I just felt the need to whine about my back tonight.
Not very man-like I know but sometimes I just need a place to vent.
I don't want to whine to my wife because she worries about it too much already. I don't want to take drugs to ease the pain so the only thing left is to whine to friends about it.
I have been doing too much the last couple of days, so it's my own fault. I have been helping a friend (more like a daughter) fix her rental place up so it can be rented again. The work is not heavy just long hours on my feet painting and plastering, measuring and getting the place back to nice.
I made the choice to help so I don't feel I should use meds to cover it up. Its just that the pain is so much right now that my eyes keep tearing and I need rest.

Anyway thanks for listening - or at least not telling me how stupid I am. I do feel I need to be there for her, her blood family won't be and she is as much a part of our family as my own kids. I just needed to get it off my chest and see it in print to be able to get through this night.
Thanks again guys - no comments are required - you guys are like family to me too, in a wierd long distance kind of way.
Keep the powder dry!

Paul....I feel ya pain mate. I too have a bad back and neck, Cervical Spondylosis, Lumbar Spondylosis and Osteo Arthrosis.

Nothing worse than pain that just will not ease. Meds are ok, up to a point, but I use a TENS Machine and a heat pad and have a great physiotherapist who also does acupuncture.

I understand your doing things that cause you pain...I am the same. I refuse to give up and say..."I'm too broken and sore to do anything". In some respects it is a good thing that you are keeping active cause if you stopped then everything would tighten up and you would be a lot worse off.

Feel free to vent your spleen or have a whinge to me mate...I understand fully, and if it helps you cope the so much the better.

Chhers, Vince

PaulS wrote:

Thanks again guys - no comments are required - you guys are like family to me too, in a wierd long distance kind of way. Keep the powder dry!

I know what you mean Paul, its kinda odd how you get attached to folks you've never even met face to face. Just remember, it never hurts to vent to friends!

Thanks guys, I am dealing with it better tonight and no meds!
I guess it has a lot more to do with frame of mind - and getting enough rest. I actually got eight hours of sleep - 4:00 am to noon...
Once I got my head on straight this morning I was able to get some rest.

I don't need to vent like that often but last night - wow!

The first time my back went out was in the back yard planting a garden. I had to crawl into the house and up on the sofa. So, I know the pain you are talking about.
There are some good pain killers out there that are not habit forming and will give you relief.
I went on pain killers with my cancer and I am glad they are there for me to take. A side benefit is that it totally relieves my back pain. Makes me wonder why I didn't take them before. When that back pain sets in I turn into a total grump and a total pain in the rear to the family and friends. Before I would just go to bed until the back quit hurting. Now that I am on meds my wife and friends can tell the difference in my attitude and say "where did you come from".
Give the meds a second thought.

Paul,
You might see about one of the anti-inflamitory drugs made for rumitoid arthritis. After my back surgery, that was a have to situation, I have been using Ansaid. It is just like taking a very strong asprin, not a pain killer type drug at all. I can take one and sleep for about 6 hours. My normal nights are 9pm-3am. The joints and the spine are what makes growing older so much fun and not for the faint of heart...... Hang in there.
Best,
Ed

Thanks guys. I was on methadone for three years following the accident. I took myself off it because I didn't want to live that way. Most of the time my high pain threashold and higher tolerance keeps things managable for me. If I get too tired or do just too much I pay for it. When I need meds I do take them - unless I need the ass kicking to remind me that I am not 21 anymore. I don't use anything stronger than Tylenol Codein and something for spasms (Cyclobenzaprine). I don't have a lot of inflamation, just nerve irritation on occasion and a general lack of motion and as a result of that a lack of strength in my back. (which affects every other part of the body)
I an back to my "normal" self and thinking about getting better again.

Paul,
Another thing, the new pain and sports clinics are great. They can help you deal with the pain even if you don't take anything stronger than a mussel relaxer. There are so many treatments including specific exercises that the pain clinics can recommend for you and give you some straight up information that will let you decide how to deal with your pain.
Take care,
Chris

paul, i think all of us who have had to work for a living have tore up thier backs some time or another.. its not fun at all! and like you i hate taking the drugs as well but there are days where i wish someone would shoot me!!

as far as us being family hey thats why we are here!! through the good and the bad!

After running heavy equipment for so many years Paul, my back was shot when I retired from them.
I didn't walk straight up for many years.
What got me through all of the pain was Ibuprofen.
I would take 800 mi. three times a day.
The stuff really worked, and still does.

Now days my back doesn't hurt, but when the Doctors did tests for my bad leg, they said that my back is shot, and the EMG on my leg shows damage also from my bad back.
They couldn't believe that I weathered through it with just Ibuprofen.

You sound pretty tuff Paul, and I would give the stuff a try.
It was and is a Miracle worker for me.

