pain with als

[shreejc]

Back Pain

Hi everybody,
I'm new to this forum...don't know whether I am posting my query at the right place...

My Mom who's been diagnosed in 2003, has now difficulty in even sitting on a chair for long durations...she experiences severe back pain...
She is also almost immobile...hardly able to stand up...I was going through the methods to alleviate pain...isn't there any other way than painkillers, knowing how bad they are for health...I don't want my Mom to be dependent on sedatives/painkillers unless it is absolutely required...
Can anyone help me out?

 

[liz]

Hi Shreejc -

It might be easier for us to make suggestions if you give us a few details about your mother's situation. If she currently connected with an ALS Center? Does she have access to physical therapy? Is she at home or in a facility?

I imagine this is very trying for both of you. I hope you can find some of the answers you're looking for here.

Liz

 

[shreejc]

Hi Liz,

My Mom is not connected to any ALS Centre simply becoz we don't have one at the small town where our home is. She is at home, with my father primarily taking care of her...since I am mostly at work.

She does her physical therapy, or rather there is a therapist who comes n excercises her limbs...

-JC

 

[MtPockets]

Someone told me that some of the pain I feel in the morning is due to the build up of Lactic Acid in the muscles, because I do not move at all in my sleep. I wake up on the same side, back or whatever I go to sleep on so there is no muscle movement during the night. No relief for the pressure points.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I do know the pain in the low back is greatest first thing in the morning and begins to ease off a little as I get out of bed and into my wheelchair.

Since it usually takes about 30 minutes or more for any of my pain meds to start to kick in, I feel the repositioning of the muscles and changing of the pressure points of the weight of my body must have something to do with the whole thing.

God Bless
Capt AL

 

[vantec]

I too, have bad pain in my back when I wake up, and I don't move all night from the position that I went to bed in. If I sit in a chair during the day, in about 1/2 hour, my back pain gets worse. The only relief I get is standing up, but I can only stand for about 5 minutes, and I have to sit down again. I sure wish my doctor would give me some pain medication.

Conrad

 

[Al]

Before I got my power chair I took the gel seat off the manual chair and used it for sitting in the chairs in the house. Just put it on top of the regular cushion and being higher makes it easier to get up as well.
AL.

 

[patricia1]

Hi guys I am having shoulder pain at night right in the joint it hurts alot but after i get up it goes away. I go for PT and they move my arms and that is very painful I dont think he is helping me. He tells me I have to move my arms in bed but they are so weak I hardly move them. Its a vicious circle I guess. Pat

 

[MtPockets]

Another great idea from AL. Thanks AL.
God Bless
Capt. AL;-)

 

[vantec]

Hi Al,

I was using a soft cushion on my chair, but my buttocks still hurt. Yesterday I took a Tempurpedic pillow, and put that on my chair. It helped the pain a lot, but I think I'm going to need a gel seat, to get total relief. I don't know what to do about my back pain, but thanks for the gel seat idea.

Conrad

 

[liz]

Does anybody apply heat for their back pain or discomfort? I do this for the aches in my hands, arms, and back and it helps a lot. Never consulted a doctor about it though.

Liz

 

[patricia1]

I go for PT and they put heat on my shoulders and it helps so does ice Pat

 

[CindyM]

Back when I could excercise I used to get into the hot tub after a workout. I kept going to the gym until the Physical therapist advised me to stop, and by that time the warm water was the thing that helped the most. Makes me wonder if we shouldn't get one, since it seemed to help so much! Cindy

 

[Al]

I use a small heating pad sometimes. Hot tubs are great but hard to breathe in if you sit up to your neck and have breathing issues. AL.

 

[CindyM]

Ah! I knew there was a reason nobody mentions them much on this forum. Well, I can quit saving for that expense! Cindy

 

[ltr]

For some odd reason, whenever I have sat in a hot tub, I am weaker afterward. I also seem to get some nausea. So, I'm one of the very few on earth who hate them! Leslie