Nightly Back Pain: What’s Helped and What Hasn’t

Megan [: 00:00

Welcome to maybe this Will Be the Cure, a podcast where the wisdom of a healing journey meets the warmth of shared experiences. Join as we explore the topics of healing, living with chronic conditions, chronic pain, neurodiversity, mental health, and parenting kids with disabilities. I'm your host, Megan.

So for the past seven years, I've been so lucky to enjoy the pleasure of chronic nightly back pain. Obviously, I'm joking. It totally has sucked, but I've learned a lot, so I thought I would, you know, share what I've gained from nightly back pain, aside from years of agony.

s sometime around November of: 2018

And I would be, you know, I'm mostly fine during the day. Sometimes it bleeds into the day and hurts a little bit, but it's mostly at night that I'm just up in so much pain. So it wakes me up, you know, almost pretty much every night. Anyways, I remember one time being up in the night just in so much pain, crying and running around the house like doing jumping jacks. Because once it gets warmed up, it tends to feel a little bit better, you know? You know, trying to get it to calm down, Googling, reading all the Reddit threads, searching for a cure, sobbing, finally praying, pleading, like, please let me find a cure. And I promise, like, if I find a cure, I will tell everyone so that anybody else that is suffering like I am from the same nightmare could find relief.

And a few years ago, for about six to seven amazing months, I basically was cured and I went pain free and wasn't being. Or I at least wasn't being woken up by the pain anymore. But then, you know, my life exploded. Mentioned it before, but my son was hospitalized and diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. We moved abruptly and then both my boys went into autistic burnout. And, you know, my back pain came back with a vengeance. And it's been here to stay, apparently.

Um, so if I haven't found the forever cure, why am I making this podcast episode? First, I want to share what I think helped the first time around when I went pain free. Like, what was the things that maybe contributed to that other than, I mean, I'm totally open it to open to it just being a straight up miracle to prepare me for the hard months ahead. But I, I will share the things that I think helped. But also in my quest for the cure, I've tried a million things. And it's actually where this podcast got its name because, you know, every time I would try something new, it was like this joke between me and my husband, like, oh, maybe this will be the cure. Maybe this will be the cure. You know, as I just tried thing after thing. So in that process of trying a million things, I found some things that are helpful and have provided relief or at least made it a little bit better. And I found a lot of things that didn't. So I thought it might help someone somewhere up late at night, googling, frantically trying to find a cure, some relief for their nightly back pain. If I share what's been helpful and what hasn't.

So first, what's been helpful is learning to advocate for myself and getting an accurate diagnosis. So when the back pain kind of all first started, around the beginning of this whole journey, I got an X ray and the doctor reviewed it and said there wasn't anything wrong with it. And so I was like, oh, should I get like an mri? And I was told that, you know, X rays are actually pretty substantial, like it should show something. And since it didn't really show anything wrong, an MRI wasn't really going to show anything more is what I was told. So, you know, I believed the doctor and just went down all the rabbit holes of trying a million different things to try to relieve the pain that was, you know, apparently all in my head.

But after years of this, I had a couple people encourage me to get an mri. So once the boys were a little more stable and coming out of burnout, I finally went to a different doctor and asked for an mri. And in order to get the mri, the Diagnostic Imaging center asked me to send over my X ray records that I had, you know, the X ray I'd gotten years ago. So, so I had them send it to me so that I could forward it onto the imaging place. And what was so crazy is I looked at the X ray report at the, you know, radiologist notes, and he actually did noted something wrong that apparently the doctor didn't see when he was talking to me. Anyways, that was crazy.

And then I got an mri, which actually wasn't as Bad as I thought. A lot of people had like, warned me how terrible it's gonna be and totally everyone has a different experience, so take this with a grain of salt. But for me it wasn't too bad. It was just one like, localized area that they were looking at. So it was like only 20 minutes. And I know it can be claustrophobic cuz like you're in this tube thing, but honestly, like, if you've done, I don't know if you've done like hyperbaric chamber or something, I felt like that was almost worse because at least with the mri, my feet were poking out, so it felt a little bit less enclosed to me. I don't know. So that wasn't too bad for me. And then everyone also warned me about the noise. And yeah, they give you like earplugs, but it is loud. But my, at that point, you know, my boys had just started coming out of burnout and like, I was used to just so much noise every day. So I was like, actually this is kind of relaxing. I'm just like laying here. So anyways, if you're worried about it and you've heard horror stories, mine wasn't that bad.