Eric

Thanks guys. I guess you deserve a bit of history on me and my back:

I was hit from behind while waiting for a red light by a lady who was speeding because she was late for work. No insurance, nothing worth attaching. I was insured and my uninsured motorist paid for about half the medical bills and $200 a week for the first 25 weeks and then everything stopped. It took my insurance company a quote from a professional appraiser to get the money to fix my car and a lawyer to get them to pay me the rest of what they owed me for the accident.
Now for me: I suffered two bulged discs - one at the top of my spine and one at the base of it and a fracture in the middle. My sciatic nerve gives me some problems with leg numbness and cramps but over the 3 1/2 years since the accident that has almost resolved itself. I get spasms in my very low backside still but the ache tells me that the bones are fusing as the docs said they would. I have had intermittent spasms in my shoulders and upper back since the accident from that disc which seem to be sensitive to stress (and wierd sleeping positions). The fracture has completely healed - I am sure because I haven't had much aching from it for a long time now.
The meds: I was put on Hydrocodone and Oxycotin for the first few months and that didn't keep me pain free - nothing out of the norm for me. The doctors were concerned about addiction because the drugs I was on have a side affect of euphoria (something I never felt) so I was put on an equivalent dose of Methadone. The Methadone stayed in effect all day long so it took care of most of the pain except when I had to get in and out of the car more than a few times in a day or when I did something stupid. I was on that stuff for three years and I noticed that some days it provided more than enough pain relief and others not nearly enough so I decided to lower the dose. ( I always consulted my doc before I did anything but not always as I was doing it) I found that I could handle most of the pain most of the time so as I dropped the dose I kept monitoring myself and had weekly checkups with the doc. I got the advice from my doc that I should wait a small time at the same dosage as I might go into withdrawals - I never felt anything I could attribute to withdrawals but I followed her suggestion. Then over a bout three months I tapered the rest of the way off the Methadone. My daily average pain level is high enough that it takes a lot out of me but since I am not on the Methadon anymore she has given me a prescription for Tylenol 4 which cuts the pain to a livable level and I only take it when I need it. I also have meds for the spasms which I take as needed. I live with pain daily but for the most part it is below a level 6 and I don't take meds for that. I had migraine headaches from age 10 to 55 so I have an extremely high pain threshold. I also seem to have a fairly high resistance to meds - for every plus there is a minus I suppose. I have tried Ibuprophen and its more powerful kin with little effect other than some headaches after I am on it for 3 consecutive days. Tylenol gives me headaches after three or four days too but I don't take it long enough for it to do much. I only take it about twice a week so 60 tablets last two months or so. My Cyclobenzaprine lasts about as long. I just have some days where I don't seem to be able to cope - so I whine a bit and then I am better. (sort of)
I have worked most of my life on cars, forklifts and heavy equipment as a mechanic. I never missed a day for back problems - except for an earlier accident that laid me up - and out of work for a year. I came back from that injury stronger than I was before the accident. (I was rear-ended at a stop light that time too) I never had a problem after healing from that injury but this one has me down. I am limited to 10 pounds lifting - no squatting, no pulling and no twisting. That basically means I can go to the bathroom by myself and walk up and down the stairs. I walk for exercise. Once in a while I get to dance with my wife - I miss that more than almost anything else. She has to do all the work around the house and I hate not being able to help. I can't shoot often because I seem to be sensitive to the shock of recoil. I have considered reducing loads and will try that soon. I putter around in my shop but can't do the real work that I used to enjoy so much. I guess when it all catches up on me and the pain increases at the same time is when I need to whine.
WOW this post is a lot longer than I thought so I am just going to post it before I take it all down.

wow,paul, i feel for you my friend.. my brother in law was hit like that at a light, and 10+ years later he is still not quite right, as far as working with what you love, have you thought about maybe teaching? pass your passions on to the next generation? someone with your skills would be a godsend out there!

as far as the wife and the housework, we all know you really dont mind her doing it all (a joke buddy). I personally know the feelings you have when you are laying there while the wife is doing everything.. makes you feel about 1/2 inch tall and about as useless!

i know it is hard to plan ahead because you never really know when you feel good enough to do anything, but it is good for the mind and the soul to try a planned surprise night out with the wife as a thank you for it all, i know sounds likes relationship therapy but it is not, its more of a if she feels good you feel good use it to feed off each others good vibes and like i said back troubles are a long haul.. i have 2 disks (between L4-L5-S1 vetabrea) that are pinching the sciatia some days i cant even walk, drugs dont work so i dont take them, inversion table is what helped for me, i can tolerate the pain now..

feel better my friend.
Jeff AKA Morax

I treat my wife to nights out and spend lots of time with her the way she likes. we even walk together. I like it when she whines because I am doing "too much".
I feel too good today to whine!
Ok, Lets get back to guns and stuff.

Hey Paul, talking about guns, get this one.
Gander has a used but in perfect condition Taurus PT 1911 for $410.00
With Ben working there, I will get 33% off of that price on Sunday, because it is employees discount day.
The guys are holding it for me.
By my figuring, it should cost me around $280.00.
I have a PT 1911, and it drives tacks at 25yds.
I have shot thousands of reloads with it, without even one problem.

Boy is Ben saving my Wife lots of money by him working at Gander Mountain.

I don't think that I will tell her about this money saver though.

Eric

ElyBoy wrote:

I don't think that I will tell her about this money saver though.

Cause your actually spending more money then you would have if he did not work there?

Dimitri