Went into shock today...(a little long)

I am glad you posted this, Beth. A vasovagal was my first thought, but I didn't know it could be caused by severe pain, nor was I aware that there could be roaring in the ears and hot/cold sweats. The last person I saw who experienced one was a woman who was, very vigorously, trying to move her bowels! Thanks for the instruction!

Carrie, the meds you got are a muscle relaxer and a mild narcotic pain killer. (Mild to me, anyhow...I work in a chronic pain clinic). You can easily research them on the web. If you take them as prescribed, you shouldn't have any trouble and I would bet the ER Doc wrote you a script for just enough to last a few days. Hopefully you are feeling better now, but do get yourself checked out again.

Julie

Edited to add: My bad! You saw your MD, not the ER guy....sorry!
 
Beth,

Thank you very much. That is exactly what my PT said. He also ran some tests, and it turns out that I have a bulging disc which can be corrected with the proper exercises. The exercises do relieve the pain. I've been doing them every 2 hours the way I was instructed.

Apparently I am not as fit as I'd like to be. After hours at PT yesterday going through tests and questions, it turns out that I may have did the "rocket lifts" incorrectly, and over extended my already arthritic lower discs. And with a little help from man-winter, I hit some ice and went into the ditch and jarred the back even more, but it didn't hurt at the time, so I had ruled that out. OK now, all I have to do, is remember, I'm not superwoman, and the pain I experienced the other day will certainly keep me in line with what I'm able to do and what I shouldn't do:)

The exercise I'm doing now to correct the disc bulge, is something like an "upward dog" in yoga terms. It's the opposite position of how I hurt it.

I want to thank everybody. This has certainly been a learning experience for me. And I'm glad I had you guys and my family.

Carrie:)

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http://www.picturetrail.com/uid6743693"
 
I had a very similar thing happen twice, though it was not total body. I used to get terrible spasms in my neck because my vertibrae would rotate out of position, get stuck and compress nerves...then it also began to happen in my lumbar region which would give me horrible quad cramps like I can't even describe. I had the Vagle-whatever that Beth talked about. The pain was so horrible and the next thing I would know I was on the ground with cold sweats unable to move. Once I looked in the mirror right after it happened and I was sheet white except for what looked like two black-eyes.
Tons of P.T. - specifically cranio-sacral myofacial release therapy over about 6 months helped me. Along with re-learning how to exercise because befor this I had apparently not done anything with proper form in my life!
It was THE SCARIEST thing I had ever gone through in my life!
I'm so sorry to hear you are dealing with that and with pain. Please take care of yourself and keep looking for a medical professional who takes you seriously and wants to partner with you to find a SOLUTION. The hardest thing for me was to find a doc who wouldn't just prescribe pain meds! I finally found a neursurgeon who helped me to find a great PT (after he told me after a bunch of XRays that I didn't need surgery).
I don't know what your situation is, but stay positive and expect your healthcare professional to be positive as well.
Good luck!
I'll be thinking of you - please keep us posted.
 
Laura (Maggiethecat),

Wow, that is exactly what happens. I am so glad that you were able to overcome that with PT and nothing was broken and there wasn't any permanent damage. Yes the pain is horrible. It happened again the other day. I not only was overwhelmed and scared from the pain and loss of control, thinking, "please God not again", but the pain was too much and out I went again, to boot my relatives were visiting at time and I really scared them. I told them not to worry, but my dad, didn't want to leave, poor him. I told him it'd be alright, and I didn't mean to scare him, and this sort of thing was common.

I went back to the PT, he referred me back to my doc, who in turn decided I might need x-rays. Now I have to wait and see him Saturday, and then he'd refer me to neurology. Geez, it took them awhile to finally get me some help. Until then, every step is a surprise, (pain or no pain, that is the question:)

I wanted to thank you so much, for sharing your experience. I guess on the bright side, if we can endure that kind of pain threshold, we can get through any of Cathe's workouts. But right now, I'm terrified of triggering that pain. I think I'll wait a few more days to find out what the x-rays and hopefully MRI results will be.

Take care
Carrie

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http://www.picturetrail.com/uid6743693"
 
I am so glad you are better
:)

This is why I love this site. You can always get great information.

I have never heard of this... I'm glad you shared your story....WOW
 
One thing I wound up having to work on a lot was the fear of the pain. The P.T. that I had the most success with spent a lot of time helping me to realize that I sometimes brought on the muscle spasms that began the domino effect which led to the worse problems of vertibrae rotation, worse muscle spasms, nerve compression and then on the really bad days that shocky kind of thing. I was so afraid of the lack of control I had over my body that I wound up having problems very often on Saturday nights of long weekends (because then it would be hard to find a chiropractor or P.T. until Tuesday) and in the middle of the night etc. When I was most afraid of it happening, it would happen.
My P.T. showed me some self massage/manipulation techniques, some using two tennis balls in a sock, and many using a foam roller, which helped me to feel more in control and less afraid. The more I felt I could constructively deal with the pain and relax out the spasms on my own, the fewer incidences I wound up having.
Stress and fear are powerful things. Once your body undergoes that kind of trauma and your imagination can fully conceptualize it, it is hard not to walk around with a lot of tension in the body and in fear of it happening again. I know for me that was the most difficult part.
I took a lot of advil, but really started to worry about having problems with my stomach. So I switced to Arnica Gel (a topical anti-inflammatory) and ice and heat, hot showers, the sock with the tennis balls and foam roller. Exercise really helped a lot, dealing with all of the muscle imbalances that I had built up over the years without even knowing it.
I have you in my thoughts and prayers. I hope you are beginning to see some steady improvement! Please let us know how things are going.
--Laura

edited to fix a word that made an entire paragraph completely incomprehensible ;-)
 
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