Falling apart?

[kaoticshortstop]

Two years ago I was as healthy as could be playing over 100 ballgames in a summer and constantly active. In the last two years I feel as though I am falling apart. I have a torn tendon on the middle of my back, I have a herniated disc in my lower back. I have always had tendonitus and bercitus (sp?). I was told bye my doctor that some people just get it more often than other.

My family all has a history of MRSA.

Three weeks ago I got Cellulitus in my leg, now in the last two weeks I have had a constant numbness in my left pinky and partly in my ring finger. I feel as though I am falling apart. Exercise? Vitamins? what can I do? I did rehab on my back and the pain did go down a bit but I find myself popping Vicodin most nights to get a good nigth sleep.

[Tuckamore]

Hello and Welcome to the Pain Mangement Forum.

You seem to be faced with a lot of physical challenges. I am sorry that you have to endure all this, especially at such a young age.

The numbness you are feeling in your fingers could be from several conditions. That's how my Carpel Tunnel began. It's best to get it checked by your PCP before any permanent damage is done.

I can empathize with you. I too was very active when my chronic pain began following a serious MVA. I played on three softball leagues and keep busy on dart and pool leagues in the winter. I played the piano and entered and won several amateur dance contests and so on. I held a FT and a PT job and it all came crashing down.

As Audrea did, I too grieved for the loss of my active lifestyle. As I am sure you can attest, it is very hard to accept. Our experiences may help you.

I too saw a psychiatrist several times. I needed to be assured that even though I felt like I was going crazy, I was not. Denial was my first name. Than I sought counseling from an excellent therapist. He helped me adjust to some degree the rest was up to me. I encourage you to try the things that have helped us and others.  

I also read a great old book called, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."  I highly recommend it.  It helped me accept my fate. I turned my focus to things that I could do, though I admit nothing replaced the "high" I got participating in athletic competitions.

My PCP says that we all are dealt a hand of cards in life. Some of us get good hands, everything we do seems to turn to gold. And some of us get crappy ones. But we have to learn to play the best we can with the hand we were dealt.

If your physician is not addressing your physical issues as well as you would like them addressed than I agree with Audrea, find another. But your post didn't indicate to me that you were dissatisfied with your physician unless I missed something. It's sounds like you are just prone to injuries or illness. Have you had recent blood work to rule out any underlying conditions that could account for this. If not you may want to request that this be done.

Hang in as long as you can. We are here to support you. I hope you will keep in touch and let us know how you are doing. I find that the members of this community like Audrea and many others has been extremely helpful and supportive. I hope you will find the same to be true. We'll look forward to hearing from you again soon. We wish you the best.

Take Care,
Tuck

[nurseaudrea]

With the numbness in your fingers the way they are sounds like you have a  radiculopathy. You could have a nerve that is entrapped or "pinched". I have the same thing in the same dermatomal pattern you describe and have had MRI's and CT's that show herniated disc and bone fragments between C5-C7. I am so sorry you have gone through so much. Same as you I was very athletic and played basketball, did rock climbing, and went to the gym for vigorous work outs 6 days a week. It all came to a screeching halt. I had to grieve the loss of my active life style. It took many years to get to the point I am now where I have accepted my lot in life and just try to deal with it with as much help from my doctors, meds, and therapies as I can get. It was very emotionally tiring and I ended up seeing a great Psychiatrist in my mid-twenties and after being on many different drug therapies, physical therapies, pain management programs, you name it I have tried it, now deal with it much better. It's just a process you have to go through. But whatever you do, don't ever give up, keep looking, keep searching. If your doctor does not seem to understand or help enough it is time to find a new doctor that wants to help you as much as you want to help yourself. I have been blessed to have many doctors that have been great and cared how I feel.
Good luck and God bless.