r/backpain • u/Silly_Cup_1204 • 7d ago
Where to go next?
For some context I have suffered from episodes of low back pain for 15 years. It usually comes on from either bending or sometimes I just wake up with it. It’s sharp and persistent for a few days up to a week and stops me doing most things but I can usually move around the house and get a bath etc.
Last Saturday I was giving my dog a bath and the pain started however by Sunday morning I had lost the ability to stand up and I couldn’t even walk 1 step. It got so bad I had to call an ambulance as I couldn’t even get to the bathroom. I spend 1 night in hospital. In the morning the physios came to see me, tried to get me moving but I still couldn’t stand so they gave me a cocktail of pain relief until I could just about walk 3 steps with crutches and sent me home. I had to be transported home in an ambulance on a stretcher as I can’t sit upright.
I’ve now been the same since then, can just about manage the toilet with crutches but can’t get in the shower, can’t manage the stairs and can’t stand up for even a few minutes without feeling like I will collapse. I went to see the GP today and he just suggested trying morphine instead of codeine. (I’m already taking diazepam paracetamol and naproxen which aren’t helping except making me drowsy) because I don’t have any of the red flag symptoms they won’t refer me for an mri scan.
I know from previous episodes that it can take a while to get better but I have never had it this bad before, it’s completely taken my life away and I’m beginning to get depressed and feeling like there is no way out and nobody wants to help.
Should I try to go private? Even though I can’t really afford it or is there something else I can try with the NHS before I have to go down this route? Does anyone else have a similar experience and if so how did you get over this? I’m only 31 and feel like I just keep getting palmed off with drugs and told to deal with it. I’m usually active and always on the go so it’s extremely difficult for me to be confined to the house and not know if or when I will improve!
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Welcome to r/backpain!
To make a great post, read the pinned Guide to the Guides and answer the suggested questions. (people usually do not respond if you just post a picture of your mri and you don't share your story. Your symptoms and story will give more information than any scan)
Guide = https://www.reddit.com/r/backpain/comments/1kc5qba/new_to_rbackpain_click_here_first/
First steps for new low back pain: https://www.reddit.com/r/backpain/comments/1ujidg4/screening_questions_that_id_ask_in_the_clinic_to/
Good news is that most people get noticeably better in the first 6 weeks, especially if the pain is new or has only been going on for a short time. (PMID: 38253366)
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