Chronic back pain symptoms and conditions

I have had the Mirena for 11 months. I am 47 years old. I had it inserted after the birth of my daughter (at my six week checkup), who is now one year old. I thought that the depression and debilitating tiredness were part of post-partum depression, but it just keeps getting worse. I feel like I have lost the last year of my life, and today I feel like I don't even have the will to live anymore. I almost can't get out of bed in the morning unless I absolutely have to, I have depression all of the time, but it gets worse during PMS, I have chronic back pain anyway, but at PMS time it is excruciating, I have NO sex drive, I cry at the drop of a hat, I feel worthless and unhappy. I have not gained weight, rather I have lost it and have virtually no appetite. The only good thing I have noticed (and it was immediately) is that my skin tone changed for the better. I have been debating about having it removed, but I don't think I can go on like this. It is not fair to my husband or my baby, not to mention myself. I am glad I saw this website today. I agree that my doctor refuses to admit that any of these side effects have anything to do with the Mirena. I also bleed (lightly) at least 10 days per month. I don't have insurance, but Planned Parenthood said they would remove it for $80. I am definitely making an appointment in the morning. I just hope the "crash" I have been reading about isn't too bad on me. I don't know how much more of feeling this depressed I can take.

Having read a lot of the posts on here I have just made an appointment to have my coil removed. I only had it inserted 2 months ago but have had severe fatigue and been unable to work as well as quite bad depression, very tearful, and loss of libido. Luckily I have not put on weight - lost it in fact - but I just don't feel right at all. My homeopath warned me that the doctors would deny that the coil was causing any of these symptoms but isn't it better to remove it and see?

As many of you have I started Fentanyl for chronic back pain and neck pain. My nurse case manager suggested it as she had been on it for 3 years and thought it was great. I started out with 50mcg for 3 days each patch. First patch I was a little drowsy feeling but by the 2nd I was used to it and it seemed to help a little. Enough that I had increased my walking and was hoping to help strengthen my back. Now to the horror, my calves continued to ache. At first I thought it was from the extra walking but it would not go away. Then I had the sweats and would just soak a T shirt while I was sitting in my recliner, then I would freeze to death. I thought something was wrong with my air conditioner. Then trouble sleeping and just 1 thing after another until the depression and anxiety started. I am disabled and my wife is a nurse so I'm home along a lot so I hid it. I would sweat like crazy and shiver and be so cold then get so anxious that I would lay down in be to try to rest and paw at my covers and even my clothes. I was either too hot or too cold. I would pace the floor so anxious I thought I was going to loose my sanity. The silly thing is that I was not putting together as being the Fentanyl. Our son had been diagnosed with a very bad brain cancer about 6 months before and I thought it my be partially from that. I fought it for a couple of weeks behind closed doors, although my daughter had call mom and said what is up with dad? He is having some type of problem. Well, to try to cut this to a manageable sized document I finally had to wake my wife up in the middle of the night shaking, crying and pulling at my clothes saying I'm *** and I don't cuss like that. She had warned me not to try this med but I was desperate to be pain free or at least able to manage it and be half way normal. She got me to the doctor and at first they were gonna cut my 50mcg down to 25 for 2 weeks and then go to 12.5 for 2 weeks. My depression and side effects were so bad that they wanted to stop putting Fentanyl into me asap. So I went 3 days with the 25 and 3 with the 12.5. I have been climbing the wall since Wednesday and have none in me except the residual and hopefully it will be out in a week or so. I just want to say that my depression is something that I cannot even explain. I ball and blubber like a baby at times for no reason. I cannot even see or talk to my kids on the phone because I just come apart. I'm constantly beating my self up over my mom dying from Alzheimers as if I could have done something. I think of times when the kids were small and literally want to go back there. It's not like saying hey remember when we used to do (whatever) I literally want to go back there. I know in my mind that it is impossible but I just cry to go back to the farm where my dad and mom lived. Mom has been dead for almost 10yrs. The doc gave me Ativan to take the edge off a little and Clonidine for chills and sweats. I've been off of it (Fentanyl Patch) for 3 full days now and the depression is still unbearable but the other side effects are a little better. My body aches were pretty bad last night though as I think about it.
I just wish some one could tell my how long it will take me to get back to my self, good sense of humor and loves to have fun with my family.
Thanks
*****

