h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well..today didn't go as planned. I was scraubbing out the bathtub, thinking a nice bath might soothe nerves that were already frayed, when I bent in a wierd position. I felt a popping electrical pain in my lower back, and collapsed. I've been totally pathetic ever since. Fortunately, I was able, though very painfully, to crawl to the bathrrom door to unlock it and tell my son to get the phone. Even more fortunately, Njan was willing to come home. I managed to lie down, the kids brought me pillows and a book, and I laid there for a couple hours. At one point the need to use the bathroom was unbearable. Luckily, the tub and the toilet are really close together so I could use my arms to hoist myself up. My poor little girl had to help with my clothes though Finally James got home and we managed to get me to bed by him sliding a dining room chair across the floor for me to bear my weight on with my arms. We must have been a sight..

I wasn't terrified, as the situation may have warranted, for two reasons. One, no part of my body was numb. So while I was unable to crawl or stand, I dont think there's any permanent nerve damage. Two, this happened a couple times 4 years ago. I'm starting to be suspicious of bathtubs --the time I remember I was taking Joseph out of the bath. I was lucky and didn't hurt him when I fell, but dragging him and myself to the living room on my tummy was no small feat. One of those times I would have seen a doctor, and he prescribed Vioxx..isn't that drug illegal now???

So. Now I've been in pain for like 7 hours. Neither tylenol nor advil help. I was hoping that sa advil is an anti-inflammatory that it would, but no luck. It doesn't help that my mobility is limited. I think I'll wait it out overnight. If I'm not improved by tomorrow, I dunno. I think I'd have to call an ambulance so I could be carried down the two flights of stairs. How embarrassing.

In any case, once I'm better, I'm going to make good on my threat to join some sort of activity that will help with flexibility and posture. Since my back just freaked out, I'm not sure yoga would be good. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Perhaps I'll start with a light stretching routine at home and working on eliminating my bad posture habits. And definitely bending over properly when scrubbing the tub...

I *never* scrub the bathtub out anymore, for much the same reason.

Anti-inflammatories, alternate heat and cold on the afflicted area (though you may not get immediate relief, they are helping) and . . . time.




az

thanks. az

update:

about 12 hours after I 'popped', I was able to sit up and shortly after that to stand. Now I can walk, if careful, and have good control of my legs. Still, anything that puts strain on my lower back has to be avoided. Hmm. I'm much happier now, I have things to do! But for now, ...

So how did you manage to post all that stuff here yesterday if you couldn't sit up? Just wondering.

When my back goes the worst position for me is sitting down. Usually lying down or standing up are the *only* positions I can manage. And once things get a bit better I find gentle walking helps a lot to 'loosen things up a bit' but also walking while making a conscious effort to hold in my tummy muscles (to support my back).

Not sure if you and I have the same (or similar) problem, but I've had this since I was 22. Combination sciatica/lumbago. It usually happens when doing something not terribly strenuous at all (cleaning out the bathtub, putting some laundry into the washing machine) but in just one second the nerve damage is done and it takes several days to stop feeling the quite excrutiating pain.

In my vasty experience with this, the first thing to do when the happens is to immediately lie down and gently pull your legs towards your chest, just enough so you don't feel too much pain - this 'opens up' the pinched area. After that, take an anti-inflammatory straight away and stay lying down for an hour or so. After that, start trying to walk a bit. Yeah, it hurts, but it also helps.

Don't try sitting down as this just will put extra strain on the afflicted area.

And do the alternate heat/cold thing. It helps. Best 'cold pack' I know of is a packet of frozen corn or peas kept in the freezer for this use. Heat can be a hot water bottle. But never more than fifteen minutes at a time - for either heat or cold.

And of course, do not attempt to bend over for several days. It's quite a good time to exercise those thigh muscles, doing deep-knee bends when you have to pick something up from the floor (or clean out the cat litter box).

As I say, I don't know if we have the same back problems, but what you described sounded like nerve damage to me. Something I've been living with for about 25 years now. So I hope some of my advice is helpful to you.


az

So much good advice, thanks. I'll read about those conditions because they sound very similar.

I was able to post from bed because Jamie brought me my laptop on a nightstand and plugged in a keyboard to put on my lap .

Sitting is still the worst, but yeah, if I use my legs or my arms I seem to be alright. It's been an interesting body awareness experience, at least.

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The worst for me is getting out of bed, having to use my hands and arms to push myself up because there is no-way-no-day those back and stomach muscles can do the job alone.

When sitting try to 'hold yourself up' as much as possible with your stomach muscles. At least, I find this helps.



az

ps
I reckoned it must have been a laptop in bed!

Now I know why sciatica sounded familiar--when I was pregnant the sciatic nerve gave me hell.

I can't find lumbago on webmd..shall have to look elsewhere.

I look like a dying fish trying to get out of bed

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/lumbago.htm Here we go--there must be another name for it in the US

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I look like an extremely FAT dying fish . . .

Sciatica is when the sciatic nerve is pinched and damaged - the PAIN goes all down one leg - excrutiating. Luckily I've not had this happen for awhile.

Lumbago is - I think - basic lower back pain, which can include nerve damage, but it is concentrated in the lower back area.

