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Back Problems

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Regenexx ~ What’s Next?

by Erin on December 13, 2009 · 4 comments

About two weeks after finding out from the staff at Centeno Schultz that it was ok for me to indulge in the occasional cocktail again, I got sick.  I thought it would be nice to have a beer on the patio, but it just did not sound good.  Nothing sounded good, in fact, I went about three weeks of feeling like I was perpetually hung over before I realized what was going on…

Team Jones got knocked up!  Amazingly, during my first trimester, my back pain decreased significantly.  Was it from Regenexx or the pregnancy hormones?  We may never know, but it was great to feel a bit better for the first time in four yeapreggiers!  Unfortunately, the pain in my back was replaced by that whole perpetual hangover feeling.  Not so fun.

Luckily, my first trimester passed, and the sickness eventually went away.  Only to be followed a few short days later by a nasty bout of H1N1.  I couldn’t even tell you if my back hurt during this time.  Everything hurt.  For about five weeks, I alternated between completely delirious and convinced that death was imminent.  And I was totally okay with it.  I was miserable!  Two solid weeks of the flu gave way to sinus, ear, and eye infections followed by bronchitis.  Not the most fun I’ve ever had.

Luckily, this too passed.  Because of the flu, I hadn’t put weight on as quickly as most pregnant women did.  In fact, I lost a bit of weight for a while.  At this point, I was still beyond thrilled that my back was feeling so much better than I’d anticipated.  Unfortunately, as soon as my abdomen started its rapid expansion, the back pain came back with a vengeance.  I have an amazing chiropractor that I’ve been working with to help ease the pain, and recently got an SI brace to help with some extra pain I’ve been having around my SI joint.  This is an area that Dr. Schultz expressed concern about throughout my Regenexx experience.  He mentioned that a good portion of my pain may have been coming from there and not just my disc that was being treated.  I can never do things the easy way!

Anyways, the Regenexx updates are going to be giving way to baby updates for a while, as it is just too hard to tell what is working and what is hurting.  I really don’t want to say the procedure did or did not do its job with an extra variable interfering.

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Regenexx Progress Update

by Erin on October 12, 2009 · 3 comments

It has been over six months since I began Regenexx.  When I started treatment, I was having moderate to severe pain about 50% of the time.  I haven’t posted in a while because there have been some other things going on around here that may be affecting the level of pain in my back that has nothing to do with Regenexx.  I’ll touch on that later.

To date, I’ve seen an impressive improvement in my pain levels. (see previous posts for the beginning of my bad back saga, if you’ve missed out..)  I’ve cut my pain medication usage by over half, and have a much greater tolerance for activities that six months ago would have put me in bed for days at a time.  Although it was expensive and took me away from home for six weeks, I still feel that this procedure was worth it.  I also think that I’d have started seeing benefits sooner if I’d have been able to continue with IMS treatments.   Unfortunately, the treatments were very costly, and I was unable to find anyone within an hour of where I live to continue with the treatments once I returned home.

I have not gotten a follow-up MRI.  I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but I am not a fan of the MRI.  Not even a little.  I have to be medicated to be stuffed into that tube, and its just not something I’m interested in doing right now.  I’m judging the success of this procedure purely on the way I feel right now, since that is really all that matters to me.

Changes I’ve Noticed:

  • Decreased painregenexxlogo
  • Increased tolerance for riding in the car
  • Increased tolerance for exercise
  • Better sleep
  • More positive outlook
  • Still paying off a big huge bill

Changes I’m Still Hoping To See:

  • No pain.  At all.  For at least one whole day.  (seriously, I can’t wait for that day!)
  • Even more improvement in my tolerance for car rides, exercise, and sitting still for long periods of time.
  • That huge bill I mentioned?  It’d be nice to have that gone.  All gone.

All in all, Regenexx has not been the magic fix that I’d hoped for, but it has helped me quite a bit.  Chronic pain is frustrating, and is often underestimated by people.  It is miserable.  If you know someone that is struggling with chronic pain, encourage them to get help.  No one should live in pain if they don’t have to.

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Regenexx – Progress Update

July 20, 2009
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It has been ages since my last post, and I promise you, those follow up injection, IMS, and other treatment updates are coming soon.  Everything is rolling around up in my brain, and until it is ready to come out, I figured I’d post a little update on how I’m feeling right now.
Since the end [...]

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Regenexx ~ The Reinject

June 6, 2009
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The morning of my reinject, I was in pretty good shape.  The soreness of the marrow draw had worn off, and I was prepared for recovery with some new jammies and a stack of great books, thanks to my amazing friends.  (Seriously, I have the best friends in the world.)  I worked on focusing on [...]

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More On Regenexx… Later.

May 27, 2009

Just wanted to post a quick update and let y’all know that I’m in the middle of moving hosting providers.  I hope to have this done by the end of the week and have new posts up by the end of the weekend.  I’ve got at least 4 more parts of my Regenexx story coming [...]

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Bye Bye Bone Marrow

March 29, 2009

As mentioned previously, I am in the process of working on getting my back fixed.  For the past three years, I have battled with a torn disc, and right around the time I didn’t think I could take any more poking, prodding, or pain, I was informed that I’d be a good candidate for Regenexx.  [...]

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Regenexx!

March 20, 2009

A few years ago I tore a disc in my back.  Typically, these things self-correct and heal over time.  In typical Erin fashion, mine did not.  Instead of healing, it continued to get worse.  I tried Epidural Steroid Injections, Disc Decompression, yoga, massage, physical therapy, and good old-fashioned narcotics.  Nothing worked.  Apparently, my tendency to [...]

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