Back spasms
 

I know we all get them, so thought I would start a post on them so we can share information as to how we deal.

Mine seem to come out of the blue .. I don't particularly have to do anything, but I guess because I favour my right hand side, it's causing particular stress on the right side of my body.

Mike took me supermarket shopping this last week when he was off. I normally just let him do it as he does most of the big meals. He wandered off and I was up and down the aisles looking for him when I felt my right hip starting to go into a massive spasm. It got so that I couldn't even put one step in front of the other and some nice people asked if i was ok. (though the tears streaming down my face told them that there was something wrong I guess .. Lol)

Ended up being wheeled out in a wheelchair. Oh lord, that chair was a blessing I can tell you .. Once I'd got into it that is.

How do you guys manage your spasms? I felt I'd been kicked by a horse for hours after and any movement started my side flaring up again, so I just ended up in bed with some diazepam and a good book.

I look back and I'm so embarrassed .. I don't want to go back to the store again. Lol

35 views and not one reply. Why view a thread on back spasms if you have no experience them or no constructive advice?

Lurkers, you know? Lurkers
 

But here is my back spasm reply, and it is the only thing that has ever helped with the multitude of episodes of spasms I have endured. Flexeril. That is it. Spasm is not something the stim can address, no way, no how. Flexeril is what I have had to use.

Now, I used to have spasms every single day and multitudinous episodes throughout a day which would invariably cause my back to wrench because the whole idea was muscular contraction. Spasm. Toward the end before I had the first big invasive back surgery 1/6/06 the spasms were coming so swiftly, like hundreds of episodes per minute, it is in part that which provoked me to scream so much outloud at that time. My neurosurgeon prescribed Flexeril as a relaxer which, for me as to this singular issue, became the saving grace for spasms.

My supply is now small, and I guard it carefully in case spasm occurs I cannot tolerate. It does happen every once in a while, but now, it is mostly the nereve pain managed by my cushion and my SCS.

Yup,
There you go, Saf,
A responsive post,
Hoping and praying you are over the spasm,
Mark56:grouphug:

saffy
 

:hug:z
I have been having more muscle spasams, my doc and I have tried multiple medications..... Seems like they either "snow" me or do nothing:confused: I seem to do best with a heating pad or if I can A soak in warm water with epsom salts in it. I have had my electrlytes (sp)checked and they are all fine. Hope this helps
:hug:z

Well HI Pooh!
 

Did you know we were having a dance partiy in your barn, by the way? You should have heard the noise by NOW!!

Epsom Salts, yeah, my Grandma always used to suggest soaking in that... I dunno why I forgot. Glad your Electrolytes are good! ALSO glad to see you reply to Saffy!

Be well in Nowhere,
Mark56:grouphug:

Thank You, both of you. Well, i always knew one of you guys would reply! I'll ask my doc about that Mark.

Back Spasms
 

Hi Karen,
This is a good thread to start, I'm only seeing it now. Like you I too have been caught in the supermarket and I've had to grab a strangers trolley on many occasion to stop me just dropping to the floor with the spasm, the strangers trolley like that would see the tears in my eyes and I just hope that it eases for a minute and the stranger would help walk me to some chairs.
Thankfully my husband usually does the shopping and I tag along. I usually end up in bed for the rest of the day with some Diazapam and a book or TV and pray that it goes away by the next day.

Everyone hates the spasms and there's very little we can do about them but I've been on medication for them too and they've worked for me. I find one of those heat pillows on my back great.

That's my story I hope it helps.

All the best

Sinéad xxx :)

I'd like to explain about the 35 views Saffy.

This number does not mean that 35 NeuroTalk members viewed this thread. Did you know that it's not necessary to be a member here to read? Also, if you look at ''Who's Online" you'll notice pages of guests reading the forums at any time of the day.

Those 35 views may not have even been by people. There are thousands of bots constantly searching the net, and these are necessary if you ever wish to look something up using a search engine.

I hope that explains why the views showed up but you weren't getting the replies that you were hoping for.

Yep, them bots....
 

Everytime I hear the word 'bots' I get a picture in my head of a bunch of those little see urchens (sp?), you know with those little spikey things coming out of them......creeping thru cyberspace, landing on links........:confused:......I wonder if they help 'pollinate' the web. :Hum:

Anyway, I agree, this is a great thread. Just now logged on and saw it.
Geeze Karen, picturing you (and Sinead :() in the grocery in that condition.
My hubby does all the shopping, thank God.

