#herniated disc

[imtheecrybaby27]

I made dis

[nearlydark]

I hate feeling so fucking fragile. One wrong move, step, lift and I’m out for 5+ days. It’s so fucked and I want it to end

[elfangel94]

Using a Tens Unit is so wild like ‘oh I’m in pain better go electrocute myself’

[cottoncandiescupcakes]

My cat Muffin keeping me company as I decompose on my parents living room floor in the worst pain of my life waiting for hernia disc surgery in a week ilu Muffin I love cats

[wigglysquid]

I'm not ashamed of losing a fight with my herniated disk. In fact, I'm proud. It's pretty impressive that my disk was able to bring down a godly force like me. The student has become the master

[dianetastesmetal]

Today I learned that I have a HORRIBLY herniated disc, and I'll have my first every surgery in two weeks. If anyone's ever gone through this kind of surgery, I'd appreciate if you shared your experiences with it here, because I'm TERRIFIED!

And please let me know how painful recovery was. And tell me about some good ways to cope with the stress of this all.

Thank youuu

[sapphic-suchoripterus]

Hey... to people out there who have had herniated discs, how long does it usually take to feel better? Or at least walk again?

[autumnsvoice87]

My Somber Afliction

 Many people suffer and live with various physical afflictions. They are stronger than what we all realize. Even though they are in pain they try to live their lives as normally as possible. They get up when they don't want to. They wake up for the sake of their loved ones. Some people go through their whole lives being disabled from birth. Many of us become disabled over time. 

Even though I have lived with developmental disabilities for most of my life, I was not prepared to become physically disabled by 37 years old. There's a stereotype that this age is too young to have gone through what I have been experiencing.  Which in itself is not true. Physical ailments can happen at any age and since the body starts biologically aging and breaking down after 35, it is possible to be young and still go through a debilitating experience. 

It all began on one summer day. I love walking through nearby forest paths and live by a recreational park on a river. I decided to try to impress a new friend I had a serious crush on at the time. The problem with this is I am also a big person. Someone who has been obese and morbidly obese all their lives. Extra weight is hard on the body. 

 I decided to go for a hike with my new friend on these paths and walked about two to three miles. We traveled through dirt paths as well as concrete. The river was calm and the air was crisp and cool for a July afternoon. Birds and wildlife could be heard as well as the rushing waters of the river. It was peaceful. I walked up to the dam and back.  It was a total of about 3 miles. I was sore as I pushed my body past its physical capabilities.

The next day my back was in pain. At first, I didn't think much of it. I worked in fast food and am always sore or in mild pain from being on my feet. I took some over-the-counter pain medication and called it a day.  Or so I thought.

Throughout the next week, the pain was getting worse. Then after a couple of weeks, my left leg and foot were starting to go numb. It was like I was walking and standing on phantom limbs. I could still feel but it was like my leg was in a permanent sleep. 

My friend had gone through this before and one day after about a month of suffering, she took me to the emergency room.  She instructed me to tell them I pissed myself saying I would get treatment faster. I didn't want to suffer anymore so I listened to her. 

At the Emergency room, I proceeded to tell them that I pissed myself after the end of my work shift. My friend told them she had witnessed it since she was the one to have come to pick me up from work. The hospital ordered an MRI and other tests. It turns out I have a herniated disk pressing on my nerves.  

The doctor had called the on-call neurosurgeon and went over the MRI results with him. I was then told I would be rushing into Emergency back surgery the next day to take out part of the disk that was protruding into the nerves.

After surgery recovery went slow. My right leg was super numb after the surgery. There was nerve damage afterward. I had also developed an internal infection at the incision. I had to have a round of strong antibiotics. It cleared up after a week. After 3 months of healing and physical therapy after the surgery, I went back to work. 

About a year after my surgery, the disk herniated again, however, this time it was pressing on my sciatic nerves. I could barely walk or function. I couldn't sit without excruciating pain. I couldn't stand for long periods either.  I tried to work while in this pain but every shift I ended up only working about an hour with accommodations before the pain was so intense I was crying. 

