Back problems and ongoing pain

Hi Rosco23 - sorry to hear about the pain you're going through, as well as the insomnia.

I've been through the insomnia patch with other medication, and it makes life incredibly harder.

It does look as though insomnia is one side effect of Jurnista. It makes life a bit difficult when doctors are informed of problems and can't provide alternatives (or worse still, choose to ignore those problems).

I had a very similar experience to you with my old Doctor when I told him about the side effects I'd experienced with Lyrica, he effectively said, "Well, I've not heard of that happening. I can't do anything for you then".

I dropped him as my doctor soon after that, but my experiences with other doctors since then have varied (trying to find a doctor that *truly* understands back pain has been nigh on impossible).

My only advice would be look around on a few different forums and see what other peoples experiences have been on Jurnista. There are a few mentions of Jurnista on this forum, but they didn't offer too much in the way of information.

Jurnista does go by a few different names, so it may be possible to find out some alternatives by searching for those other names.

There are a few back pain specific forums out there which may also be of help.

I'm not sure if I can recommend them or not, but if you search for spine health, you may find some useful forums.

Cheers,
Darren

Hey Rosco,
Where abouts do you live as there are some great pain physicians out there who can help, if you contact a hospital that does pain management courses they should be able to give you some names .
Just a quick lookup on Jurnista it seems to be the same/similar to Oxycodone which being a opioid your Dr would be a bit dubious about you going on it either a higher dose or for a longer time my pain physician recommended Panadol osteo 665mg as it is
“A”over the counter dispensed
“B” a non opioid pain relief medication
Ask your Dr for a non opioid sleep medication he is sure to know a few, you say your sleep pattern is a bit disrupted ,mine was as well until we ( my (Dr and I) worked out what to take to help sleep patterns (unfortunately chronic pain requires sleep to heal) I tend to have a nanny nap or two during the day and become almost comatose at night .
Have you had a sleep apnoea test done as medication can also cause this and a CPAP machine could be the answer.
Hope this helps
Johnno

Back pain is something that I have suffered from for years. Personally I tried to go the natural route and fix my back pain without medication. My back pain wasn't bad enough that I needed to get medication (although I wanted too). I used stretching and exercises to drastically reduce my back pain. If you haven't tried any stretching then I would recommend to watch .............................. give the stretches a try for a week or 2. It has made a huge difference in my life. Good luck!

I am a retired MD and can give some useful tips.
The most important is to keep the lumbar lordosis and try and maintain an erect posture. Do not sit in low seats, like armchairs and settees. Avoid bending down, if you have bend use the knees to protect your back.
Try not bend your back getting out of bed.
I had good results using acupuncture, particularly sciatica which does not so well staying in bed, was once a popular and ineffective way lying on boards in hospital.
Ignore the radiological appearances.Twinges in the lower limbs often occur.
Personal experience suggests tablets are not of much use, but I use Paracetamol sometimes for my backache. Some prefer Aspirin.

Thanks for the responses and sharing information - all very handy and good to know.

From my perspective, I've done some physio stuff, however, after trying it for a period of time, I had to stop as the pain was too much (even just the process of getting onto the floor and getting back up was bad).

I have a few different things happening in my lower lumbar region, and things seem to work against each other at times. I still try to remain somewhat active, but just have to be very careful about it (and posture is very important).

There's been a few changes since I last posted. I found a good doctor, who actually listens and has been quite helpful.

My condition has deteriorated somewhat, and last Friday I ended up having an Epidural Steroid Injection, which unfortunately, doesn't appear to have worked. I also had to have it without any anesthetic, so it hurt quite a bit as well.

The doctor that did the CT scan and the injection on the day basically said, "Wow - you've got a lot of stuff happening in your lower back - it's a real mess", which I already kind of knew.

Anyway, the pain since the ESI has been pretty bad and doesn't appear to have worked, so I went back to my doctor and requested some pain meds (which is a big thing for me, as I try and avoid them).

Lots of fun.