chronic lower back pain after being diagnosed with viral meningitis

I was dianosed with Viral Meningitis subsequent to being dianosed with HSV-2.  I was hospitalized for 7 days.  5 months later, I am still suffering with chronic lower back pain.  At times, the pain is so bad, I cannot stand straight from a sitting position, nor can I get relief while sitting.  I was prescribed various pain medication including T3, Ibprof.800, and Dilaudid, none of which seem to help the pain subside.  I can no longer do many of the activities I once enjoyed and fear the pain will only progress. I have stopped taking the pain medication as I feel they do nothing but make me feel "cloudy". Has anyone heard of an arthritic side effect from Meningitis?  I am only 26 years old, but most days, walk hunched over and take minutes to stand straight from sitting position. The pain is located at the base of my spine, the lumbar curve and seems to affect the sacrum.  Prodominently the left side with pain radiating downward into upper thigh.

[Kessa_Mayfair]

I am going to take a shot in the dark and guess that you had a lumbard punture to find out that you had viral meningitis. My doctor informed me that lumbard punture sites/procedures pain and discomfort Ie: The side effects you are explaining can last up to 3-6 months depending on how your body heals after such a "Tramatic" event to your spine/lumbard area. Only thing to really do is to use heating pads/cold pads and find a comofortable postion or change your sleeping postion to avoid applying pressure to those areas. Hope this helps a little