I've been on the fentanyl patch for almost 3 years. I started on the 25 patch, then went up to the 50. Now I've weaned myself back down to the 25 patch. I was put on it for chronic back pain caused from a car accident.
I'm determined to get off this drug, so any and all suggestions are welcome!
In the last few months I've been experiencing some odd side effects that seem to be becoming worse by the day. Firstly, it seems like I can feel the effects of the patch more so, like when I first started using it. I also started experiencing nocturnal problems, my legs in particular felt like they were burning up and the muscles were really tight. If I stretched them it only seemed to worsen the problem. The only solution, weirdly enough, seemed to be jumping into the tub for a half hour.
In the last couple of weeks I have been experiencing MY FULL BODY HEATING in the middle of the night, as though it's the middle of summer in the middle of a big heatwave. I move around on the sheets and try to find a cool spot. I manage to sleep for only minutes at a time. For awhile this was only happening the second day with the patch (I only wear it two days at a time). Now it's the first and second. It's disrupting my sleep and I'm exhausted. My doctor gave me some sleeping pills which worked rather well but now I've run out and I really don't want to start depending on another drug.
I NEVER should have started on this drug and though it does work and work very well for chronic pain, I still highly recommend finding any other option out there for dealing with your pain. The withdrawal effects are horrendous. The first time I went through withdrawal I could not believe how terrible the symptoms were. Vomiting, diarreah (never could spell that one right, lol), and the pain was amplified times 100. My Doctor seems to not understand how scary it is to even contemplate getting off this drug, the withdrawal is that scary!
I managed to get down a patch size by cutting a tiny sliver of the plastic backing on the patch (NOT THE PATCH ITSELF!!!! The backing that you remove!) and sticking it on the patch before transferring the patch to my skin, so in essence, I was blocking out part of the patch and just made the plastic a little bigger until I had finally blocked out half the patch at which time I went down to the 25 patch with zero side effects.
I'm on percocet for the fallout pain and take up to 8 per day, although some days I can take as little as 3. After I'm off the patch I'm determined to get off of this drug as well and learn to manage my pain in a different way.

I got my Mirena inserted in March of 2007. After having horrible side effects such as terrible cystic acne and my hair falling out.....along with chronic back pain....I got it removed in December of 2007. Unfortunately, my horrible cystic acne has not left and my hormone balance is so messed up that no birth control method has helped me get balanced again after almost a year and a half....

Am 47 y/o male have been taking 10mg since June 30, 2008. Over last couple of weeks have had bouts of severe leg pain, not cramps but just achy. Also have lower back pain especially in morning when waking. Problem is i have chronic back pain so hard to distinguish between the two but it just feels different. Also bouts of fatigue. Called my doctor and was told that the aches in legs not a problem because the side effect is cramping not soreness. I don't buy that.

I am a 35 yr old male and have been taking lipitor about 7 yrs. I have a genetically high cholesterol and it has been up to 275. On lipitor its around 175. Over the years I have been on this drug I went from being a normal weight and active to pretty much lethargic and sedentary due to lack of energy and gained ~50 lbs. I couldn't sleep. I got random nausea and fogginess in my brain to the point I could not remember how to perform my job. I usually had minor aches and was bloated. the past year everything has gotten much worse. For a year now, I have been getting large rashes on my body that itch severely and no medications have worked to alleviate them. I found out recently from my doctor that I have a genetic marker in my cholesterol that makes me 3 times as likely to have a heart attack. Its a portion of the cholesterol, i think its called LDL-b or something like that. Anyways, My doctor prescribed zetia to help with my cholesterol since the lipitor wasn't doing it alon. I begin feeling very sick when taking the zetia and after a week or two stopped it. The problems didn't end. As long as I remained on the lipitor, the problems seemed to continue. Its like the zetia released a dam of problems. I stopped the lipitor 4 days ago and have noticed that I feel energy coming back to me and the rash is starting to go away, but I ache severely all over. My shoulders, forearms, and legs are so sore and painful that I can't do anything about this except sleep so I don't feel the pain. I am also very weak feeling and I notice stiffness in my fingers and my grip is very weak compared to how it normally is. I have nausea and stomach cramps and constipation. I feel miserable. I notice its worse in the morning and gets a little better towards the afternoon. I typically took my lipitor in the morning. I do not know if there is a relationship here. Please advise on any help you can provide.

