Question
Hi.
After spending the month of June experiencing lower back pain and pain in my entire left side (hip, leg, foot), my doctor sent me for an MRI.  The MRI results showed osteoarthritis and two slightly bulging discs in my lower lumbar.  The dr. prescribed anti-inflammatory (Naprosen E), continued physical activity, Tylenol 3 for pain, and Amitriptyline for pain at bedtime.  I have NEVER taken the Tylenol or the Amitriptyline because of the fear of drowsiness (I am a Personal Support Worker for frail, elderly, dementia clients in my community).  The dr. also prescribed physiotherapy.  I went once for physio, kept on the anti-inflammatory and iced my lower back for several days.  The pain subsided.  My dr. says I must just learn to "manage" the pain.  He claims that if a disc ruptures, I would know it and he would perform surgery like yesterday!!
I am afraid to go back to my doctor with the problem I am having now because he will just tell me it's the same problem and I have to manage it while continuing to be a wife, mother, employee.  
Here is what I have experienced the last few days.  It started off the same as the last problem, in my lower back, but this time affecting my right side.  My hip bone and leg bones just ache and today I notice that the pain is more just in the calf of my right leg and my foot is so numb that it has lost some of its feeling, calf and foot feel heavy and as if it's the actual bones that are hurting.  The skin colour is normal and there is no swelling!!  It is just weird!  My right foot feels cold to me, but not to the touch of my husband.  He says both feet feel the same temperature.
Although I am optimistic that this too shall pass, I cannot continue to live my life with this kind of pain.  Do you have any suggestions as to what else could be causing these problems?  How can I take Tylenol 3 for pain and Amitriptyline for sleep when I have to be up early in the mornings (6 days a week) to care for my elderly clients?  I am at my wits end!!  Hope you can help.

Yours truly,
Wendy Steele
Westport ON  CANADA  

Answer
Hi Wendy and thanks for writing,

As a fellow Canadian, I can advise you take advantage of our healthcare system. Luckily, here in Canada we can get referred to a Specialist without having to get the approval of any insurance providers. So I suggest you ask for a referral to a Neurologist - your GP should respect your request as you have a legitimate neurological condition, and you don't want to mess around with bulging discs.

Do you do a lot of lifting and transferring in your PSW job, and as a Mother, do you have little ones you carry around? Obviously this would put you at risk for more severe injury.

As for the analgesics, you should not be afraid to take them if you need them. The thing with stronger analgesics is that we can feel sedated or stoned if we take them and are not in moderate-sever pain; but when you take them for real pain, they do work and you will not feel so funny. After you take them for a while, you won't even notice the fuzzy feeling. I would suggest you try taking the Amitriptyline with dinner so any sedating effect will b worn off before you need to wake up; and you can take the T3s an hour before bedtime and should still be fine to wake up. Try the first doses on your days off if you are concerned. Amitriptyline is a great medication which makes the analgesics work better.

I can also strongly recommend Magnet Therapy for pain relief, and if you want to try them, try the Nikken Magnets, specifically the Elastomag Back Belt (info attached below). If you are interested, you can go to http://www.5pillars.com/magnify4health/ and if you use my name, Donelle will give you a professional discount (by the way, I profit in NO way from this, I am just a big believer in Nikken and Magnets and know Donelle is very knowledgeable on the topic).

I hope this helps and all my best,

Margot

Back Belt

A truly visionary group of thinkers came up with the concept for Elastomag Support Wraps. Fortunately, the scientists and engineers who work with Nikken can imagine technical innovations that others would never dream about. They envisioned a material that would have the most advanced magnetic technology. They added a high-tech but natural means of providing warmth. And they had the idea of putting both these technologies into a wrap made of flexible, stretchable material. Elastomag Support Wraps include patented EQL Magnetic Technology in a flexible material ?so that Elastomag is the only support wrap that offers uniform magnetic coverage over its entire surface, with no gaps or omissions. These wraps also feature Nikken Far-Infrared Technology, and orthopedic design. Each is a major advance in support wrap engineering.