# experiences with back pain



## lottapounds (Jan 15, 2012)

Hi, I found this forum when I was searching for information about what experiences other fatties have with their health. I have been having constant back pain for at least a year now. I have been to the doctor several times for it. He says it is because of my weight and I need to lose weight. I lost about 20 pounds and had x rays and did pilates but it didn't help at all. I am at 370 now and am 5'10. I asked the doctor what he would tell someone at a less luscious weight with the same pain, but he is convinced it is because I am fat. I am convinced that the doctor is a quack and racist against fat people and wish i could go to someone else, but i have the insurance of the poor and don't have many options. 

Since it started, I have lost a lot of mobility and can only stand and walk for about 10 minutes. I don't really know any other people as heavy as i am, so i don't know if this is normal. Is it normal? Or are other people this size able to live without everyday pain? I have read some other posts about it but was curious about what other people feel. Thanks for your time.


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## auntiemoo (Jan 15, 2012)

Well I can only speak for myself but I think what your doctor is saying is true. I recently had to have a panniculectomy - which is the removal of my stomach apron below the belly button, in order to have a hip replacement. I will tell you that previously I had constant low back pain which I attributed to the hip arthritis. But since the panniculectomy I have no low back pain whatsoever. It has completely disappeared. So I do believe that the weight does cause the pain - at least in my case. P.S. I haven't had the hip replacement yet so that had nothing to do with the back pain.


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## lottapounds (Jan 15, 2012)

@auntiemoo thanks for your thoughtful reply. I did pilates to strengthen core abdominal muscles, and my panniculus is relatively small, so i don't know if that would apply. But I am glad it helped you. Good luck with your hip replacement...you will be new and improved


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## Tracyarts (Jan 16, 2012)

There is some truth in what your doctor is telling you. Whether that's the problem in your particular case, I don't know. But for at least some large people with chronic lower back pain, weight loss does indeed improve the condition.

I was somewhere in the mid 300's weight range when I had a car wreck and pulled some of the muscles in my back. But because of the size of my belly, and the strain the weight of it was putting on my back, the injury never healed. The more I hurt, the more sedentary I became. The more sedentary I became, the more weight I gained. The more weight I gained, the more I hurt. And on and on and on... in a vicious cycle of hurting, sitting, and gaining. 

I spent thousands of dollars on insurance copays, but no doctor, specialist, or alternative practicioner could find anything wrong with me aside from muscle strain, that was being exacerbated by my weight and the size of my belly. They all told me to lose weight. I demanded alternative treatments. They offered me whatever they could. Prescription pain medications did not help. Precription muscle relaxers did not help. Physical therapy did not help. Alternative pain medications did not help. Alternative therapies did not help. When nothing I tried had helped, I decided to try the treatment option they had all reccomended from the start, and set about losing some weight. 

It took 40 pounds before I started to feel a noticeable level of improvement, but I did start to feel improvement, so I kept at it. At 100 pounds down it's now improved to the point where I can be on foot for up to a half hour at a time before having to sit and rest my back and only need to use a wheelchair on exceptionally bad pain days. At the worst point, I could only be on foot for about five minutes before the pain overwhelmed me and I needed a wheelchair any time I left my home. So, this is a very significant improvement. 

The only advice I can give to you, based on your specific situation, is that x-rays don't necessarily show all the details and you should try and push for a more detailed diagnosis. But, sometimes it's impossible to find diagnositic imaging centers that will accomodate a larger patient, and doctors who will work with you to figure out exactly why you're hurting. I would still exhaust all the resources you have access to though, to try and find out what's going on and what your treatment options are. Even if it all comes back to weight loss being your best treatment option, you need to push for something to help you hurt less NOW and that can hold you over if you want to try and keep looking for more options.

Tracy


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## Webmaster (Jan 16, 2012)

Back pain can happen to anyone at any weight. It is one of the most common debilitating ailments. I have no doubt that many doctors will simply blame it on weight, whether or not it can realistically be considered a contributing factor. What I do know is that I suffered from debilitating back pain for years and I am 6 foot and 160 pounds. There were episodes where the pain was so intense as to be immobilizing. There was one episode where I stood next to my rental car in a parking garage in Chicago for a full two hours, with the car's door open, because I was unable to move even a fraction of an inch, and my existence was reduced to staying absolutely still so as to not bring on the next wave of excruciating pain.

Doctors had no answer. Some talked about collapsed vertebrae and back operations, others of pinched nerves, etc., all requiring back operations. I tried chiropractic care three different times. The first time it brought relief that leveled out after a few sessions. The second and third time it only seemed to make matters worse. I eventually resigned myself to living with chronic pain. 

Then the back pain vanished. Overnight. And never came back. That was about ten years ago. 

Go figure. There is no moral to the story, just that anything can happen. And that doctors don't always have the answer.