So anyways, I got the report back and there was a whole list of things wrong. And you know, there's all these like weird clinical names that I won't read out. And I had to look them up and then ask the doctor about it. But the gist of it is I have spondylosis, I think it's called. It's also known as spinal osteoarthritis. So basically it's like spine degeneration. And they were telling me that they typically don't see this. They typically see this in older people. So it's not very common in people my age. So she's like, oh, are you an athlete? I was like, no, definitely not.

But you know, I was talking to my mom and she reminded me how I bounced my son to sleep on an exercise ball until he was this big giant 5 year old. Totally true. He just had such a hard time falling asleep without it. So I did it as long as I possibly could. And honestly, like, getting him to sleep is still such a challenge that if he didn't weigh as much as I did, and if my back wasn't shot, I'd probably still be doing it. And my parenting experience has been very physically demanding. Like, both my kids have multiple disabilities and sometimes have needed certain supports that have been hard on my body, like carrying them long beyond what is maybe typical, you know, like nine years old, carrying them places. So it was very validating to hear the doctor explain, yeah, this is what we see on your mri, like there is something wrong. And validate that. Yeah, your parenting experience has been very physical and that that has likely played a role in this. It was just like, oh, I am not making it up. My pain is real. There really is something going on. And so it just again, reinforced to me the importance of advocating for yourself and seeking out answers and sometimes getting a second opinion.

So now that I have that information, I'm trying different things specific to that. I went to a pain clinic recently. We're trying some new non invasive things, so we'll see how that goes. But before that, I was just for years shooting in the dark and trying everything to get some relief. So I'll just share some of those things and you know, if they were helpful or not helpful.

So starting with therapies. As a daughter of a chiropractor, obviously the first thing I did when I started having back pain was go to a chiropractor. So we were living out of state at the time. So I, I think I went to like, the joint. And I've definitely learned that everyone has different adjusting styles. So I love my dad's adjusting style. So whenever I was home, I'd be going to him and then like when we moved back, go to him. He is like a very gentle adjusting style. And sometimes body work is hard for me and I like die the next day. So I appreciate more of a gentle style. And at the joint, it was just like whoever was there that day. So some of them were more gentle than others or had a style that I liked better. And some people, I was like, this guy's gonna pop my head off. But yeah, I did chiropractic. And unfortunately I was really disappointed that it wasn't the cure. I. I totally still love chiropractic and believe in it. We go regularly. I take my kids, my husband goes, I go. So it's great for a lot of things, but unfortunately it was not the cure for this thing.

And also my dad, so he has different things at his office. So I tried some other modalities while I was there. So he has a laser, and so I did several treatments of laser. Unfortunately, that didn't cure it. He also has a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, so hyperbaric oxygen therapy. And with that, to be honest, what I've read is that you need to do it like an hour a day, daily for a while and his office is like 45 minutes away from where I live. So that three hour time commitment just wasn't possible for me at this point. Like especially when the boys were in burnout. And now I'm working a lot. So I didn't give that the full probably what it would need in order to see a real difference. But I did notice. So usually when I work out, I am dying the next day. Like my body just has a hard time with weightlifting and different exercise and stuff. But when I would work out and then go do the hyperbaric chamber, I would feel fine the next day. So I definitely know that it's doing something. Like I can tell I just didn't have that time commitment to see if it would cure my back at this point. So maybe we'll try again at some point. But also the hyperbaric chamber is hard for me. Like I have not been able to work up to an hour. I think the longest I've done is 30 minutes because I do feel kind of panicky in there. Some people don't feel that way. They're totally fine for whatever reason. For me it's. I think part of it is cuz, you know, they have to lower the pressure before you get out. So it just feels like, I don't know, it just makes me a little bit more anxious. But I definitely feel a difference when I have done it. So maybe I'll revisit that.

Another therapy that I've tried is acupuncture. We were living in Henderson at the time in Nevada. And I love, love, love the acupuncturist that I went to. She was so great. And she was great because after like six weeks she's like, oh, clearly this isn't working so you should try something else. She didn't just keep, I don't know, taking my money and doing whatever and then, you know, it was so it wasn't the cure for my back, but it helped me with other things. Like after my son was hospitalized, my face broke out into this like itchy rash, like stress rash or something. Anyways, it was nuts. And acupuncture totally helped with that. So totally believe in acupuncture. Loved it. Was not the cure for my back while I was there. They also did things like gua sha on my back. She did cupping and then. Yeah, I'm trying to think if there was anything else. Those, I think those were the two main other things she tried along with different herbal treatments and stuff like that. So cool to try. None of it was the cure for my Back.

