So sorry to hear you are in pain i really hope you can get things sorted

Oh Suzanne, you poor girl. I can totally sympathize. I have sciatica too, but my last episode was August 2006. I was off work for 7 weeks and at the beginning couldn't even stand unaided.
Mine, however, doesn't sound as bad as yours.

There's nothing worse than back pain, IMO, because you just can't get away from it.

I take Co-Codamol almost daily now, as it still grumbles away. I take even stronger than that (Tramadol) when it "goes".

Hugs honey - hope you can get some relief soon.
x0x

As Rach (Fudgeley) said - it's worth keeping on at them to get seen.

I waited ages when I really needed to see somebody then once things improved (it was up or down) I was inundated with pointless appointments for tests which I knew would result in no symptoms.

Hi MM, so sorry to read this, I know how bad back pain can be, the Dihydrocodeine is about the most powerefull painkiller you can get, they used to have another one called DF118 but had to take it off the market cos is was being abused by addicts.

A friend of mine, a few years ago had a similar problem, two collapsed discs, he got an operation to have inserts placed in his back to replace the damaged discs, he's never looked better.

I know exactly how you feel, because back in 1988 I had major back problems, but I was lucky as I had it operated on at Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre in Haywards Health and they did two 2 lumbar spinal fusion operations and inserted a pin in to hold everything together for me as the first one did work properly.

It sounds from your description that you are in need of a lumbar laminectomy operation.

Have you tried Votorol as it is a strong analgesic and being combined with Paracetamol works wonders for all sort of pains.

Something else that works really well which I still use is a TEN's machine (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation machine). Have read of the following link and it will tell you all about it. Plus they are cheap to buy. http://www.spine-inc.com/glossary/t/tens.html

Well I hope you hear from your hospital soon and get either your MRI scan or the operation.

Sorry you are having such a hard time of it.

I would contact the hospital and chase up your appt, as Fudgeley says, they can get lost.
The TENS machine Colin mentioned also could give you some relief.
I hope you get your appt soon and find out what is happening. Having pain constantly is soul destroying.

Take care hun x

I feel for you I went through the same, I had 3 MRI's done and 1 back operation and although the operation cured the leg problem it never helped the back, I would suggest you see about going private for a MRI if you can afford it, it sounds like you have a disc problem, or go back to your doctor tell him your so bad if he dont hurry your'e appointment through one day you might accidentaly overdose on painkiller's to get maximum dose of pain relief they can do some thing but you really need to push them I did and they moved.

Sorry to hear your not feeling well xx sending big (((hugs)))

Thankyou everyone for your kind words . Knowing people care does wonders for helping me feel better about things ( lump in my throat now ). Phil , why wait ? Even if you are not in pain now , a chiropracter would be able to help you and hopefully stop the pain before it happens. It's non-invasive , drug free treatment , and you would get exercises to do to improve your problems. As I already said , my chiropracter has one patient who USED to be stuck in a wheelchair. He has also helped people avoid surgery when their doc has told them there was no other option. Hopefully , that's the way I want to go. Surgery for me is a very last option and my chiropracter has a proven track record for preventing the need for surgery. I had some good news today. My works occupational health adviser phoned me this morning , and after talking about my health , she said she was going to recommend that my work (Royal Mail) , pay for a private MRI. It would be more cost effective for them to do that rather than keep me on sick pay , which is full pay for the first 6 months. She also said that it would be better for me to go back to work on light duties. A maximum time of 4 hours at work with strictly no lifting , bending , twisting or pushing heavy trollies around. This arrangement to be indefinite until my health improves. I'm delighted with that as it's driving me demented being stuck in the house all the time. I just need to wait now for one of my managers to get in touch and let me know. I could be back at work on Monday . Once again , THANKYOU everybody.

Hi nero , I just thought I'd single your post out for an individual reply . Re the dihydrocodeine , it is actually a class B drug. If you are caught with it without a prescription , it's 5 years in jail for posession and 14 years for supplying ! I'm currently on 8 x 30mg a day plus 1 x 90mg at bed time . It does work though and it makes you feel spaced out for a while. First day I took it , about an hour later I had no pain whatsoever and had Missy dancing round the room with me trying to do the Hokey Cokey .