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## lottapounds (Jan 16, 2012)

Well thanks for your replies. I hate to concede that maybe the doctor is right, but I guess it is plausibleSorry about your accident Tracy. I am glad you have found some relief. It is great that your life is improving and you have found a respite from such terrible pain. I am kind of at the point where I am trying to decide if I should try to lose more weight or if I should resign myself to limited mobility and call the scooter store, since the commercials make is look so glamorous I could join a gang of rascal or jazzy owners for synchronized scooter dancing on Staten island like that one commercial

@webmaster: I am glad your pain is gone as well. I guess whatgets my goat is that it is based on appearances and when they see a fatty with back pain their first assumption is weight problems, and the first step in their treatment algorithm is weight loss, especially since I have told the doctor, when he told me before that I should lose weight, that I like being fat and that he was a fatty hater. I have been to a couple other doctors around town but none of them have much of a sense of humor and all take offense when I use terms like fatty hater. Thanks for your story, I think all the best stories are devoid of morality


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## Miss Vickie (Jan 16, 2012)

You didn't really say what kind of criteria the doctor used to diagnose you, and that would interest me before saying whether your back pain is related to weight. Your back is a complex combination of muscle, nerves, bones and connective tissue that holds the whole thing together with discs of connective tissue between each vertebra. Did they do any imaging like x rays or MRI? Testing of your range of motion?

Does weight contribute to back problems? Absolutely. It places stress on those discs and depending on where and how you carry your weight it can place strain on the muscles holding up your spine and throw off your posture and make back pain much worse. If your abdominal muscles are weak, your back's stability is compromised which can cause pain.

So my question is does your doctor think your pain is from muscle strain, disc pain, or are your vertebrae rubbing against each other? Do you have any neurological problems like urinary incontinence, weakness in your arms or legs or a limp, pain radiating down one or both legs, or numbness and tingling in your legs or feet? If so, that means there is nerve involvement, either from the disc squeezing the nerve, or possibly the disc being trapped by bones in your back. These symptoms cannot be left unaddressed while weight loss happens (or not) because nerve function is compromised.

If your doctor does think it's related to your weight, what is he or she offering in terms of exercise or physical therapy? Have you been referred for physical therapy? Physical therapists are excellent at determining the exact nature of the pain and helping you find ways to strengthen your back safely, without making things worse. However, most insurance companies require referral so you'll need your physician's cooperation, and if he wants you to lose weight, being able to move without pain is really conducive to weight loss.

For some people, weight loss can make things better; that certainly worked for me. However, for some people it can make it worse for a time while the body adjusts to being carried differently. However, often back pain doesn't get better from weight loss alone, and the specialist who came and talked to our class last week said that they don't recommend weight _loss solely to stop back pain _because it's such a complex problem. Even if you did lose weight you still need to strengthen the weak supporting structures or you'll likely have the same problem continue.

Other things to keep in mind are whether you have other joint problems, which can throw your gait off to the point where they can worsen back problems. So think about that as well. And be sure to wear good, supportive shoes because everything starts at the feet.

Hope this helps.


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## lottapounds (Jan 18, 2012)

Thanks for your reply Miss Vickie. You are a great help and a good source of information. I can tell you are paying attention in your class  

Before the x rays, he made me lift my legs while i was on the exam table and said it was probably sciatica. But they have never really determined what the sciatica was from, and when i went about the xrays he talked about nerve pain. I thought if it was just from the weight then the dieting and exercising i tried would have helped by now. 

Maybe i should try to see a specialist instead of my general practicioner. Physical therapy would probably be a good option to persue...thanks for giving me the idea. I appreciate your time and knowledge.


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## moore2me (Jan 18, 2012)

Lottapounds,

I strongly recommend you try water exercise to strengthen core abdomial muscles and back flexibility. Water aerobics really helped my back when it was hurting and the instructors can give you some activities to work on that will let you work in the water at waist level so you don't need to be able to swim or even get your hair wet. Many pools have classes before work, after work, weekends, etc. Many hospitals and universities have pools to that you can have access to with a doctor's prescription.


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## lottapounds (Jan 21, 2012)

thanks moore2me. I have actually been thinking of that. I am glad it helped you  I have lost like, 25 pounds by now and it still hurts, so i might try water aerobics next.


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## cobalt_butterfly (Jan 26, 2012)

try looking up sciatica specific exercises.
I've had mild sciatica for 2 years now (injury caused) and the simple exercises feel like hell but for about an hour after i don't hurt
My favourite means leaning on a door frame or wall and sliding into an invisible chair and up again about 5 times, when i first started to do this i could only do it once and then i fell over, on really bad days i do it in the corner near the bed
Unfortunatly because the sciatic nerve runns through the hip/buttock area sitting for an extended period makes it much worse
Sciatica is characterised by pain and numbness starting in the lower back and going down the outside of one leg often all the way to your feet, you can get it in both legs especially if you end up standing on and lifting with the one that dosn't intially hurt.


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