Back pain returning after almost 3 years

Well, I guess I never realized that the benzo was helping my back pain. I have a very bad back, and it's caused me so much pain in my life. I've seen countless doctors for it. I thought it had just gotten better around the same time I started Klonopin and I wouldn't have  to deal with it anymore. I guess I was wrong. Now it's returning with a vengeance.

 

For anyone else with back pain, what do you do? What do you do to manage it if it doesn't stop your whole life? God, it hurts so bad

Did you try a heating pad Holly? It is also a common withdrawal symptom to have back pain...I never did in my life until the withdrawal...now it is about every day near the spine OR is the spine (I dunno).

 

Robb

Did you try a heating pad Holly? It is also a common withdrawal symptom to have back pain...I never did in my life until the withdrawal...now it is about every day near the spine OR is the spine (I dunno).

 

Robb

I think the wd is making it worse at times, but otherwise this pain is very familiar to me I'm sad to say. It makes it so that I cannot comfortably function at all in school and work.

 

I did not realize that benzos were also a muscle relaxer. I am only now realizing just how much they actually were helping me and I didn't realize it. Makes me sort of wish I'd never gone off.  :'(

They will eventually cause more pain and anguish, not to mention life destruction financially and socially etc...withdrawal also causes the opposite of a muscle relaxant effect...it tightens muscles so...once withdrawn maybe you will not have the same pain you have now. Meditation also relaxes muscles and magnesium is a natural muscle relaxer. Have you tried taking baths in epsom salt? It is very relaxing and is marketed for minor sprains for that reason. You can get it at any drug store or grocery store. It is not very expensive either.

 

Robb

They will eventually cause more pain and anguish, not to mention life destruction financially and socially etc...withdrawal also causes the opposite of a muscle relaxant effect...it tightens muscles so...once withdrawn maybe you will not have the same pain you have now. Meditation also relaxes muscles and magnesium is a natural muscle relaxer. Have you tried taking baths in epsom salt? It is very relaxing and is marketed for minor sprains for that reason. You can get it at any drug store or grocery store. It is not very expensive either.

 

Robb

Magnesium has always been good to me in wd so I take it regularly. It does help. I've never tried epsom salts but I've heard of them. I don't even know what they are though..

I have had lower back pain for years. It comes and goes but when I was in acute WD and during stronger waves the pain would return with a vengeance. I remember this specifically because I remember thinking to myself "Oh great....now THIS is back on top of everything else."

They will eventually cause more pain and anguish, not to mention life destruction financially and socially etc...withdrawal also causes the opposite of a muscle relaxant effect...it tightens muscles so...once withdrawn maybe you will not have the same pain you have now. Meditation also relaxes muscles and magnesium is a natural muscle relaxer. Have you tried taking baths in epsom salt? It is very relaxing and is marketed for minor sprains for that reason. You can get it at any drug store or grocery store. It is not very expensive either.

 

Robb

Magnesium has always been good to me in wd so I take it regularly. It does help. I've never tried epsom salts but I've heard of them. I don't even know what they are though..

 

Holly, epsom salts are magnesium chloride and sulfer...the magnesium is the natural muscle relaxer...the advantage to taking magnesium in through the skin is you can take much more and not get the runs. Most magnesium is not absorbed by the guts. They use magnesium citrate as a laxative because it is least absorbed by the body and magnesium chloride is most absorbed and better through the skin. You can find epsom salt at the grocery or drug store. You should try it....very relaxing in the tub for stiffness and muscle aches.

 

Robb

I have an AWFUL back. 3 surgeries under my belt from childhood. Benzos made all the pain come back and w/d isn't helping either. I know the pain will be gone when the withdrawal is over. Yours will be too! Advil and moist heat help me the most.

  Hi Holly,  I have been in construction all my life and have been dealing with back pain for many years. Since getting off of benzos the pain has increased in severity and frequency. It got to where I could not sleep or bend over without my back going out. I thought that I was in real trouble. When it would go out I would instantly have terrible dizziness and cog fog, I was in terrible shape.

  I have tried so many back devices such as the back2life, teeter hang up inversion table, nothing seemed to give me any relief ( this is starting to sound like an infomercial ) in fact they all aggravated it. I have found that if I have done something bad to it that ICING it on and off for two days and then ICE and heat after that is what works best. I also started doing very lite yoga back stretches such as the cat stretch. It hurt pretty bad for awhile but I started to realizr that I was compensating by pushing my hips forward when standing to relieve the pain.So I started to arch my back like it supposed to be,it has brought great relief. Also the further I am off the "helpful medication" the better it is. 

Don't give up now you are almost to the finish line.

  Mine has been an incredibly long road but I am seeing that things are getting better, way better. The road is not always smooth but we must continue on it to reach destination. Stay the course  Dub

Thanks everyone. I have both kyphosis and scoliosis, but pretty minor. The scoliosis is very minor, not really noticeable, but my kyphosis was supposedly just under the degree requirement for having surgery to correct it. I honestly do not hold out much hope for the pain going away after wd because it was there before Klonopin. The only thing that works for it right now is popping OTC pain meds, which I immediately feel guilty about because I  now despise all drugs.  I want nothing more than to just stop polluting myself for a while and let my body heal, but it doesn't seem to want to let me do that.

 

I will look into the epsom salts!

If you had the same pain before you ever started benzo that has not returned, then it is almost surely not withdrawal, which it sounds like you know.

 

The benzos may have helped b/c they are muscle relaxers, but probably shouldn't be used long term for that.  If basic home remedies -- heat, epsom salt, exercises, stretching, don't help, then you might want to see a doctor to figure out what the cause is.  There are some medications that are muscle relaxers.  They are not benzos.  But I'm pretty sure they have their own set of problems.

 

There are other treatments as well:  chiropractors (although I am a bit skeptical they know anything beyond what a massage therapist does) or a message therapist.

If you had the same pain before you ever started benzo that has not returned, then it is almost surely not withdrawal, which it sounds like you know.

 

The benzos may have helped b/c they are muscle relaxers, but probably shouldn't be used long term for that.  If basic home remedies -- heat, epsom salt, exercises, stretching, don't help, then you might want to see a doctor to figure out what the cause is.  There are some medications that are muscle relaxers.  They are not benzos.  But I'm pretty sure they have their own set of problems.

 

There are other treatments as well:  chiropractors (although I am a bit skeptical they know anything beyond what a massage therapist does) or a message therapist.

Thanks Pfeff,

Funny thing is, when  I told my mom how much pain I was in last night she said (after she completely shot down my theory that benzos had been helping it) that I should see an orthopedist and get some muscle relaxers. I have taken Flexeril before for pain, and it worked amazingly well, but geez... I dont want to get involved in that. Espcially while I'm in acute wd right now. And as for chiropractors... they completely lost my trust after one of them dislocated my rib.