Having a hard time dealing with depression from injury.

I screwed up my back a month ago, and i can't workout anything at all until it heals properly, and i can't afford an MRI, so i just have to wait it out and pray, and keep taking these lousy ass meds. I was a very respectable 205 lbs. and 5'10", and now im 190 with a shrinking chest (a genetic weak point that i get from my father), 1/2 inch gone from my arms, my legs are hardly filling out my jeans, and all that hard work, and the obsessive supplement taking, and the 6 meals a day, that i had to do is all going out the window. I feel very unconfident in myself, and it sucks. I know i am still a good looking guy, but i feel incomplete without my muscle. Can anyone give me some advice, or can someone please tell me their sob story, and how they got through it? Thanks ahead of time.

Sorry to hear about your back problems. I never knew how important a healthy spine/nervous system could be until I injured mine in the military.

The day after surgery, I was back in the gym. I didn't lift heavy, I did a lot of cardio (especially stationary bicycle and walking) and I didn't do anything that caused pain in my back. I stretched a lot and once my surgical injuries healed, I found a really good chiropractor. Because I stayed active, I retained my muscle and shed bodyfat. As my back got better, I incorporated more leg work. Now, I'm able to squat and deadlift with no problems. It just takes a little time.

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Originally Posted by CSAR

Sorry to hear about your back problems. I never knew how important a healthy spine/nervous system could be until I injured mine in the military.

The day after surgery, I was back in the gym. I didn't lift heavy, I did a lot of cardio (especially stationary bicycle and walking) and I didn't do anything that caused pain in my back. I stretched a lot and once my surgical injuries healed, I found a really good chiropractor. Because I stayed active, I retained my muscle and shed bodyfat. As my back got better, I incorporated more leg work. Now, I'm able to squat and deadlift with no problems. It just takes a little time.

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so i should stay active eh? sounds good, i can do that. i am stretching a lot! unfortunately i can't afford surgery. did the military pay for yours?

Same thing happen to me awhile back bro, I herniated a disc wich also squeezed some of the cushing out that compressed against my syatic nerve, I could barely walk or sleep for that matter, anyway I laid/stood/sat you name it, it hurt.
After the DR saw my MRI he said I would need surgery, but I didn't have insurance so I couldnt do it anyhow. I waited and about 3 monthes after that it felt 100% better.
But even when I was still out of the weight room I didnt once stray from my diet.
The main thing is just take some time off from the gym, keep eating healthy and let that back heal. I am sure everyone on this bored who is serious about lifting has some type of back problem. I myself am going through a shoulder injury right now its been hurting for about 2 months. But I wouldn't worry about losing all your muscle, once you get back in the gym you will get it back quick. Muscle memory is a great thing :) Good look bro hope everything works out for you.

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Originally Posted by beatango2008

Same thing happen to me awhile back bro, I herniated a disc wich also squeezed some of the cushing out that compressed against my syatic nerve, I could barely walk or sleep for that matter, anyway I laid/stood/sat you name it, it hurt.
After the DR saw my MRI he said I would need surgery, but I didn't have insurance so I couldnt do it anyhow. I waited and about 3 monthes after that it felt 100% better.
But even when I was still out of the weight room I didnt once stray from my diet.
The main thing is just take some time off from the gym, keep eating healthy and let that back heal. I am sure everyone on this bored who is serious about lifting has some type of back problem. I myself am going through a shoulder injury right now its been hurting for about 2 months. But I wouldn't worry about losing all your muscle, once you get back in the gym you will get it back quick. Muscle memory is a great thing :) Good look bro hope everything works out for you.

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3 months rest really healed a herniated disk? wow! what all did you do? meds? exercise? eat certain foods? heat packs?

Well, I loaded up with about 4000mgsof IBroufen a day along with Icy-hot and bengay seemed to work pretty good also. at nights I would put a heating pad on it.
It was the most pain I ever went through in my entire life, I thought my life with lifting was over. But I do not recommend taking that much IB because it made me numb in certain places that wasn't cool lol. How much pain are you in now? is the pain in your lower back? can you rub where it hurts and feel a bump? if so you could have a herniated disc hopefully not though.

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Originally Posted by beatango2008

Well, I loaded up with about 4000mgsof IBroufen a day along with Icy-hot and bengay seemed to work pretty good also. at nights I would put a heating pad on it.
It was the most pain I ever went through in my entire life, I thought my life with lifting was over. But I do not recommend taking that much IB because it made me numb in certain places that wasn't cool lol. How much pain are you in now? is the pain in your lower back? can you rub where it hurts and feel a bump? if so you could have a herniated disc hopefully not though.

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No i actually cant rub where it hurts and there is no bump says my girlfriend who is a nurse. it isn't that bad anymore. in fact i dont even feel it when i walk i only feel it when i stand or sit still. it is in the lowest point on the back in the center on the left side only. thank you for your advice very much, i am about to strap on my heating pad right now. so if there isn't a bump, what is it most likely?

