back spasms

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I need advice on a new symptom I'm having. Really bad back spasms. My surgical

history:

2004 decompressed, VP shunt

2006 detethered, shunt tied off

I've been moving along, ignoring my milder pain issues for years. My headaches

do seem to gradually be worsening. I'm pretty determined not to have surgery

for at least a couple of more years (I have a 2 year old).

About 8 months ago, I started having horrible back pain. And I really thought

it was a kidney stone. I was hospitalized for 8 days when I was pregnant and

remember the feeling. This pain was very similar - but more evenly disbursed on

both sides. My first visit was to the ER one night. They ran scans and found

nothing. They suggested I might have some condition (can't remember the name)

that is triggered by spinal taps (some form of phantom neuralgia pain that has

no cause). Luckily, the pain went away after a couple of weeks (I was still

thinking maybe I passed a stone they didn't see).

A couple of months later, the pain flared again. I went back to my doc,

insisting it was a kidney stone. She ordered all kinds of tests. I was about

halfway thru the tests when it suddenly hit me: I wonder if this could be a

muscle spasm.

So I asked her for flexeril and voila - pain gone! I've discovered I need two

before bed every night to keep the pain at bay. I ran out of flexeril last

Thursday and by Sunday night I was in horrible pain. I got my refil last night

and am slowly getting back to normal - but my back feel like someone beat the

heck out of me.

So my questions for you all are... Have you heard of this symptom? Is it

associated with OTCS? Could it be an indicator I need to be detethered again?

Is there a good home remedy I can try? I have tried stretching - doesn't seem

to help .

Thanks,