Isn't it crazy how meds work so differently on us? Flexeril did me zilch. Baclofen is what seems to keep the spasms at bay for me. I recall Sinead saying this didn't work for her.

Wouldn't it be NICE if there was a 'ONE-DRUG-FITS-ALL' medication :eek:

Thanks Koala for explaining this to me.

Getting the drugs right is SO frustrating .. it is to me, it must be to the Doctor who is treating me too.

I feel so low at the moment .. I've not had a spasm as bad as that for a good while. I'm usually able to tell when one is coming on and either get the valium/diazepam out, or get on the bed and rest and read. This one took me by surprise and I guess I felt sorry for myelf. I was so piddled off with Mike for walking off with the trolley too .. he does sometimes get so impatient at having to walk at my speed as he's always walked fast.
This just makes me feel a bit of a failure and a bit useless ..

Just the mood I'm in at the moment I think.

I guess I'm getting ready for Thursday and my pre op and the meeting with my new surgeon.

xxx and hugs

Saffy...
 

Feeling down and useless....
For the past 3 days I've been curled up in a ball feeling like this also. Well, I've been ill too, so I guess that's part of it.
I was just sharing this with a very good friend - the fact that I feel like I'm 'fading'......literally. I see my family and friends getting on fine and my kids are becoming more and more independent (which is good) and it's as tho I'm slowly fading out of the picture. It's a very empty, cold feeling with extreme sadness. Alot of us do struggle with depression and I think it's good to talk about....for me anyway. It somehow helps.
The strangest part about this feeling is, deep down, I think I 'want' to fade out. I get in these frames of mind where I'd just rather throw in the towel rather than continuing on and on and onnnnn every single day battling this pain nightmare that has consumed our lives.

It's like I wanna just get on over to the 'other' side, where there is no more suffering. Am I making any sense? :confused:
But then, a 'good' day will roll around and these feelings subside for awhile....and then it all starts all over again.

Sorry, didn't mean to get so 'deep'.....but just felt compelled to share, Karen, especially since we both know that feeling of being 'useless'.
I know this is not true, tho.....we ARE useful and needed and loved. We have a purpose here and there are people who really need us.

Being sick sure messed me up. Since I was sick to my stomach, I wasn't able to take my regular meds (head meds :rolleyes:) and boy, my mind really started playing games with me. That's when all these dark thoughts came along. It's been aweful.
But, by talking about it, like I did with my friend and asking for prayer, it helps alot. It's not a sign of weakness at all. It's proof that we all need this fellowship.

I hope you feel better soon and when Thursday rolls around, you'll start to feel like things are beginning to get sorted once and for all.

Caring as Always,
:hug: Rae :hug:

Sorry you are feeling so bad, saffy & Rrae. :icon_sad: I wish I could cheer you both up or bake you a pie, or something! (I know a pie wouldn't help, but it's the first thing that popped into my head)

How about this:http://www.pamperedprimatesandk9s.com/store.php?cat=2? It's a web store for monkey, marmoset, lemur, and tamarin clothes.

Check out the photo album: http://www.pamperedprimatesandk9s.com/photos.php It's cute and weird...it's cweird!

Sorry if that didn't help either, but I had to try.

Saffy, I was someone who looked at your first post but didn't reply...to answer your question as to why, I didn't have an answer, but was hoping that I might learn something from someone else.:o

Bot Saffy!
 

Bots make me think of creepy crawly little things..... Anyway Saffy, you are in my prayers, and there is NO BOT about that!

Yup,
No Bot,
Mark56:hug:

221
 

Hey Saffy, you are up to 221, bots and all. I am not a bot, I am for realz, so my presence was computer typed, not computer generated.

Prayers for ya,
Mark56:grouphug:

So sorry the days are so difficult right now. Sending positive thoughts to surround you.
Can you feel the love and prayers? You are always so positive and helpful to all of us. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:
Sandy

Hello my dear friends.

Well I had my pre op yesterday and saw my new surgeon who OK'd the laminectomy and paddle .. explained he would have to make a further and longer cut in my spine due to where he was placing it and would need to make the incision in my side bigger .. and also said I would feel like I'd been kicked by a horse. Seeing as I've never been kicked by a horse before, this should be interesting. He he.

He then said he would send me for a pre op .. I replied .. "Oooh .. that's lucky, I had one this morning" .. so he guesses that I should get the op quickly .. within a month or so.

