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this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
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Asklemmy
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Feb. 2008 my spine tried to kill me. Lower lumbar spinal stenosis.
Did a bunch of stuff, winded up on vicodin. At my peak, just to function as a normal human being, I was taking 10 a day.
2 when I woke up.
2 when I got to work.
2 at lunchtime.
2 when I got home.
2 to be able to sleep.
For a year, it felt like my head was stuffed with cotton.
I got tired of not being able to think so I stopped the vicodin, managing the pain with stretching, breathing exercises, and meditation.
The pain never left, but I could "distance" it, like shouting from the house across the street.
I would not wish stenosis pain on my worst enemy.
They can't fry nerves or anything? My Grandmother has spine issues related to an accident and had that done a few times, so perhaps it's something you could ask for? Sorry to hear you're going through the pain though, I don't think most people realize how awful chronic pain is.
At the time the doc said they could do a laminectomy, which is removing some of the spine material to prevent the spinal cord from being crushed. But it's expensive, would require I be off work for 6 weeks, and wouldn't be super effective.
So I told him "Ok, pretend we did that, because pretending doesn't cost anything, not super effective, still in pain, now what?"
"Well, we can do cortizone shots into your spine..."
"Gee, that sounds pleasant, but I've heard you can only have so many of those and you're done, you can't have anymore. I've got, maybe, what another 40 years? Let's not burn all the cortizone shots now... What's next?"
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "Vicodin?"