Pain in the....

Did I mentioned I've got some horrible lower back pain going on? It's exacerbated by sitting, standing, and not really relieved by walking. Haven't tried running to relieve the pain. haha. I sustained a SI joint injury in 2005 (from doing stupid, foolish, human tricks). I sought chiropractic care, but after a while he suggested I seek PT. So off to PT I went. Spent a couple thousand dollars on co-pays alone. That was the spring prior to my first trip to Liberia. I literally left for Liberia having back pain. Had a little pain on the airplane, but once I was on the ground, I didn't have any back pain, Interestingly, we were sleeping on HORRIBLE foam mattresses. I was shocked but just gave thanks to God for the healing or remission of my back pain. Came back and was relatively fine. I attributed it to not having to sit 8 hours a day in an office chair. Last year I suffered with a lot of pain/stiffness in my lower back which I attributed to standing a lot with my Sunday work at the church AND wearing flip flops. Of course, now my job is to sit on the sofa and read textbooks. Talk about poor posture! It's hard to sit and read at a table or on the sofa--my back/hips just ache!

So I don't know exactly when this acute episode started up again. I think it's been gradually getting worse since March or early April. But I am having constant, dull, diffuse pain (except when I sleep) in my lower back and intermittently in my hips (usually when seated). Thankfully no sciatica that I am aware of.  I was a prone sleeper (stomach sleeper) for most of my childhood and into my college years. I think I became aware of the importance to switch to side or supine sleeping after going to my first chiropractor in the early 90's for TMJ issues. (My TMJ issues were totally resolved by chiropractic care. I still have an slightly abnormal open/closing of my jaw felt upon palpation, but no pain, no trouble opening, no clicking or popping.) So over the past, um, 15-20 years, I have made an effort to change my sleeping position--but I still seem to end up on my stomach a fair amount. But I suppose it's been over the past year or so that I've noticed that I'm waking in the middle of the night and I'm kinda "stuck" on my stomach in an awkward, painful position with my lower back in a hyperextended position. It's getting harder and harder to get out of that position without pain.  We all know that our core muscles are in the trunk of our bodies..abdominals and back muscles, and they are the primary means by which we move in bed. So when you wake up and your lower back is in pain...how can you move? When I wake in pain, I literally have to quickly pop up on my hands/arms (like quickly ripping off a band-aid) so that I can quickly get my back out of its hyper-extension and roll over. And of course my lower back is screaming at me, but then at least my back is in a position where the muscles can relax (and I fall back to sleep).

But in the past month or so my pain has gotten increasingly worse. My guess is that it's gotten worse since clinicals ended and now I'm spending HOURS sitting over my books/notes on a poorly supportive couch. :(  But there's also another interesting catch. I'm not sure why, but I was looking up the side effects to my allergy med (Allegra) and muscle and back pain is listed as a side effect. WHAT?!?!?   So my guess is, if you mix my poor sleeping position, with hours sitting on sofa with poor posture, plus Allegra side effect, with the weight I've gained this past year (ugh) and thus I'm left with acute pain.  So what's a girl to do? Well, I can do something about the weight (and I'm already planning on this).

Well for the past few years I've been thinking I should head back over to my chiropractor and get "adjusted" knowing that I've probably got some mal-alignment  (s;p?) that could be remedied. But because I've been busy and didn't really want to pay the huge co-pay (when I had good insurance) and now don't have a job (and less than great insurance)..it's just hasn't happened. But now...  I've recently learned that an acquaintance from church, Dr. Dolly Garnecki, is a chiropractor and a Palmer Chiropractic grad (my first chiropractor was too!)...so I'm going to try her out. Surprisingly, she is potentially going to be less expensive than the copays I was paying to my other chiropractor! I know I need an adjustment and I honestly cannot wait!  And I'm hoping she can teach me some good exercises to help strengthen my lower back. The one thing that I also need to figure out is HOW do I keep myself from rolling over on my stomach to cuddle with my pillow while I sleep! And also...how to avoid making things worse with my study habits.

I can't go off Allegra. No other med works for me (Seldane, Claritin, Clarinex, Zyrtec...) I am a miserable, blubbering mess without my Allegra. Especially right now when my driveway is SOLID YELLOW!!!  After I get back from Haiti, the pollen counts will be much lower and I can stop taking them. I now have to consider linking my 2005 episode to Allegra too (it all happened roughly same time of year!) and I'm pretty sure I continued to take Allegra while I was in Liberia that time (although I had no pain there.) And I probably stopped taking it when I came back to the US. So it's really hard to know exactly what helped me. "Resting" in Liberia (not sitting at work desk), stopping Allegra or eventually the PT was therapeutic. Hmm?

So I'm kinda at this strange place again. How will I know if it's JUST the Allegra side effects causing me this unrelenting pain OR is it a combination. How will I know if Dr. Dolly's treatment is effective? I may very well leave for Haiti with pain and come back without pain. I HAVE to study these next few weeks...but I won't be studying in Haiti. Although I will be doing a lot of standing related with the medical clinics.  And of course when I come back...I will have had chiro tx, I will have had a break from my sofa/school stuff and I will probably stop taking Allegra once I return from Haiti. So I won't TRULY know what fixed it...or if it was combination. It feels like 2005 all over again--but now I'm enlightened by the Allegra side effect.

I guess I'll be talking this all over with Dr. Dolly on Friday. She might suggest taking another allergy med and stop taking Allegra...and see if back pain improves. But I REALLY cannot afford to be miserably allergic the next two weeks--staying motivated to study is hard enough! But I admit, this back pain makes it really hard to focus too. For the time being I think I'm just gonna have to increase my ibuprofen and be very careful to stick with schedule so that I stay on top of pain. I'm donating platelets on Saturday, so today is the last day that I could take aspirin (which I don't even know if I own).

I was able to move up my yearly physical with my physician to next week so that I can get my Doxycycline (malarial prophylaxis) in time. I will TOTALLY be talking to hear about this too. Allegra is no longer  prescription, but is OTC, but it will be good to share this info with her. And my health insurance doesn't cover meds...so I'd really like to avoid prescription if I can. She can put a record of my back pain in my chart (with comment of likely link to Allegra). I don't think I'll forget the link...but maybe I might come next year. Now I  have to consider next year's treatment as well. I'll still be in school next spring and won't want to be dealing with trying a new allergy med OR back pain. Ack.  I ALWAYS try to start my allergy meds at least 3-4 weeks ahead of the pollen--that way I'm fully medicated when the pollen hits (it really depends on the weather).  I suppose my doc could also run some other tests to see if there might be arthritis or something else going on (I sure hope not...).  I suppose she could prescribe a pain med (that won't make me drowsy?) for when I have to take Allegra. Craziness.

Well, I'll have to report back on my findings. I'm really excited about talking with Dr. Dolly on Friday. Not sure when my first adjustment will be...but hopefully soon!!!!  Note to self: see if you can locate the SI belt from before...no sense having to buy another one.