Disc degeneration symptoms and conditions

I'm a 57-year-old male. I have been on Divovan 160 for about 3 years now. Several months ago I started to have back pain and it has been increasing. The doctor took x-rays and cat scan and the reports said that while I have some disc degeneration in my lower spine, the films are virtually unchanged since they were taken 5 years ago. In other words, I should not have back pain - but I do!
Lately, the pain has gotten worse - so bad that I can hardly get out of bed in the morning. It is located on the left side of my lower back. I also have incredible gas and despite diet and exercise, which is now impossible due to the pain, I could not lose weight no matter how hard I tried.
In the last 6 months I have slowly transformed from feeling pretty good for my age and capable of an hour a day on the treadmill to feeling like a 90-year old man. Today the pain was so bad I had to book off sick from work.
I went to the doctor and told him about all the negative stories on the Internet about Diovan. He looked up in his medical journal and decided to take me off the drug. Instead he prescribed a new drug, Rasilez (aliskiren fumarate).
Last month I tried stopping Diovan for 4 days and experienced a significant reduction in pain. I had to go back on because my pressure shot up again. I hope this new drug works without side effects.
Would appreciate responses from any of you who have had success with drugs alternative to Diovan and also success with natural remedies.
Best wishes to you all.

I have been taking 3500mg of Neurontin for 3.5 years to reduce sever pain caused by cirvical disc degeneration (injury caused in severe car accident) Neurontin reduced the amount of pain and seems to reduce painful outburtsts of unvolentary movements & phantom numbness and pain. I am able to reduce the amount of daily pain-killers that I need to get through the day. I am currently questioning the relation with Neurontin and a liver problem recently discovered. Of course, blood tests indicate cholesterol, and blood sugar problems. Is there any documented relationship with the long term use of Neurontin and liver and/or kidney disorders?
Thanks