Another therapy I've tried, massage therapy. Love it. Love massage therapy. Feels amazing. My dad actually has one in it. Massage therapist in his office. She's amazing. Also, was not the cure, unfortunately.

I've also tried myofascial release, and I went to. I've tried a few different ones, all of them trained by John Barnes, which I've heard is a good training program. Anyways, myofascial release is kind of like. So they're working on the connective tissue. So it's different than massage because it's more of like, they're, like, holding a certain place and, like, kind of pushing until there's a release. So. And this is again, where I'm just finding. Everyone has their different style, and so finding someone that's, like, the right fit for you is so important. One of the MFR therapists I went to, she was a little bit intense for me, and my body needs someone to kind of, like, prepare me before they're going to do something like, oh, I'm going to do this. And she just, like, goes for it and was kind of intense, and it was too much for me. It almost felt kind of like violating in a way. I don't know if that makes sense. And so I tried somebody else, and she was very, like, good about, okay, this is what I'm gonna do next. So that my body almost had, like, a chance to give permission before she went into it. And then the other person I went to just was, like, very, very gentle. Same kind of thing. So just depends who you go to, but what. You know, it didn't cure my back. But one cool thing was I remember one time she was doing it, like, kind of in my stomach area. And, you know, she's holding it, waiting for the release. And then all of a sudden, I have like, these memories of when I was in labor, you know, with my son. It was just crazy. Like, this flood of memories, and then, like, tears just start rolling down my cheeks. It was like this emotional release at the same time as this physical release. So very cool therapy. Totally love it. Also not the cure for my back. And along with that, I don't know if you've heard of, like, fascia blasting. So I tried fascia blasting, too. Like, I had the. I can't remember, is her name like, Ashley Black or something that does it. And she has these, like. They look like these, like, giant comb things. I don't know how else to explain it that you, you know, put oil on and then you, like, rub it to like, break up. The fascia or whatever. So I tried that for a while too, and it. That can be wild because it'll, like, give you weird bruises and stuff. But what was interesting, going to these myofascial release therapists or, like, providers. I don't know what their specific title is. They were. They actually were, like, not fans of fascia blasting because they just take, like, a more targeted approach. But anyways, I tried that too. Also not the cure.

And then currently I've been trying physical therapy for the first time. So, you know, jury still out. I'm also doing pelvic floor therapy. So they do both at the place that I go to. A lot of, like, core work and how am I working on, like, how my pelvis sits and glute strength and pelvic floor. So we'll see how it goes. That's been interesting so far. My back, I've been doing it, I think six weeks back. Still hurts. But I have noticed some changes, like in my core and just like the muscle that I'm building. So that's kind of cool. Anyways, so we'll see how that goes.

Another big thing I've tried is, like, different types of movement or fitness. Like, oh, maybe I need to build muscle or, you know, maybe I need to stretch more. So I've done stretches that different chiropractors have prescribed. And then when I did mfr, the myofascial release, they'll give you exercises. So I tried both of those. And then obviously now I'm doing daily exercises from the physical therapist. I also did things like yoga, Pilates barre. Oh, I did. I don't know if you've heard of Lauren Roxburg, I think her name is. Anyways, she has these, like, cute foam rollers and she has got her book where they have all these different foam rolling exercises. So again, awesome learning. Love. It didn't help my back, but I'm sure it helped some. The rest of me, I don't know.

I also tried weightlifting, like, to build muscles. So at first I did it on my own. I got the Peloton app and was doing different. They had like a beginner's weightlifting program that I was doing, but I would be dying. Like, I would do it. And then the next day, just like, actually for a few days after, like, so much pain, I can't even function. And then I started working with a fitness coach. His name's Blake Hill. Anyways, he was great and he would prepare workouts for me. And the thing with that is I wouldn't be Dying in pain, which was awesome. So that I did that for a while and then I did it for a long time, like almost a year I think. And then when I started working with the physical therapist, what's been cool about that is everything's very targeted and they're like watching to, to make sure I'm doing the movements correctly. So I feel like I'm building muscle in a very targeted, specific way. So that's been really good. I also have tried thing, you know, like walking. I have a walking pad and also going walking. And then for a while we did hiking every single day, which maybe made things worse because I'd be carrying this like giant backpack with our stuff that we needed for my kids or carrying a giant kidney stuff. So. But it was nice being in nature every day. Like great for my mental health.

