u/Artistic_Hour7450

I posted about my chronic back pain about a month ago in the r/askdoctors subreddit, I got some great advice but my symptoms worsened and my doctors still have no clue what’s wrong.

I’m 18F and last time I checked I weighed about 127 and i’m 5’8. I thought I had hurt my lower back at a dance camp in July of 2025 but it turns out all of my tests came back negative for anything damaged so I just did PT. My lower back has been getting worse since January of 2026 and now I am wheelchair bound as the pain makes me unable to walk.

So far i’ve seen spine surgeons, rheumatologists, sports medicine and orthopedic specialists, neurologists, pain management specialists, and OBGYN’s and nobody can figure out why my back hurts so badly.

It feels like a sharp pain in the middle of my lower back that’s worse with movement or prolonged sitting or laying in a position. Standing makes the pain skyrocket and walking is so excruciating. Not to mention the fact that my legs feel like gummy worms and it hurts my back to pick my feet up. I have numbness in my feet but it’s not constant it’s really only worsened with movement.

I’m writing in here again because for the past two weeks I’ve had excruciating abdominal pain constantly. At first I assumed it was constipation, my diet changed a lot since moving back in with my parents and being unable to cook for myself since I cannot reach any appliances, but I can barely stomach anything except bread and tea. I take fiber supplements to offset my lack of nutrients and because i’m struggling to drink water due to how nauseous it makes me, I got some of those probiotic sodas. It feels higher up than a normal stomachache, like across my bellybutton. I’ve been taking laxatives because I’ve been feeling like I don’t have the urge to go anymore and it’s worrying me a lot because it doesn’t ease my stomach pain. It’s not sharp it’s kinda like someone punched me in the gut right below my chest.

I was taking cyclobenzaprine to help me sleep because no pain medication has worked for my back thus far except IV tramadol and morphine and It’s way too strong for me. I can hardly sleep anymore because if it’s not my back giving me extreme pain it’s my stomach.

I never really have stomachaches so this is the worst, on top of the excruciating back pain I’ve been in the ER at least 1-2x a week. I’m lactose intolerant and I love ice cream but this feels way different.

I’ve gotten every test in the book related to my back pain, MRI of the full spine + SI joint, SPECT scan, CT of the brain, blood tests for infection, and tests for inflammation and nothing has come back conclusive except mild anemia (which is not consistent as sometimes my results come back as anemic and other times i’m in normal range) and a vitamin D deficiency back in February that I have since gotten back to normal. I’ve gotten EMG nerve conduction tests done and my doctors even looked for sciatica. I looked into psychological reasons however even when I was put on an SSRI my back was still hurting + nothing traumatic has happened to me other than me feeling terrible 24/7

I’ve only gotten blood tests for kidney, liver, gallbladder and thyroid function for my stomach pain while I was in the ER. Those all came back beyond normal.

I’m posting this again because I have new symptoms and I feel like I’m going in circles with specialists my pcp keeps sending me off to. All of the specialists send me to a different specialist because they don’t think it has anything to do with them. I feel the worst that I have since I started having back pain and the abdominal pain is making it worse.

Is there anything I should look into? Tests that I should get or a specialist that might be able to help me? This mystery illness is destroying my life. I’m exhausted. Thank you.

I posted about my chronic back pain about a month ago in this subreddit, I got some great advice but my symptoms worsened and my doctors still have no clue what’s wrong.

I’m 18F and last time I checked I weighed about 127 and i’m 5’8. I thought I had hurt my lower back at a dance camp in July of 2025 but it turns out all of my tests came back negative for anything damaged so I just did PT. My lower back has been getting worse since January of 2026 and now I am wheelchair bound as the pain makes me unable to walk.

So far i’ve seen spine surgeons, rheumatologists, sports medicine and orthopedic specialists, neurologists, pain management specialists, and OBGYN’s and nobody can figure out why my back hurts so badly.

It feels like a sharp pain in the middle of my lower back that’s worse with movement or prolonged sitting or laying in a position. Standing makes the pain skyrocket and walking is so excruciating. Not to mention the fact that my legs feel like gummy worms and it hurts my back to pick my feet up. I have numbness in my feet but it’s not constant it’s really only worsened with movement.

I’m writing in here again because for the past two weeks I’ve had excruciating abdominal pain constantly. At first I assumed it was constipation, my diet changed a lot since moving back in with my parents and being unable to cook for myself since I cannot reach any appliances, but I can barely stomach anything except bread and tea. I take fiber supplements to offset my lack of nutrients and because i’m struggling to drink water due to how nauseous it makes me, I got some of those probiotic sodas. It feels higher up than a normal stomachache, like across my bellybutton. I’ve been taking laxatives because I’ve been feeling like I don’t have the urge to go anymore and it’s worrying me a lot because it doesn’t ease my stomach pain. It’s not sharp it’s kinda like someone punched me in the gut right below my chest.

I was taking cyclobenzaprine to help me sleep because no pain medication has worked for my back thus far except IV tramadol and morphine and It’s way too strong for me. I can hardly sleep anymore because if it’s not my back giving me extreme pain it’s my stomach.

I never really have stomachaches so this is the worst, on top of the excruciating back pain I’ve been in the ER at least 1-2x a week. I’m lactose intolerant and I love ice cream but this feels way different.

I’ve gotten every test in the book related to my back pain, MRI of the full spine + SI joint, SPECT scan, CT of the brain, blood tests for infection, and tests for inflammation and nothing has come back conclusive except mild anemia (which is not consistent as sometimes my results come back as anemic and other times i’m in normal range) and a vitamin D deficiency back in February that I have since gotten back to normal. I’ve gotten EMG nerve conduction tests done and my doctors even looked for sciatica. I looked into psychological reasons however even when I was put on an SSRI my back was still hurting + nothing traumatic has happened to me other than me feeling terrible 24/7

I’ve only gotten blood tests for kidney, liver, gallbladder and thyroid function for my stomach pain while I was in the ER. Those all came back beyond normal.

I’m posting this again because I have new symptoms and I feel like I’m going in circles with specialists my pcp keeps sending me off to. All of the specialists send me to a different specialist because they don’t think it has anything to do with them. I feel the worst that I have since I started having back pain and the abdominal pain is making it worse.

Is there anything I should look into? Tests that I should get or a specialist that might be able to help me? This mystery illness is destroying my life. I’m exhausted. Thank you.