I herniated my disc and I need to vent!!!! >:(

[itsmatty30]

I want to start this by saying that idk that this will help me or anyone else but I just want to vent and let stuff off of my chest! Last year I herniated a disc and my back and up until about a week ago I was getting by. Granted, as soon as it happened I went to the ER the next day and did the whole dr appointment thing. EVERYONE! LITERALLY FREAKING EVERYONE! told me "oh it's just muscle spasms and to get some rest and take your pain pills and muscle relaxers that we CONSTANTLY FREAKING PRESCRIBE YOU NO MATTER WHAT YOU'RE SITUATION! Long story short this past year has been a bunch of "oh I feel fine now" which is then immediately followed by me re-aggravating the disc. And if you're asking, how do you know this is a herniated disc problem? Because I've had this before when I was like 17 with the exact same symptoms and within a few weeks I was fine. Anyways, back to the present day - this past week I really re-aggravated the disc BADLY. I went to the ER this past saturday and they told me the same thing about muscles and blah blah blah BLAH. The pain subsides but I'm getting numbness in the back of my thigh and in my foot. Well instead of sitting around like an idiot waiting for things to either stay the same or get worse I go right back to the hospital where they FINALLY after a year of this back and forth decide to run an X-ray on my low back revealing what could "possibly be a moderate to severe Herniated disc in the L5-S1 area". FREAKING BINGO! FINALLY I HAD SOME KIND OF EVIDENCE (even if it is JUST an x-ray) THAT IT ISN'T JUST MUSCLE RELATED! Anyway, I schedule an appointment with what I believe to be a spine specialist! And I'm right, it's a spine specialist... BUT! It's a spine specialist who specializes in pain management. He tells me that he looked over the x-ray and it's pretty clear that there is some sort of disc herniation but he needs an MRI to be certain. He ordered an MRI and a steroid injection (of cortisone, I think?? idk) but then he told me "There's a possibility your insurance declines to pay for this. In which case you'd be ordered at least 6 weeks of physical therapy". Today I called my insurance company to ask if there's any chance of the MRI and steroids being paid for via insurance and they in a round about way said yes, maybe, possibly. As soon as I hung up I got on their website and looked for chiropractors near me who accepted my insurance. I called one close by and made an appointment for as soon as they can fit me in which is next wednesday. I'm really hoping that this goes somewhere and at least provides some glimmer of hope. My anxiety has been through the freaking roof this past year to the point that idk how I've held it together. I recently got into CBD gummies which thankfully have started to help my anxiety a bit. Honestly, I don't know what the point of this post is or was but I really just had to vent. Sorry! And thanks for listening, if you made it this far!

[utrocket09]

I want to start this by saying that idk that this will help me or anyone else but I just want to vent and let stuff off of my chest! Last year I herniated a disc and my back and up until about a week ago I was getting by. Granted, as soon as it happened I went to the ER the next day and did the whole dr appointment thing. EVERYONE! LITERALLY FREAKING EVERYONE! told me "oh it's just muscle spasms and to get some rest and take your pain pills and muscle relaxers that we CONSTANTLY FREAKING PRESCRIBE YOU NO MATTER WHAT YOU'RE SITUATION! Long story short this past year has been a bunch of "oh I feel fine now" which is then immediately followed by me re-aggravating the disc. And if you're asking, how do you know this is a herniated disc problem? Because I've had this before when I was like 17 with the exact same symptoms and within a few weeks I was fine. Anyways, back to the present day - this past week I really re-aggravated the disc BADLY. I went to the ER this past saturday and they told me the same thing about muscles and blah blah blah BLAH. The pain subsides but I'm getting numbness in the back of my thigh and in my foot. Well instead of sitting around like an idiot waiting for things to either stay the same or get worse I go right back to the hospital where they FINALLY after a year of this back and forth decide to run an X-ray on my low back revealing what could "possibly be a moderate to severe Herniated disc in the L5-S1 area". FREAKING BINGO! FINALLY I HAD SOME KIND OF EVIDENCE (even if it is JUST an x-ray) THAT IT ISN'T JUST MUSCLE RELATED! Anyway, I schedule an appointment with what I believe to be a spine specialist! And I'm right, it's a spine specialist... BUT! It's a spine specialist who specializes in pain management. He tells me that he looked over the x-ray and it's pretty clear that there is some sort of disc herniation but he needs an MRI to be certain. He ordered an MRI and a steroid injection (of cortisone, I think?? idk) but then he told me "There's a possibility your insurance declines to pay for this. In which case you'd be ordered at least 6 weeks of physical therapy". Today I called my insurance company to ask if there's any chance of the MRI and steroids being paid for via insurance and they in a round about way said yes, maybe, possibly. As soon as I hung up I got on their website and looked for chiropractors near me who accepted my insurance. I called one close by and made an appointment for as soon as they can fit me in which is next wednesday. I'm really hoping that this goes somewhere and at least provides some glimmer of hope. My anxiety has been through the freaking roof this past year to the point that idk how I've held it together. I recently got into CBD gummies which thankfully have started to help my anxiety a bit. Honestly, I don't know what the point of this post is or was but I really just had to vent. Sorry! And thanks for listening, if you made it this far!

