Dave & Teddy's Most Excellent Adventures 2012

[DynamoBT]

Dave, I'm not much of a prayin guy but I'm 4 U Get well soon.

I'm with arntufun. Hope you feel better soon, Dave.

[CyncySpyder]

Dave, I'm not much of a prayin guy but I'm 4 U Get well soon.

I'm with arntufun. Hope you feel better soon, Dave.

[arntufun]

I can tell your on good drugs, your spelling tonight is as bad as mine when I'm straight. If only you had a few beers to go with it.

[rcdurango]

I cant imagine what your going threw because I have never been there. But we're thinking of you guys and if there's anything we can
do just let us know.

[spyder3]

Feel better Dave!

[CyncySpyder]

Xrays show all is normal, but symptoms still suggest a pinched nerve. Gonna send me for an MRI next & start me on oral steriods.

[FrankPa]

...

[IGETAROUND]

This sure is a different experience than my last bout with kidney stones 4 years ago. Then, I had a 10mm stone & there was no way I was going to pass that monster, so I went & had Lithotripsy done, which breaks up the larger stone into many smaller ones that you can manage to pass. Albeit, don't think for a second that this is the easy way out, cause for me, the next 3 days were a living hell I'd really like to have to never live through again in this lifetime. Like with most things when it comes to the medical sciences, there are very few difinitives, that why they call it "Practicing" medicine. What may be for one may be totally different for another. Example: I read right here that another forum member had the Lithotripsy done & passed the remaining sand partcicles with no issues at all. For me, this wasn't the case. My last stone was broken up, but the remaining peices were jagged & still rather large for where they have to exit the male body & as I said, for me, a living hell. The best way I can communicate what it was like then, is imagine peeing razor blades every time you go to the bathroom accompanied with fresh bright red blood, while your trying to hold a small screened cup that you have to pee thru to try n catch the offending stones as they leave your ........ um..... body, yeah, you get the point. Talking about embarrassing, I remember being in the stall, holding my cup & litterally screaming the first time I had to pee after the procedure was done. I was at work & their were other guys in the bathroom at the time, & you could hear their grimacing at my agony.. One guy even asked what the hell was going on? To which I could say was "passing stones" to which I heard him immidiately start saying a prayer for my strength & that it would end quickly.

Well, that was 4 years ago, & here I am again. only this time, it feels like it moved over the weekend, cause it litterally feels like its in my left butt cheeck right now. I know that can't be the case, but its really close to that area. Imagine someone giving it about 50% of their full power & just taking both their fists & constantly pounding in that one location, well, thats kinda close to how it feels right now, with one exception

Dave not to give medical advise where it's not requested but there is a class of drugs called Alpha 1 blockers, which cause relaxation of the ureters ( the tubing leading from the kidneys to the bladder) and increase the likely hood of passage @ home by ~ 85-90%. The safest drug in this class is trade named Flomax, generic name is Tamsulosin. Might want to ask your doc whether he feels this might be helpful for you in the future. If the stone is down into your bladder then these drugs won't be of any use. But while the stone is in the ureter, if it is of "passable " size; less than 10mm, then these drugs seem to help along with the other usual and customary treatment. Hope your feeling better SOON

[Mayhem]

Try to keep us posted Dave, we're all rooting for ya.

[CyncySpyder]

And what makes it even worse, I can't even make it out to the garage just to look in on her

[CyncySpyder]

Dave not to give medical advise where it's not requested but there is a class of drugs called Alpha 1 blockers, which cause relaxation of the ureters ( the tubing leading from the kidneys to the bladder) and increase the likely hood of passage @ home by ~ 85-90%. The safest drug in this class is trade named Flomax, generic name is Tamsulosin. Might want to ask your doc whether he feels this might be helpful for you in the future. If the stone is down into your bladder then these drugs won't be of any use. But while the stone is in the ureter, if it is of "passable " size; less than 10mm, then these drugs seem to help along with the other usual and customary treatment. Hope your feeling better SOON

They actually originally prescribed Flomax for me, but when I made it to the drugstore to pick it up, they said that the Dr. didn't fax over the order & they were closed at the time, so I just left. Now we know that the stone is still in the same place in the kidney, & its not the problem causing the pain, so we're not worring about it until we can get the pinched nerve issue under control.

