I woke up yesterday with some back pain around my left hip. This isn’t unusual as I’ve had back pain all of my adult life. I think a couple of serious falls in college contributed to it. The pain shoots down my leg and hurts whether I’m sitting, standing or laying down (though laying down seems to help for a while). Then I moved the wrong way yesterday and the right side started hurting. I could barely move, and sitting became just agony. I had a preview to write that afternoon, so I had no choice but to sit and finish it, but after that I went to bed. I figured it would be better this morning, and it was, since I’m back to just the left side hurting again.
I don’t know how long I’ll be able to sit here or if I’ll be able to do my endurance workout tonight.
OK, I feel better just whining about it.
P.S. I wasn’t posting this to get medical advice. I just wanted to complain.
P.P.S. My cat threw up on my desk this morning. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Sounds like sciatic to me. One moment I’m fine, the next I’m whimpering like a baby; unable to walk without screaming.
Such is life in a fallible body. Ain’t life Grand?
p.s. Your cat threw up on your desk because you are paying too much attention to your own personal pain, instead of attending to kitty’s needs. Kitty says “You have been warned!” Heed the warning, lest you wake up in the morning with a mouse head in your bed.
ok, I may be a long term lurker, but I know more about lower back pain than I care to think about… here are a few of my remedies…
1- go take a shower… but before you actually start the water flow, remove the shower head. then you’ll have a nice heavy stream of hot water working over the sore area… oh, yeah.
2- Ibuprofen… (ok, there’s a good chance I spelled it wrong, feel free to correct me)… a few hundred milligrams make most muscle/joint pains vanish for me, for a while.
3- weight lifting… beat the hell out of your other muscles… then you don’t notice your other pains as much… This works best when combined with #1
4- sleep… I know it sounds lame, but a good night’s sleep really helps (for me)… if you can’t get to sleep due to the pain, try a couple beers… that also works for me
5- learn to meditate… that works better than the first 4 options, I’ll provide info if anyone asks.
6- if you’re a dork like me… you probably have about 9 computers, 3 or 4 of which are currently being used for expirements with varying OSes, software and hardware options… go play for a few hours… when you’re done, you’re so tired you just collapse into bed and don’t even notice the pain…
The shower definitely works, but only for a little while. I’ve also been taking Aleve, and yesterday wasn’t a weight-lifting day, but I did manage to do a lighter form of my endurance exercise yesterday (no backpack, very little incline, still 2.5 hours).
I don’t drink alcohol, so I’m afraid I’ll have to skip that option.
Can’t meditate. Seriously, I simply cannot still my mind. Even when I try, all I’m thinking about is how I’m now stilling my mind, and that eventually turns into thoughts about something else and eventually I’m thinking about fish.
Yes, I’m definitely a dork, which may be part of my problem. I sit at the computer too long. But I did play a bit of Warcraft III yesterday, and a bit of the NOLF2 demo (drool), and I briefly considered playing more Mafia. Thanks for all the advice!
I think truthbot is right and it’s sciatica. THANKS! I looked it up on WebMD and it seems to fit the description. Of course, if I’d go to a neurologist like my doctor suggested (for the numbness in my left thigh), I’d probably know for sure.
