Susan
Sara, I am sorry to hear that you have suffered in pain and nothing seems to be helping you. I do understand. I have been trying to keep going day after day for the last 7 and a half years with daily bursa pain in both hips, right worse than left and the illiotibial bands are very tender and get to feeling like they are swelling when the weather changes or if it rains or if I try and do any moving around. I get worse after I take my pain meds and get some relief and then try and get something done around the house or try and cook dinner and I end up paying with more pain and I never can seem to finish dinner without having to get off my feet and prop my legs up. It is so hard to get things done. You never know when you are going to feel a little better or have a severe flare. My pain level goes from a 2 or 3 if the pain meds are working and it is a nice sunny day without humidity to a 8 or 9, all in a day. It gets so frustrating and you don't get used to the pain, you learn how to try and cope with it. I have had two bursectomy operations and both failed. It was never picked up on mri, but they sure saw it when they cut into me. The last surgery, the dr. said I had so much inflammation and scar tissue that he could not get through all of it to cut out enough of the it band or bursa which does grow back. I do have some other things going on and I fell two months ago and injured my coccyx so I can't sit for long, I didn't need that. My sacrum is very tender and I have some slippage on the L-5 but I lived with that until I fell. I have tenderness on the illiac areas and now when I lay down on my back, I feel like I am compressing a nerve and it feels like it is kind of a tingly pain that runs down the back of my leg but I am hoping that will ease up since I fell in July and I hope that will get better. I can't sleep on either side as well with the bursa pain. The pain management dr. is talking about putting in a neurotransmitter. I do use a tens on low because on high it hurts the it bands and the bursa. He also said he could do the radiofrequency but I read the pain can return worse and it only works on back pain so I don't think it is worth it since I need the bursa pain to calm down. He thought the neurotransmitter would help the leg pain so I do think I am going to do it because I am so tired of being on all the medication, it makes me tired all the time and it doesn't help that well or as long as it should. You are welcome to write to me .