Pn that note, I was started on Predinzone (sp?) tonight & go tomorrow for an inclosed MRI at of all places, right across the river from our condo atthe Bengals Paul Brown Stadium. Seems they have their own commercial imaging center inside the stadium thats open to the public ..... cool, I guess. I honestly could care less right now, I just want to get to the bottom of this & be outta pain so I can at least walk and ryde again. Im really worried about depression without being able to ryde every day, although, the drugs are a good distraction from depression, even if they really aren't helping with the pain much. The PA I saw tonight said he didn't think any drugs would do much for this type of pain, besides maybe take the edge off, but hey, they keep me miserably happy at the time being

[NancysToy]

Dave, sciatica and similar nerve pain can be mean! Hard to handle and hard to control. As you have found, drug effectiveness varies greatly from person to person and condition to condition. The doc may have to experiment to find what is right for you. If you get the right drug, it can do wonders. Most of the narcotics do little for me, but there is a non-narcotic that worked like turning off a switch. I hope they find the same for you. Don't be afraid to keep telling the doctor what isn't working, until they get things to be better. If you do have sciatica you will find that, like back problems, it is often worse the more you rest and the less you move. Hopefully they can get the pain under control so you can start some stretching and movement exercises soon. In the end, the PT-type of treatments are often the best. We're still praying for you and your doctors. Try to keep your chin up!

[CyncySpyder]

[IGETAROUND]

They actually originally prescribed Flomax for me, but when I made it to the drugstore to pick it up, they said that the Dr. didn't fax over the order & they were closed at the time, so I just left. Now we know that the stone is still in the same place in the kidney, & its not the problem causing the pain, so we're not worring about it until we can get the pinched nerve issue under control.

Pn that note, I was started on Predinzone (sp?) tonight & go tomorrow for an inclosed MRI at of all places, right across the river from our condo atthe Bengals Paul Brown Stadium. Seems they have their own commercial imaging center inside the stadium thats open to the public ..... cool, I guess. I honestly could care less right now, I just want to get to the bottom of this & be outta pain so I can at least walk and ryde again. Im really worried about depression without being able to ryde every day, although, the drugs are a good distraction from depression, even if they really aren't helping with the pain much. The PA I saw tonight said he didn't think any drugs would do much for this type of pain, besides maybe take the edge off, but hey, they keep me miserably happy at the time being

There is a drug called Lyrica (pregabalin) which is for the nerve pain of diabetes and those with pain from fibromyalgia. The narcotics are not much good with true nerve pain, but Lyrica is specifically for pain from pinched and pressured nerves. No a cure but should ease the pain. The prednisone that they gave you is a powerful anti-inflammatory, it will help with whatever might be swollen. Word of caution if they didn't mention it; you want to take the prednisone after a FULL meal to protect your stomach and also early on in the day so as not to interfere too much with your sleep.Hope you feel better soon, don't rush to surgery if the MRI shows a herniated disc unless there is true entrapment on a nerve root. All bulging discs improve over time WITHOUT surgery. The advise that Scotty sent is also very valid

[SpyderLady]

Dave take care and get better. I have had much back problems including pinched nerves and degenerative disks. It will get better just takes time and god doctors. Will keep you in my prauers

[CyncySpyder]

:joke:Nicer tomorrow :joke:

nojokeBut sadly, I still can't move nojoke

:pray:Going to Chiropractor on Friday & have to wait til the 5th to see the Ortho again :banghead:

:wrong: There was a 2 wheeler just sit'n at the stopsign outside rolling on the throttle:wrong: for at least 2 minutes, I couldn't even make it to the window to look :opps:

[IGETAROUND]

Nicer tomorrow

But sadly, I still can't move

Going to Chiropractor on Friday & have to wait til the 5th to see the Ortho again

There was a 2 wheeler just sit'n at the stopsign outside rolling on the throttle for at least 2 minutes, I couldn't even make it to the window to look

Go to an acupuncturist if you can afford to; don't cure anything but might give you some comfort and relief from your misery and suffering while you wait for more information and tincture of time to work it's magic. Hope your feeling better sooner rather than later

[rcdurango]

All day bikes running up and down the street. I have to just there. And of course they're all HD bike so you can't miss it.
Question? Do HD ryders work?

