Pain Relief For Herniated Discs In My T5-t6 & T9-t10

After multiple (5) trips to the emergency room for severe back, spines & stomach pain I was finally given an MRI & X-RAYS which revealed I have 2 herniated discs & arthritis in my back. The herniated discs are located in my T5-T6 & T9-T10 area. The emergency room doctor who ordered my tests did perscribe me 5mg oxycodone to help subdue the pain until I was able to see my Dr monday. She also explained in grave detail what to expect from this medication & possible side effects along with becoming dependant to the medication if not properly taken. But before my MRI & X-RAYS were taken the emergency rooms prescribed me over 8 different non-narcotic pain medication, a steroid along with an anti-inflammatory medication. Now my doctor is having me go to physical therapy 3 times a week for the next 12 weeks and told me that no other medication would be necessary especially a narcotic medication. I explained to him i was not seeking any type of narcotic medication I just want relief from this horrible pain and to be able to return to work and live the same way I was before my diagnosis. The physical therapy is only making things worse and I have change doctors two different times (due to catching BOTH of them in bold faced lies) but I have stayed with the same physical therapist. Please help me as I am in the worst pain I've ever been in in my entire life. Usually i'm restricted to laying in bed/couch or praying to god that I can find a place where I can get semi comfortable in my house. I have been totally depending on my fiance to do simple every day tasks for me. BTW I was diagnosed on July 27,2017 but all of this pain first started in the mid part April of 2017.

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Hey, I have been in almost the exact same boat with a diagnosed herniated disc. They have been present since 1998 after a car accident, but have now just become a problem (first had pain in January 2017, and then it began limiting my activity level in March of 2017) with severe leg and hip pain as a result of a likely radiculopathy (really got bad in June 2017). I have found that using all of the non-narcotic meds in conjunction with some narcotic pain meds are helpful for me, especially the celebrex and ketorolac for very bad days. Other helpful therapies have been an inversion table which i purchased for 140.00 dollars and an electrical muscle stimulator for more back related pain and spasms. The narcotic pain meds only can do so much; be sure to limit your activity and lay down whenever possible and use ice, that takes the pressure off of your potential radiculopathy if you do in fact have a herniation pushing on the nerve root that leads to your leg. An inversion table also helps take the pressure off your spinal cord and nerve roots. My activity has been halted to about 10% of my normal upright activity -- really sucks and prevents me from getting work done. Look into a microdissection / laser minimally invasive option as opposed to a full blown laminectomy (the less bone you remove, the better). Be careful with the prednisone and steroid meds as they are very bad for your bones, but can help people. The studies show that steroids really may or may not have any long term effect -- I.E. They can't prove that improvement isn't just a result of time passing and swelling resolving on its own.

The problem i have is that narcotic pain meds do help pain, you then increase activity, but in doing that you are continuing to irritate the nerve thereby making the problem worse. The sooner you can get off of anti-inflammatories, the better.. Anti-inflammatory medications prevent your body's natural ability to regenerate disc material leading to flattened discs and increased stenosis and arthritis. Once you have the pain under control, either through a minimally invasive surgery or PT, just enough to get the most painful part of your nerve compression relieved, the sooner you can begin doing regular exercise that increases circulation to your discs allowing them to regenerate and unflatten. I hope that you find some of this information helpful.

I have spent many hours on the youtube watching different doctors present presentations with my increased inability to leave my bed as i await a surgery. Nerve pain is the worst, and unfortunately narcotic pain meds can only dull it down. Look into gabapentin (helps calm pain signals being sent up your spinal cord), celebrex, and some type of muscle relaxer for the evening to help calm the involuntary spasms that happen as a result of the pain. But get yourself fixed so that you aren't stuck taking anti-inflammatories indefinitely -- they are very bad for your body and only make stenosis worse over time. You need that circulation to your discs that NSAIDs prevent. But yes, i agree, the narcotic pain meds are required to help get through PT or a surgery. You need to stay active to some degree so that your muscles don't atrophy away to nothing, again causing more problems and increased pain. Good luck! I feel yah on this one. Ask about oral ketorolac (torodal) 10 mg for the occasional pain flareups. I have found this to be the most effective medication for pain relief by 10 fold as compared to oxycodone, but the stuff is really bad for your kidneys and can't be taken for more than 5 days.. just save it for really bad days and don't take it on top of any other NSIDs, replace your dose of ibuprophen or celebrex with the torodal. I have been taking celebrex in the AM and evening, but will take a torodal instead of the celebrex when things are really bad. And keep track of your pain by writing down what hurts, for how long, and what you did before it to help eliminate the activity that aggravates your nerve pain.

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There is no specific medication that is best for any given person. We are all different and it can depend on what works best for you.

The FDA warns that opiate narcotics carry the risk of being habit forming and may cause side effects, such as nausea, dizziness, headache, dry mouth, and constipation.

If you are not happy with your current treatment options, then it might be best to seek a second opinion.

What are you both currently taking?

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Oxycodone, Celebrex, gabapentin, tizanidine (at night). Upon trying to determine why I was in such excruciating pain, My 3rd opinion neuro consult decided to investigate further the discovered Ankylosing spondylitis.. very much discouraged to have that diagnosis, however, at least I can begin to treat and hopefully slow the progression of the disease. I can't emphasize the importance of finding good doctors. Unfortunately, the 4 doctors prior to this consult have blown me off as someone looking for pain meds, and until recently I have been undertreated and living with uncontrolled pain that no one has had any interest in mitigating. I hope that I can eventually get my life back to some state of normalcy, but I think things are going to be quite different going into the future.

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