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Post by sputnik on Feb 26, 2024 16:48:31 GMT
ugh, that sounds so painful. and honestly, if he's doing all of that and he's still in pain, he probably should go ahead with the surgery. i had two cortisone injections, for two really bad flare ups where it was really important to bring down the inflammation so the physical therapy could actually work, and they helped almost immediately. if they did nothing for him then he's definitely at a worst stage.
still, they might want him to lose weight before that as extra weight can affect recovery and in general is just bad for your back. if he's not someone who is overweight in general and this is just recent weight gain due to his back, maybe ozempic as a short term thing isn't the worst option?
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Post by no1novice on Feb 26, 2024 19:26:31 GMT
Physiotherapy, at times 3x a week, and breuss massages which seem to help best. He has not problems regarding strength as he's working physically, so there is nothing they were able to show him that would help strengthen the area, and he's also quite flexible thanks to lots of Karate and similar stuff in his youth. He tried just about everything now, including a cortisone injection a couple of weeks ago which didn't do anything. Yes, he has now a third opinion even. All say surgery is last resort, but as it only gotten worse in the last months, it might be the only thing left. But the surgery he needs is luckily not as extensive as the one where they fixate two vertebrae together. In his case, one vertebra is somewhat broken off, causing probably a mechanical irritation. That's why they plan to remove that piece. My sister had the fusing surgery (1 or 2 below her waistband?) and it's been fine for her - I guess it depends where it is? She had it done in France so totally different from the NHS & may have even been "private" as it was a Disney doctor (different from a Micky mouse doctor! Honest.) |
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Post by notoriousmkg on Feb 26, 2024 21:07:34 GMT
I don't really need to lose weight (I'm about 165 pounds/74 kg at 5'10"/1.78m) but I wonder if Ozempic would even have an effect on me. I feel like I eat out of habit and boredom rather than hunger. I feel like I'm almost never hungry, just that I know I need to eat, or I want to eat or drink something. From boredom, I'll eat peanuts, a piece of chocolate, a shot of some flavored liquer. Or cereal at like 11 pm. I would have to be borderline persistently nauseous to not nibble on stuff.
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Post by funky on Feb 27, 2024 8:37:46 GMT
ugh, that sounds so painful. and honestly, if he's doing all of that and he's still in pain, he probably should go ahead with the surgery. i had two cortisone injections, for two really bad flare ups where it was really important to bring down the inflammation so the physical therapy could actually work, and they helped almost immediately. if they did nothing for him then he's definitely at a worst stage. still, they might want him to lose weight before that as extra weight can affect recovery and in general is just bad for your back. if he's not someone who is overweight in general and this is just recent weight gain due to his back, maybe ozempic as a short term thing isn't the worst option? Yes I totally agree. I really feel for him though, as this would be his first surgery ever. And the thought of having surgery on your spine is scary, even though I never heard any complications from that particular surgery. Regarding Ozempic, that was my first thought as well, using it short term. But I really fear that he will be having a big yo-yo effect when he would stop. He will have to get a second opinion anyways. And sorry to hear your flare ups were so bad you needed injections. I hope everything is well now! |
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Post by funky on Feb 27, 2024 8:44:32 GMT
Physiotherapy, at times 3x a week, and breuss massages which seem to help best. He has not problems regarding strength as he's working physically, so there is nothing they were able to show him that would help strengthen the area, and he's also quite flexible thanks to lots of Karate and similar stuff in his youth. He tried just about everything now, including a cortisone injection a couple of weeks ago which didn't do anything. Yes, he has now a third opinion even. All say surgery is last resort, but as it only gotten worse in the last months, it might be the only thing left. But the surgery he needs is luckily not as extensive as the one where they fixate two vertebrae together. In his case, one vertebra is somewhat broken off, causing probably a mechanical irritation. That's why they plan to remove that piece. My sister had the fusing surgery (1 or 2 below her waistband?) and it's been fine for her - I guess it depends where it is? She had it done in France so totally different from the NHS & may have even been "private" as it was a Disney doctor (different from a Micky mouse doctor! Honest.) I heard both - and I think it really depends on a) which vertebrae is affected and b) how they fuse them? Someone I know had the surgery recently and is totally fine, and a couple of others don't have any pain anymore but problems to move the back now. The doctor who would do the surgery is one of the best here where we live, they do that type of surgery since over 30 years. But a Disney doctor sounds fun as well lol |
