22 with Degenerative Disc Disease

[astahl530]

Hi, I am 22yrs old and have degenerative disc disease, annular tear, and spinal stenosis. I am very frustrated because I am in so much pain because it hurts to stand, it hurts to sit. My legs get pain,numbness, and like cold tingle down them. My doctor said to go to physical therapy but, I tried and its hard to get through due to pain. He refuses to give me any pain relievers, probably because I am so young and they think I will sell them for money, but thats not me. I just need help what do I do? Its hard to work! I stand all day and its not good after work all I do is go home and lay down. I am so young, I am scared about my future. Will this pain ever go away, will I walk normal again? Any help will be appreciated...Thanks

[opus88]

i am so sorry for u honey 2b so young and hve ths horrible dx of DDD, i am 59 and hve the same as u, same pain.
i've been on oxycontin for 8 months and it does help..however dependeny is a reality, although not the same as addiction wth chrinic pain people.
this disease unfortunately isn't curable with luck and care you may not get anyworse off but NOT better.
You need to find a good pain management doctor (PMP) who will regulate your pain and medication and will prescribe stronger pain meds when needed.
good luck to you

[astahl530]

Thanks that does help sorry you gotta deal with it too. This *****!! I am looking for a PMP now....hopefully it will get me through the day. God Bless...

[brent1225]

hi astahl1530,
i understand the pain youve been experiencing but my gosh ur only 22. and u have ddd and spinal stenoisi?  where is ur stenosis located? i  was diagnosed too with the same thing..although sometimes it gets better but sometimes it gets worst also. i was diagnosed at the age of 33. i am now 38 , i thought i was young then to have this disease.. i was a very athletic and i never thought this will occur to me, i was really frustrated dealing much of the pain. but i guess this is something that we should know how to accept but in good spirit,, know what type of exercices is suitable for you and do it with patience.. i was diganosed with ddd in my cervical , thoracic and lumbar area.. i have  stenosis in my lumbar and pincehed nerve. during the flare up it really hurts but then i engaged in a specific exercise  wherein i could get a benefit from it. not ionly it will strengthen ur cores but it stretches the spasm taht caused by stenosis. i was living in pain on and off since2003.. you are not alone in this battle there  are hundreds or thousands around here who wants to share their experiences with u. tahnks to medhelp. i hope u could find relief here and  to uplift your spirit.. u are not alone in this battle.. during the flare up, take pain releiver let it subside and start to engaged in specific exercise. your physiatrist knows about it..good luck to u and may GOD BLESS US !!

[astahl530]

Thanks alot I really appreciate your feedback. I have tried physical therapy but I was a chicken and gave up due to pain hah. I have a good attitude about it, its just so painful and annoying. I am going to go back to physical therapy and I will get through it. Do you know if u can still have kids with this type of problem. Since i am so young I just would like to know if being pregnant would hurt me more? Not that I am lookin to have any kids right now but maybe in the future it would be nice. I hope u are doing well with your pain. I know it can be frustrating. GOD BLESS u too, I believe God will give us all the strength to get through are issues.  

[ballinger106]

