Replies

I have degenerative disk disease, a decade old herniated disk, spinal stenosis, and garden variety arthritis in my lower back.

Reading your post was like reading about my own situation. I have been dealing with severe, unrelenting lower back pain for about three years now. I'm doing everything I can to avoid surgery. I have also taken just about every pain pill known to exist. Believe me, the narcotics are not an answer. They seem like a gift from God at first, but it doesn't last, and you need more and more and stronger and stronger. I have quickly gotten tolerant of every kind and strength I took, so eventually, you end up where you started. I've had radio frequency nerve ablation to stop the pain signals. Didn't work. I currently take 90 mg continuous relief morphine, twice a day, and it barely helps at all now, and I've only been taking them for two weeks. So, I'm glad you are getting the electronic device.

The only thing that has worked for me, is epidural injections. I will have my fourth one in about a week, and I am going to attempt to get off the pain pills completely.

Also, lidocane patches are a joke. They do nothing whatsoever for me.

Best of luck from a fellow sufferer.

I’m so sorry to read of your troubles. I pray you are getting some news on the horizon that will give you faith you are on the mend. You will be in my prayers...and thank you for keeping me in yours!

I had the injections, they didn’t work for me. The disc collapsed and they said they had no choice but to do the surgery then...my body produces too much scar tissue and that is what caused my back surgery to fail. They talked about ablation, but that was prior to the collapse.

They wanted me on the patches, but my insurance wanted a proir authorization and the doctor’s office considers that the same as a “NO”...and does something different, in this case, it was the cream...it works good on my hands, but nothing else. They wanted to try morphine and got the same response from my insurance, so now I’m just getting higher doses of dilaudid. (which isn’t doing as much as I would like...but is doing some better since Friday)