I explained that after my discectomy in 2007 my big toe had gone numb, but now my whole left foot and coming up my calve was also numb .. he said that unfortunately, that wont go away, and is likely to get worse if it is moving up the leg.

I also explained that I am having far more back spasms than before and he said this may be due to weight placement .. i.e. my favouring my right side, which I do. He also said that the stimulator will do nothing to help these.

So .. how do I feel today? Well, despite waking several times in the night with pain .. and I have to be honest, I just reached for the pain killers each time I woke so lord knows how many hours were between doses, I am feeling chipper.

Went to get some new Christmas lights for our tree today and am feeling smiley.

Paid my respects at 11 am and thought of my Dad and all those fighting in wars, many of which are pointless.

Now sat with a cup of coffee and about to start hand making my christmas cards.

Love you all xx

As we extend out love also
 

Yes, this surgery is for real an event you will remember, but then being through discectomy before, you will know what to anticipate. Pain post op, handled by meds. BLAST will be important as well as Log Roll to arise from bed. Take baby steps to allow restoration of your strength and body control. Stay on top of the surgical pain, which will abate in a couple of weeks. Then, hopefully be blessed with the restorative effect of pain management through a paddle embellished SCS system.

Making Christmas cards? That sounds good and very nicely rewarding! Enjoy.

Soon..... soon, we pray your ordeal will have come to a better place for Saffy, a place known as real pain management. It works for me, and I pray it works for you.:)

Prayin,
Mark56:hug:zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hand-made Cards!
 

How special that will be! It seems nobody ever takes the time to do that anymore.....everything is electronic and cyber-induced.

So Glad to hear this progress is being made Karen. :hug:

Just going to toss a quick idea out there. I get leg spasms sometimes, and I can usually tell that they are going to happen a day or so in advance because the muscles clench up. If I eat a banana it helps bring my potassium back in line and I can usually avoid the cramps. Lisa

Thanks Lisa .. I'll try that ... as for Mark and Rrae .. x x x x

My advice is to take the meds but...
 

My advise is to take the muscle relaxers, but in order to have them work all the time you have to take them all the time. A conundrum for sure. I'm still at the stage of the game where I'm taking boatloads of meds to manage my pain. I am hoping there will be a day when I'm only on them for flareups - if anything. I recently tried some different musce relaxers: both baclofen and skelaxin didn't do much at all, Soma worked but I was a zombie on it and now I'm back to Flexeril, my trusty med of some 14 years and I'm now able to use it only twice a day compared to three times a day before. I had to go off it and try some others so I could substantiate my claim to my prescription company that I needed the brand name of Flexeril (I'm allergic to an ingredient in the generics of this med). Anyway, I discovered that Flexeril did work the best for me. It is sedating but not as much as the Soma, and it does work well. I don't know how fast it works though, sounds like you need something to work quickly as you don't take it continuously.

I do have a lotion compounded (made by my pharmacy just for me) it is a lotion having amitypaline 5 mg and lidocaine 5 mg - I rub it in to where I'm hurting and it does take the pain away really fast. I carry a teeny bit in my purse for when I am out. Let me know if you need specifics for this. I hope things will settle down for you!

Wow .. the compound sounds very interesting and I will speak to my Doctor about this and see what she thinks. (I may also give the pharmacist a call)

Lipoderm
 

Hereabouts this is a Lipoderm product prescribed by doc and put out by TPS LLC. Good stuff for pain.... but not spasms in my case.

xxx
mark56:grouphug:

I've had Lidocaine patches .. are they the same Mark?

Truncated Ingrediens
 

Keto/Baclo/Gaba at 20/2/6% so I figure Gaba is Gabapentin/Neurontin, the others O cannot flesh out.

Details for compound
 

My compound is 5% Amitryptaline and 5% Lidocaine - PLO. The pharmacist used NDC #38779-0081-05. I can't use the Lidocaine patches (allergies again) and I actually think this lotion is better. It acts quickly, then absorbs just like a regular lotion would. Hope this helps!

I have those patches too Saffy do you find them of any use??? I use two of them 12 hours on and 12 hours off. I find them 'ok' but not great, but then what is?!!!!

No Jackiey .. They did beggar all for me.

I've had compounded creams like that with the Amitriptyline and Lidocaine, but they never seemed to help me for peripheral neuropathy pain. Ditto with the Lidocaine patches. But they do seem to help some folks.