Question
"hi i have suffered with back pain since i was pregnant on my 1st child 11 yrs ago.in the last 6 yrs it has been chronic low back pain on the right with pain down the leg into my foot.and in the last 3 yrs it has started on the left side with pain down the left leg too.i have a 19mth old and a 14 week old.i have been on nearly every med going and im allergic to most last year i finally got to see pain specialist and surgeon at the time i could barely walk,i had paid for an mri 2 yrs previous and showed i had dessicating discs but the pain specialist was not happy with the results said that pain would not be that severe with these results,he noticed the way i walked so sent me for an xray on back and pelvis.it was the first pelvic xray id had and it showed id damaged my pelvis having my son 10 yrs before,so he ordered an urgent mri.i was on morphine patch at the time and was taking diazipam 3 times a day for nerve in leg.i was then seen by an orthapedic surgeon who explained that walking around for 10 yrs with damaged pelvic had damaged my sacroiliac bones.i was pregnant again so had to cancel mri.my pain lessens when im pregnant docs joke il have to stay pregnant all the time and i was going thru severe withdrawal from the meds so surgeon said he would see me after i ahd baby and discuss options.i saw him 6 weeks ago and he did another xray and said he could see differences since xrays last year.he checked my sacroiliac ones and said they were extremly tender to touch.he thinks my sacroiliac bones are damaged,i have nerve erosion and disc damage too.so 2 weeks ago i had cortisone steroid injections in my 2 sacro bones to see if it helped,no joy.he will see me again in 2 weeks he wants pain specialist to do steroid epidural for nerve pain in leg.he explained he did not think any of this was going to take away my pain but was process of elimination to try determine where pain was worse and i will have to have mri and cat scans done.im in constant pain which is getting worse daily night times are worse waking in agony not being able to turn without agony climbing up and down stairs on hands and knees,awake for hours.i cant walk for long stand sit,only way i can get comfortable is propped up with pillows.im on solpodol,melfin and diazipam and it helps a bit if i take them and just rest which is impossible with 2 small children.im sorry this post is so long wanted to give as much info as possible.im trying not to get too down but it is very hard,has anyone else had syptoms like these id like to know what im dealing with can i get it fixed i feel useless,i do day to day careof my children,but cant do any fun things with them and my husband,because of the constant pain.docs want to put me back on morphine patches but i had no quality of life last time and still had pain. thanks so much for listening and any advice would be great,in the last week my pain has got much worse iv had 3 difene shots on top of all my pain meds,my legs are getting very weak,giving way under me i havnt fallen but my hubby has caught me a couple of times,im back with surgeon on fri,so any ideas or suggestions i could put to him would be great,thanks for your time,shelsers"

Answer
Hi Michelle,
I first want to tell you that while I feel awful for the horrific pain you are in I am impressed with your tenacity and desire to get better. Please don't ever lose this quality. You will inspire your wonderful children and husband in ways that you can't imagine. As for have I ever heard of this before - not this exact case but as you describe how your specialists are handling this it sounds that they are on track. Have you seen a chiropractor yet? You should. Find the best in your town and have the chiropractor give you an opinion.  You mentioned that you had an emergency MRI but as near as I can tell I can't see where the results are in your note.  The only other thing I would say at this point is focus on improving your diet, ergonomics and head space. With regards to your head space I mean that you should work on positive mental imaging, meditation and deep breathing as methods to help control your pain. It is well documented that these can help you reduce and control your pain. Your chiropractor would likely be your best resource for this. Also, before you go to bed every day spend some time taking a mental inventory on all the wonderful blessings you have in your life to help your mind focus on your gifts as aposed to your pain.

I hope you will keep me informed on your progress and I sincerely wish you a healthy outcome to this serious challenge.

Would you mind taking a moment to rate my answer and consider nominating me as expert of the month please.

Best wishes,
Dr. Ron Nusbaum