Need advice ASAP. Please help!

Hello, I'm in dire need of advice on how to go forward with my pain issues. It started a week ago after a night that I drank a little too much. I don't drink often 3-4x a year. The next morning(Friday the 12 I get woke up by family asking me if I was okay because I sounded like "I was in agony" and I was. I didn't get all that drunk, nor black out or anything of that nature. I had felt a similar pain before when I pulled my serratus anterior. I thought that was all it was so I took 2 Soma/Aspirin compound and went back to sleep. I fall asleep on my right side and usually wake up on my left. Well after about an hour or so of sleep, I turned over to my left side and It felt like someone was stabbing the whole left side of my body, most intense around my ribs. I couldn't even get myself out of bed and had to be helped out of bed. That's when I knew it was not my serratus anterior.

Sunday the 14th, It became unbearable, if not doing anything to agitate it it feels like I got hit with a baseball bat on my left side of abdomen from my chest to my shoulder blades. If I put any pressure at all on the left side of my body it feels like I am being stabbed all over with knives,I also sleep on this side. I've managed to sleep on my back and right side but I roll over during sleep and wake up being stabbed, I can take deep breathes. It hurts to cough and even using my right arm for somethings, it puts pressure on my left side and causes me more agony. I did webMD's symptom checker on of the possible things that could cause my symptoms was a herniated Thoracic Disc...  I googled my symptoms and I believe it was on this site that someone had almost the exact symptoms and a doctor said it sounded like Herniated Thoracic Disc.  So I did a little more research on this and I stumbled upon this picture[attached]which is almost exactly where my pain is, I also read this "Disc herniations can occur in the thoracic region, but they are not common. Trauma is the most common cause of thoracic herniations. A herniated disc can irritate local nerve roots, which results in burning or "shooting electric" pain, especially around the rib cage."  Which is exactly what I am feeling.

Now to good stuff and my question, both of my parents have back problems my brother has scoliosis. I took a 10mg lortab which didn't help very much, if any. Later on I took a 10mg percocet, which helped but only if I held my arm as if it were in a sling, or layed down in a comfortable position but If I put any pressure on my left side it was as if I had taken a thing. I have tried advil, aleve, tylenol, BC powder, Icyhot, heating pad, ice. Nothing. I know you're not suppose to self-diagnose but I am positive this is what it is. I would go to a doctor if I had insurance but I don't, nor do I have the money to pay for PCP, orthopedic, or an MRI/CT scan. I have never been in this much pain in my life and I have broken bones, cut the end of my finger off, surgery on my penis... on a scale of 1-10 those are 2's compared to this. I have no idea on how to proceed. I could possibly pay for PCP but nothing other than that.

I am only 21 years old. What should I do from here? Is this going to affect me for the rest of my life? How long will this take to heal(if it's possible?) Are there any exercises I could do to help with this? Anything period to help with the pain?  Possible OTC meds? Any advice would be extremely helpful and I thank you so much for reading all of this and trying to help.

[atonicat]

I'm going to tell you that if acute pain like this is left untreated and it is an injury, it can develop into chronic pain (pain over 6 months is considered chronic) once someone has chronic pain, the chances of it ever going away are very slim. I injured my lower back about 5 years ago and did not go to the doctor because I didn't have insurance. Two years ago I finally went to the doctor after being in pain all those years. Turns out I had herniated a disk and now because I did not get help, I have arthritis, degenerative disk disease, spinal stenosis and facet syndrome. Or in other words, pain for the rest of my life.

I know it's expensive to see a doctor, but it's going to be a lot more expensive if you wind up in a position like I'm in.

[Cazey]

Thanks for the reply, better than nothing. I borrowed a friends sling today. probably not the best idea as not i am trying to get some rest, and i feel 60... im 21 (no offense if you are older) my mom also have the same things you have except no facet syndrome she got a pinched sciatica...  I am definately going to the doctor monday, from where that goes I don't know...  ER visit is abt 1500 I will have insurance again in January so imma be a "doctor's pet" if there is such a thing :) but seriously Are there any exercises you do?? potions to sleep in??? over the counter products.like the sling or something... it also hurts beyond a 10 when i stretch my arm from it being in sling but for a few short seconds it feels good, well it doesn't feel good, i feel relief for a split second or two... What meds  rx'd work the best for you?? Any info would be greatly appreciated

Thank you so much,
Casey

[atonicat]

Haha thanks. I'm 27. So I hurt myself when I was your age ;) Another alternative would be to look into state funded programs. When I was 21 I ended up in the ER for a few hours due to a virus and the bill was 10k. I asked the hospital for help and they told me about some sate of CA program for girls that were 21 and under. So I got lucky on that one. But it's worth a shot to check out.

I used to do yoga and run. I can't run anymore because my doctor told me that's really bad for my back. So I walk now. I sleep on my side. Sleeping on your stomach is not good for the spine. I use heating pads like there's no tomorrow. The one's you put in the microwave and the therma care ones. OTC pain meds do not work for me since I've been on opiates for 2 years. I'm in pain management and I'm on Norco but hopefully switching to something else next week. They like to stick my spine with a bunch of needles and a bunch of steroids. In January I'm getting some nerves burned off. So that should be fun.

Point is, fix the acute injury before you have to get nerves burned off in 5 years!

[melissawallace11]

I agree i have the steroid and botox doesnt't work now because its to late... need to go to the doc and have it checked out also... when you go and have no inc they will accept you and you can pay as low as 20 bucks a month till its paid off or anything after that and it wont go to collections. I know i had svt with no inc and was in the hospital tons of times that couldn't be helped because i would pass out and need a certain shot. hope this helps a little about going to the doctor and make sure you write a list of everything sown when you go it helps since you always seem to forget something and it helps them help you. good luck to you hope you feel better. I understand your pain horrible car accident and 3 surgeries later and i just turned 27!