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Got woke up a 4.30 this morning by the worst pain i've ever felt pulsing down my spine into my arms and legs!!
I haven't got a clue how i've done it or what to do, it hurts that much i cant face the drive to the doctors or hospital.
I can hardly move my arms or walk without it pulsing which nearly puts my to the floor!

Has anyone else ever had anything like this and how did you ease the pain and get it to pass???

I'm loaded on codine pain killers and nothing is even takin the edge of it!!

Many Thanks
N,B

Worse case scenario would be slipped disc, quite a high disc by the sounds of it which is more rare than the normal lumber region slipped discs, but just as debilitating.

Hopefully, for you, its just an inflamed nerve which will pass. This is quite a different thing to a slipped disc but the pain is the same but should go in a day or so and Ibuprofen might help.

Slipped discs though (herniated disc is the correct term) can take a while to sort themselves out, stronger pain killers might be required but only the doc can tell you that. If its the same in 24 hours then go to the docs, call an ambo if you have to.

Cheers for the reply Rupe,

It's eased a little over night i'm going to get myself to the docs this morning, the ibuprofen took the edge of it better the codine so i didnt get a bad nights sleep in the end,

Thanks again
N,B

If Ibuprofen helped then it must be a trapped nerve or inflamed nerve, as it would do nothing to help a slipped disc. Sounds like its under control which is good.

Many,many years ago I slipped a disc in my neck, my symptoms were pins and needles in my arms and hands.

How long did that take to right itself?

I have just had a slipped disc in my lower back. It was agony leading onto numbness and pins and needles in my leg. Been having physio and Valium from docs to relax muscles around disc. Plenty of rest and no sitting down. Problem is I have had 3 weeks off work cuz of it- no money coming in. Want to start work again but don't want to push it!

Good luck with your back. If your in too much pain dial 999

Good luck with recovery, if your still walking (even if only just) then avoid surgery!!!!! It will get better I promise you that, but you need to manage the pain in the meantime.

If you can find something that steadies the pain, codiene and voltarol for example and you can manage to get back to work in some sort of capacity you will be ok. Moving is better than sitting and tree climbing is actuall good for you (as long as you dont favour one side of your body too much).

I am convinced that the hitchclimber method of climbing is far better than prussiks because the latter is usually set left or right not central. If you cant climb then swimming is good. At first the only time the pain went for me was in a swimming pool, but I gradually got back to work aswell.

Codeine and voltarol didnt work for me, and I ended up on some much stronger opiates and was heavily addicted but I worked hard and the disc sorted itself out in the end. Took another 6 weeks to get myself off the tablets, and was 6 months in total.

The neck did not take too long, I stopped the job that had caused it (grinding in a foundry, looking down between the castings and the wheel), but because I was holding myself differently, keeping my head up etc, I slipped a disc in my back whist off with the neck, that took longer to sort.

Cheers, I am fascinated by all these things and how the body sorts itself out given time, and what casues these things as well. Taking time off for your neck and hurting your lower back in the process is quite typical, you have changed your behavour/positioning for one problem and caused another. I have heard of that before.

I once hurt my back (not a full on slipped disc but similar) because I stood on a nail! It penetrated my foot so I limped around like a wuss for a day and put my back out!! The back pain was far worse that the hole in my foot.