back pain and wls

I haven't posted in a while and thought I would check in and rant about a topic.  Before my surgery I was told the only way to help my back pain was to lose wieght.  Well I am down to 240 from 384 and my back pain is still with me.  I recently saw a surgeon who has told me my "degenerative condition" has rabidly progressed.  Well surgery is no longer an option.  Last year he told me if I lost 100lbs it would be. He suggested injections again and pool therapy.  same procedure I did last summer with no help. It is more frustrating now, not having the weight to blame everything on. Well being on disability sucks and having a future battle with ssi to prove that at 40 I am totally disabled is no fun.  At this point I see my back only getting worse and having to live on narcotics is not my kind of life. To make matters worse I applied for a job with the state almost 2 years ago and got a call for an interview this week.  Lots of money and something I would like to do but not sure I can pass a physical much less do the job. Thanks for listening to the my ravings. Jim d  While i don't post much I read everyone elses story everyday and thanks for all of the information.

Hey Jim.... This is a familuar problem...all the doc wanna say is lose weight adn wuit smoking....eat better..get more exercise..then when you do, they have to actually do doctoring... maybe with the decrease in weight the injections and therapy have a better chance of giving  you some relief... rant on....we are here russ

Just wild shot int he dark, but one of those really big guys on one of those obesity clinic shows was having back problems with little to no relief until a doctor put him on large dosages of vitamin D with increased Vitamin A which helps to process the vitamin D.  In two weeks, he felt much much better. I don't know what large dosages are but suppose its something you could play with as with most vitamins and minerals, excess just goes out in the urine so no harm to be had. I'm not a medical professional but thought it might be worth mentioning.

Jim, Your story sounds exactly like mine - in August an MRI showed four herniated discs - three lumbar and one thoracic - I wound up dependent on vicodin. The neuroseurgeon told me to wait one year, do PT and lose weight. That was when I decided to have WLS - the benefits have been awesome, no regrets - but the discs are still not healed. Yes there is less pressure on my back, so the pain intensity and frequency is improved. but I still need to take a Morphine Sulphate continuous release pill once or twice a day.  I think that when I reach my goal, if it is still bad I will try spinal decompression, and then if that doesn't work, look into surgery again.  My biggest frustration with all of this is that I can't work in landscaping anymore unless I find a position that is purely management - which isn't easy, because everybody wants to get out of the  hot and heavy work in the field.

I lost almost 300 lbs hoping my back would "heal" the reality is it did not.  My chiropractor told me before I started to lose weight that even after the weight was off it would take YEARS for my back to recover.....it took years to get as bad as it did, and by losing weight I was only removing 1 obsticle for healing.  He set up a plan for me whi*****ludes PT, injections, home stretching....pain management etc etc etc.  If you don't have one, I'd highly recommend getting a TENS unit.  I got one and use it regularly, it helps eliminate some of the pain meds......which is good esp when you don't want to get addictied.  Also recent studies have shown that omega 3s help decrease overall inflamation in your back....so I'd highly recommend fish oils if you aren't allergic, and if you are...flax seed oil Scott

I feel for ya, Jim.  Chronic back pain is a bee-yatch!  I had some lower back pain when walking before I started to lose weight, and now that has improved a lot. But my REAL experience with chronic debilitating (sp?) back pain comes from my wife, who has had to deal with it for 14 years.  We have been to so many freakin' doctors and specialists I can' t count anymore.  Procedure after procedure.  Even went up to the Mayo Clinic - they were no help either. From what you said, I wanted to offer some advice.  And remember, with free advice you get what you pay for!  First, in my experience, GPs don't know squat about dealing with chronic pain.  They treat pain as a temporary symtom, until whatever pills they give you cure your 'real' illness.  Also, whatever specialist you go to only knows their specialty.  If you go to an orthopedic doctor, and he decides your problem isn't something he can fix, you suddenly become uninteresting to the doctor.  Their attitude becomes "Sorry, I can't help, and I can't suggest anyone else either." The first doctor that has really helped my wife, is when we found a pain management specialist for her.  This guy is trained on how to manage pain, even if the pain can't be eliminated, it can be controlled through medicine, therapy, etc.  Yes, my wife has to take narcotic pain killer everyday.  BUT, the type and amount are tightly controlled, under the guidance of this pain doctor. If you have access to such a specialist, you might want to give him/her a call. Second, regarding SS disability.  My wife was finally awarded SS disability earlier this year.  It is a LONGGGGG process.  We first applied in the fall of 2002.  She is a registered pharmacist, and worked in retail until her back pain got too bad for her to stand up more than about a half-hour.  (Retail pharmacists often have to work 12-13 hour shifts, non-stop on their feet.) Anyway, we did all the stuff to apply for SSI, were denied, we appealed, and were denied again.  Incidently, we found out that about 80% of first-time applications are denied, and an even higher percent of appeals are denied.  (Usually, the appeals person just rubber-stamps the original denial.) So we got a lawyer that specializes in SS Disability claims.  The next step was a hearing before a SS 'judge', and he awarded my wife her disability benefits. If you ARE awarded disability benefits, it comes in two parts:  (1) your ongoing monthly benefit, and (2) the 'back-pay', which is you monthly benefit times the number of months from when you were determined to be disabled, to the date you were assigned benefits.  This second part is a lump sum, and if you hire a disability lawyer, he gets 1/4th of the back pay.  That is his fee by law - no more, no less.  If you never get a settlement, you don't owe the lawyer anything. To us, it was worth giving the lawyer 1/4 the back pay, in order to have someone on our side who knew the ins and outs of an incredibly frustrating process. Good luck!    

Strange. I was just sitting here thinking about this topic.  I was over weight all my live and qualifided as Morbidly Obease for 10 years prior to surgery. So 2 years ago I had band surgery and now am 140lb lighter. Prior to my weightloss everydoc blamed every problem I ever had on my weight including a good case of Mono when I was 17. I never had back problems blew a knee out once but I was screwing around and at my size that was likely caused by my weight and gravity. So I loose 100lb in 7 months after my surgery. I was thrilled. course I worked out regular and life was great until. May.I blew a disk in my back and have been on th elam ever since. Nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. So what does the Chiropractic doc say to me last week when I went to see him? You know if you would loose about 50 lbs you wouldn't have this problem. So I explained to him in a ratherupset voice about how I had gotten this way.  My point you can get to goal and weigh perfectly and those who can't figure something out will blame it on that extra 5 lbs around your waist.  I hope it gets better for you.