The General Manager sent me home. I decided to take a leave of absence until I could figure out what was going on. The problem is I couldn't return to work within my absence time limit.  I got released, or so I assume. At this time I became 95 percent bedridden. I only got up to use the bathroom and even then some days I'd sit on the mighty poop throne and cry from pain. 

After an ER visit, they told me to contact my neurosurgeon. I did as such and got a new MRI done at the end of September. As it turns out the disk is herniated on my right side and pressing against the nerves on the base of my spine. Since I was morbidly obese at this time, they didn't want to do surgery. It was too high risk. The Neurosurgeon ordered a pain consultation from a different specialist. They wanted to do physical therapy and try different pain meds.  Over time we did find a concoction that started working. 

It has been a little over a year since my leave from work and I am still struggling. I am not likely to return to work anytime soon. However, I will say I have improved a lot since last fall when I'd just lay in bed.  I am not as bedridden. I can walk for short distances now. I can sit up without pain for 30 minutes, and I can do some light chores. 

 It's not where I want to be but progress is progress. This is all due to physical therapy and nerve pain meds. With accommodations, such as a pillow, I can sit in restaurants and socialize. I can walk through a store for about 10 or 20 minutes depending on if I am having a good pain day or a bad pain day.  Also, the sciatic pain that traveled from my lower back down to my foot, has lessoned and may be completely gone. However, I won't risk it. 

So even though the pain has gotten better, the numbness on my right side hasn't. Sometimes it gets worse and then better and then worse. This cycle repeats. The numbness makes me a fall risk. I already have spatial awareness issues due to other disorders and the numbness makes it worse. I feel unsteady on my feet half the time. I also walk with a limp because somehow this has affected my hip and the range of motion of my leg.  This itself makes going back to a physically demanding job harder. Due to this, I am not going to be able to return to the fast food or retail industry. 

Throughout my life, I have on and off lived through traumatic experiences.  I will say experiencing the level of pain I had was very terrifying. It took a toll on my mental health. One of the core principles I had was that I was never going to be like my mother.

I grew up with a disabled mother. She has similar back issues as I do, if not worse. She has severe scoliosis, three herniated disks, and had a neck fusion done in the 80's due to a car accident she had. She is always in pain. I saw her struggle but didn't completely understand it. She also felt deep shame that she had a hard time expressing. Her shame was put onto us kids. There were times when she treated us horribly because of her physical, emotional, and mental anguish.  It was hard to live with and I didn't want her physical ailments making me as bitter as her.  My mental health took a turn for the worse because it triggered some trauma over my mother's disabilities. 

At one point I said I would rather die than live with this pain every day. There is a high rate of suicide among people with disabilities. It is also not just about pain. It is also socioeconomic. People with disabilities who can't work live in poverty. I bet most who can't get assistance end up homeless. I applied for SSDI and there are so many things wrong with the system. There is a vast amount of discrimination against people with disabilities and it makes me fear for the future. I had to challenge my own internalized ableism and let go of old thinking patterns about being disabled. I understand now why suicide rates are high.

Before I became disabled I was already seeing a therapist for trauma, and a psyche nurse for anxiety attacks.  Due to my increasing suicidal Ideation, They upped my dose of antidepressants.  It helped and over time my mental health also became stable. I still have bad days where I just feel sad and depressed over my situation, but they are fewer than before. 

 I went from walking and hiking trails in a park to being bedridden. I was grieving a part of me I felt I had lost. Who am I as a disabled person? What does this mean for my life? I learned that I had taken so many things for granted. Walking, spending time with my daughter, busing around downtown, and being active.  Being pain-free (physically) is a privilege. For the first time, I felt what true gratitude felt like. 

Sciatic pain is the worst pain I have ever experienced. It is even worse than childbirth pain in my opinion, and I am someone who went 24 hours without any pain meds while giving birth to my daughter.  I thought birth pain was the worst at the time. The universe said, "Challenge accepted." 

