Arthritis???!!!

Arthritis in the back has several forms. I have major bone spurs that compress the nerve roots causing pain. I had back surgery last June to free up the nerve roots at L4/L5/S1 but the rest of the back still has problems leaving me with chronic pain. For someone who hasn't felt it they think you are making it seem worse than it really is but the sleep deprivation gets old fast!

Not to be competitive about it, but I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis (the garden variety type) at 25. I didn't give it much thought, but as I have aged, I have pretty much constant pain. Until a few years ago my back wasn't a major problem, but when I retired after 30 years of teaching, it got worse. I've got bone-on-bone areas, which irritate the nerves. I want to avoid back surgery for as long as possible, so I went to the pain clinic at my local hospital. The anesthesiologist tried several injections into the bakc, but nothing helped. I'm now on Lyrica (for nerve pain) and also have Lidocaine patches. I can manage as I am now indefinitely. Some days are more painful than others, but nothing so agonizing that I can't bear it. I have a Select Comfort bed (the mattress can be adjusted from very soft to very firm using an air bladder inside the mattress) and wear good shoes. I get stiff when I've been sitting too long, but it works out quickly. I also have been taking water aerobics classes several times a week, and that has helped a lot, too.

imho, pain must be one of the worst "disabilities" because it can't be seen and therefore is not recognized by others.  This must be even worse when this occurs at a young age.

Two major types of arthritis:  Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.  If you gotta have one or the other be thankful you get Osteo and not rheumatoid.  I have osteo of the joint just below the fingernails.  I can't play guitar anymore very well, but because I don't have to bend that joint very often, I still can play piano a bit.

I take something called Lodine (an aspirin derivative).  It makes a lot of difference.  Fortunately I don't have arthritis anywhere else in my body.   Just the usual pain that comes with being 61.

However, for extreme pain control, there is the Medtronic Synchromed implantable pump, which is refillable with a percutaneous needle maybe once every month or so depending on dosage.

The outlet of the pump is a small silicone piece of tubing that is inserted into the spinal column and delivers morphine.   No danger of addiction because the dosage is so small when administered in the intrathecal space of the spinal column and there is also a "brain/spinal cord barrier" that doesn't allow the drug  get you high or anything.  It is specifically used for intractable pain or for pain of cancer.  It works like nothing else.

If you have insurance it is an option you should check into.  The pump is several thousand $.

But you will be pain free for the rest of your life.

I should know.  I invented the pump (originally for diabetic injection of insulin), but the pump has been on the market now for over 20+ years and is as reliable a medical device as you can find for pain control.  Coincidentally, it is also used to treat spasticity using a drug called Baclofen.

doc