i'm fixing to turn 31 in a couple of months. i got diagnosed with DDD at 23. since then i sometimes go for 6 or more months without pain and sometimes the pain comes and goes between 1-3 months spirts. i have gone for almost a whole year without very bad pain. in july of this year i had a sevear back pain right around my butt crack. it was so bad that i was walking down the hallway and when it hit i had to grab ahold of the hand rails on the stairs and i couldnt move, AT ALL. it was like i was paralized. i stood there holding my self up for almost 4hours until my wife came home from work and had to get her to call the ambulance to get me. i truley dont know what was wrong with my back because i wouldnt allow the doctors to move me out of the hospital bed. so they gave me a few shots and i stayed ther for about 5 hours and they sent me home. i think i had a spasm, like a cramp/charlie horse in the back of your leg. that was the worst pain i have ever felt. it was felt so bad that i couldnt even cry. i wouldnt wish that pain on SATAN himself. but since then i lost my job and every night i fear that the pain will come back. as far as pain medication for me vicadin, hydrocodone, loresett/plus do not work for me. my doctor just now started to give me percocet. i kinda dont like it because it makes me feel like im tipsy, but it's the only thing for me that works, and because its a narcotic i can only get 30 pills at a time and that only lasts for 15 days since i take 2 perd ay. he gives me pecocet 7.5-350 or if its real bad he'll give me percocet 10-750. they also have 3.5-350, 3.5-750, 7.5-750 and 10-350.
if nothingelse works for you ask him for the 3.5-350. when i took that percocet 10-750
i could not move. it was scarey as hell, i can move my eyes but couldnt controll my head, i'd talk with a severe slur. my wife said she couldnt understand me. when i was able to function i told my wife "NOW I UNDERSTAND HOW AND WHY PEOPLE POP PILLS". i personaly dont like taking these kind of pills, but if i had to choose, PERCOCET would be my choice .if you get a pain medication that kind of puts you to sleep or make you VERY relaxed then that is the one you need, nothing stronger.  i pray that you or anyone else has to go through this. i almost feel like im becoming a hypocondriac. i feel that no matter what i do something is wrong, something bad is about to happen to my back. and out of all these years dealing with pain, i just started acting like this since this last incodent in july.
but, this is just my experience, this may just be a isolated thing for you. you may not feel any more severe pain for years to come and i pray that for you or anyone else,
this is just an isolated insodent, which i know that my pain is nowhere near others.
i pray every night that this pain will stay the way it is and not get worse and now im going to pray for everyone the same way.
ive read books on exercises and stretches that help with SOME pain relief. and it works. find any and all BOOKS and every peice of information you can about DDD. if you smoke, which i do, smoking DOES in fact worsens DDD. it causes rich oxygen from going where it needs to go in your back, well, causes your blood not to receive ALL the oxygen it needs.
   another thing to remember, which i found out the hard way, since you just found out you have it, keep in shape and eat right. also, this happends to me each time i have a bad episode, tell you doctor if you start having bathroom trouble. going number 2. pay VERY close attention to what happends to you body that normally doesnt happen when you get severe pain. when i have an episode i wont go number 2 for atleast 2 weeks. this last time it took over a month for me to have the urge to go, and yes the urge came and nothing moved, had to take a sepository and a laxetive by mouth to get stuff flowing.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PAY VERY, I MEAN VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR BODY DOES AND WRITE IT DOWN/TAKE NOTES AND PUT IN NOTE BOOK SO YOU CAN GIVE TO YOUR DOCTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it does matter if you feel its petty, it could turn out to be VERY SEVERE.
i dont mean to preach or to go on and on, i just dont want to see or hear someone dealing with what im dealing with.
  please take care of yourself

[ballinger106]

another thing, if you doctor wont give you pain meds than you  need to fire his sorry ***, espeacially if he knows what you have. if he had you get a MRI and he can see the problem, then to me, thats melpractice. take your medical records especially that stats what you have and find another doctor. my doctor wouldnt give me anything stonger than 750 mg of hydrocodone until this last time. he told me since i have a history of this pain that he will give me something stronger. so find another doctor and ask him about hydrocodone. i know you wont get PERCOCETS because its a NARCOTIC meaning you can become addictive to it like cocain or any other drug, but seriously fire his ***. never mind dont find another doctor, fine a SPINE SPECIALIST. that what i did, well i got refered to one from the emergency room.
i have ddd in my L3, L4, L5 and S1
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPINE SPECIALIST,SPINE SPECIALIST,SPINE SPECIALIST,SPINE SPECIALIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[opus88]

so sorry for both of your pain situations....just want to add that Percocet has alot of tylenol as an ingredient and you must be very careful of taking to much tylenol!!!!!

better to ask abt oxycontin its the same med without the tylenol and its a long acting med. meaning you take it every 12 hrs (usually)...sometimes every 8..thats what I am now on....the percocet is usually only added for 'breakthrough' pain...and it is only a 4 hr pain relief med..

please talk to your doctor more abt this..

[astahl530]

I feel ya, on all this pain ****, Im so sick of it i lost my job, and i dunno what to do. Im going to see the cheif of neurosurgery on the 19th. I hope and I pray that I get a good answer. Im sorry you have this, I know it ***** real bad and none of us deserve chronic pain everyday. I hope we can all stay in touch, Ive noticed that ppl who dont have this **** thing your crazy! That you should just suck it up and deal with it. Id love to kick em right in the *** for that ****.

Also I wanna thank all who have responded to my post, makes me feel better knowing that there are other ppl who cant take this **** everyday, and who strive to get better. It keeps me motivated. Thanks to you all!!!

[blackiexoxo]

hon, i am 42 have 8 kids and been on Tramadol, percs, now on tramadol and vicoden and lyrica and flexeril. addicted to all..  i have DDD also with alot of arthritis in my discs. the pills will sometimes help take the edge off. If i could say anything to you... this is what it would be...  i found a doctor who did a faceta nerve block i had L5, L3, and L4, L2 AND S1  the results have been awsome.  i am gonna have my doctor wean me off my meds. you know they help but only for a bit. then you need more and more and more. eventuraly you will end up a junkie stuck on pain meds and a hurt back. i am also going to a good crunching  chiropractor. that helps too. i know it will never go away but when i drag my hurting body out of bed and have to take pills just to get up (with 8 kids alreay running around screaming i cannot do it) you are 22 find a good back pain specialist who does injections and try it. i dont like the steriod injections for me they didnt work but the block did.  they also told me that if it worked i could have the nerves burnt where the block was so ii would have perminent pain relief in the spot where she did the block.