Sometime in early December I began having severe back pain. It started in my lower back, worked its way up into my middle back, and finally settled near my kidney. The general consensus was that I might be about to pass a kidney stone, but I didn’t have any of the other traditional symptoms. A couple of handfuls of Advil a day made the pain bearable.
And then, right before Christmas, the mostly dull and throbbing but occasionally stabbing pain morphed into intense back spasms. They mostly happen in the morning, when transiting from laying to sitting, and again from sitting to standing. I told Susan it feels like someone behind me occasionally hitting all the nerves in my back with an ax. It’s hard to describe any pain as a 10 out of 10, but that’s what it feels like. When it happens while I’m trying to stand, I almost always fall back into the bed. I’m never quiet when it happens, either. Involuntarily, sounds come out that sound like I’m turning into a werewolf. With no idea what was causing this, I begged Susan to throw away our new mattress and buy a different one. That made things worse. If anyone wants a $500 king-sized firm mattress that’s been slept on twice, hit me up.
After visiting my doctor I was prescribed some Tramadol — stronger than Advil and Tylenol, but not good enough. An x-ray showed nothing and so I was sent to have an MRI. After two attempts to squeeze me into a normal-sized MRI failed (that’s a whole different story), I was finally sent to an open MRI with a pocket full of Xanax. They scanned my lower back and found minor spinal compression, but nothing that should be causing what I’m feeling.
Things came to a head Tuesday night when I discovered I could no longer lay down, sit up, or stand up without being attacked by the back spasms. After an hour of spasm after spasm, I couldn’t take it anymore and so just in time for the clock to roll over into Valentine’s Day, Susan and I arrived at the Mercy Hospital Emergency Room. After a few minutes in the waiting room I was whisked back to a room and promptly given an EKG to determine that my heart was okay. (The spasms were so bad that my arm and leg were starting to tingle.) Two nurses whose ages didn’t add up to mine took turns fishing for a vein to start an IV, and a dose of morphine brought the spasms down to a 5 out of 10 on the pain scale. (Their multiple attempts at finding a vein helped take my mind off my back for a few minutes.) The morphone was followed by either Vicodin or valium (I forget) and then I was rolled down the hall for a CT scan.
Sometime between 3 and 4 a.m., we got our answer. The CT scan showed calcium build ups on my spine, some of which are apparently touching and/or pinching nerves. The doctor said it looks like DISH, so here it is straight from Google:
Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a form of arthritis that involves the tendons and ligaments around the spine. Also known as Forestier’s disease, this condition occurs when these tendons and ligaments become hardened, a process known as calcification.
As G.I. Joe used to say, “knowing is half the battle.”
Reports are mixed as to what causes this. Approximately 25% of all men have some sort of calcium that builds up on their spines. Only the lucky ones have it in places that affects nerves. Some studies have linked it to type-two diabetes, some link it to obesity, but all of them agree that none of them are sure.
Along with the Tramadol (for pain) and another muscle relaxer, I was also prescribed prednisone, a steroid to help reduce the swelling of the muscles and nerves.
They’re scheduling me for another MRI, this time to scan my entire back. (Why they didn’t do that in the first place, I have no idea.) Short term treatment will include pain management through medicine, physical therapy, and potentially, steroid shots in the back. If none of that works the last recourse will be back surgery. I’ve been told my whole life to avoid having back surgery if at all possible, but I’ve since been told that this is an out patient procedure that doesn’t go near the spinal column, so even though it wouldn’t be my first choice it also doesn’t sound like the end of the world.
Between all the medicine and the general lack of sleep that comes from random back spasms in the middle of the night (I’ve been averaging 2-3 hours of sleep a night for the past week), I haven’t been on my A-game over the past few days. I’ve changed when I’m taking my pills and am hoping to be able to make it through a work day tomorrow. Ironically, the two places that hurt my back the least are my office chair and my recliner, two of my favorite places.