[oldbaldguy]

Good advice above! Hang in there, rest and take the meds. prednisone very good for inflammation. i've been reading spine MRI's for over 20 years, and herniated often regress (get smaller), if you can hang in long enough.
i've had two herniated discs in my neck (removed) and radiculopathy ( like sciatica ) from bone spurs. With the herniated discs, my surgeon did conservative therapy for 3 months. He said I will know if/when I need them removed. He was right. This last time my symptoms got worse and I almost waited too long this and have atrophy of a muscle in my right arm and some numbness. The silver lining: it led me to sell my Harley and buy a Spyder.
Be sure to listen to your doc, and if you develop new symptoms let him/her know right away. occasionally, i have seen disc herniations get bigger

[CyncySpyder]

Im not a dr. but the ortho that did my xrays say all the discs & bones in my spine, along with the spacing inbetween look really good. I have no pain at all in my bad, even tho I know the problem can be there but the symptoms can manifest elsewhere, but all my pain is in my left butt cheak and down the back of my left leg all the way down to my toes being on pins & needles. I took 3 muddled steps earlier and was in the fetal position on the kitchen floor for 5 minutes, all my friend could do was watch in empathy. I asked him to just open the garage & look in on Teds Red Sled, just to let her know she's not forgotten Wow, I can say this experience is teaching me a valuable lesson about procrastination & all the Wonderful things we all take for granted in our lives, like just being able to walk to a window or garage

[ThreeFeet]

Man get to a chiropracter!!!!! make sure they know what they are doing tho!!!Drugs are ok but a GOOD chiropractor does wonders!!! for ya Dave.

[CyncySpyder]

Man get to a chiropracter!!!!! make sure they know what they are doing tho!!!Drugs are ok but a GOOD chiropractor does wonders!!! for ya Dave.

Believe me, Friday can't get here soon enough

[NancysToy]

Im not a dr. but the ortho that did my xrays say all the discs & bones in my spine, along with the spacing inbetween look really good. I have no pain at all in my bad, even tho I know the problem can be there but the symptoms can manifest elsewhere, but all my pain is in my left butt cheak and down the back of my left leg all the way down to my toes being on pins & needles. I took 3 muddled steps earlier and was in the fetal position on the kitchen floor for 5 minutes, all my friend could do was watch in empathy. I asked him to just open the garage & look in on Teds Red Sled, just to let her know she's not forgotten Wow, I can say this experience is teaching me a valuable lesson about procrastination & all the Wonderful things we all take for granted in our lives, like just being able to walk to a window or garage

Sounds like piriformis syndrome, where the piriformis muscle (in your butt cheek) presses on the sciatic nerve. It can be very painful (don't ask how I know). It may be relieved with PT and stretching & strengthening exercises. Sometimes orthotics are needed. Beyond that, RICE, massage, anti-inflammatory drugs, and ice packs/ice massage/alternating ice & heat are used, as in many muscular strain or overuse related injuries.

[DynamoBT]

Really hoping you get some relief soon, Dave. I've ruptured a lumbar disc and had pain shooting down my leg. Not saying this is what you have. But, pain?? Hit the floor kind of pain. So, I know what you're talking about. Wishing the best for you. Good weather coming. You and Teddy need to be out ryding!!!

[CyncySpyder]

Sounds like piriformis syndrome, where the piriformis muscle (in your butt cheek) presses on the sciatic nerve. It can be very painful (don't ask how I know). It may be relieved with PT and stretching & strengthening exercises. Sometimes orthotics are needed. Beyond that, RICE, massage, anti-inflammatory drugs, and ice packs/ice massage/alternating ice & heat are used, as in many muscular strain or overuse related injuries.

I looked up more info & this seems very similar to my present issue. Even found a youtube video demonstrating 2 of the excercises that help for this condition & tried them once last night, but with no relief. I realize it will take more than one stretching session to correct this, but its kinda difficult to push thru the pain, when your not 100% sure what your doing is right for your mallady & that I am in fact helping & not hurting myself even more. Hopefully tomorrow, the Chiropractor can pin-point what my problem is & the recommended remedies he can show me in person. At this point, Im willing to do ANYTHING in my power to help myself. Its weird, I grew up my entire life being the caretaker of my family & parents. I'm SO NOT used to being incapacitated and having to rely on others so much, so yeah, this is a huge learning experience for both Teddy & I. Him, just getting used to others taking him out to go potty was a big deal, now he's getting used to it tho, so,as I said, we're both learning here. And I really do appreciate everyones PMs & well wishes. SpyderLovers are truly an Extended Family that I'm proud to be a part of