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Do Not Ignore Lower Back Pain!


On2whls

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Over the past several years, I would have periodic bouts of lower back pain but usually just roughed it out and fought thru it, maybe took a muscle relaxer and some non-addictive type pain meds.  I never really pushed hard for additional medical evaluation.

About three weeks ago I started having some lower back pain, not terrible on the pain scale but enough of a nuisance to cause some loss of sleep.  It didn’t bother me much during the day but at night when I laid down it would start in the lower back, radiate to the kidney area (both sides), progress to the genitals, and finally various places in the abdomen.  

I got tired of getting only 1 to 3 hrs of sleep each night so I finally went to the ER at about 2:30am this past Tuesday.  Ten hours later I’m being transferred and  admitted to UCI Medical hospital critical care unit, where I spent 4 days undergoing dozens of blood tests, and numerous diagnostic imaging techniques, the point of which was to discern the reason for a badly inflamed aorta with an accompanying aneurysm.  This issue is located just at the junction of the renal artery so the kidneys are in the path of the inflammation.

Bottom line, they reluctantly discharged me yesterday with no official cause or treatment strategy, other than to hit it with alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol to knock down the inflammation without causing addiction or destroying the kidneys.   I’ll also have to periodically go in for CT scan of the thoracic and abdominal areas.

Obviously, this condition isn’t the sort of thing that happens overnight.  The back pain episodes I would have occasionally were a sign I should have paid more attention to.  If you suffer occasional back pain, don’t take it for granted.  Push your doctor to prescribe a deeper dive into known possible causes.  I wish now I had taken that approach.

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1 hour ago, On2whls said:

Over the past several years, I would have periodic bouts of lower back pain but usually just roughed it out and fought thru it, maybe took a muscle relaxer and some non-addictive type pain meds.  I never really pushed hard for additional medical evaluation.

About three weeks ago I started having some lower back pain, not terrible on the pain scale but enough of a nuisance to cause some loss of sleep.  It didn’t bother me much during the day but at night when I laid down it would start in the lower back, radiate to the kidney area (both sides), progress to the genitals, and finally various places in the abdomen.  

I got tired of getting only 1 to 3 hrs of sleep each night so I finally went to the ER at about 2:30am this past Tuesday.  Ten hours later I’m being transferred and  admitted to UCI Medical hospital critical care unit, where I spent 4 days undergoing dozens of blood tests, and numerous diagnostic imaging techniques, the point of which was to discern the reason for a badly inflamed aorta with an accompanying aneurysm.  This issue is located just at the junction of the renal artery so the kidneys are in the path of the inflammation.

Bottom line, they reluctantly discharged me yesterday with no official cause or treatment strategy, other than to hit it with alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol to knock down the inflammation without causing addiction or destroying the kidneys.   I’ll also have to periodically go in for CT scan of the thoracic and abdominal areas.

Obviously, this condition isn’t the sort of thing that happens overnight.  The back pain episodes I would have occasionally were a sign I should have paid more attention to.  If you suffer occasional back pain, don’t take it for granted.  Push your doctor to prescribe a deeper dive into known possible causes.  I wish now I had taken that approach.

I have arthritis in my lower lumbar since I got into an accident in my teens.

It's not a huge pain but it's a nuisance. 

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2 hours ago, On2whls said:

Over the past several years, I would have periodic bouts of lower back pain but usually just roughed it out and fought thru it, maybe took a muscle relaxer and some non-addictive type pain meds.  I never really pushed hard for additional medical evaluation.

About three weeks ago I started having some lower back pain, not terrible on the pain scale but enough of a nuisance to cause some loss of sleep.  It didn’t bother me much during the day but at night when I laid down it would start in the lower back, radiate to the kidney area (both sides), progress to the genitals, and finally various places in the abdomen.  

I got tired of getting only 1 to 3 hrs of sleep each night so I finally went to the ER at about 2:30am this past Tuesday.  Ten hours later I’m being transferred and  admitted to UCI Medical hospital critical care unit, where I spent 4 days undergoing dozens of blood tests, and numerous diagnostic imaging techniques, the point of which was to discern the reason for a badly inflamed aorta with an accompanying aneurysm.  This issue is located just at the junction of the renal artery so the kidneys are in the path of the inflammation.

Bottom line, they reluctantly discharged me yesterday with no official cause or treatment strategy, other than to hit it with alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol to knock down the inflammation without causing addiction or destroying the kidneys.   I’ll also have to periodically go in for CT scan of the thoracic and abdominal areas.

Obviously, this condition isn’t the sort of thing that happens overnight.  The back pain episodes I would have occasionally were a sign I should have paid more attention to.  If you suffer occasional back pain, don’t take it for granted.  Push your doctor to prescribe a deeper dive into known possible causes.  I wish now I had taken that approach.

Hope you weather the storm brother 👍

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2 hours ago, On2whls said:

Over the past several years, I would have periodic bouts of lower back pain but usually just roughed it out and fought thru it, maybe took a muscle relaxer and some non-addictive type pain meds.  I never really pushed hard for additional medical evaluation.

About three weeks ago I started having some lower back pain, not terrible on the pain scale but enough of a nuisance to cause some loss of sleep.  It didn’t bother me much during the day but at night when I laid down it would start in the lower back, radiate to the kidney area (both sides), progress to the genitals, and finally various places in the abdomen.  

I got tired of getting only 1 to 3 hrs of sleep each night so I finally went to the ER at about 2:30am this past Tuesday.  Ten hours later I’m being transferred and  admitted to UCI Medical hospital critical care unit, where I spent 4 days undergoing dozens of blood tests, and numerous diagnostic imaging techniques, the point of which was to discern the reason for a badly inflamed aorta with an accompanying aneurysm.  This issue is located just at the junction of the renal artery so the kidneys are in the path of the inflammation.

Bottom line, they reluctantly discharged me yesterday with no official cause or treatment strategy, other than to hit it with alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol to knock down the inflammation without causing addiction or destroying the kidneys.   I’ll also have to periodically go in for CT scan of the thoracic and abdominal areas.

Obviously, this condition isn’t the sort of thing that happens overnight.  The back pain episodes I would have occasionally were a sign I should have paid more attention to.  If you suffer occasional back pain, don’t take it for granted.  Push your doctor to prescribe a deeper dive into known possible causes.  I wish now I had taken that approach.

Before I read this, my first thought was an AAA.  Of course the ominous “do not ignore” was a clue.

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