Oh My Aching Back

I took six aspirins. Yes, me who has always rejected pain medication on the grounds that pain is the body's warning signal and masking pain is foolishly ignoring and turning off the warning that further movement can do further damage. There is almost always more rebound pain after the analgesic wears off than there would have been had no analgesic been consumed. Kind of like the rebound of feeling like crap after taking cold medications, especially antihistamines and decongestants. Besides that, NSAIDs are bad for blood pressure.

So taking pain pills, no less three aspirins, is an extremely rare action for me to take. I woke with the most severe pain I've ever known in my lower back. I felt the cramping coming on earlier in the day and wrote about it somewhere, I don't recall where. The written words are becoming more and more scattered in different files that have so many entries not completed, it is a sign of the disorder disorder I seem to be nurturing. It may have been in the last entry that will be uploaded eventually. Feel free to care, ask, come over and give me a back massage, or send millions of dollars in unmarked hundreds. Someone must care enough (I mean, I would, if I had it to give).

The recliner with no lumbar support just aggravated it and after a few hours of sitting (Facebook, no doubt), I hobbled from the chair to the bed and luckily there was a clean sheet at the head of the bed or I'd have rolled on to a bare mattress. The pillows are bare because after spreading the sheet over most of the bed there was no back tolerance left to do any more than roll into the bed. Laying still, I fell asleep.

When I woke the first time, there was severe pain still increasing. Maybe 6 on a scale of 10 and up to 8 when I moved just the wrong way or put initial pressure upon standing. The first few steps were definitely 8 of 10 on the pain scale. I think the only other time I reached 8 in this life was when I passed the first kidney stone and that took 30 hours, two IVs, and Demerol. I struggled for ten minutes getting out of bed and took another ten to get to the bathroom. to the bathroom. I had washed the sheets (finally, lol) yesterday, but could not even imagine walking two more steps to the washer and then bending over (that would be insane) and fluffing out the sheets so they remain in the washer and I'll probably wash them a second time, which is probably very appropriate). I needed both arms supporting my weight to walk.

The second time I woke the pain was so severe when I tried to move, definitely 8.5, I almost did not make it to the bathroom. It took way too long to get back into bed (like twenty minutes) due to the elevation of the bed. I did not eat since yesterday, but could not even think about moving anywhere to get food. Luckily I had a bottle of water at the head of the bed. I just laid still and fell back to sleep. In stillness there is no pain.

The third time I woke I could not move without pain that simply said stop moving now. We reached 9 of 10 for the first time in this life. I fought through and almost fell out of bed trying to get out (which would have been dangerous as the bed is four feet off the floor and the floor is concrete). I semi-stood there with my torso on the bed and my feet just resting on the floor (not providing support because weight on the feet was torture for the back) for ten minutes before I decided I was not going anywhere without finding some pain meds and I luckily found them within reach because I had just unpacked a bunch of boxes this afternoon. I took three aspirins. I held the bladder and leaned there for thirty minutes before I tried moving again. I held myself up with my arms and dragged my feet to the bathroom.

I really did not do any serious lifting, so I am not sure just why the back is acting up.

I walked back leaning on the bed to make it to this chair which is right next to the bed and collapsed back. I took three more aspirins after eating spaghettios (first food in almost 30 hours... from the can without a spoon because I couldn't reach the spoons... the cans are right next to this chair) and then got into writing and uploading entries while the back went slightly numb.

So what did you do tonight? lol, ouch, lol. :)