KMJ
07-30-08

i was diagnosed w/non hodgkin lymphoma in 2006, back surgery since had chronic back pain docs say maybe for life i take percocet to ease the severe pain in which i have they have help me thru some serious pains meanwhile i can be myself and perform as usual limited that is

I myself had this shot kenalog and marvin about 8months ago, got it for chronic back pain, i suffered from herniated disc, degenarate spine, it's no fun getting old. i'm 34 yrs old mother of 16 & 6. i was diagnosed may 2007, from, insomnia, migraine, stiffness of back, sciatica symptoms, depression.
i thought the shots was the answer. it really didn't do nothing for me, but i remember the shot was painful, and they bruised a little, but there was one on my tailbone that bruised last night months, didn't think of anything bad, until i started to notice the white, dented looks like tunnel going in, it sore around it, and it's getting bigger and bigger. Yeah so many things going through my head, is this cancer, some kind bone desease. I see my Dr. next week, and i will ask him for MRI and what can he do to fix this problem...if anyone has any info or in LA< CA.pls forward to me. its good to know i'm no alone and going crazy... thanks

I had 2 kenalog injection in my sacroiliac joints. I had these injections within 2 weeks of each other. I had them done because I suffer from a chronic back pain, had had a spinal fusion and within 4 months began suffering unbearable pain in my hip and leg,it felt as though my hip was dislocated.
The side effects I have suffered are as follow: extreme hunger,weight gain, puffiness in my face and stomach, excessive hair growth on my face. The wierd part of the excessive facial hair is that before I had these injections done I always left handfuls of hair in the shower and when I put hair products in my hair, since the injections I hardly lose a single strand of hair.I also had severe night sweats,mood swings, and I have yet to get my period since I had the injections.
Above all of this I also suffered steroid withdrawal. Like I said I has these 2 injections within 2 weeks of the other. Abpput 3 weeks after the last injection I began to have a creepy crawly feeling in my arms, cold sweats, and vomiting. I called my Dr who said it was withdrawal from the steroids. I couldnt believe this. I did some research online . I discovered that this does happen if you have more than one injection within 3 weeks. I guess it does make sense because when you take oral steroids you are almost always given a taper pack. You are weened off of them so that you don't go into withdrawal. With an injection obviously you can not be weened but if you have the injections too close together, withdrawal can happen.

The only advise I have is that if you can wait to have your injections more than 3 weeks apart...do it because the withdrawal is miserable.

I have been on some form of LoEstrin for about a year.At first, I thought the side effects were normal hormone changes with pills.But as months went on, I was incredibly anxious and having panic attacks constantly and that's not my personality.I was more irritable and just didn't feel like me at all.My boyfriend tells me I'm freaking him out because I'm not acting myself at all.I feel like I'm literally going crazy.
I wanted a low hormone pill because my body seems to react to crazy amounts of hormones.I have never gotten a period on this pill and being a woman, I feel it's healthy to have one and it can cause more damage in the long run not having one.Every doctor I see says it's totally normal to not get a period.I disagree.I'm off my pill this week and have no intentions of ever getting back on this pill.
I've been looking into no hormone birth control and am interested in IUDs, specifically Copper IUD.I just can't find any luck with pills and am sick of all these side effects.When are they coming out with the male birth control????

I am 37yrs old and have been on Advair for years, I use to weigh 110pds. now I weigh around 165, I have chest pains all the time,
pains in my legs and chronic back pain, also
pain in my leg's. I have mood swings and feel sluggish all the time. I have headaches a lot as well. I am still on the Advair, never realizing that the Advair was the cause.

