Hello!

My name is Lauren, I'm 21. I hurt my back when I was 18 years old. I burst 3 discs in my lower spine and lack the proper cushioning between the vertebrae, which makes me feel a consistent low level pain. I also feel a lot of sharp pains in my hips which are caused by deflection of the pain. I dont actually have anything wrong with my hips, but the nerves in my back and pelvis send pain messages anyway. I get a lot of numbness, pins and needles etc and I have been tentatively diagnosed with peripheral nerve damage in my spine.

I put on over 2 stone in a short period of time (around 28lbs) and my weight has slowly crept up since then. I used to be incredibly active, and fit. Since I wasnt able to do much, I got quite depressed and started using food as comfort.

For me, starting physical therapy has helped the damage to my spine, but there is little we can do just now for the nerve damage, and I will likely always be in pain. Its manageable, and with proper exercises I have managed to come off my medication and deal with it naturally. I would use medication again if I needed it though, but I'm trying to cope as normally as I can.


Well, that' all about me. I'd also like to hear the stories of others, and find out any hints and tips from them too.

Hello im Peter and i have.... Back issues.... Lol

Broke my back when i was 15 in a wrestling match. got bent like a U the wrong way and "POP"!! Not knowing what it was and an idiot athletic trainer i went through the rest of my Wrestling season, Lacrosse season, then basically destroyed it in football. Went through a bunch of sessions of Physical therapy , 21 or 22 now, i lost count to help relive the pain. Works for a while till it slips again. Oh for got to say I have Spondelolasthesis. I have 2 fractured disks that pop in and out of place, with no muscle tissue or ligaments to hold them in place.

So every now and again it acts up and I have to stop everything. So besides loosing weight i need to strengthen my core.

Good luck to all of us and getting strong!

~Peter~

Hi - I'm Christine. I've had back problems for years, but developed really bad sciatica about 18 months ago, which pretty much stopped any form of exercise dead. I finally took the plunge this year and had a two level spinal fusion carried out. It's made a huge difference, but I still struggle with exercise, partly because of back stiffness and partly because of shortness of breath due to my weight. Things haven't been helped by the fact that I had surgery last year as well to put a plate in my foot to repair a separated fracture. Plus I think I may have another stress fracture in the same foot and I know the weight isn't helping that. So my goal is to lose weight so that I can increase my exercise and get back to some semblance of a normal lifestyle. I am seeing a physiotherapist weekly for Pilates exercises - I think that's the only reason I'm doing as well as I am. But I am thinking positively and intend to use this site to move things along in the right direction!!

Hi...I'm Jackie. My back has slowly deteriorated over the years. I ended up in so much pain I agreed to have 360 Fusion for L5
S1. It was a failure and I live in extreme pain controlled only by medication on most days. Other days I still live in pain. I've gained over a 100 pounds since this started this downward spiral in early 2000. Due mainly to eating regular meals and not being active. I also suffer with CFS, Crohns, HBP and the list goes on from there. So I'm not in good health and I know most of it is due to me being obese. I've tried many times to lose weight, I'd lose a few pounds and fall off the wagon. I can't have gastric bypass surgery due to the Crohns disease. So I'm determined to do it this on my own with help of your good people. I know folks much worse off than me have lost the weight....with everyone's help, hopefully I will be successful. If I can be of any help to anyone going through the similar....feel free to add me. Happy New Year!

Hi, I'm Mary and I'm 37. I have a congenital scoliosis curvature in my lumbar spine, and all of my disks from L2-S1 are in various stages of degeneration. In April, I had micro-diskectomy surgery at L4/L5 because the nerve root coming out of my spinal cord was trapped in a mineral deposit from the ruptured disk. I started my weight loss journey at 319 lbs. because I was tired of being sick and tired, LOL. Before my back pain got completely out of control, I had lost 70 lbs and was walking 3 miles or more a day plus doing strength training. Then it got to the place that the walking really exacerbated my pain, which was when the pressure on the nerve got to be so bad I needed the surgery. Since April, I've gained back about 20 of the lbs. I had lost. I completely relate to whomever it was above who said that when the pain gets bad, I don't log my food, and I eat a bunch of junk. Yesterday I was having an EXTREMELY bad pain day, and all I wanted to do was eat junk, preferably sweets. There's probably some scientific reason for that, like the carbs trigger seretonin release or something. I barely broke 800 steps yesterday according to my pedometer, which I wear religiously even when I'm not logging. I spent most of the day curled up in a ball on the couch crying. Today seems to be better, but I just took my Lyrica about half an hour ago. I've only been on it for maybe a month, and it does not seem to be helping at all. As a matter of fact, I think it's making the pain worse-- I need to remember to note my pain in about 2 hours and see if it's worse. Anyway. looking forward to getting to know all of you. I hope everyone has a terrific day!

today I broke down crying at the gym after my workout - so here I am. I spent the weekend icing my knee and taking pain meds and the trainer had to make modifications because I am falling apart at the seams. I felt overwhelmed and extremely embarrassed.

