Really sorry about your friend Hun, hope there's something the docs can do and she gets as better as she can xxx

Aww hun Im soo sorry to hear this, hopefully now they know the cause they can try prevent things getting worse and also sort out some pain relief for your friend xx

I have Severe Chronic Back Pain, Hyper Mobility & Sciatica (and thats just my back problems which was caused by some idiot taking a metal bar to my back 12 and half years ago) I was only diagnosed 2 years ago. I have had facet joint injections which worked in the short term, but in the long term have made me worse. The ops for these involved local anestetic injected straight into my back and then 6 needles with something or other into the lower back. They made me flare up for a week or two then I had no pain at all for a few months, & normally it should lower the pain an awful lot so that you can just take paracetamol & brufen the success rate for these operations are extreemly high, I'm just awkward because after the few months of no pain I ended up with a walking stick (at 24 yrs old) so they gave me another type, its still facet joint injections however its a bit different what they put in. The procedure was still the same and the success rate is once again extreemly high. However after the flare up which lasted a month due to the local anestetic not working so i felt everything, i had no pain at all for a few months again but after that was much worse.

All in all I think that it is a really good idea, I'm petrified of needles and the success rate was enough for me to bare to be in the same room with huge needles knowing they are going into my back & will cause me pain. There are 6 operations like this they could offer me, I only agreed to the 2 of them as they were extreemly confused as to why it didnt work for me after the few months of no pain. If your MOH is offered something like this, in my opinion she would be silly not to at least try the first one. The pain relief of those few months was amazing, I was able to do things I have not managed to do since i was 12! I was able to walk slightly longer & further, I was able to go to the beach & literally jump in the sea with my kids! (Normally i hurt just contemplating jumping) it was amazing!

Other than that the only thing I can suggest is your MOH push for everything she feels she needs or is entitled to. If over the counter meds are not working, get prescriptions. Try everything they suggest (I'm only waiting for my youngest to start school and childcare from out of school until h2b gets home from work, then i will be doing a 6 week intensive physio course where i am a hospital resident m-f then go home at weekends, it will be tough not seeing kids & h2b but will be worth trying it & hell i may even lose weight!) tell her to go to cab with dla forms and get them to fill the forms in (i was denied twice then someone at a friends wedding who suffers from same thing advised cab to fill them in for me so i tried & was accepted 1st time with cab - now they have done it once i basically copy what they wrote the 1st time and add updates ie changes in meds, distances i can walk etc my dla was done by me last year & is now in payment til 2017 unless my circumstances change). If she has a spouse or someone else to act as her carer get them to claim carers allowance rather than carers support (i think its that way round - basically one of them means the carer gets paid the money now but are only allowed to earn £100 per week, the other means they get paid extra pension but can work as much as they like meaning they wont see the benefits now but will see them when it really matters).

I hope my advise helps. Hope your MOH starts getting the treatment she needs and starts to feel better