Degenerative disc disease
- Thread starter cawley
- Start date
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Hence the term degenerative. Doesn't get better.
Yeah - no bueno...
inkjunkie
Well-Known Member
Get worse....that's the understatement. Google Spinal Stenosis....because that is where your heading. How old are you? What do you do to pay the bills?
This is,what I have found out. Working hard for a living cause 2 things in your back. What you already have...which will lead to stenos5. Other thing it causes is arthritis. Between the 2 life is going to become painful. Simple as 5hat. Depending on how many vertabrae are clapped out will determine possible fixes.....sorta....also depends on how much arthritis you have and if anything else is trashed. If,all you have is one trashed disc often times when you get to the stenosis stage they can go in and enlarge the passages that the nerves pass thru. If the arthritis is real badit pretty much won't matter pain wise. If all the discs are clapped out and you have a butt load of arthritis...well...not much can be done. If your hips,are wiped out as well.....like me....you very well be a member of the better living thru chemistry club. In my case I have a truck load of arthritis, all my lower discs are wasted as well as my hips. Fusion is basically all there is. Problem is this takes all movement out of your spine...and with my hips being smoked and all the arthritis....well....the pain is still going to be there.
Oxycontin, oxycodone, gabapentin and NSAIDS become a way of life.....
Sure...some folks will tell you chiropractic....some will say acupuncture....some will say naturalistic stuff, ground up donkey nuts mixed with hippo vaginally fluid will fix it...
Truth of the matter is....when the main bearings spin in your motor there ain't no snake oil gonna fix it....
Good luck
My son has it...
72Valiant4Door
Trouble Maker
I have it, prevents me from training mma after 15 years.
If someone pulls on my neck or head, i cant sleep or move for a week.
The meds make me sick, so i dont take them and stay in pain.
:wack:
I work in auto sales instead of auto tech because i cant rely on my body for labor. Something i learned after 2 years in auto mech and a year working in shops.
I have tried everything. Many types of pills, physical therapy, shots.
I am 46. I have arthritis, spinal stenosis & I was told a pinched never. I was told they will not do surgery. Because 1 it might not work, 2 it could make it worse, 3 at my age I will have to have several surgeries. I tried the Gabapentin, steroids, chiropractic, 2 shots (pain theropy) Ill tell ya it puts a damper on things I use to do. I got a lawyer & we are going for SS disability. My Doc. says "you are done" he will not send me back to work. I have not worked for a year. I used up my savings, 401k, I cashed in my life insurance. I sold most of my extra car parts. Now I have hit a wall. I can be on my feet & work on something for about 5-15 minutes then I have to sit for a while. When the pain gets to bad it runs from my back across my hips then down the front of my legs & that's on a good day.
O I hear ya, I have gone to the gym for years. Now I cant. I have lost strength, size & gained weight."the bad weight" lol
Drugs!! and not from the Pharmacist. I have spinal stenosis for 11 years. Its only as bad as you let it be. Its my heart thats kicking my ***. Need more air on up hills. Pain can be delt with if you man up. . lack of oxigen in the blood is the worst thing ever. So moving at a slow pace is life now unless I get in something with a motor. Then look the hell out I'll run ya over. LOL
Bigdummy
Not a Nova
Prayers for youse guys
999yards
Well-Known Member
Get the dam surgery now. The longer you wait the weaker you will be when surgery happens which equals longer recovery times. No narcotics for the rest of your life use medical marijuana instead.
Seems like we pay for everything we did wrong as young men. Heavy lifting, outdoor winter work etc. It all comes back to haunt you. I was good until I hit 60. Since then the arthritis has moved into my hands back and hips. Aleave is my best friend. Dan
ir3333
Well-Known Member
yeah L5S1 for me.I was all but crippled dragging one leg full time for about 9 months.
I had surgery 34 years ago and never looked back.
For all the years after a 1 year recovery period i played hockey,hand split all my firewood,mowed the lawn by hand,went on extensive canoe / portage trips,moose hunts ..you name it.
..had 3 flare ups that lasted a couple of months over those 30 plus years.A year after my surgery i gave my surgeon some Moose steak....
maybe i have been lucky!
I had surgery 34 years ago and never looked back.
For all the years after a 1 year recovery period i played hockey,hand split all my firewood,mowed the lawn by hand,went on extensive canoe / portage trips,moose hunts ..you name it.
..had 3 flare ups that lasted a couple of months over those 30 plus years.A year after my surgery i gave my surgeon some Moose steak....
maybe i have been lucky!
I can usually handle any kind of pain. But this is something different. Ever pull a lower back muscle ? Times that pain by 2 in the back & the hips
When the doc I saw ( also does brain surgery) tells me no go. It could do me worse than good. I have one friend & one family that had back surgery & it made them worse. Plus the one has had several.
bobscuda67
Well-Known Member
Yep, same here. DDD 3 levels, spinal stenosis, and lots of arthritis. I don't know how but I'm still working. I'l be 60 next birthday and I want to retire at 62, but I don't think I'll make it that long. I know what I go through everyday and I feel for everyone that has to endure chronic pain.
999yards
Well-Known Member
Yea that's a common thing for them to say but not all agree and neither do I. It's degenerative it's not getting better. Remember how you felt 20 years ago and how quickly you would have recovered compared to now. Could permanent damage result if you wait? Most likely so. Anyhow it sucks and I hope you make the best decision for you and the family.
Back in Time
Well-Known Member
I wish Aleve would work for me. 60 and sometimes 75 Milligrams of oxycoden gets me through the day. At times I feel like a zombie but have learned to work through it. Like you I'm paying for youthful indiscretions.Back then I was 10 foot tall and bullet proof ..now I'm not worth the powder to blow me up. I have watched my Wife suffer through 6 back and neck surgeries due to disc degeneration. One time they even had to go in and remove the titanium rods because the anchors holding them in broke. She is so much tougher than I am I get embarrassed sometimes because she gets sick as hell on pain meds and can take only small doses...She just tuffs it out other wise.
999yards
Well-Known Member
Don you guys have medical marijuana out there?
ir3333
Well-Known Member
it depends on the nature of your problem.I had a bulged disc (L5S1)They opened it,removed some of the contents and buttoned it up....'kinda like letting air out of a tire,reducing the bulge and preventing it from pinching my sciatic nerve.
your problem may be more complicated.Like i said...maybe i was lucky!
Back in Time
Well-Known Member
Had considered that but it's not covered under Medicare. Should cover it. Don't want to spend my Dart money on medical marijuana.
Yea, women are tough. We don't give them enough credit. I don't want to go through that.
Don't get me wrong I have heard good things from people that had surgery. I have multiple things going on. The paper they give you after your doc visit telling you what they found looks like a long list of things you got to get & do to your car. lol
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