Can't really say for sure unless you had an MRI, but if the pain is not that great I would say you might of just pulled something or maybe slipted disc, because that is where mine hurt, the lower left side. How long has your back been hurting now one month you said?

the only reason I could feel the bumb on mine is because it was pushed out so far... :(

yeah it has only been hurting for one month and it was almost completely gone, and then i started on some anti-inflammatory meds like naproxen and a methylprednisolone pack and it came back on me so i'm like wtf? my girl said that it might even look slightly indented instead of bulging out like yours was so i dunno what that means. but ur telling me that 3 months of rest completely healed it right? please give me hope.

With a back injury i would give it more than enough time to heal. If you come back too soon and get hurt again where are you gonna be ?

Just sit home today and watch the phillies parade , GO PHILS !

Oh no your not a phil fan are you..... :(

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Originally Posted by beatango2008

Well, I loaded up with about 4000mgsof IBroufen a day along with Icy-hot and bengay seemed to work pretty good also. at nights I would put a heating pad on it.
It was the most pain I ever went through in my entire life, I thought my life with lifting was over. But I do not recommend taking that much IB because it made me numb in certain places that wasn't cool lol. How much pain are you in now? is the pain in your lower back? can you rub where it hurts and feel a bump? if so you could have a herniated disc hopefully not though.

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4000 miligrams of ibuprofen a day? Do you still have a stomach? :bs:

Sorry, I was a corpsman in the Navy. That much ibuprofen per day would eat through your stomach. And a herniated disc won't manifest itself through a "bump". Riddle me this Batman, how does a herniated disc push through layers of connective and muscle tissue to manifest itself as a "bump". You dudes giving quack medical advice should be banned.

The #1 indicator of a herniated disc or spinal injury is going to be pain, numbness, or loss of reflex in the legs and feet. The location of pain or numbness is so well-documented that you can tell which disc has been injured.

I completely ruptured my L5-S1 and herniated my L4-L5. Neither one manifested through a "bump". At the most, I took an 800mg "Ranger" tablet of ibuprofen along with medication to prevent ulcers. 4000 mg per day? Bullshit. Bullshit. Mea maxima bullshit.

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Originally Posted by beatango2008

oh no your not a phil fan are you..... :(

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go phillies !!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by DSM4Life

With a back injury i would give it more than enough time to heal. If you come back too soon and get hurt again where are you gonna be ?

Just sit home today and watch the phillies parade , GO PHILS !

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im a dallas cowboys fan, so i hate anything/everything philadelphia. philadelphia fans are the biggest prick @ssh0les in america, and yes even more than new york fans. a friend of mine was at a cowboys/eagles game and they tried to literally throw him off of a balcony in the stadium...it seriously could have killed him. i was on a cruise and an eagles fan splashed water in my face and in my margarita upon realizing i was a cowboys fan. i then proceeded to try to make him drink through a straw for a while, but i got pulled off.

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Originally Posted by kaptainkeezy04

yeah it has only been hurting for one month and it was almost completely gone, and then i started on some anti-inflammatory meds like naproxen and a methylprednisolone pack and it came back on me so i'm like wtf? my girl said that it might even look slightly indented instead of bulging out like yours was so i dunno what that means. but ur telling me that 3 months of rest completely healed it right? please give me hope.

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It is impossible to completely heal a back injury, especially herniations. That requires surgery. If you have a herniation, I recommend microdiscectomy and laminectomy. They use a scope to minimize the invasion, remove the herniated portion of the disc, insert a titanium or ceramic ring, and apply electrical shock or heat to fuse the disc back into the correct shape. As long as you don't develop a lot of scar tissue in the spine from the procedure, you can be up and going full tilt in about a month.

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Originally Posted by CSAR

4000 miligrams of ibuprofen a day? Do you still have a stomach? :bs:

Sorry, I was a corpsman in the Navy. That much ibuprofen per day would eat through your stomach. And a herniated disc won't manifest itself through a "bump". Riddle me this Batman, how does a herniated disc push through layers of connective and muscle tissue to manifest itself as a "bump". You dudes giving quack medical advice should be banned.

The #1 indicator of a herniated disc or spinal injury is going to be pain, numbness, or loss of reflex in the legs and feet. The location of pain or numbness is so well-documented that you can tell which disc has been injured.

I completely ruptured my L5-S1 and herniated my L4-L5. Neither one manifested through a "bump". At the most, I took an 800mg "Ranger" tablet of ibuprofen along with medication to prevent ulcers. 4000 mg per day? Bullshit. Bullshit. Mea maxima bullshit.

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4000 mgs definitely seemed on the high side. the most i would ever take is 2400 mgs a day, and that would be pushing it a little bit.

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Originally Posted by CSAR

4000 miligrams of ibuprofen a day? Do you still have a stomach? :bs:

Sorry, I was a corpsman in the Navy. That much ibuprofen per day would eat through your stomach. And a herniated disc won't manifest itself through a "bump". Riddle me this Batman, how does a herniated disc push through layers of connective and muscle tissue to manifest itself as a "bump". You dudes giving quack medical advice should be banned.

