Melissa
Hi, my name is Melissa I am 20 years old and i have had 2 herniated disks in my lower back for two years. The pain has been unbareable. I am getting surgery done within this month at John's Hopkins University Hospital. I dont think surgery is something that you want to rush into. I had went through a long process before getting to this point. I think ive been on every medication possible from painkillers like percoset, vicodin, flexeril, tylonol #3 to anti-inflammatories like motrin 800mg, relafin, vioxx, celebrex, clinoril etc. Right now as we speak I am taking clinoril and neurontin and tylonol #3 as needed and i am also taking glucosamine and chondritin (this is very good to take, you can get it at GMC or sams club or costco, they also have it in liquid form if you dont like taking pills, YOU SHOULD ALL TAKE THIS!!!) The first thing that you need to do is get an MRI if you havent already, this is something you really need to push especially if the doctor doesnt want one, because you have to remember that you are the one in pain and suffering everyday and you have a right to know what is going on with your body, remeber this is there job so make sure they do it right. The second thing they will tell you is to do some physical therapy, i did traction where they pull your body in two different directions, and acupuncture but they didn't help. Going to see a chiropractor is not for everyone, it could just make your condition worse. After that i got the epidural steroid shots in my lower back, for me they were'nt working and i had a total of 5 shots. So after this I saw a surgeon but he did not want surgery because i had been on percoset for alomost a year, so i got off of it the next day and i was already feeling better because I was dependent on that drug anymore. From that point to now, i have switched medications a million times. This is like a game, its all trial and error when it comes to the medications because what might work for me might not work for you. I have decided now to get surgery because i am starting to become very depressed and extremely stressed out, I am a completely different person than i was before with a very low tolerance for things, I read that you have two children and I know that this must be really hard for you and stressful at times. I feel sometimes like im alone and no one understands me but im not, there thousands of people out there with this problem including you! So don't feel like you're alone! The worst thing that you can do is feel sorry for yourself and that's what I did, and now I just pick myself up again when im feeling depressed. The hardest thing to deal with are the doctors, every doctor will have a different opinion about your condition. The one thing that I hated hearing most was that I should wait for surgery and try to fix this problem on your own, well that didnt work out for me, but who knows it could work out for you, so I would wait a little before surgery and try different things to better your conditon first. I really hope that this message can help you out, if you ever need any more advice or if you would like to know how my surgery(in a month) went, dont hesitate to email me (barby1280@aol.com) Good Luck to all of you! -Melissa