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Post by sputnik on Feb 27, 2024 16:30:39 GMT
ugh, that sounds so painful. and honestly, if he's doing all of that and he's still in pain, he probably should go ahead with the surgery. i had two cortisone injections, for two really bad flare ups where it was really important to bring down the inflammation so the physical therapy could actually work, and they helped almost immediately. if they did nothing for him then he's definitely at a worst stage. still, they might want him to lose weight before that as extra weight can affect recovery and in general is just bad for your back. if he's not someone who is overweight in general and this is just recent weight gain due to his back, maybe ozempic as a short term thing isn't the worst option? Yes I totally agree. I really feel for him though, as this would be his first surgery ever. And the thought of having surgery on your spine is scary, even though I never heard any complications from that particular surgery. Regarding Ozempic, that was my first thought as well, using it short term. But I really fear that he will be having a big yo-yo effect when he would stop. He will have to get a second opinion anyways. And sorry to hear your flare ups were so bad you needed injections. I hope everything is well now! thanks. and yes, it's much better and i've figured out how to manage it. i still keep an active prescription of mobic (basically ultra-strong ibuprofen) for when i feel the start of a flare-up and that usually gets it under control within a few days. but really the biggest part is keeping active, especially with my pilates and i also tried to maintain at least some of the anti-inflammatory diet i did in a more hardcore way at the beginning - basically, avoid refined sugar, drink black tea instead of coffee, dairy/milk was another trigger for me so i stick to yogurt which i can handle well, cheese occasionally but i drink oat milk instead of cow's milk, minimal/occasional gluten, and try to eat as many anti-inflammatory foods as i can (blueberries, shitload of cruciferous greens, dark greens, ginger, turmeric, etc). i still eat bread and drink coffee occasionally but it tends to have a cumulative effect, so as long as it's an occasional thing it's fine. i had a really good doctor that understood i didn't want surgery if possible, and that i also didn't want to rely on medication and cortisone injections, so he was also very open to suggesting more holistic approaches and actually works with a nutritionist in his clinic who's the one that had me try the anti-inflammatory diet, and also acupuncture and dry needling in addition to the physical therapy. i notice when my stress levels are up and i'm not sleeping well or i'm eating crap or i'm not exercising, is when it starts to flare up. and i totally get being terrified of surgery, and i think avoiding that was one of my main motivators. it was already terrifying enough having a giant needle stuck in my spine, twice. |
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Post by funky on Feb 28, 2024 10:02:29 GMT
Good to hear sput! I also think I noticed a difference when he eats more gluten-rich food, but I might be biased because I try to make him eat healthier. I just told him what you wrote and he said he will try to avoid sugars and gluten for a couple of days to see if he feels a difference. I totally get not wanting to cook though when standing up hurts, so pasta and bread is an easy fix.
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Post by sputnik on Feb 28, 2024 15:00:55 GMT
^^^^
everyone has different triggers for inflammation but gluten is a common one. he's not going to notice much of a difference after a couple of days though, except that eating less refined carbs and sugar makes you feel better overall because you feel less bloated and it tends to stabilise your blood sugar. usually what they have you do is go on an elimination diet for at least 6 weeks where you take out all inflammatory foods, and then reintroduce them one by one.
you can look up anti-inflammatory diets online, at first it seems hard but it's pretty easy once you get the gist of it and figure out how to cook with what are sometimes new ingredients for people (like avocado oil, virgin olive oil and ghee instead of seed oils or refined 'light' olive oils, etc), not sweetening things at all or only with a little bit of honey or maple syrup or date syrup if you have to, no artificial sweeteners, no dairy, nothing fried, etc. it's definitely a commitment at first but then you get used to it and then you start to feel so much better which makes it easier to keep up. anyhoo, if you do end up looking into it, feel free to PM me, i've still got all my notes from my nutritionist.
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Post by funky on Feb 28, 2024 15:11:06 GMT
Thank you for taking the time to writing that down sput. Most we already do, well at least me as I can't handle gluten at all. Thankfully we are both not picky eaters so I think it will only be a problem of discipline. But I'd love to take you up on your offer, I will send you a PM when husband feels ready lol
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