My somber Affliction has taught me about a hidden world of sorts. Instead of a magical paradise, life is more like the dark side of Star Wars. However, I still hold out hope that this crisis will change for the better. 

[plant-a-memory-garden]

10/05/24

I am so tired. Life lately feels like putting out one fire as three more pop up. I’m struggling with my hemicrania continua, my pain levels have been 7/10 on a good day. 9/10 nights have become more common, the nausea, the pressure, the ice pick stabbing behind my eye as my temple pounds hard. Sometimes I wonder if I could pop my eye ball out if it would just explode from the pressure and pain.

Physical therapy for my herniated L10-12 disc… as the first three visits progressed over the span of a week and a half, I began having sciatic nerve pain on my left side. They said this was normal. Visit three I expressed my pain and they decided to run a thera gun over the areas. The electric zaps from not only the pressure but the vibration of the gun had my body twitching as he “worked” on me. “You’re jumpy” he says. “No, I’m having electric zaps in certain areas” I reply. I left in tears. “We will be more gentle next visit” they said “we didn’t realize how much you had going on” the pain ringing through my head as I lay on the table in disbelief. As if I didn’t have two prior PT sessions… as if in our consultation (and the notes I saw) I didn’t explain in depth about my chronic neck pain in C3-C5, my hemicrania continua on right side, my nerve ablation notes and all areas of my pain in depth. I went home nauseated with a left sided headache (different than my continuous HC headache which is on my right side) wondering if the Thera gun in my neck earlier had activated something. As I returned home praying the left side would stop, as I then had both sides of my head busting at different intervals. A few days later, Hurricane Helene affected the blue ridge mountains where I live. My neuro had me on a prednisone taper and after that I’m now on gabapentin slowly moving up.

The mass destruction of my surrounding homeland and communities following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene over Western North Carolina has been astronomical and unbelievable. I have so many emotions and each day is different however I am so grateful to be safe and alive along with my family.

Each day I’m exploring new specifics of my chronic pain and new found nerve pain as it slowly heals as well. Mixed with my light left sided headache (somehow connected to my SCM muscles and their pain) as well as my HC right side. They have very different feelings to them, different pulsations, sledge hammer, and ice pick modes. I can’t wait until it heals and hopefully dissipates on the left side. I’ve become more “used” to my HC side but accepting the new realities of the state of my body, recovery, and overall health feels overwhelming to say the least. So I created blog as a safe place to share my thoughts, feelings, and connect with community. And also reblog relatable content whether that be inspirational quotes, artistic creations, adorable animals, disability awareness/stories, poetry (a lot of poetry) and just overall things I connect with that bring me glimmers of peace, happiness and comfort.

We will survive The Great War.

Xoxo

[kyanoscanary]

um ... If anyone has a moment, can you leave some suggestions about addressing new symptoms with your doctor? Especially people who have had their doctor attribute new symptoms to an existing condition you have. Hopefully this make sense

[chelledoggo]

anyone else ever get a pinched nerve or herniated disc in their neck that sends pain down their arm?

wouldn't recommend it.

[pangirlpanic]

God has decided to humble me and therefore bless curse me with a herniated disc in my lower back

I cannot walk or bend over or even slightly tilt myself without getting the urge to swan dive off of something tall

[inkstainedfairy]

I don’t know if i did herniate or not, but geeeez does my back hurt more than usual

[lifewithchronicpain]

The worst part of when I throw out my back isn’t so much the pain. Trust me it sucks but then when you’ve been in pain for a few days and you realize you’ve been taking so much tramadol that you haven’t shit in 3 days. And then continue to not be able to properly shit for a week. It makes everything worse.

[fin1915]

SPN Family If anyone could help or share, I'd appreciate it very much.

https://gofund.me/25f52f60

[ink-asunder]

Literally the first day I didn't wake up with pain because I put a chair by the bed to sit down to make the bed ✌️