Another way that I tried to deal with it is from an inflammation or like a detox kind of perspective, like reducing inflammation. So I did like an anti inflammatory diet. So gluten free, dairy free and then anything my body was sensitive to cut all that out. Maybe it helped a tiny bit, but not enough to be like, oh, this just did it. I also did all kinds of like parasite cleanses and heavy metal detox and different liver support and so many supplements I could not list them all. And my. I have a whole cupboard for supplements that is just like overflowing. And there are still supplements that I use today that I like, but none of them cured my back pain. I'll list a couple of the ones specific to that. Like I tried cbd. No. Arnica, which I think is like a homeopathic. I used that for a while, especially in the night when I was up. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't. I don't know. I don't really use it now. Like I didn't notice enough of a difference. So I tried turmeric, which is supposed to be good for inflammatory stuff. There's that specific one I use. It's like, I can't think of what the name is, but it's like gold and it has black pepper in it for absorption. But unfortunately that wasn't the cure either. I've done collagen, which I actually love. Collagen protein. I feel like it was great for my hair and nail growth but didn't help my back. Colostrum also I love that I still use it but didn't cure my back. And then just like so many different herbal remedies and yeah, no cures. Found some things I liked for other reasons.

But yeah, and then another angle I went or like another rabbit hole went down. The clean living, non toxic product. Thinking if I just like cleaned up my life, had better products that, that would help, you know, reduce inflammation or maybe help my body just work better. So swapping beauty and cleaning products, like switching to a natural deodorant, toothpaste and shampoo, conditioner, body wash, makeup, you know, avoiding fragrances in the home, trying to get organic or regenerative food as much as possible. Natural, organic fabrics as much as possible. We got an air filter and a water filter and, you know, had our home tested for mold and reducing EMFs. Like, I turn the wifi off at night and you know, I still do a lot of this and, you know, I found some benefits. Like when I swapped to a natural, simple castile soap, it completely cleared the eczema on my hands. I had had horrible eczema for like literally over 20 years, like cracking, bleeding, and then I would even get blisters on my palms. And I switched to that soap and within like a week and a half, the eczema was totally gone. And it stays gone. And then if I try like a conventional soap, like if I'm out in public somewhere, someone else's house, it will start to come right back. So. So I have seen them changes like that. But also on the other hand, that like clean living space can also cause a lot of anxiety. So for me, it like definitely caused a lot of anxiety and stress and I feel like that's definitely counterintuitive. So I kind of had to relax on a lot of that and reel it in and just realize that, you know, things aren't going to be perfect and it's okay.

Another angle that I worked on to try to heal my back is because I just have like a very holistic view of health. I took the like, emotional, mental energetic direction. So, you know, some things I did on my own, so like daily gratitude practice and journaling and I would do meditations, like either guided meditations or just breathing exercises, mindfulness meditations. And then I also got support too. So I did life coaching and then I started therapy. So none of those cured my back pain. But I am so grateful that my back pain led me on that, like, emotional, mental energetic, like soul healing journey. It's been super helpful for me and in a ton of ways. So I don't know, I feel like sometimes our physical pain can kind of guide us in life. I don't know.

Anyways, and that kind of leads me to some of the things That I think helped when I had that six to seven month period where I was pretty much pain free. So I read this book called the Way out by Alan Gordon and Alon Ziv. I think it is, and it talks about pain reprocessing therapy and how the brain is, you know, it's your brain that's sending the pain signals and the brain is neuroplastic, which I think basically means it can change. And so you can help reduce or eliminate pain through specific pain reprocessing exercises. That's kind of like almost rewiring your brain to reduce those pain signals. So I read that and I had started doing those exercises and those techniques and part of it is reducing stress in specific ways, different pain body mindfulness techniques, and then like changing how you deal with or respond to the pain. So I read that. I think that was helpful.

And then I started incorporating a Pro Metabolic diet. It's a focus on balanced meals with protein, carb and fat, making sure you're eating enough calories, a lot of like fruit and dairy and meat and collagen and you know, lots of bone broth and carrot salads, hydration and just like really a focus on whole nourishing foods. So I was incorporating those technique or I was incorporating that diet.

