Neurological problems are SO discouraging.

I've had lumbar back pain for about 20 years. I used to just put up with the pain because it was possible. Now, I can't stand or walk for more than five minutes. The pain is unbearable. Here's the good part: Nobody knows what the problem is. The doctors (plural) I've seen over the years have ruled out any sacroiliac problems or disc problems that are bad enough to cause this pain.

Yesterday, I had an appointment with a neurosurgeon at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital in NH. I was referred to him by a neurosurgeon here in town. I'm so used to hearing doctors explain how complicated back problems and neurological problems can be that I can almost recite what they're going to say verbatim. This doctor was no exception.

I'm in pain, I want to avoid narcotic pain medication and I've tried everything else. I'm afraid my options are running out and I'll have to start shopping for a wheelchair without having a diagnosis. (And if anybody tells me to "embrace my pain" one more time I will find a way to stand up and strangle them).

Anybody else have neurological "mysteries"?

how long ago were the studies done? much has changed since 20 years ago.
what meds have you tried? neurontin, i suppose. lyrica? ultram?
my advise is to take the narcotics. pain like that can wear you down to the point where your physical health is endangered. i'm sure you mental health has seen enough strain, also.
take care, keep fighting.

Once those chronic pain pathways are set up, they stay there even if the original cause of the pain has been cured. We're still left with very real pain that doctors tell us is all in our heads---true enough but not the way they're talking about it.

A pain management specialist is your best friend. You will take drugs according to a specified contract and use other treatments to supplement them. The price you pay will be coping with side effects that every medication has. The benefit you will get is that of getting back to your life on your terms.

Untreated pain won't just put you into a wheelchair, it can kill you as the continued pain keeps you isolated from friends and family, sends you into depression, and convinces you that suicide is the best way to make the pain stop.

Please get to a pain specialist. It can very well save your life as well as give you your life back.

I had my first visit last week. They're going to get me in touch with an Interventionist to get some injections, and if they dont work, nerve blocks.

sometime you just have to keep trying. and waiting for science to catch up, i guess.

and my advice is to go for pain medication. At the moment I'm in a (powered) wheelchair for much of the time and life's complicated enough without dealing with pain that you could avoid. If anyone told me to embrace my pain they would get the opportunity to embrace the side of my hand!

Of course I wouldn't encourage annyone to break the law, but it is a fact that a good joint is among the best pain management techniques I've found. Mind you, that's about as far as I'd go towards "natural" healing products.

If you are going to get a wheelchair, remember that being "fitted" for the right one is extremely important.

I have MS also, and on one of my boards that I used to frequent, there was a guy by the name of Grassman, who took it for his ms pain.

I am sorry for your pain, though Zanne and hope that you find some relief soon.