Hi GiGi,
It is nice to meet you. I was 24 when I got the diagnosis that I had a progressive form of degenerative disc/joint disease. That was 27 years ago. (oops I just told my age) 🙂 It can be extremely hard when one is so young, as there are many who will say you are too young to hurt so bad. Crazy I know but I heard that for 3 years before I finally found a doctor who listened to me and ordered the right tests.
I have never had back surgery. The specialists that I saw at the University of Birmingham (UAB) in Alabama told me that I was not a candidate for surgery due to how progressive the disease was. Over the years there have been numerous other diagnoses like, sciatica, neuropathy, Rheumatoid arthritis just to name a couple but we can talk about that later if you want. Right now we are talking about you and I do understand exactly how you feel re:losing the mind.
I went many years not having anyone to talk to that truly understood what I was going through. My spouse was very supportive and helped me when he was not working. We had 3 small children all under the age of 7 years old when I first got the diagnosis. In all honestly I think having the kids helped me learn to deal with a high pain tolerance. I had to take care of them there was no one else. We had no family in Alabama.
I am here for you all the way. I am always happy to meet new people and make new friends. You are not alone! There are really great folks here at TPC who care and support. I have found that the hosted chat they have here on Monday-Wednesday-Friday is so wonderful. You get to talk to people who truly understand a journey of pain. It is an hour of talking and supporting each other. We have our serious moments but we also share much laughter. The chats are at 11am eastern time.
I look forward to getting to know you.
Take care,
Noki4