And then I also did an emotional processing technique session with my cousin. I've had her on the podcast before, but basically you're like processing past experiences and working through the emotional and physical impact of those past experiences. And then sometime after that session, plus all those other things that I talked about, I experienced about six to seven months of no pain. So like I said, maybe it was a total miracle, the calm before the storm when my life totally exploded. Or maybe it was a result of those things. And I'll never know for sure, but I kind of like to think that those things helped.

So currently I still have nightly back pain that wakes me up each night. Sometimes it bleeds into the day. Some nights are worse than others, some days are worse than others. So here's what I'm doing to cope with the pain. You know, first I went back to some of those same things that I think might have helped the last time. Like I reread that the book the Way out and have been doing some of those pain reprocessing techniques. I've had another emotional processing session. I'm not eating Pro Metabolic currently. I have SIBO and I'm doing low fodmap, but that's a story for another time. And then some of the coping tech me or like different strategies that I use. Magnesium baths. I get these giant bags of magnesium flakes that I add to the bath and I don't do a whole bag at one time, but I just have tons of those bags around because I literally take multiple baths a week. I love it. It totally helps calm down my bag and helps me sleep a little bit better in the night when the pain is really bad. Sometimes a hot shower can help. I also have this magnesium balm. I think the brand is Chaparral Theory. It smells amazing, like a sugar cookie. I love it so much. And it has magnesium in it. So I'll apply that on my back and that helps calm it down a little bit. I have a red light that I use that helps a little. Doing some movement. Nothing crazy, but it definitely feels better when it's warmed up. So sometimes I just need to like, get up in the night and move a little bit and then I think the morning. The exercises I've been doing from the pt, I do it in the morning so it helps, like, warm my back up for the day. So. Well, sometimes some of the exercise they give me, I'm like, nah, this might have made it worse. Now I'm hurting during the day, so it just depends. In the night, the pain is really bad. I've learned, like, I have to fall asleep on my side. That's like the only way I can fall asleep. But then when I wake up in the night, I've found that sitting kind of sleeping up helps. So I have this giant couch pillow that I use to prop up my back that's like, firm. So I don't know, it just. That helps me. And then. Okay, I've saved the very best for last. My favorite thing ever, it's this belt that has this pad that vibrates and heats up. I literally have four of them. I like, cannot live without it. I love it so much. I actually. So they have like this like the bougie version, the like on brand one. That's what I got first. And it's kind of expensive. And after four months, it stopped vibrating. So I kept it because it still heats up, which is nice. And the company was great and sent me another one. But the same thing happened after, like another six months. The vibration stopped working. So that was my second one. And then at that point they were like, oh, your warranty is up so we can't send you another. So I found these off brand ones on Amazon that are like, way cheaper. They are basically the same, like the same design. The only difference is they get a little too hot, so I always have to. I can't put it like directly on my skin. I always have to have like fabric in between it because it's like a little bit too hot. Anyways, I got two of them because they're so much cheaper and that way I can like have one while the other's charging and then as soon as that one dies, I can use the other one. So I'm never without one. Plus I have the other two that still just like heat up and they're at a more comfortable heating temperature. Anyways. I love them so much. They're so great. I'm obsessed. I will link to them because literally, life changing. And then. Okay, I'll be honest, if it's a really bad night, like last night actually, where the pain is just so bad and none of my other tools are calming it down and I can't sleep and it's just like screaming at me. I will just take an ibuprofen and sometimes I have the deep blue essential oil from Doterra and I'll just dilute it with like oil or something and put it on and that. It's kind of like one of those cooling sensations. So sometimes I'll use that too if the pain is really, really bad.

So anyways, that's what I'm doing currently. Obviously. I'm trying physical therapy. We'll see how that goes. I'm working with the pain clinic, so always looking for a cure. That's what I've tried. Um, I probably tried other things that I didn't list, but those are things I could think of. Um, if you're dealing with chronic nightly back pain, losing sleep, perpetually tired, up at night, searching for the cure, reading all the Reddit threads, I see you, I am you, and I'm sending so much love your way. And thanks for being here and let me talk your ear off. Thanks for joining us today. Where dreams are nurtured, challenges are met with resilience, and every tiny step forward is a victory hit. Subscribe so you can easily find new episodes and join this community, because maybe this will be the cure.

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