A medication I'm taking.....good & bad

Mach2

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Recently I've been experiencing nerve pain in the lower back & down the back of the right thigh. Thought it was sciatic issue. Had a MRI & numerous x rays and saw a spine specialist. He said he could fix it with surgery UGHHH, then he said the magic word, but. I like but. He gave me 2 medications and I've been doing physical therapy. The med's are a pain pill and Gabapentin, for nerves. The good news is the Gabapentin has drastically reduced the nerve pain in the lower back and down the right butt cheek & thigh. The bad news is it's greatly effected my golf game. I feel kinda woosey and can't seem to consistently hit the ball squarely. I've read the effects of this medication and it can/does effect balance. I'm going to see what happens when I play golf tomorrow and not take the pill in the morning before I play to see if the ball striking is better. The nerve pain in the right butt cheek and down the right thigh doesn't bother me addressing the ball or swinging, just setting in the golf cart and walking.

Damn I hate getting old. The more active you are early in Life, the more you pay for it later in Life. Sure wish I could turn back the clock.
 
Glad you're getting relief from it at least. It didn't do anything for me, surgery ended up being a good send. For now, at least.

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Glad you're getting relief from it at least. It didn't do anything for me, surgery ended up being a good send. For now, at least.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
I see the spine specialist Oct 18th. If I'm not better with med's & PT, I may have him explain the surgery procedures and post surgery requirements. Just be done with it.

When I wake up in the morning, I can hardly stand straight. The nerve pain in the lower back is sooooo bad. I hit the hot shower ASAP and direct tho water to the lower back. It slowly goes away.

I just don't like the side effects of the Gabapentin, especially the negative effect on my golf swing.
 
Been down that road before. After 5 years of PT, numerous meds, accupuncture, cupping, patches, chiropractor, etc....i had a couple surgeries and can't tell you how much better the pain got after surgery. I feel like it's slowly coming back but better than the 75% loss of strength in my left leg and the pain. Hope all gets better for ya.
 
Tell you physical therapist to release your right piriformis muscle, if they know how.
 
Recently I've been experiencing nerve pain in the lower back & down the back of the right thigh. Thought it was sciatic issue. Had a MRI & numerous x rays and saw a spine specialist. He said he could fix it with surgery UGHHH, then he said the magic word, but. I like but. He gave me 2 medications and I've been doing physical therapy. The med's are a pain pill and Gabapentin, for nerves. The good news is the Gabapentin has drastically reduced the nerve pain in the lower back and down the right butt cheek & thigh. The bad news is it's greatly effected my golf game. I feel kinda woosey and can't seem to consistently hit the ball squarely. I've read the effects of this medication and it can/does effect balance. I'm going to see what happens when I play golf tomorrow and not take the pill in the morning before I play to see if the ball striking is better. The nerve pain in the right butt cheek and down the right thigh doesn't bother me addressing the ball or swinging, just setting in the golf cart and walking.

Damn I hate getting old. The more active you are early in Life, the more you pay for it later in Life. Sure wish I could turn back the clock.

How old are you ?
If you're not too old for it, you might consider trying a chiropractor.
 
How old are you ?
If you're not too old for it, you might consider trying a chiropractor.
74 y.o. Go to a chiropractor every 6 weeks. This issue came up 2 months ago. Chiropractor hasn't helped much, some but not much.
 
Tell you physical therapist to release your right piriformis muscle, if they know how.

Thanks for the suggestion. Talked to the PT therapist yesterday about releasing the right piriformis muscle. The first 5 stretches of the routine are specifically for the right & left piriformis muscle.

It's getting better.
 
In 2007/2008, I had pain in the LRQ of my abdomen for which the military doctors could not find any cause. I was referred to a pain specialist and was told it was likely nerve pain and that I could either A) live with it, B) take meds for the rest of my life, or C) they could "kill" that nerve and it would not bother me anymore. Option A wasn't happening because the pain was so bad that, at times, I couldn't walk. I was 32 years old riding around the Commissary (grocery store) in one of those electric carts and getting weird looks from all the old people. Option B wasn't a good option either because the meds they had me on had fairly severe side effects and if I went off them cold turkey (as could happen if I deployed and lost them or ran out and couldn't get my prescription filled in time). Option C wasn't my favorite either because, as I was told, I'd have a numb section in my abdomen for the rest of my life.

I was facing a medical separation from the Air Force and wanted to stay until retirement so I needed to find some way to make it work. The meds (I can't remember the name of the it now) they had me on were working, but I didn't wanna stay on them for long term because I knew the AF would use that as a reason to separate me. So, I started Googling and found a study that had been done in the UK where they had compared the effects of the meds I was on against St John's Wort for treating nerve pain. St. John's Wort, according to their study, had provided better pain relief and, since it's a natural herb, had zero side effects when coming off.

St. John's Wort, is used for depression and maybe other conditions, but one of the other uses is for treatment of nerve pain. I stayed on it for a few years and came off it on my own. I still get that pain once in a while, but nothing like the intensity or frequency of that time period. It's cheap. Might be worth a shot.
 
Thanks OGputtnfool, I will give St. John's Wort a go. :banana:
 
Personally, I wouldn't go near a chiropracter and would rather go to a good physiotherapist instead
And surgery would be the ultimate last resort as well, especially at your age, no offence. Do you really want to put yourself through that?

I slipped a disc almost 6 years ago and suffered a lot of sciatic problems as well to the point that there were days when the only relief I had was lying flat out on the floor, but a friend of ours is a physio who also works with a local football team, and I spent about 6 months having treatment to re-align and release the muscles and nerves that were affected
Initially I got back to playing badminton at a decent level, but there was always the nagging doubt in my mind that one wrong move could set me back and I eventually stopped playing a couple of years ago rather than take that chance

Other than the occasional muscle ache if I overdo things, I have only had to take medication a few times, twice when I have had a couple of flare-ups that required a visit to the Emergency department at the hospital, and in the early days when I first got back to playing badminton
 
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