On our backs
May. 30th, 2003 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
j4Back pain has been coming back with a vengeance.
Was quite uncomfortable by the end of Matrix Reloaded on Tuesday, but attributed that to an unaccustomed combination of cinema seats (I don't often go to the pictures) and high-platformed boots (altering the sitting angle). However I continued to have twinges at work on Wednesday (I'm working at ProQuest again, freelance this time), and yesterday the twinges turned into full-on ouch, until by hometime I was in tears and willing to sell my soul for codeine.
Made it to Sainsburys and managed to get Ibuprofen (next-best thing), and then against my better judgement went to karate class. I'm supposed to be doing gradings on Sunday so I didn't want to miss a lesson; I figured maybe we could at least do some non-back-straining stuff. As it was we were doing judo-style throws... By the end of the hour, though, my back felt fine, and I decided that the pain must be psychosomatic in origin, possibly brought on by being back at ProQuest -- surely if it was an actual problem with the muscles, the throws would have left me collapsed in agony?
Last night, though, I was in such pain with my back (and feeling sick as well) I couldn't sleep properly at all. Tossed and turned for about 3 hours before finally taking more Ibuprofen, getting a hot water bottle, and going to sleep in the spare room so that I wouldn't wake![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sion_a so much. Still couldn't find any comfortable position but eventually sheer exhaustion made me sleep.
Woke up in agony, finally managed to find codeine+paracetamol tablets left over from last bout of back pain, took these and applied Ibuprofen gel to all the bits of back that felt like they'd been run over by a bus. Have dragged myself into work (and found a sensible chair) but had to beg a lift fromsion_a as I didn't feel confident of being able to drive.
So now I have no idea whether the back pain is caused by physical strain or mental stress, or a combination of the two (stress-related tension causing physical strain, etc.), or what. Suspect that if I see the doctor I'll get the same useless result as last time -- doctor prods back,j4 says "OUCH!", doctor says "Yes, back is sore", prescribes Valium, and suggests buying Cocodamol OTC because it's cheaper than paying a second prescription charge. I can do that myself, I know my fscking back is sore, I can buy Cocodamol, and I've still got some Valium left from last time (and it screws up my sleep patterns even more).
Whiney whiney whine, yeah, I know. Will shut up now.
Was quite uncomfortable by the end of Matrix Reloaded on Tuesday, but attributed that to an unaccustomed combination of cinema seats (I don't often go to the pictures) and high-platformed boots (altering the sitting angle). However I continued to have twinges at work on Wednesday (I'm working at ProQuest again, freelance this time), and yesterday the twinges turned into full-on ouch, until by hometime I was in tears and willing to sell my soul for codeine.
Made it to Sainsburys and managed to get Ibuprofen (next-best thing), and then against my better judgement went to karate class. I'm supposed to be doing gradings on Sunday so I didn't want to miss a lesson; I figured maybe we could at least do some non-back-straining stuff. As it was we were doing judo-style throws... By the end of the hour, though, my back felt fine, and I decided that the pain must be psychosomatic in origin, possibly brought on by being back at ProQuest -- surely if it was an actual problem with the muscles, the throws would have left me collapsed in agony?
Last night, though, I was in such pain with my back (and feeling sick as well) I couldn't sleep properly at all. Tossed and turned for about 3 hours before finally taking more Ibuprofen, getting a hot water bottle, and going to sleep in the spare room so that I wouldn't wake
sion_a so much. Still couldn't find any comfortable position but eventually sheer exhaustion made me sleep. Woke up in agony, finally managed to find codeine+paracetamol tablets left over from last bout of back pain, took these and applied Ibuprofen gel to all the bits of back that felt like they'd been run over by a bus. Have dragged myself into work (and found a sensible chair) but had to beg a lift from
sion_a as I didn't feel confident of being able to drive.So now I have no idea whether the back pain is caused by physical strain or mental stress, or a combination of the two (stress-related tension causing physical strain, etc.), or what. Suspect that if I see the doctor I'll get the same useless result as last time -- doctor prods back,
j4 says "OUCH!", doctor says "Yes, back is sore", prescribes Valium, and suggests buying Cocodamol OTC because it's cheaper than paying a second prescription charge. I can do that myself, I know my fscking back is sore, I can buy Cocodamol, and I've still got some Valium left from last time (and it screws up my sleep patterns even more).Whiney whiney whine, yeah, I know. Will shut up now.
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no subject
Date: 2003-05-30 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-05-30 05:09 am (UTC)Sitting is horrible. Walking is actually better, I think it makes me straighten up a bit more; lying has the problem that I can't find a comfortable position to lie in. I often find it difficult to lie on my back anyway (it seems to arch too much so I can't lie flat) and I get uncomfortable for other reasons (it's a girl thing!) lying on my front. Alternating between back and front with hot water bottle underneath me was about the best I could manage this morning.
It was caused by stress, causing my abdominal muscles to tighten and pull at my back.
That's really interesting. I've been having some stomach pains as well with the back pain & have sort of assumed that they're either unrelated (I often get random stomach-aches & nausea) or that they're caused by the back pains (pain making me feel ill, or tensing the back muscles making the stomach go all weird) but it hadn't occurred to me that it could be the other way round.
(I've taken beta-blockers before, yes, and they helped a bit with the stressedness at the time, but not much.)
The whole health thing just depresses me so much though. I just don't want to even engage with it at all any more.