Ok so I have a question... I was told by 3 drs before surgery that after I lost a significant amount of weight my back would feel so much better... well they lied.

I am 30 with a pretty nasty case of arthritis in my lower left back. I still push through the pain and walk a mile or two 4-5 times a week. Usually the pain is manageable until the morning.

I wake up with horrible hip, back and leg pain in both sides. It hurts to straighten my legs or walk on them. The pain has gotten worse. People are now trying to tell me that because I have lost so much 73#s that my bed is all wrong and its from nerves being exposed and laying on my side makes it worse. I can actually feel my hip bones now and I am a side sleeper.

I wish I had money for a new bed but I cant get rid of the one I have my mom paid $1600 for it 2 years ago. Its a pillow top mattress.

Just curious has anyone else had problems like this. Any advice on relief. I can not sleep on my stomach or back I am already taking pain meds for my arthritis.. I am thinking I might have to break down and see a Dr for it. But they always tell me its nothing.

Having my gall bladder out on the 12th also.

Thanks for reading sorry it was so long. Feels like no one understands.

Highest weight 322

Starting weight 307

Surgery weight 297

Current weight 235

Goal weight 195

sounds to me like it could be your sciatic (sp?)nerve. You need to see a doctor that specializes in back pain so it can be addressed. This can happen at any weight so just losing weight will not cure it. You may need shots in your bank to reduce the inflammation and only then will you get any relief. The longer you put it off....the longer you will hurt. Good luck.

Thank you for your reply. I will look into that!

See if you can get a referral to a pain clinic. If what you have is indeed sciatica, there is relief available for you - don't be a pain martyr and be suffering. My pain doctor is an anesthesiologist at my hospital. The spinal epidural shots every 3-4 months have helped me put off spinal fusion in my lower back for years. I finally had to give in and get a three level fusion in my neck last year.

The steroid in the epidural bathes raw nerve endings in liquid comfort, which makes a difference in my quality of life. The last one I had was September 7, and my sleeve date was 12/23. I have lost 40 pounds so far, and I think it already has made a difference for me. I also have femoral nerve pain, which the spinal epidural relieves. There is not so much belly pressing on the femoral nerve, so it has quieted down.

So, who needs to be in pain when they don't have to be? I used to not believe so much in medication, but now that I am older and more things ache, I think of it as better living through chemistry!

I was referred to our pain clinic due to my arthritis but they want me to do 6-78th weeks of physical therapy and pay a bunch of money I dont have to then have a trial go off deadening a nerve in my back then if that helps thry will do it every 6 months. If I had money coming out my ears I would be talking to a dr about relief...

Thank you for the reply though I will look up what I can!!

Stinking auto correct 6-8 weeks

My doc said that losing weight will not remove arthritis pain, but will slow the deterioration on joints. I would say save up for your copays for therapy (I assume this is the cost you are talking about) or perhaps they will let you go in once and decide how to go from there... I had bone spurs show up a couple years after surgery, and it really shut my exercise down. I went to three sessions of PT, and a sports medicine doc... I did have to pay $40 copays each time... but it made a huge difference. The pain is not entirely gone, but I am back at the gym, and have a plan to keep the pain at bay. Best of luck to you! Pain is not a joke. (I too got a high end pillow top as a gift,and I find it is heaven next to the old rotten cheap mattress I had before. But when I have hip pain when the weather gets cold, the mattress can only go so far in helping my comfort) Do what you can to invest in the Docs plan... He might be able to work with you to bring the cost in line a little... When I told the PT guys I didn't have that much money, they reduced the number of visits to start with.

If there is an ATI Therapy near you, it wouldn't hurt to ask if they could waive the co-pay. When I fell and tore 3 of the 4 tendons in my rotator cuff (and had to have subsequent surgery and therapy), my pain was high and my funds were low. Three sessions a week would have cost me $300 a month I did not have. ATI waived my co-pays so that I could get treatment. They are making hundreds of dollars off of each session from the insurance companies, anyway. When I had to have therapy post-stroke, they even provided transportation, and charged the insurance for that, too.