I have a compressed disk in my lower back, as well as a 'wonky hip' (out of alignment) which is where I think I get the sciatica problems. The compressed disk seems to be the cause of most of the lumbago problems.

The best 'cure' for this seems to be 'prevention', by doing lots of abdominal exercises that create a muscular 'girdle' to support your weak back area.

Best abdominal exercises for bad back people seem to be repetitive 'crunches' rather than full sit-ups. Also, you might want to get a dvd of Pilates that focuses on lower back problems (they exist - I bought one here for about 9 euros). Very careful and slow exercises to build up lower back strength. The dvd is boring as f**k but if done reguarly can help prevent future 'episodes':


az

When I had an epidural when delivering my first child (I think), the anesthesiologist said, 'hmm..you have a bit of scoliosis.' I sort of sighed because whenever our PE teachers did that test at school, I would be embarrassed by being called back a second time, but the amateurish teachers apparently never saw anything worth sending me to a doctor for. From what I hear, it's either to late to treat it, or there's no point. I wonder if that makes any difference to the nerve problems..

Crunches..*sigh*. I'll do that..when I was younger I used to be able to fly through hundreds of them..not sure how I'd fare these days, maybe that's part of the problem . I always feel ashamed when I take the kids to the park and all those little kids are swinging away on the monkey bars, running around, and otherwise being so much more physically fit than me.

Full sit-ups can stress the back, crunches do not.

When I was your age I was going to two aerobics classes a day and also running every morning.

Now I can't run for f**k - my hip and lower back will not allow this!

But I can walk. And I've found my recent early morning 'fast walk' routines actually make me build up quite a good sweat - aerobic goodness - without damaging my back. And I'm using a bit of the Pilates stuff - holding my tummy in-and-up while I'm walking, which helps build up the very important 'girdle' to support one's back.

Crunches are great. You can even do them in bed before you get up. Start with 30 crunches and build up from there. Trust me, it won't take long before you are doing 100 crunches with no problem at all.

You are just slightly older than I was when I first started getting back problems, so it isn't an 'age thing'. But it is something that can be best dealt with by prevention, because we both know the 'cure' is just a lot of pain and not being able to function.


az

Thanks az

hehe..exercises that can be done in bed sound very good indeed

tomorrow we're going to walk to the park, so though i'll probably look funny it sounds really nice for some reason. we'll get to see how i manage the stairs anyway

Well, it's often trial and error, finding out what helps and works best. I've had this problem for more than 25 years now and have found that certain things help my situation - you may find your own solutions.

Still, never hurts to share a few ideas.


az

one thing that would help would be turning off my reflexes. in the kitchen just now i dropped something and out of instinct bent to catch it. ow!

DEEP KNEE BENDS ...

think of how shapely they'll make your thighs


az

well, if you put it that way...i haven't had shapely thighs since I was..uh..well, before the kids anyway. this could be good.

hold in tummy, do deep knee bends - every time you would otherwise bend - it's quite a fine exercise and doesn't hurt the back if the thighs take the all the weight of lowering and lifting.

az

*squeaks in sympathy* i have loads of this sort of stuff too. Cleaning the bath is OUT for me, i just have to put up with the or persuade a friend to share a bath with me & clean it after!

The sitting thing: i have a decent computer chair but pad it out with a large cushion in the small of my back, forces me to sit up straight. It has really helped.

The getting out of bed thing is just a nightmare, i have a mattress on the floor, which is supposed to be good for the back, but with dodgy legs *and* a dodgy back; it's like trying to get a whale upright; luckily i have strong arms.

Very difficult to get out of bad habits like slouching & automatically bending down the wrong way; i know.



zdt

Just thought I'd add a bit of a light-hearted post here, in view of the other 'panic attack' thread.

Noggin and I have recently both had complete physical check-ups done (first time in years!) so we had the whole vindaloo. And this morning we went to the GP with all the test results we got from the various specialists - blood and urine tests, chest x-rays (I also had a full spine x-ray done) mammogram and gyno check for me, prostate ultrasound for N, ear test for N (he is going deaf in one ear).

So, I went first. And was happy to be told that I was totally 'normal'. Upon hearing this Noggin asked if we could get a second medical opinion on this which made our doctor laugh.

Then Noggin's turn. He is also 'normal' except for a bit of low redcell blood count, so now he has to start eating more iron-rich foods. And he will probably end up having an operation on his ear in January (once his hospital insurance kicks in).

But here is the best part! Upon checking out my back x-rays the doctor told me I should avoid such activities as cleaning out the bathtub and making the bed - yay! Of course, all this was going on in Spanish, so I've since been telling Noggin that there is a *huge list* of stuff I should no longer be doing in order to avoid future 'back attacks' including doing the washing up, having to cook more than six days in a row, dusting, changing the litter box . . .

Bit of a postscript about panic attacks. I really have had them since I was 14 (so, more than 30 years) and have often found them quite debilitating - sometimes I have to cancel classes outside my home as going outside just isn't an option. And I've had to find many ways of coping. Just so you know I'm not just talking 'nonsense' on the other thread.

Hope you're feeling better.


az