OT - somebody talk me down, please

 Kelly, go check out both..the spine specialist referred above and the pain specialist. YES I am in the medical field so if I can help you in any way let me know.

I am NOT comparing you to a dog, just want to start out by saying that.  However, I do have a dog with DDD.  It is common in this breed (Cardigan Welsh Corgis).  When he went down, meaning paralyzed in the rear legs, lack of deep pain, and failure of reflexive foot placement, I thought all hope was lost and he would be confined to a card (doggie wheelchair) and pain meds.  Instead, my vet recommended I avoid the cart at all cost and try alternative methods.  While completing aggressive steroid and pain meds for a few weeks, we also started no-impact physical therapy, water therapy, and acupuncture.  The turn around was amazing.  Now he is far from perfect, but he has no pain, can walk typically 30-40 steps before needing a break, and regained his placement reflect and deep pain.

I have heard acupuncture, no-impact physical therapy, and swimming also helps people with DDD.  Yoga, as others suggested, would be a great no-impact exercise that could improve your core strength and flexibility.  I know how chronic pain can affect your quality of life.  I have been living with chronic pain from a torn (and surgically repaired) rotator cuff.  I can tolerate it 80% of the time.  When it would get too much, I would take a lot of ibuprofen.  Can't do that now and will have to find an alternative.  I will seek the advice of a pain management specialist if it starts really acting up again.  That might be another avenue for you, a pain management specialist.

I hope you find relief soon.  Be good to yourself and don't over do it!

I haven't read the other replies, and I'm sure that you have gotten far more helpful ones, but I wanted to share my own thoughts.

When I was in college, I herniated a disk in my back. Even though I was uninsured, I eventually had to call for an ambulance because I couldn't even take myself to the bathroom without help. Recovering from that was one of the toughest things I have ever gone through. Particularly as I was a college student, it was tthe end of the semester, my best friend/roommate got married just then (I was to have been her maid of honor, but couldn't at the last minute because of my injuries)... so just as I was at my sickest, I was also left with no support system at all. My parents didn't think it merited any visit from them, so I was left alone in an apartment that I had shared with three others but who all left for the summer break. There was something truly awful about having my back stop working properly. For a while I was using a walker, then eventually a cane, and about a year afterwards I was "healed".... but I had to avoid doing a lot of things that others take for granted. Things that fell to the floor remained on the floor. I had to get help with the laundry. I lived in fear of becoming completely debilitated and dependent on others, particularly as I had nobody who  could be dependent ON.

There's something soul-destroying in the fear of being helpless, and when your back is involved, helpless is just what it really can be! It's a normal response to this problem.

Aside from a few flareups, and my recent cervical spine issues, I've avoided any problems with this, but it always remains in the back of my mind, and even now, 15 years later, I avoid things that others couldn't comprehend. I won't reach for anything, I always leave my arms closer to my torso (especially when I was heavy and my arms were ponderously so, the torque on my back from having my arm away from my body doubled the pain in my back) .... there were a lot of permanent changes I haed to make to how I lived my life. With no medical help, I had to rely on one 10 minute visit to the college campus doctor so I could learn all I needed to be good to my spine.

Lately, of course, spine issues have been on the top of my mind, and I do know that radio-frequency ablation is one way that doctors deal with arthritis pain. It could be that you are a candidate for that, and from teh accounts I've read, it is good when done for the right reasons. I don't know how long term it is, but overall, the big deal is that your spine will not have the chance to say "OW" to your brain. You'll still have pain signals sent from the spine, but the connection to the brain is burned out, so you won't know about the pain. That might be the best bet. I've also heard some interestnig things in my recent studies that suggest taht botox has been making some marvelous changes in the science of pain management. I'm not all that interested in removing wrinkles from my face, but if botox can work on pain then that's good!

I've had the radio frequency done before. I got about the same relief as I had with the injections. I'd rather do the injections. Tho I have to repeat them often it nice to feel less pain. I live everyday with about a five to six in pain level. After sitting the average hour and a half at my pain management dr. it's a seven to eight.

When I go get an injection its done under sedation, I wake up and am in a great mood and feel little to no pain at all. Granted its because my back has a local all over it to keep the pain in check. I'd say i'm at about a 3 at that moment. Then I get home and get to lay down and rest and nap. I have some pain when I wake up and for the rest of the day I am about at a three to a four. When it all wears off i'm back at my five. I hate getting the shots and they are cumulitive and the first several sessions you many not get any relief, then suddenly you will but you aren't sure. Next session you realize for the first time how badly you really hurt because you don't feel that bad now.