I started to touch on this topic at the very beginning of my blogging days however I never really explained the whole picture because I wasn’t sure of it myself. Over the last couple of weeks what started out as what I thought was a pulled muscle turned into an absolute nightmare which seems to be never ending. I’m a 21-year-old British female and before any of this happened a healthy one too, that also seems to have taken a turn for the worse.

Long story short I woke one morning with a saw back I thought I had maybe pulled a muscle as it had been a very busy and strenuous week at work. A week later it had seemed to progressed into a constant pain. I ended up on a ward in the general hospital and had a series of tests carried out including an MRI scan.

The back pain had soon progressed into bladder issues too being incontinent and then going into retention caused a catheter to be fitted. This catheter was meant to be temporary for a week ended up being a two-weekly deal and the whole time it was filling with blood! Causing an infection called staphylococcus aureus, this had gone unnoticed by the doctor for four weeks. It wasn’t until they did an internal swab it was picked up even after that it took three week of being on several courses of different antibiotics to clear. In that time, I was referred to see a urologist which is happening next week, as to this day I am still urinating blood.

I am currently on multiple pain medications to be able to carry out basic functions throughout the day, otherwise I probably wouldn’t make it out of bed. These medications include: Omeprazole 20mg (once a day to line my stomach), diclofenac 50mg (three times a day as a muscle relaxant), Tramadol 50mg (for pain two, four times a day), Gabapentin 100mg (three times a day for nerve pain), Paracetamol 500mg (two, four times a day to be taken with Tramadol) and Steroids (six to be taken once a day for rash caused by an allergy to antibiotics). I spend most of my days consuming medications which make me feel out of it and always sick to my stomach.

Two weeks ago I saw a Spinal Specialist Consultant at my local hospital to go over the results of my MRI scan which had been taken seven week previous. The results gave me a diagnosis but not what I was hoping for. I was told I had two discs which were darker in colour meaning they had been worn a lot more than my other spinal discs. These two discs had two small tears at the base of each one causing them to bulge and compressing the nerves. This meant the bladder issues and the extreme shooting pain had been a result of this nerve compression. They had also found another underlying issue my spinal cord was very swollen in the same region and filled with fluid which was causing more nerve compression and causing more pain. As the MRI scan, had been taken seven week previous and the pain had become worse they were worried it had progressed in a negative way and wanted to carry out a further MRI Scan. In this new MRI scan I would be sedated so it was more comfortable for me, they are also going to inject dye into the nerves to see what is causing pain, whatever the outcome will decide if I am to be referred to a neurologist or a neurosurgeon.  I am still waiting on an appointment for this MRI scan to take place.

As of tomorrow, I am also going into hospital for a spinal tap also known as a lumbar puncture where they take the fluid found inside your spinal cord via a massive needle. I am not going to lie I am terrified but it’s all for the greater good I suppose. At least I now have a diagnosis rather than being labelled with chronic back pain. That is, it for now the more it progresses I will update you but until then it’s a waiting game and trying to stay positive. If anybody has ever experience anything of this nature, please let me know in the comments.