The #1 indicator of a herniated disc or spinal injury is going to be pain, numbness, or loss of reflex in the legs and feet. The location of pain or numbness is so well-documented that you can tell which disc has been injured.

I completely ruptured my L5-S1 and herniated my L4-L5. Neither one manifested through a "bump". At the most, I took an 800mg "Ranger" tablet of ibuprofen along with medication to prevent ulcers. 4000 mg per day? Bullshit. Bullshit. Mea maxima bullshit.

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Sorry man, you can think its BS all you want but I took 800mg every 4 hours about 4 times a day. And if you don't believe me about the herniated disc I can post my MRI's up for you, and you could deff feel the bumb in the back pushing outward. And I didn't tell him to take 4000mgs a day I said that is what I took for my problem, and suggest that he didnt take that much because it did have an advers affect.

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Originally Posted by kaptainkeezy04

im a dallas cowboys fan, so i hate anything/everything philadelphia. philadelphia fans are the biggest prick @ssh0les in america, and yes even more than new york fans. a friend of mine was at a cowboys/eagles game and they tried to literally throw him off of a balcony in the stadium...it seriously could have killed him. i was on a cruise and an eagles fan splashed water in my face and in my margarita upon realizing i was a cowboys fan. i then proceeded to try to make him drink through a straw for a while, but i got pulled off.

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Philly fans are nothing but dignified human beings, take a look at my other thread to prove this ( http://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-lounge-off-topic-discussion/364593-maybe-its-good-thing-its-been-28-years-since-win.html )

Dallas, ewwwww

I agree with you 100% they get really out of hand with the dallas/eagles. I had family members come down from CA to see a eagle /dallas game and they were going to wear dallas shirts. I honestly told them i wouldn't do into the stadium if they were wearing anything dallas. Not because i hate dallas but because i didn't want to see anything happen to them !

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Originally Posted by kaptainkeezy04

im a dallas cowboys fan, so i hate anything/everything philadelphia. philadelphia fans are the biggest prick @ssh0les in america, and yes even more than new york fans. a friend of mine was at a cowboys/eagles game and they tried to literally throw him off of a balcony in the stadium...it seriously could have killed him. i was on a cruise and an eagles fan splashed water in my face and in my margarita upon realizing i was a cowboys fan. i then proceeded to try to make him drink through a straw for a while, but i got pulled off.

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Yeah Philly fans are completely worthless. I have only been in S. Jersey for 2.5 years and I already despise them. Nothing but obnoxious, fair-weather, whiney-ass, disloyal jack-asses. Colin Cowherd did nothing but take calls from Philly fans yesterday and tell them all to stop saying FINALLY, like its been 50 years or something since they have won anything, and he's FROM Philly.....But back to the original post. I feel for you bro, I would feel exactly like you do if I was in your situation, weight-lifting and growing and the entire life-style become part of who you are and without it in your life, you feel empty, like part of you is missing. I would say the best advice is to just stay active like everyone else said. Whatever you can do that is physically active, walking, jogging, golf, tennis, basketball. If you are physically able to do anything, then do it. Other than that I would say just try to eat as healthy as humanly possible and keep your carbs down if your not going to be doing any kind of physical activity......And post on here a lot. One thing ive learned from this site is that, whatever you have been thru, someone on here has been thru the same thing.

I fell for ya bro just hang in there and give your self PLENTY of time when you start back do it very slowly. I had a injury in the military and it still effects the way i can workout to this very day and yes i still get frustrated with it the main thing is i no longer squat or deadlift would have been much better but goofy ass military docs screwed me up they did not know what the hell they were doing they performed 2 surgeries and had me on crutches for 2 years they wanted to do a 3rd but the hell with that found a god civilian doc and he fixed me up,anyway bro hang in their i know its seems like everything you done was for nothing but when you come back it will be fairly quick.

thanks for all the advice guys i really appreciate it. my back is killing me today and i dont know why. this sucks.

dont fall off your diet!

that will help you keep what you got...falling off will set you back that much further.

take your time, rest, let it heal. even when it feels better, give it more time...

if you screw your back up forever, then you're screwed. you have a LIFETIME to get back at it, but if you screw yourself up forever - you're done....

I had shoulder surgery 7 months ago and it still isn't healed. My left arm is noticably smaller, and everything else has gotten smalled. 4 years of hard work down the drain, and I am getting fat. It is all very depressing, especially considering how much I paid for my surgery and the fact that it might not have worked.

I don't have any motivation to keep to a diet either, so everything has gone down the shitter.

I would just focus on a good maintenance diet to keep as much as possible. I wouldn't sweat it really, muscle memory is your friend.

bro Ive had a shoulder op and torn quad op. You wanna talk bout depression...think about not working for 3 months, just stuck at home. Not to mention the pain......and all the gains you made before are vanishing...Its tough brother, just hang in there, you'll get better soon.

Hey once again I am truly greatful to you all. This board has a lot of good guys that look out for eachother, and i appreciate it.