Today was the second time this year I’d thrown out my back. The back muscle spasms are so bad it puts me in entirely different state of mind. It’s due to the amount of brain piercing bursts of pains I experience. Transferring from the floor to the couch almost had me black out. It only takes the slightest move to trigger the spasmed muscle(s). It’s like playing a game of Russian roulette but it’s your body movements. Cool huh?
Do y’all get this too? Why is it so fucking god awful painful? How do you handle your episodes?
Never had that or met anybody who has. You should go to a doctor bro
You uh… you might wanna see a doctor about that.
Wait blacking out back spasms aren’t a daily issue for everyone?
If you’re having severe back pain (or any unusual or severe symptom) you’re better off going to a doctor as soon as possible. First, severe pain is never something that you should just live with, and it may be able to be treated. Second, it’s possible that whatever is causing your severe pain could lead to worse problems or be a symptom of something serious. (I don’t mean to scare you, but it’s important to rule things like that out sooner rather than later.)
This is not normal, you need to talk to a medical professional mate.
Everyone else is saying go see a doctor. I’m going to assume you already are seeing a doctor, because if you’re in that kind of pain most people would see a doctor. I’m going to ask what sort of treatment is the doctor suggested?
You are absolutely correct. I’ve seen a doctor and even have gone to PT for this. I completed 6 weeks of PT back in May and was feeling fantastic. (As an aside, I do weigh training for my normal everyday exercise routine under the supervision of a trainer.)
When it’s happening you think, “holy shit this pain is excruciating! Something has to be very wrong!”
Well, let me tell you a fun story… from all the doctors and therapists I’ve discussed this with. This is normal for things like pinched nerves, sciatica, herniated/bulging discs or just simply your weak ass muscles like to seize up and say fuck you.
They won’t give you proper painkillers, only muscle relaxers that don’t do anything but make you feel sleepy and loopy. You just have you wait it out until you can move around enough. And that’s when you can actually make it to a doctor. For me these last 2 attacks left me truly incapacitated (unable to walk, get up from a laying or sitting position) for at least 2 days.
Doctors don’t take this type of pain seriously and I don’t know why. They won’t prescribe opioids, probably for various obvious reasons. But for this scenario, it should be one of the few exceptions.
Another fun story, this happened to me for the first time about 7 or 8 years ago. I called my doctor crying. They said go to the ER. This was probably the biggest mistake of my life. I have never been treated with such disrespect and disregard for what I was going through. I was treated as a pain pill seeking junkie. I waited in the ER for 5 hours until I finally stood up went to the front desk and mid sentence of me asking how much longer, I blacked out from the pain and collapsed on the floor.
I was just hoping I’d find others who have gone through this. Hoping to feel like I’m not crazy for wanting more from my medical system than “this is just how these things happen. You’re fine. Now here do these exercises and you’ll feel so much better”.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but thank you for listening.
At the risk of giving unsolicited advice, which I apologize I’m about to do, have you tried the mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota? They take almost everybody’s insurance, they’re not as expensive as most people would think, and they give some really fantastic service.
The mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota is where some of the incredibly wealthy people from the Middle East fly to when they need medical care. That should give you an idea of just how good they are.
Just some food for thought for you. Hopefully you can figure out a way to get this solved permanently.
No apologies necessary. I appreciate the advice. Thank you. 💜
I’ve been telling my mom to go to the Mayo Clinic for her chronic cough for years. I’ll check it out.
You should treatyoself by getting that diagnosed.
No most people dont experience this you must have some serious medical condition. Consider becoming a pot ingester to help manage the pain
Way ahead of you brother 🦚🖖
It’s reasons like this post I make homemade gummies. It helps immensely.
No I do not.
Over the past 30+ years, I average an episode every 18 months. I’m currently in my 9th week of recovery from my latest episode and mostly past the crippling pain and now into that constant mild/medium pain and range of motion limitation that seems to never get better and lingers for months.
Of my nearly 2-dozen lifetime episodes, a solid 2/3 of them washed me over with such sudden and intense pain that I entered an hours long state of shock accompanied by cognitive disability and short term memory haziness. I don’t think I’ve ever actually blacked out, but I expect everyone responds differently.
I am not a doctor and am not qualified to diagnose your specific issue, but if you are suffering from herneated lower disc (my problem), then a mass of inner disc material is breaching your outer disc and putting direct pressure on a major nerve bundle…triggering the most intense pain imaginable.
My standard recovery is to immediately get a perscription for a round of Prednisone (powerful steroid) to quickly reduce inflamation and immediately get on a perscription for muscle relaxers.
Long term, when you are not injured or recovering, you can work on core strength and posture which is supposed to make episodes less frequent.
There’s also surgery option: three main types available. The most modern and least invasive is the micro-discectomy. My doctor (and all my previous doctors) always try to talk me out of the surgery for numerous reasons.
