Okay, so on my "good" days, I wake up not feeling so bad. I get up and start doing my daily work. I work from home since my "bad" days out number my "good", and I can't seem to hold a job because of it. Anyway, I start washing clothes, dishes, cleaning the house, start my office work, which includes answering the phone (my husband owns his own plumbing business), filing paperwork, emailing customers, mailing invoices, etc. By the time my boys get home from school around 4pm, I am ready for bed. I am so exhausted and I hurt so bad in my neck/back/spine that I don't even want to cook supper. Then, for the next couple days, I'll be so tired and in so much pain that I don't really do anything! Then, I'll wake up feeling good! yay! The cycle starts all over.....
I had decompression surgery last year on Sept. 9th. Many symptoms are creeping back, including the fatigue, which never really went away after surgery.
Just wondering if anyone else has these roller coaster days......
Txmom, I can’t remember if we’ve talked about this- but have you evaluated yourself for Ehlers Danlos? Google Brighton Criteria and Beighton Criteria. That office work requires you to have your flexed downward most of the time, it’s possible that may be causing or contributing to the building pain and fatigue by the afternoon. If you do have neck issues, like instability or degenerative disk disease, wearing a cervical collar might help. When I was suspected of having neck issues my NS had me wear a cervical collar that was tall enough to limit my head from bending forward and back- day and night with limited breaks. I started with a soft collar and graduated to a ridged collar over time. I could tell a difference within one full day.
I feel the same way. I had surgery march 2014 but I do feel some issues still. If I keep my head down or back for periods it hurts like crazy. I do have a deginerative disc, protruding disc and bulging disc. I work at a desk all day looking at papers on my desk or looking at second computer screen.
thanks for the replies! I just went and read about Ehlers Danlos. I don't seem to fit any of those symptoms. The Brighton Criteria talked all about being overly flexible, and I am not flexible nor "double-jointed" AT ALL. The only thing I had on that list was varicose veins. LoL! My neck doesn't feel unstable; it just hurts.....like I need to pop it. The same thing with my back. I always tell my husband that my "back strap" hurts. LoL! From my neck all the way down my spine to almost my tailbone, I am in constant pain. Some days are better than others, but it always hurts. If I bow my head, either while sitting or standing, I feel an uncomfortable "pull" all the way down my spine. I can neither sit nor stand for long periods of time. My husband will laugh because he will come home sometimes and I'm just standing in the middle of the floor watching tv! It's because I started hurting from sitting, so I just stood up for a while! LoL!
I am just reading about how you describe your neck and spine pain and was so there. I have had spinal pain that just doesn't go away for along time (sad to say I am old enough now for it to be decades) and have seen lots of different folks for it with no answers as to the why nor, more importantly, what to do about it! I was given a new approach where I do these neurodynamic exercises that work on normalizing the dural membrane in my spine and nerves. So far, I am pleased. I do not know if, once I am done the plan, I will be done the exercises for good or if I will have to do a maintenance program. Either way, the decreased (and sometimes gone!) pain has been great.
Maybe you need to give yourself more rest? I find the more rested I am, the better I am at handling the fatigue (4 months post-op myself. Hang in there !!