That sounds awful! Prednisone is serious medicine, always helps me out when I am having an asthma flareup. Hope you get it managed quickly!
Makes me feel like I m a whinny baby when I complain about my back . I really feel for you.. I m so sorry you’ve been hurting so much
Landed myself in hospital last year for the first time since 1984 with 10 out of 10/couldn’t stand up pain (lower abdominal in my case). They couldn’t figure out what it was (I’ve had it occur several times since) and I got sent home with the same batch of initial drugs you were, most of which aren’t nearly as effective as they claim. As I got pushed around in a wheelchair for the first time in my life all I could think was ‘This getting old malarkey is a humbling and sucky experience’.
As someone who has also dealt with crippling lower back pain in the past too, no amount of ‘lay on your stomach’ or ‘lift your knees and lay on your side’ ever actually helps. In some cases, these pieces of advice tended to make it worse! But as you say, knowing is half the battle. Hopefully this can be managed for you to a solution that actually helps and you’re back on your A-Game soon :)
Yikes man, that sounds terrible. I hope you find some relief soon my friend.
Greetings Rob & sorry to read about your back maladies. Hope you can find some relief soon.
Without meaning to be insulting, I hadn’t thought about you in years, perhaps a decade…”life goes by pretty fast” & when you work & raise kids time flies, which it has since we worked together. This is going to sound weird, because it is, but I had a pretty vivid dream with you & Susan in it last night & it has bothered me all day. I woke up this morning thinking it was silly & laughed it off like I do for most of most R.E.M. subconscious vacations & assumed I’d quickly forget & got about my busy day, but I couldn’t shake it. In the dream I was called to go back to OKC because you had an “accident” & passed away (my apologies for my subconscious) & I was tasked with helping Susan (because for some reason I was more qualified to come back out of the blue after years of not seeing, talking or working around either one of you than actual friends & family) & the kids with various arrangements. In the dream I worked on helping out your family & trying to figure out what happened to you & eventually the dream devolved, as most of my dreams do (it’s almost like my brain runs out of semi-rational storylines & then comes up with even more outlandish scenarios) & while I was trying to find paperwork in a box deep in storage you appeared to me as a apparition & was about to divulge who killed you…& I woke up.
See, it’s stupid. I know it is, but I couldn’t shake it all day so I finally broke down & came to your blog to make sure you were still warmer than room temperature & you are, just in pain.
What led my brain to come up with all of that seemingly out of nothing & from deep recesses not often accessed I haven’t a clue but it stuck with me long enough that I wanted to check in on you & make sure it was a dumb dream.
Stenosis is serious but I think treatments for it have come a long way in recent years so my thoughts are with you & hope you can get to a point where pain isn’t ever-present & you’re able to function normally again. Take care of yourself & the family & I’ll try to check back in another decade…or sooner if another dream clues me in on who killed you in the first place.
as a guy who had two level fusion, laminectomy and facetectomy, I wish you the best! Make sure your Doc is as good as you can get in your area and you’ll be good. Best of luck, and feel free to reach our if you think I can help with whatever diagnosis you get.
Praying for full restoration, Cuz — and for compassionate doctors for you in this season. The opioid crisis is no fun for people in pain.
That was a decoy ;-) I know I’m your aunt.
Damn Rob, sorry to hear it! Sometimes human frailty really sucks. Then again, sometimes it strikes me as amazing that this weird meat gundam I walk around in has functioned so well for nearly 50 years and need so little maintenance. /shrug Both miraculous and terrible.
Hey — I had my own thing, not worth complaining about relative to yours, but I had a hip replacement and recovery has NOT been smooth. Lots of pain. It’s getting better, but I wanted to say thanks for all the podcasts. I listen every day when I do my physical therapy and it helps to have something interesting to focus on. (And they distracted me from nerves beforehand too.) Wish I had something distracting to offer in return, but all I have is: thanks, I really enjoy your work, and I hope you are able to keep doing the things you love as you recover.
Wishing you a speedy recovery from this side of the pond!