I started out exhausted and dizzy as I was upping the dose for the first 3 weeks and then magically all of my pain was gone! I have chronic back pain due to L5/S1 disc removal, bulging discs and degenerative disc disease. Everything was great until I got my period and it started for 1 day and stopped w/mild spotting (that is not normal) the Dr. suggested I was pregnant when I KNEW that I wasn't. After the 4th week on the medication my hair started falling out. 1st more strands than normal and now by the handful! It is obviously thinning. Has anyone experienced this? Is the follicle permanently damaged by the chemicals? I've since weaned myself off the medicine and am in complete pain again. This seems to be one of the rarer side effects of this medication. Has anyone experienced this?

My Dr. gave me levaquin July 5th, for a cough that had lasted 3 1/2 weeks. I took the first dose same day. Started having muscle pains in my legs next day, but continued the medicine because I thought I needed it to get rid of my cough. The pains continued to get worse; I couldn't staighten out my legs or put my full weight on them. I stopped the Levaquin after the 6th day. The pain continued for the next 9 days, after which it finally started to lessen. It is now 2 weeks since I stopped taking the medicine, and I still have some pain in my legs, although I can straighten them out and put my weight on them now. I would not take this medication again unless it was the only way to keep me from dying. I am 75 years old, but have not had any pain in my legs prior to this. Funny thing is that my chronic back pain did not bother me during this time.

Who am I? Where am I? Ok its not that bad...but seriously, I have been on this drug for four weeks. My best description is feeling like im in slow motion. I used to be quick witted, with fair intelligence, seems like I am senile. I am taking this drug for chronic back pain issues. I have had pain for over a year, almost everyday. I was at a point of desperation, Im not sure now if its all worth it. I experience blurred vision a lot, I still get random pains/aches in certain places, I have noticed a strong ammonia smell with urination, last night I had serious heart palpitations. My pain level is decreased, and that feels great, I just dont think I want to feel like this. I cant even remember if I took my dosage this morning!

Hi im steve form the UK. I was in a traffice accident in october 2002, i was hit my a car and knock off my Scooter(moped) and landed on my back. I have damged my back tissue and back(spinal) muscles. I have had chronic back pain ever since the accident and my GP has given me Tramadol. I was on them for two years from my accident, then i was off them for one year and now im back on them. These are the only tablets that do help the pain and i have tried other painkillers but did not help with the pain. I get a Dry mouth, (very thirsty), sometimes i itch alot, feel a bit dizzy and tired, when i yawn i tingle all over and my hands and arms go numb. I also feel like im gone into my own little world which is good when im at work as work can be stressful, it helps me calm down too. I take 1 or 2 a day

I'm only 21 years old, Female from NY. I was born with scoliosis and i've been in two major car accidents. I take about 2-4 Vicodin's a day, and decided to try Ultracet in order to decrease the amount of acetomenaphen to my liver daily. I find that I need to take TWICE as many Ultracet in order to feel comfortable daily, well about 4-6 pills daily.

I remember having side effects years ago, I think i'm totally immune now when it comes to Vicodin and Ultracet.

Am I the only one who's taking more than 3 a day?
I now notice that I am probably better off just sticking with the Vicodin, as I have chronic back pain and nerve damage in my spinal cord. As for the addiction part... I cannot go more than a day without my meds, so I am addicted. My advice to those who have to take these medications daily to keep a quality of life? Do as I do, DONT EVER RUN OUT!

Good luck all.

Ultracet was given to me for chronic back pain. I have tried Hydrocodone, Dilaudid, Demerol, Fioricit, you name it, I tried it. I have to admit that this has been a painstaking problem. How do you treat pain using Narcotics and then not get classified as an addict? I am angry how this drug, hydrocodone was pumped into my body for 6 months and then taken away, cold turkey. No discussion on any withdrawals or scale down procedures. Doctors mainly don't care once they have dismissed you as a patient. They don't care to follow through the proper procedures to avoid addiction. Ultracet has now been dumped on me to help with back pain. It works fine but not as well as hydrocodone. Ultracet does give more energy and yet a relaxed state of mind.