Oh my dear, I've broken down at church, at work, in Walmart, at Publix (it's a Supermarket here in Florida), at the bank, at concerts, at my doctor's office, in my car. I had one night where I was in so much pain at work, and I was the closer so I had to go around with shopping carts overfilled with things to put back including TV's, cases of water, soda, and juice and car batteries. I had finally had my fill of the pain, broke down, laid down on the floor in the middle of the warehouse and just cried my eyes out with my legs in the air against a pallet. I UNDERSTAND YOUR EMBARRASSMENT. They wanted to have an emergency medical team carry me out but I refused to let them touch me. You are NOT alone, and you're not going to be alone in this. That's why we're all here. We understand how hard it is for someone with chronic pain to form new habits and build new muscle. Good luck to you, our new Aussie friend. Hopefully we can trade some helpful hints at some point

Ok, I wrote a blog post about my spine. It is called--My long post about my spine ;-]
It tells my story. I wrote it on a blog in the hopes that maybe it would reach more people and encourage them to join the group. We can encourage and understand each other. If you want to know about me go read that thing....lol! It is long. Dont be afraid to leave a comment on it.
Jac

Hi, I don't have back pain, but my hubs does and I thought that seeing as I'm already a MFP member, maybe I could learn some new information and pass it along to him. He hurt himself a little over 4 years ago at work. He was up on a lift that was on metro rails and it fell off. He was suspended for a moment and then he too fell. The initial injury was to his knee (torn acl, shifted knee cap) which needed surgical repair (and didnt happen for almost 6 months!) but a couple of days after the initial incident he ended up in even more pain in his back. The dr said this kind of injury was a compression injury and said its seen often in equine related injuries, said it was called a "saddle" something. Anyways, because of workers compensation, it was drawn out entirely too long over the last 3 years. after a couple of series of epidural injections and then a series of nerve blocking injections that failed to help, they basically told him theres not much they can do for him (the surgeon he saw said he was way to young to even consider surgery). The weight is creeping up on him and I fear so is depression. He isn't supposed to lift anything over 45 lbs, and as you can probably guess a lot of aerobic exercise is out of the question. we have gym memberships, but no longer have insurance, so he's not seeing a dr anymore since he settled with the insurance company, so I was hoping to hear what other alternatives other people are seeking, maybe something will help him/us.

Hi, I'm Angie and I'm 33 and I live in the UK. I was diagnosed with a herniated disc (L5 I think) in May 2011, after spending 5 months with practically no mobility and on large doses of pain killers. The specialist I was referred to also said that the disc beneath was very weak and bulging and there is also some evidence of osteo-arthritis in my lower spine. Oh joy.
I had quite a busy lifestyle before my back finally gave up for what now seems like for good, with 2 jobs, a hyperactive dog and a full social life so whilst I was a little overweight, it was nothing major.
Since January 2011 I have virtually ground to a halt which has resulted in me gaining loads of weight which really just makes things worse. I was given a caudal epidural in July 2011, which improves things greatly but the surgeons don't think I would benefit from disc removal as I don't have any pain in my legs or hips, and they say disc removal won't really improve the pain in my back. Having spoken to a couple of friends who have had the surgery, they are of the same opinion.
I'm off to the specialist again next week, and I'll be asking for another epidural because it's started to wear off (they guess at them lasting anywhere between 6 and 12 months).
The most frustrating thing I have found is that instructors for even sedate exercise classes locally to me are reluctant to take on anyone with back problems. A yoga instructor I contacted recently said she thought it would be too much. Which leaves me with water aerobics that I can only get to once a week due to work.
I'm really hoping that this site will help me lose some weight by keeping track of what I'm eating and making me more aware of what I'm putting in my mouth. Fingers crossed!

Hello. My name is Brandee. I'm 36 years old and the mom to two teenage girls (16 and 13). In 1992, a routine visit to the doctor indicated that I had severe scoliosis. In October 1992, I underwent spinal fusion surgery that fused my spine from T3 to L4. I was 17 years old. I did a lot of stuff I shouldn't have and pushed my spine harder than I should have - I'm in daily pain now from the arthritis and wish I had listened to my orthopedic surgeon a little more. In January 2011, I was taking the trash out, slipped on some ice and fell - I landed on the L5/S1 region of my spine. I was diagnosed with minor bulging. They said it isn't bad enough for surgery (and honestly, unless it gets completely unbearable I won't have surgery again anyway) but it does cause me pain. On the average day, my pain level is a 7-8 out of 10. I've lost over 50lbs and have found that weight loss has helped a lot. I am able to run (only on a supported base like a treadmill or shock absorbent track) which a lot of people with spinal issues can not do.

I've done a lot of research and found that lightly bouncing on an exercise ball a couple times a day DOES help. It seems silly, but it I'm willing to try anything.

sounds like you are on the right track. very back friendly types of exersice. good to hear from you. thanks for sharing your experience!