First of all let me welcome you to the Pain Forum. We're very glad that you have found us.
We are all CP (Chronic Pain) Patients ourselves. There are no Dr.s at all on here. We share our experiences and suggestions for what has worked well for us and it is a wonderful give and take. We are on here to support each other with whatever expertise that we have.
Having back pain is so debilitating and I'm so very sorry that this has happened to you!!
I totally agree with Londres70 and Sara that you NEED to get to a Neurologist. Since you don't have any insurance is there any way that you can get help thru the state or your Health Department? You need to find out what is going on for sure to see if it can be helped in any way at all. But I'm sure that you already know that from the pain that you are in. :)
Sara gave you wonderful advice about the heating pads or Thermacare patches as well as the back exercises. Dame gave you some excellent advice about giving the Ibuprofen a try (within reason).
One other thing you might try that won't cost you anything, is to go to your pharmacist and tell him/her what is going on and they can give you some really good advice as to what may help you with your pain.
Please check with your Pharmacist about your Tramadol as I'm sure that they are quite a bit out of date. Just to be sure that they don't change chemically in some way. I know that a lot of the meds just lose their potency but I know that some can change chemically. Please be cautious.
Again I'm so sorry that this is happening to you. Please keep us updated on your condition and how you are doing. We are here for you always.....Sherry
it sounds like my mom's sciatica at the beginning. If so, next time you get a flair up, try taking two extra strength ibuprofen and see if that helps. If the anti-inflamitory aspect of the ibuprofen helps, then it probably is sciatica, and you can use ibuprofen (within reason) for most of the pain, and only use the tramadol when the pain gets intollerable.
good luck,
~Dame
I'm so sorry you're having these problems. I agree with Londres70 that you do need to see a neurologist or perhaps an orthopedist who specializes in spinal pain.
Have you tried heating pads or Thermacare patches? Also, here is a link for back pain exercises. Sometimes there really help.
http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/overview-sciatica-exercises
Please check back later. There are a lot of very knowledgeable and sympathetic people on this forum. I'm sure one of them can give you a better answer than I.
Good luck and do check back.
Sara
You can also post in the Back and Neck Forum too.
Sounds like sciatic problems or a lumbar spine problem. It is too bad you don't have insurance because you really should be seeing a Neurologist.
Secondly, have you tried anti-inflammatories over the counter? (ibuprofen, aleve).
Sometimes, the Rx strength ibuprofen works well, that's if you can get the Rx.