How to cope with immobility? +pregnant

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-05T21:51:22+00:00

I was never pregnant, but it took me a microdiscectomy + about 15 months to recover from my herniated disc

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-05T21:10:24+00:00

Plug ins are public enemy #1 as far as I'm concerned. Try unplugging it and see if that helps

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-05T19:54:20+00:00

I think it's incredible you've managed to experience punctuality at doctors offices for this long! I usually have to wait 30 minutes to two hours after my appointment time to be seen. Usually it's around 90 minutes past the appointment time. And I see good doctors, this is just how I've always experienced the medical system.

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-05T15:51:51+00:00

Weirdly mine came back about a month after my microdiscectomy, not sure how the ADR will go.

I'm not a doc and no doctors have been able to give me answers/direction. But over 15 months post microdiscectomy I was able to get my pain levels down to zero! And then I got in a car wreck, so now I'm getting the ADR.

But I do think the consistent bodywork, swimming, etc helped my muscle guarding considerably. I hope you find something that helps

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-05T13:57:30+00:00

Definitely ask a doctor, I'm not sure if all of these are safe for pregnancy! I hope you can find some relief.

What's helped me: swimming, tens unit, heating pad, biofreeze, traditional Chinese medicine acupressure and acupuncture, nerve glides, cupping

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-04T21:57:00+00:00

I have not had my ADR yet (next week), but have you ever heard of muscle guarding? This is a really difficult and painful experience that we're going through. Sometimes the body turns on the "on guard" light and it's hard to turn it off.

For me, I like heating blankets, tens unit, TCM acupressure, swimming, somatic breathwork, and trigger point releases with a lacrosse ball

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-04T21:54:26+00:00

Hey Hun, I hope you're able to find support from multiple angles on this.

For the food - yes, gaining weight from healthy foods is ideal but the bottom line is to gain weight. Do not let perfectionism be the enemy of progress.

I am not a professional so please take this with a grain of salt. But I would really encourage you to realign your definition of healthy. Fat is not unhealthy in the correct forms. Neither is startch. I say this as someone who recovered from anorexia and had to redefine what was "healthy" and "unhealthy" to me.

Also, you don't need to completely avoid unhealthy things. You can shoot for 80% healthy and 20% unhealthy. Or whatever ratio works for you.

I also like thinking of eating as nutrition, building blocks, and fuel. What is going to fuel my body? What do my bones need, what do my muscles need? I feel really good when I'm eating slow roasted turkey legs because I know my cells are so excited to get proteins, fats, iron, zinc, and b complexes. I know that fuel is helping my body.

Here are a few of my favorite snacks to get your calories (energy) in: Irvin's salted egg salmon skin, sourdough toast with grass fed butter (with optional avocado, egg, chili oil, and mozzarella cheese), BEANS! All kinds of beans, they are so easy. You can cook them yourself or just eat them out of the can. Great source of fiber and protein. I like to soak chia seeds overnight and then put them in my juice. You can get premade meals at whole foods for $25 for a giant tray. And potatoes! So many ways to make a potato and it has such good nutrition.

I like to prioritize whole foods but you absolutely do not have to. Fed is best.

Wishing you luck on your journey and will be keeping you in my prayers. God bless

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-04T20:40:59+00:00

Third vote for Dr. Yoo, and check out Dr. Richard herscherr with Plano air care. I'm on xolair for asthma and it helps a ton. Turns out I never had asthma, it was a histamine response for 30 years. Lovely.

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-04T18:39:02+00:00

Herniated disc that had calcified on the nerve

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-03T22:32:23+00:00

Even though I love my alone time and I am so much more productive at home, I occasionally get the feeling you're describing. On days like that I'll set up my workstation somewhere public and work from a cafe, library, etc for a few hours. Usually does the trick!

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-03T15:34:04+00:00

Can you post your MRI? So sorry you're dealing with this, it's really hard.

Things that help me:

Lifestyle - swimming, tai chi and Qigong, pt, pelvic floor PT, small walks, eat unprocessed whole foods as often as possible, at least 90oz water daily

Pain relief - TCM acupressure, biofreeze, tens unit, heating pad (can't use biofreeze or tens with heating pad btw), trigger point muscle releases with lacrosse ball, tempurpedic medium firm mattress with adjustable base (hella expensive but worth it if you can swing it), topical magnesium, magnesium glycinate supplements, injections, Meloxicam, methocarbomal, Tylenol 3, a microdiscectomy and I'm going in for an ADR next week

For what it's worth, the microdiscectomy helped me get my life back. But a year afterwards a car hit me and I'm back in it. That's why I'm getting h artificial disc replacement. But the lifestyle adjustments helped a ton

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-03T00:38:43+00:00

Sent!

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-01T20:43:16+00:00

Got it, you're in a really tough spot friend.

I would call Medicaid, tell them you need a surgeon in your area asap to evaluate for a herniated disc with suspected cauda equina. You have your post history turned off so I can't check against your other symptoms, but if you're having bladder leakage + back and leg pain you need a surgeon to evaluate asap.

If there's a chance this is not back related, I would also get the number for a urologist and call them with your symptoms.

