Bored and bed-ridden ...

makes a bad combination for me, lol, too much time to think browse the web ...

Anyway, not sure if that is a vent, a reflection or even a half-way serious thought, guess I just feel like contemplating it in "loud" ...

Either way, I seemed to have pulled a nerve in my back/spine yesterday morning - don't know the English word for it, but I am basically unable to stand/walk/move without major pains ...

It happened in my sleep - which is kinda funny, coz the other 2-3 times I had this in my life (a few years back) I had it once from a wrong "turning around" and the second one while standing at a shop waiting to pay ... - but had nooo idea that things like that could happen in your sleep, lol.

Well, done some heat treatment and painkillers yesterday (bath, red light, heat patch - no idea about the English term here either ;) ), so I think it's getting better now.

What keeps me wondering though: Yesterday was a day when I had a family visit scheduled (notably my parents and a niece of mine), because my dad wanted to have a look at some lighting issue in my flat. As might have become apparent in one or the other post, my relationship with my family is not really "tension-free" .... - so I am kinda contemplating the fact that I got hit by this backproblem, pretty much imobilzing me, on just exactly that one day that my parents etc are showing up ...

Coincidence or subconsciousness?!
And now, that they are gone, I am getting better ... ^^ (well, at least it looks that way, still hurting, but more mobile again in my movements).

Just got me wondering a bit, lol ...

Kinda reminds me of a time when I was living in UK, came home for a visit, staying at my sister, and had planned a party for my best friends who all wanted to come and meet up with me ... - just to find that my family decided all to come and join my party as well, as it was a "good chance" to all see me :p ... that party morning I woke up with a serious case of laryngitis (sp?) - I literally was unable to talk, just some whispering possible ... - again, it was gone like 2-3 days later, when family was gone ...

So, is that still in the realm of coincidence or am I a head case who could benefit from some therapy here?!
I am open for suggestions (can't promise I will follow them, though ;) )

Ok this is weird.........
I was gonna post.........
But it seemed "weird"
I pulled a muscle in my neck or something strange like a pinched nerve in my neck on Thursday.......
It hurts so bad, it is hard to lift my head.
Mine happened when I woke up, I did a weird stretch and felt it "snap" I said oh oh!! I knew it was bad.......
It is getting better now, but I couldn't even drive or sit.
I had to lie with a pillow just right and take alot of Tylenol.
I feel for you girl.......I am right there with ya!!!
I don't know about your "head case" stuff.
But I can tell you it damn hurts........
Heres to feeling better :)

Can I join you in the therapy?

I take pain medication for a chronic back problem. It usually works great. The last 2 months I have been in a lot of pain. The doc increased the med. But you know what, this past week I did not take the increased amount and my pain was nil. What is different?

I didn't carpool my two daughters and their kids all over town from 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM. EXCEPT TODAY.... kept the 4 young ones (out of the 6) and the 9 yr old challenges me left and right. Left there with major pain and note to myself to pass on the after school babysitting opportunity. :D

Any rate... I hope you are up and at 'em really soon.
Barbara

Carazy~
Oh, I am so sorry to read you are laid up with a back problem.
They are the worst!

I have been blessed with a strong back, but my mother and a few of my friends have terrible back troubles.
One of my friends threw her back out just picking up her baby in the crib and then "turning" with him in her arms. She was laid in the bed for 3 weeks!
I do hope you are feeling much better very soon.
I have heard that alternating ice and then heat on your back is very therapeutic.

I DO believe that these type "pains" can come about from stress or worry. We have lots of triggers in our life that bring on things such as headaches, stomach upsets and othe muscle strains. Why not a backache?
Could be that is where your "stress and worry" decided to bury itself.
The body and the mind work in strange ways hand in hand.
My stress and worry brings on terrible stomach problems and I also have panic disorder.
My guess is yes, your stressful relationship with your family could have triggered your back troubles.

Get your rest and I hope you are feeling "back" to normal real soon. I'll keep you in my prayers for a speedy recovery!
:)

Thanks for all your kind words and sympathy :D

Snowprincess, yeah it's amazing that these can happen in your sleep when you feel things should be - if anything - more relaxed, lol - I hope your neck is gonna be fine soon again, as in addition to being painful, the frustrating thing about these back/neck problems is that they limit you so much in what you could/would want to do ;)

Barbara, at the moment I can really relate to your back problems, even if mine is not chronic (and I hope it wont get to that) - sounds like you could do with some rest / less pressure for a while too, so please try to make sure that you do look well after yourself, as well, not only after your family :D

Sage, yes I think you are right about stress being a potential trigger - I always related back problems to "wrong" movements, but considering that stress means "tensing up" in muscles as well, I guess the effect would be the same. But if so, it must be a different stress to the one I am used to at work, because I had never noticed a relationship between "normal" stress and my back ;)

well, I cannot do much but rest, sleeping a lot and move very carefully, but I really hope I will be up again - for more stress on the workside though, but that can be quite fun too ;)

All fellowsufferers, best wishes to all of you :D

Dear little Carazy,

I hope you get well soon. Sorry about your back pain.

