during the pre-op and post-op periods). SOMETHING is causing it, I believe, from the foods I ate before and the foods I now eat. The plot thickens.........