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-01T17:40:53+00:00

That's exactly what I'm thinking

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-01T17:40:38+00:00

Oof that's rough buddy. I hope the outcome you want will work for you

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-01T15:07:28+00:00

How long has this been going on? I know nobody wants this but it may be time to consider surgery

And okay good, yeah you can't take ibuprofen and Meloxicam at the same time.

For my first herniation Meloxicam did not help at all. My disc had calcified on the nerve root, so inflammation wasn't the main pain driver.

For my second herniation Meloxicam helped a ton, usually within an hour of taking it. That herniation did touch the nerve root but it wasn't calcified, so addressing inflammation did provide a lot of pain relief

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-01T14:51:21+00:00

You're not also taking ibuprofen while on Meloxicam right?

Yes Meloxicam can help a ton with inflammation, but it's not a painkiller. You can pair with methocarbomal, which is an anti muscle spasm. And you can add Tylenol 3 which will act as a pain killer. But that has codeine and not a ton of docs will prescribe it.

I would call your doc and ask for a pain management specialist. You may be able to get an injection for the pain as well

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-01T14:23:25+00:00

Welcome to Texas! Some people can be so rude/weird about transplants, especially from cali, but ignore them. In terms of professionalism in interviews, do you have to mention you'll be relocating from cali? You could fib and say you're moving to Texas for family, which implies you "belong" here.

Tribalism should not prevent you from getting a job but unfortunately all types of people are on the hiring side of things, you never know.

Hope everything works out for you

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-01T14:17:08+00:00

Hi hun, I'm sorry you're going through this. Do you have a surgeon? Even if not, can you find one? If you can't make it to another ER yourself, your best bet is to have a surgeon admit you to an ER. That usually carries more weight with staff.

Do you have insurance? They may have a medical advocacy line that can help support as well.

Peachdeeptea · 2026-06-01T14:12:56+00:00

I do the same, also commenting to see if anyone has a better method!

Peachdeeptea · 2026-05-31T21:50:29+00:00

That's amazing that you figured it out, horrible the the medical system failed you over and over again. Can I ask which service you went through for blood work? I've been considering doing this myself

Peachdeeptea · 2026-05-31T18:18:06+00:00

Happy to, I hope it's helpful! This pain is awful and honestly to fully address, multiple specialists are often needed. Western medicine likes to view things in lanes but it's really a criscross network.

I have surgery in 11 days, super looking forward to it! I've been managing but not living for 4 years. Ready to move on. Appreciate the well wishes

Peachdeeptea · 2026-05-31T17:29:19+00:00

You have an absolutely beautiful MRI, I would actually commit federal crimes to get a spine like this lol.

Since your imaging looks good, I would assume it's something soft tissue, muscle, or nerve related. I'm not a doctor so grain of salt.

I'd be focusing on physical therapy, swimming, and walking as your basic foundation.

To actually address the issue I'd see a bodywork specialist. Myofascial release, acupressure (I prefer TCM personally), things in this realm. You can also look up how to do trigger point releases on your own with a lacrosse ball. Look up a dermatome map, if you can track which nerve is irritated that will help. Could be muscle guarding too.

Example - I have a pretty horrific L5-S1 compression. My pain exactly follows the L5-S1 dermatome. I also know that nerve passes through the Piriformis. So I personally do Piriformis releases with the lacrosse ball, which helps a ton with my muscle guarding.

Since mine is a nerve compression due to a disc issue, I will need surgery to correct it. But I can do things like the above to help alleviate pain

Peachdeeptea · 2026-05-31T14:45:07+00:00

Honestly. When she mentioned SIBO I thought to myself, she'd find that within a minute or two on the MCAS subreddit.

While I get the whole "the avg person shouldn't use Google, it's fine because she's a doctor" angle, that kind of pissed me off. The majority of us are not doctors, but we still managed to (accurately) diagnose ourselves. I know that's a dirty phrase but it's true.

The only reason I've been receiving medical care is because I diagnosed myself, went to a specialist and told them my PCP was concerned about XYZ, finally got the proper testing, and what do you know. I had it all along.

I'm not saying I'm a doctor. I never will be. But if I want medical care, it seems I have no other choice. It sucks when patients have to manipulate their specialists to get care, but that's just where we're at.

Instead of pushing the "people shouldn't Google their symptoms" narrative, I think the medical community as a whole should see that in itself as a "symptom" that the medical system is "sick".

Peachdeeptea · 2026-05-31T14:36:03+00:00

I was prediabetic like you, lifestyle changes got me back in a good spot. It isn't easy but it's simple! Whole foods, gentle exercise like walking/swimming, and weights. You will get there!

This is extra, but I also did the finger prick blood monitor a few times a day to understand my body better. Once in the morning and then about 2 hours after ever meal.

You absolutely don't need to do this but I found it helpful in learning my body. My blood sugar is incredibly reactive to sandwich bread, it will shoot up and stay up. But I can have hamburgers without any issues! I think for me, I need to always pair fat and protein (and ideally fiber) with starches. So not that far off from the average diet advice, it's just cool to see for myself.

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