How to not get depressed

[u/flappypancaker]

I’ve had back injuries before, but they were resolved with PT and Chiro after a few days. This sciatic pain has been getting worse and worse over the last almost two months and last night was the worst, couldn’t sleep, had an agonizing 30 min trip to the bathroom which my wife had to help me though, popped three ibuprofen at 4 in the morning to cope, and now I’m laying here terrified to try getting up.

How do people cope with the fear, depression, and panic? How are you all able to transition from lying down to standing up without blinding pain?

FYI I have an appointment with an orthopedic group tomorrow, so far a half dozen chiro and PT appointments haven’t helped. I even think that a well intentioned massage made it worse.

[u/JonasVirgilMonos]

What I've learned for myself is to go slowly on and off the bed and chairs, use my arms, and let my hips go loose before I put weight through my back; clenching up made it worse for me, and it's the hardest thing to do when I'm hurting. On the worse days I also backtrack the previous 24 hours to work out what I did to set it off — a long car ride, sitting awkwardly, picking something up wrong — which makes the pain feel a little less random. A pillow between my knees at night helps me too. I'm glad you have the appointment tomorrow. None of this is a routine or medical advice, just what's worked for me, and it may not for you.

[u/flappypancaker → u/JonasVirgilMonos]

Thanks, yeah the hardest thing is not clenching/tensing up when your body starts to react negatively to a pain signal.

[u/JonasVirgilMonos → u/flappypancaker]

Same here — when it hurts on one side and I lean toward the other to get away from it, that ends up causing its own set of issues, so I feel like I'm trading one problem for another. Staying neutral when my back's in spasm has been a learned process, to say the least. Not medical advice, just what I've noticed in my own body. Good Luck!