My dad has four slippers discs in his lower back. Got them from a work injury when he was 25. I was 4 then.
I never knew my dad not in pain. He tried surgery, twice. But neither took. That being said, the University of Washington has made huge strides in that exact kind of care. I would direct my father there if he were still around today, but since I can’t, maybe Udub can help you.
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University of Washington. This is good to know! I’ll poke around and see if I can find any recent work on this. Thank you!
First, thank you for comment. I couldn’t have explained this experience better myself. I’m so sorry you experience this. I don’t wish this upon anyone. (Except my mortal enemies but that’s a story for another day 😉)
And you’re right, It’s not only the pain but the intense state of stock as well as the hazy memory and speech.
Sounds like you have a solid recovery routine which is the same as me. I do find a few rounds of acupuncture also helps with inflammation and range of motion. I think im going to start taking Yoga classes along with my strength training. Here’s hoping this reduces the episodes.
And here’s hoping your last episode is truly your last one. 💜
I’ve had back spasms for decades. I’ve gotten them pretty much under control, though it’s still present every day. Doctors can give you muscle relaxers but they don’t work for me. Physical therapy might help but it’s sort of geared towards old people so I don’t like it myself. But do use it to learn what not to do.
To imagine what it’s like if you don’t have muscle spams, make a fist and flex the muscles in your arm over and over until it’s tiring. Now imagine you can’t stop for 24 hours until you are on the floor in pain and then you still can’t stop.
First, use a TENS unit. They are cheap. This is the main way to signal to the muscles to stop. Otherwise, the muscle will go forever. So TENS resets that. Sort of the way a defibrillator might be used to reset a heart back into a proper rhythm.
Next, exercise and build up back muscles. I exercise a lot. I like to find something that is fun and exciting so I continue past tiredness, not something that I’ll get bored with. The best was probably boxing because it involves a lot of twisting at your core, but most anything will do. Bikram yoga was the only thing that made it worse because the forward stretching was causing nerve compression. For me, building up back muscles allowed me to hold a better posture and that helps too.
I also use foam roller. That works sometimes before it gets bad. A soft bed and a soft couch seem to make it worse, but the opposite won’t make it go away. I try not to sit still too long. Lastly, shoveling show is the worst thing. If you have to do it, do it in teaspoons at a time. In general, don’t be macho about carrying things. Carrying one bag of groceries at a time is good for you anyway.
Hopefully some of that is relevant to you or someone else.
FYI: this is not the best place to look for medical advice. See rule 3 for more information (:
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Will he? Mine didn’t prescribe anything and sent me to a physiotherapist.
Oh my dear, I wish Cyclobenzaprine or any muscles relaxers worked for these episodes. They don’t. They are definitely helpful after the initial episode.
I suppose I felt compelled to make this post because I was feeling (and still am) completely dejected. I put so much work into my previous recovery and continued prevention. When it all comes crashing back down on you, its hard to know how to feel about it.
Yes, this isn’t an unusual type of pain with someone with a back or spine injury. Like others said, see a doctor asap as they may be able to help. You might need physical therapy along with medication, and it’s better to start sooner rather than later when it could be less treatable.
I did… Until I found a good neurosurgeon and had a L5-S1 360° fusion.
Prior to that I had back episodes regularly, some so painful I would completely pass out. The last straw for me was when I was coming down the stairs in my house, took a step down and woke up at the bottom of the stairs. I’m extremely lucky I didn’t break my neck. Some orthopedic surgeons are good but a good neuro is a life saver.
Holy shit, the term, the straw that broke the camel’s back is too real in your situation. I’m glad the neurosurgeon and surgery worked out for you! What was your actual diagnosis if you don’t mind me asking?
Yeah, it started with a herniated disk at l5-s1 with central canal stenosis. That was a discectomy and laminectomy about 15 years ago. The disk continued to deteriorate and eventually collapsed to where the vertebrae were almost touching. The lack of stability resulted in severe spinal cord impingement.
All good now, other than I’m old and a bit too fat lol
Not quite pass out, no. But it can get bad enough that it amounts to the same because the mind has nothing left to process other things. All it can do is deal with the pain. Sounds get muffled, you lose perception of the rest of body. It’s just that pain filling your mind, and that’s all you are.
But think about it. The back is closest to the CNS, the central nervous system. It supports and protects the spine. So your mind pays extra attention to pain from there.
When it’s muscle spasms, there’s also the fact that it immobilizes you, so on a primitive level, if you don’t resolve that injury signal, you could die in a survival level of existence. So your brain it harder to ignore than something like a cramp in your arm.
You just have to find what works for you. Me? If I don’t have access to the little combo of muscle relaxer, breakthrough pain med, and NSAID, it comes down to meditative practice. You practice every day, controlling your breathing, doing progressive muscle relaxation, and figuring out ways to isolate and wall off the pain for brief periods so that you can function to some degree.
But I’ve got nerve pain added to the mix, so what works for me might not work for you.
