I'm sorry I didn't make it clear, Linda. I can see where someone who is concerned with an injury to a different area might not understand exactly what I was saying.The injury was to the disc and the sciatic nerve which was and is still severly pinched. The nerve runs the length of the leg and fires off impulses all along the nerve. Without the meds it is like the leg is on fire. With the meds the pain is damped down to an endurable level. This is on top of Fibro. The frustration is I can't do anything. Just try to carry a cup of coffee when you are on crutches or get the groceries into the house, or hang up clothes from the dryer. And that doesn't include the pain involved. I can get the dishes into the dishwasher but I can't empty it. If something is on the floor I can't pick it up. Forget about running the vacumn cleaner. The floors are filthy. The plants I brought into the house before the injury are mostly still sitting where they were put 'temporarily'. The ones that went into the basement where I have lights set up I haven't seen since October 13 since I can't manage the stairs. Thank goodness we don't have a two story house. I did manage to attach an indoor hose (1/4 inch)to the kitchen faucet to keep things watered upstairs but it is an embarrassment to have it running across the livingroom floor because I can't roll it up when it's not in use. I have so many ceramic pots in the yard that will be destroyed by the weather since I can't get them in. It makes me sick. How do you find someone to just pick things up and put them away? If I knew how to find them I would be glad to pay them but the closest I have come was to pay $12 an hour to get the leaves collected and bagged and that seems a bit excessive. I know housekeepers are expensive so maybe I am expecting too much. Is that the norm? If it is, I'll shut up. I have managed to get to the store a few times and I bless the ones that provide electric carts. They are amazing. Whatever did people do before they were invented. It still takes forever and I am exhaused when I get home but it is a real lift to the spirits when you can get out and accomplish something. I found a heavy duty cart at Harbor Freight that works to get the groceries from the car to the kitchen. It is strong enough to support me and big enough to carry most of the groceries in one trip. I park it by the door and DH complains it is in the way. What else can I do to make things easier? Sandy

I think the emphasis should be on strengthening your abdominal muscles and your buttocks. If you strengthen those muscles you put less of a burden on your lower back. And you definitely need to stretch your lower back. But you have to be very careful not to overdo that -- best to get a book written by a physical therapist that can walk you through the steps -- what to do and what not to do. And you need to get in the habit of stretching your back GENTLY every day. If you are prone to lower back problems -- if you have had them on more than two or three occasions, and they made you very uncomfortable -- you should also get some guidance on simple things we usually don't think about, like how to sit and get up from a chair or from bed, how to get into a car without twisting yourself in such a way that you put extra stress on your lower back, how to bend down to pick something up (bend you knees and keep your back straight). Lower back problems are very very common. It's one of the prices we pay for being upright creatures. But you can reduce their frequqncy and intensity by following the rules. If you go to webmd.com you might get some hints on the kind of books that might be helpful. Or just browse around in you public library or a bookstore. Good luck.

You need to know what is causing the pain. Muscles, nerves, pinched spinal cord, slipped disc or what. By doing the wrong thing you can irritate rather than help. Have you seen a doctor? PB

To repeat some of what I've said earlier in multiple posts, I've taken a multi-faceted approach: sunlight therapy light for 30 minutes each morning during the shorter winter months making sure to eat healthily, esp. lots of legumes exercise (which for me also includes social partner dancing...not only provides exercise but physical interaction and music!) bamboo sheets have greatly helped with night sweats. I sleep much better. join a menopause support group or else start your own such Meetup group (I did, in NYC!) I take Rainbow Light Menopause One make it a point to be social....to get out of the house and be around other people. Go for walks...be around nature. If you are a night owl (like me), try your best to change your schedule little by little. Waking up earlier and going to bed earlier means you will have more waking hours in the natural light, and fewer waking hours in the dark, which in turn helps with serotonin levels and mood. Talk to a shrink if you are depressed and/or try to engage in cognitive therapy on your own. Be aware of how you are able to somewhat impact your own mood. For e.g., I noticed a pattern, whereby I was constantly assessing my mood multiple times per day. 'Am I feeling depressed right now?....Yup, I am. I am indeed feeling down...just like I was earlier today...just like I was yesterday. Ugh.' I realized that in doing that, I was then creating a sub-conscious 'reality' for myself, that if I am feeling down today, and I felt 'down' yesterday, and the day before that, that it stands to reason that tomorrow, and the next day, will also be the same. And how on earth can I expect to be in a good mood, if I believe this to be my reality, for the foreseeable future? Talk about creating a sense of doom for oneself. ;-) So.... I realized that this thought pattern I was exhibiting was not serving me one iota. Of course, we all know the expression of 'living in the moment'. I decided to purposefully try this at every moment of every day. 'Oh, doesn't this cup of coffee taste so good?.... this is so great that I just finished this work spreadsheet on my computer...I can now cross this off my to-do list.... this is great... Oh, this is a great song I'm listening to ...this salad I'm eating tastes so fresh!.... don't my two cats look so cute sleeping together..." And so on. By doing this, at the end of each day I found that I was able to look back and think 'you know...today wasn't that bad actually...'. And if I practiced living in the moment the next day as well, I could say 'this is great...today was pretty good...yesterday was pretty good...'. So that in turn helped to create my own new reality, which then helped me believe that the days ahead would also be pretty good! ;-) (If I assumed the days ahead would not be so good, they usually were not so good. But if I took on a more positive outlook, that my days ahead would be good, or 'pretty good', indeed, they usually were. While we can't control our emotions or mood entirely, much of it IS about perspective, and recognizing the ways we self-sabotage. And on that note....do not believe for one minute that 'older women are regarded with little worth' (as someone else here said). I am so utterly tired of women (and most often, it's American women) making this complaint. If you believe it, so it will be. No one wants to be around an older woman who is down in the dumps about her age. You could take two older women who look the exact same age more or less, and who have a similar appearance. One woman is confident, takes pride in her appearance, dresses attractively, does not feel her age is in and of itself a detriment; she is engaging, curious, outgoing. The other woman goes around believing that now that she's X-years of age, she's washed-up, and that society and men will 'ignore her'. She doesn't bother trying to dress nice, because she figures 'why bother'. Which woman do you think society is going to respond to more favorably. Which woman will more men find attractive? ;-)