Try to enjoy the extra net surfing you get to do. :D

Hi Carazy, my prayers are with you girl!!! Hope you feel better!

Take care,

joe

Harrison and Joe,
thanks a lot for your wishes :D

I hope the rest I am taking will do some good ;) - and yes, Harrison, onine activities are really a good way to keep "occupied" ;) other than reading (books, this time ;) ) of course :D

Hope everyone is going to have a nice weekend :D

Carazy, I hope that you'll be feeling better soon. Back pain is the worst! It's such unbearable pain.

When I was married to my German ex, his grandmother would come from Germany for a "short" visit (always three long months) every year. It was always very stressful for me, as she wanted to run the house like she was the Gestapo. If we ate 2 minutes later, she'd get bent out of shape. If one of us arrived home more than 2 minutes late, she'd be outside in the front yard looking at her wristwatch, making sure that we saw her. Every morning when I woke up, she'd be downstairs with everything pulled out of all the drawers and cupboards, waiting to give me my orders for the day about what we were going to do to re-organize everything, lol. It was intolerable. I loved that old woman, but it was a major nightmare to live like that for three months out of each year - she only spoke German, so I had to constantly interpret for her. Every time she was due to arrive, I'd become extremely sick or incapcitated in some way. I am pretty sure that it was my body's way of rebeling. Many times, our bodies will say for us what we can't say in words (at least in my case). Since then, I've learned to express things verbally - my husband has really helped me with that - and........I get sick much less often. I don't get depression anymore, either.

Thanks again for all your wishes and comments ;) And it seems to be getting really better, I can move better and even walk - just sitting down & standing up etc are painful, the rest seems to be more akin to heavy muscle aches ... ;) so, with a little luck I will be up and about in a day or two :D

Zeph & Whisper, I hear ya ;) - the issues with my family can normally be avoided (basically, I try to avoid THEM, if I can lol) - actually, the two incidents I have been contious about are characterised by them "invading" my turf, so to speak ;) I don't seem to have problems if I am going to see them etc ;) Never thought it to be that big an issue though, but if I develop of pattern of getting ill when they are coming, I guess I will definitely have to address this ... :)

And Whisper, what you are saying about your ex's grandmother kinda sounds familiar, lol, so I can imagine how stressful it must have been ;)

And Trish, tnx, - and good to know that it's not that uncommon for something like that to hit during sleep, as you and SnowPrincess have shown. :D

Have a good weekend all and let's hope ailments will be gone soon :D

Carazy, I can fully identify with where you are. I sprained my back when I ws 15 and have been dealing with back problems and a very nasty disc ever since. Fortunately, mine doesn't act up too often (every year or so) because when it does, I am totally incapacitated for a few days.

The back doctor told me that I could bend over and tie my shoe and it would go out, but that would not have been the cause of it. He said little things build up over time and then something that you do is just the last straw. So part of the key if you have a back problem, is to be aware of the way you are doing everything and try not to ever put unnecessary strain on your back. Like picking things up, you should squat and use your legs to get back up and not bend over to pick up stuff.

Also about the heat treatments. I used to always treat my painful back with heat. The doctor told me to never do that because the heat would make the pain feel better, but was just aggravating the inflamation that was causing the pain. He told me to treat it with ice for twenty minutes every two hours and that I could put moist heat on it in between the ice treatments. Believe it or not, that method relieves the pain much faster.

I do hope that you are feeling better by now and that you will be back to your normal life soon. I know that being bedridden with back pain for a few days really makes me appreciate the things I take for granted on a daily basis.

Good luck to you.

Peachy, thanks for the tips and your wishes :D and yes, I am definitely getting better now, will try to be up at least half of today to see if my back can stand the "vertical" treatment ;) .

As for the heat vs. ice treatment: I was told that the ice is good for any obvious inflammation, but that the heat is supposed to help relax the muscles that tend to cramp in such an incident - for the same reason I have been asked to take pain killers (to avoid any further tension) and been given some anti-inflammatory pills to take as well.

Not sure if this is a sign of German backwardness concerning medical treatment or maybe dependent on the situation/cause of the back problem ;) But I will definitely raise this question with my doc this week when I get my check-up ;)

Thanks for pointing this out, though :D

Carazy --

I'm glad to hear you are feeling better and hope you were able to stay up some yesterday.

I understand about the pain medication and anti-inflamatory drugs. I have to take them too when my back is flared up along with muscle relaxants. I do all that along with the ice/heat treatments. I also bought a thing called a Champs Hot Wrap that is a wonderful moist heat treatment and you don't have to be connected to an electrical outlet because you heat it in the microwave and it stays hot for about an hour.

Good luck and hopefully it will be better every day.