Wahhhhhhh pity party

My day of truth had to come eventually - i saw a doctor today that told me to get my weight down....booo hoo. I know she's right, but im tired in pain and dont care that much!!

My back is super screwed up with bulging disks and spinal narrowing....lots of nerve pain. I havent been able to exercise in 6 months. My eating is better but WL is still such a chore. 

I guess now that the reality is that i have an extra 40 lbs on my back...maybe this will motivate me to get it off. 

Ive been on low levels of morphine pills to deal with the pain for now -that's how bad it;s been. im kind of hoping it will make me drowsy enough to sleep all day and magically lose weight. Ive promised myself i'll start swimming as soon as the excrutiating pain is over (please please please hurry y

So I ate a couple apples during my pity party - it might be hard to give up these parties. 

But, I have to say - im still in a good mood mostly, still havent touched bread/rice/grains/sweets/dairy in 55 days even through this horrible pain (though ive eaten a lot of high calorie healthy crap and thus the lack of WL). 

I think im gonna take another 6 weeks off work....(i just took a month) - who wants to let me move in with them and they can duck tape my  mouth every day!!??

If you want to come to Jersey, you can stay with me (no one wants to come to Jersey on purpose lol)

I'm sorry you are in so much pain. I can relate. I was in a major accident (with a big rig) 5 years ago, which gave me numerous herniated discs. I will most likely be having neck surgery next summer. I was scheduled to have it last month but decided to give it another year to give me more time to get more weight off beforehand, couldn't deal with the idea of no exercising for 6 months when I still have tons more weight to lose. I'm assuming you've been in physical therapy before? Never seemed to help me much, but I digress. I'll keep you in my thoughts! Hang in there.

If there is anyone that deserves a huge pity party, it's you. ((HUGS))

Thanks :)   Except I probably should just have a broth/soup pity party since my guts arent appreciating a whole lot of anything right now. 

My back got screwed up in a car accident several years ago (I was rear-ended by a big yellow school bus), and I can tell you that no matter how much you don't want to, you have to find some kind of exercise.  Resting your back just makes it worse.  Has your doctor referred you to PT?  If not, he should have. I had to request it after my accident, but it really helped in the long run.  In the short run it hurt like a son of a b.

I can't take opiates, but I'm on meloxicam, amytriptalyne, acetamenophen, topical arthritis cream, and flexiril.  There are also nerve pain specific meds like gabapentin and pregabalin you can try.  If the morphine isn't working for you, make your doctor experiment with other pain relievers.  There's new research out showing that patients given opiates for back pain actually have longer recoveries and higher rates of disability than those given other treatments.  Whatever you do, don't give up. There are treatments that can help.

Thanks for the info. I think I will definitely try to do some little exercises - maybe right after I take the pain meds ;-p  Otherwise, Id rather just die. 

Its funny because I did PT about 3 months ago but they kept insisting that this was a piriformis issue and didnt have anything to do with my lower back (they wouldnt do the MRI at that point) So i wasted a lot of time and money there. She said she wanted my pain under control before she sent be back to PT this time. My F*N insurance is telling me they only have one doc trained to give the cortisone shots and I have to wait 6 weeks - its a joke My mom got mad at me because I threw a fit and demanded some kind of priority since they have been refusing to do the MRI and treat this apporpriately for 6 months. The first doc insisted (b/c you knw..i'm "fat" - that this was a lowwer back muscle issue and gave me gabapentin but the cream...the doc yesterday said it wont help with internal nerve pain). So I started nortriptalyne...and the morphine. 

I just feel for people that have to deal with back injuries. Out of every kind of pain ive delt with, this is by far the worse. After a 14 hour surgery for plastics, I never once had to take a narcotic pain pill during my recovery but I cant get out of bed now without a straong one...i hate it. 

Do you have any friends who are hard core athletes (CrossFit, runners, etc) who have been injured and can recommend a PT?  I've been through a few pathetic PTs who were not worth the money, and it's a real drag, since we all know there comes a time when you have to exercise to lose weight (I'm there too), but if you have injuries that just aren't getting better, it's depressing.

My husband, who is an avid CrossFitter, asked his hard core friends where they go for PT, and he got the name of  great PT.  I am making really good progress (finally!).  But it seems that PTs who specialize in working with athletes are more aggressive and have a greater understanding of what it takes to get you back into activity again.  Before I went, I actually wrote to the found of this PT group (and pointed out that I was not an elite athlete, but had multiple injuries (and I described them) -- because I didn't want to be the only fat girl in a gym full of superfit athletes!  I got an email back that was very supportive and indicated they felt they could help me.

PS -- there's a lot to be said for being in a gym where there are a lot of elite athletes!  LOL! Watching them helps take my mind off of my work!

I also agree that if you can get into a pool, it does help, especially if there is somewhere with a therapy pool -- that's a little warmer.  The whole buoyancy thing really helps.  I did deep water traction some, which is basically hanging in the deep end of the pool with a noodle under your arms, supporting you.  I would hang there for 10-15 minutes.  

Keeping you in my thoughts!  

Alison, I'm so sorry to hear that you're suffering with those back issues.  We have a friend who suffers that as well, and I've seen what he goes through.  The difference is that he has probably an extra 150 pounds on his back.  :(

Is there any exercise you could do, like maybe riding a recumbent bike?  If so, you could ratchet up the resistance and get a better workout and maybe ease some of your burden. 

SO PROUD OF YOU for not touching those foods!!  That's a long time of good abstinence.

Hang in there, my dear.