Daily poll

[teaotter]

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday to midnight (8pm Eastern Time) on Monday.

Poll #27435 Daily poll

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 32

How are you doing?

I am okay
23 (71.9%)

I am not okay, but I don't need help right now
9 (28.1%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
13 (40.6%)

One other human
17 (53.1%)

More than one other human
2 (6.2%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

Comments

[harpers_child]

- My current migraine/tension headache monster is trying to lock my jaw. This is unpleasant.

- Went to a friends outdoor birthday party yesterday. Today I have hives on my hands. Getting to see some people I haven't seen since before the plague was worth it.

[rose_griffes]

Ouch, hope you get past the migraine problem quickly.

[ratcreature]

Yesterday while cleaning my bathroom my back decided to have a sciatica attack. My last incident of this back pain type had been a few years ago and I'd forgotten (or repressed) how much worse it is compared to the "standard" lower back pain.

I had hoped it would get better overnight, but the stabby/pulling pain into my right hip and leg, and the extreme wariness of making a wrong movement and impossibility of bending normally is still there. :(

At least I can so far still move enough to put on shoes and reach into cupboards and such with some extra care, so this isn't quite as bad as the one years ago *fingers crossed* but still miserable.

I hope it goes away quickly. Last time it didn't resolve for many months despite me trying everything from PT to massages to acupuncture to weird "living with back pain group counseling" (unfortunately several doctors refused to prescribe any pain medication along with the list above).

(I don't need any PT advice or tips to adjust movements, or such help, I still remember all sorts of exercises etc. from last time around, and I'm pretty sure going to the doctor would be useless again. I'm just venting. Good luck vibes that it'll just resolve would be welcome though.)

[rose_griffes]

Lots of luck to you! I commiserate.

[ratcreature]

Thanks. I really wish human backs weren't such crap.

[lexin]

I hope you recover quickly. Thinking of you.

[ratcreature]

Thanks. It's gotten worse today. :(

I really hope my back will get a grip, before I fully mess things up with weirdly favoring things to avoid pain. It's not like I actually did anything to it. I didn't lift anything heavy, and I didn't twist anything in an extreme way. It's just having hysterical fits for no good reason. >:( But I hadn't done anything aside from reaching up to close a window last time either.

I tried some of the gentle PT exercises that were recommended to me for acute episodes, but who knows whether that'll do anything.

[lexin]

I suppose you can't see an osteopath? I found that the only sure cure for my painful back and resulting miserable migraines.

Mind you, I still have to use a cane to walk, so it didn't cure everything.

[ratcreature]

I haven't actually considered those, because I don't quite understand what they are doing and how they are regulated here. From what I understand it's some sort of alternative medicine thing like chiropractors? I don't think the standard insurance here covers those. It did cover acupuncture for chronic back pain after six months, so I tried that last time (it was no use for me), but generally I'm not really into alternative medicine. It was more a case of being desperate.

I mean, I realize that anecdotally all sorts of things work for some people with their back pain and then they swear by whatever helped them (and I'm happy for everyone who manages to find something that reliably helps them), but from the reading I've done last round, there are few reproducible treatments (conventional or alternative) except when they can actually diagnose and possibly repair or contain some specific damage (and even then it's iffy sometimes, because some people can e.g. have damage to their discs that's visible in imaging and have no pain so there's actually no 1:1 translation from things on pictures to symptoms). And it's worse with the alternative stuff because whatever one practicioner under a label does may be very different from another one. If the pain last longer I'm going to get it checked out by a doctor eventually to make sure it's still the same type as last time (when they couldn't find a specific source of my pain) but since I don't have any alarming symptoms like numbness or weakness in limbs or such, I'm pretty sure it's the same "backs suck and are unfit for purpose" situation, where I then get told I should weigh 20kg less and exercise hours everyday or such.

I mean last time when my pain lasted a long time (I really hope it won't take a year to improve this time) obviously I tried various things like the PT and massages and acupuncture etc. because it was awful being in pain, but nothing did anything in particular. Thankfully it still improved eventually, and I got back to being pain free except when sitting too long or sometimes during periods.