- Mar 3, 2001
- 8,859
- 4
- 0
i've had some back issues for a long time now, like 7 years, even went to physical therapy a long time ago. It has always been diagnosed as muscular, pain was always on the far edges of my lower back, closer to kidneys than to spine. I even had a personal TENS unit for a while, and that was the best thing I've ever used for it.
A couple days ago I started getting a pulsing pain near my spine, and was shooting down my left leg, sometimes all the way to my foot. Most times it was pain, but sometimes like a heat sensation or a tingly feeling.
I Read up on the symptoms, found it could be bulging disc or sciatica most likely, so I go to my doctor's office, which is also a walk in clinic (comes in handy when you don't feel like waiting to make an appt.) Found out the doctor I've been seeing is not going to be there that day but another doc will be there in an hour.
so i wait
After getting called back to the room, the doc comes in and immediately comes off as really arrogant, which can be a good thing as far as doctors go. I start to tell him about my back pain history, and I know to a doctor time is money, so about the time I see his eyes glaze over, I say "long story short, this isn't a pain i've felt before, and my muscle relaxers don't effect the pain at all"
he shoots back with a smirk "well this isn't muscular, so why would you think muscle relaxers would help?"
I say "ok..."
Before even examining me, he says "sounds like a bulging disc, let me listen to you" and puts the stethoscope on my upper back. I figure it's the regular "let me listen to your lungs" thing so I start to take deep breaths. He says "DEEP breaths!" in a frustrated voice, so i breathe deeper, and he listens to like 3 spots at my upper back, not even where the pain is.
Then he says "ok show me where it hurts" and i point to the spot on the left side of my spine at my lower back. He feels around for like .02 seconds, pokes the spot exactly making me pull away, and says "ok we're going to give you a steroid injection and a prescription for anti inflammatories"
I say "ok, but every anti inflammatory i've ever taken screws up my stomach pretty bad" and he says "yeah they do that to everyone, and this one is particularly bad, but you need to be on this for 7 days for the inflammation to come down, just take it with food and watch for blood in your stool"
again "ok..." and he walks out after handing me the prescription.
Indomethacin http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline...medmaster/a681027.html is the NSAID btw.
After a while, the nurse comes in, gives me a shot of kenalog http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100001412.html
but gives it to me in my butt cheek instead of where the pain is, which i figure "ok it's not like a cortizone shot" and even after reading up on it I'm still not sure if it should have been at the pain site.
Go home, take one of the pills w/ lunch at 11:30am, and still haven't notice any difference in pain. About 4 pm i'm trying to lay down and the pain hasn't subsided at all. So, I call the doctor back, and say "should the pain have subsided by now?" and receptionist puts me on hold, comes back, says "i talked to the doctor and he said if the pain is really that bad just go to the ER"
one more time "ok..."
i figure i've dealt with it for a few days, and on a scale from 1 to 10 it's about an 8 when it actually throbs, about a 5 constantly, which to me isn't ER pain.
In any event, it's Thursday here and they have a doctor on site, so hopefully at 2pm I'll get a better diagnosis and something that actually helps with the pain. Wish me luck!
A couple days ago I started getting a pulsing pain near my spine, and was shooting down my left leg, sometimes all the way to my foot. Most times it was pain, but sometimes like a heat sensation or a tingly feeling.
I Read up on the symptoms, found it could be bulging disc or sciatica most likely, so I go to my doctor's office, which is also a walk in clinic (comes in handy when you don't feel like waiting to make an appt.) Found out the doctor I've been seeing is not going to be there that day but another doc will be there in an hour.
so i wait
After getting called back to the room, the doc comes in and immediately comes off as really arrogant, which can be a good thing as far as doctors go. I start to tell him about my back pain history, and I know to a doctor time is money, so about the time I see his eyes glaze over, I say "long story short, this isn't a pain i've felt before, and my muscle relaxers don't effect the pain at all"
he shoots back with a smirk "well this isn't muscular, so why would you think muscle relaxers would help?"
I say "ok..."
Before even examining me, he says "sounds like a bulging disc, let me listen to you" and puts the stethoscope on my upper back. I figure it's the regular "let me listen to your lungs" thing so I start to take deep breaths. He says "DEEP breaths!" in a frustrated voice, so i breathe deeper, and he listens to like 3 spots at my upper back, not even where the pain is.
Then he says "ok show me where it hurts" and i point to the spot on the left side of my spine at my lower back. He feels around for like .02 seconds, pokes the spot exactly making me pull away, and says "ok we're going to give you a steroid injection and a prescription for anti inflammatories"
I say "ok, but every anti inflammatory i've ever taken screws up my stomach pretty bad" and he says "yeah they do that to everyone, and this one is particularly bad, but you need to be on this for 7 days for the inflammation to come down, just take it with food and watch for blood in your stool"
again "ok..." and he walks out after handing me the prescription.
Indomethacin http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline...medmaster/a681027.html is the NSAID btw.
After a while, the nurse comes in, gives me a shot of kenalog http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100001412.html
but gives it to me in my butt cheek instead of where the pain is, which i figure "ok it's not like a cortizone shot" and even after reading up on it I'm still not sure if it should have been at the pain site.
Go home, take one of the pills w/ lunch at 11:30am, and still haven't notice any difference in pain. About 4 pm i'm trying to lay down and the pain hasn't subsided at all. So, I call the doctor back, and say "should the pain have subsided by now?" and receptionist puts me on hold, comes back, says "i talked to the doctor and he said if the pain is really that bad just go to the ER"
one more time "ok..."
i figure i've dealt with it for a few days, and on a scale from 1 to 10 it's about an 8 when it actually throbs, about a 5 constantly, which to me isn't ER pain.
In any event, it's Thursday here and they have a doctor on site, so hopefully at 2pm I'll get a better diagnosis and something that actually helps with the pain. Wish me luck!
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