Sorry you are in pain, but most insurances will not out right pay for an MRI without proof you have gone thru other treatment unsuccessfully. I tell you that as a person both with back issues and working for insurance.Good luck.

[DenisD]

I am very sorry to hear about your back pain. However, a herniated disk is very manageable, with mulple ways to be treated on a long term: from pain killers, kineto therapy, swimming, to minimal invasive surgery (1h surgery with leaving home the next day).

I had 2 surgeries (first when I was 17 years old, and another one at 24). After that I got pregnant and currently I am picking up a 10 months and 13kg baby, more than 20 times a day and I am still fine.

So keep an active lifestyle, be positive and it will help you a lot!

[itsmatty30]

I am very sorry to hear about your back pain. However, a herniated disk is very manageable, with mulple ways to be treated on a long term: from pain killers, kineto therapy, swimming, to minimal invasive surgery (1h surgery with leaving home the next day).

I had 2 surgeries (first when I was 17 years old, and another one at 24). After that I got pregnant and currently I am picking up a 10 months and 13kg baby, more than 20 times a day and I am still fine.

So keep an active lifestyle, be positive and it will help you a lot!

Thanks for the positivity. I'm glad you're back is getting better. My plan is to do PT as well some chiropractic visits. I've been swimming which has funnily enough helped me with my anxiety a tad bit. I'm just really looking forward to the chiro appointment next week. I'll try to keep you guys updated!

[SarahNah]

I hope you feel better soon! There's nothing worse then having back-pain! I had damaged to a disc after falling from a horse! I don't have alot to add but I did do Chiro vists and swimming helped me HUGLY! Even when I was at my worst, all I did was float in the pool but it helped me so much!
Hope you feel better soon

[itsmatty30]

So a quick update. I had my first chiropractor appointment last wednesday. It went well. The guy told me up front not to expect a miracle in my first few appointments but to look for slow and steady improvement. For starters after my first adjustment I no longer had any lower back pain. The really cool part was I felt even taller than I did when I walked in for the adjustment (and I'm already a pretty tall guy). Still some pain down the side of my leg and the numbness in the back of my right thigh and right toes are still there. Still can't go on my tiptoes on my right side BUT I can go on my right side tiptoes in a pool (which I wasn't able to do before the adjustment). He wants me on a twice a week adjustment for three weeks. I'm still worried about the numbness but the relief he gave both my lower AND upper back was fantastic and has certainly made me a bit more hopeful. Also the MRI (which I thought had no chance of being approved) was actually approved! YAY! so I go in tomorrow in the AM for an MRI on my low back which I'm pretty sure is gonna show what's causing my numbness (probably a damaged nerve from the disc herniation) but on top of that it will show how severe the disc herniation is. I was also approved for the steroid injections but that appointment isn't until late June unfortunately. Also a quick update on anxiety in general: the CBD gummies seem to be helping quite a bit. I'm definitely a lot less tense than I've been in months. Granted, the anxiety is definitely still there but it's been curbed quite a bit.

[ErinKC]

This is all great news. It's always such a relief when you're able to see even a little bit of progress and finally get some answers and causes to the problems you're having. I hope the MRI gives a good picture of what's happening so you can do even more to treat the pain!

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

[itsmatty30]

So I did my MRI today and it showed some pinched nerves in my right leg due to spinal stenosis. The spinal stenosis was most likely brought on by my most recent herniated disc. I was told to continue my chiropractic treatment and be sure to show up for my steroid injections at the end of June. Also was told that if I feel it's getting worse at any point then surgery is always an option (i'd like to avoid it though) and apparently the surgery isn't too invasive which is really nice to hear.