I definitely hear that! I bought a lamp at a yard sale for the office so I wouldn't have to use fluorescents... Most of my cell block neighbors hate them too so we are all either sitting in the dark or in dim lighting.
I have a desk I can lower and raise so I can stand up if I want to... a pretty decent chair. Thank goodness I have a private office now so I can close the door and do stretches. Or, sometimes I go outside to do them. The doorway stretches work well for me to help the stabbing. I'll get periodic flare-ups of weird pain other than the shooting-stabbing-in-the-back-pain (e.g. in my fingers or wrists) if I've been on too long. The chiro and masseuse have hammered out the worst of it, as long as I go once a week... biking and running have helped, and beyond that there are all sorts of pain pills... bad for our livers.
I don't take a lot of pills, but I have no problem at all with it when something hurts. I do NOT do pain! That is why I might end up going to the doctor. I like to keep something stonger than Anacin and BC around for when I really need it so I don't have to go running to the doctor for every little twinge.