Extremely Flushed and Severe Back Pain

[rickks1958]

I have been on CPAP since January 2012. I was on treatment in 2003 and 2004 with poor compliance due to travel and other lame excuses. I decided that I had better go back and get tested again and and now very compliant. Since January, I have missed one night due to some issues with my Father who is an Alzheimer patient and stays with my wife and I. I do not recall all of my stats, but do remember that I was awakened 99 times per hour. My O2 went to the 50's and the test was stopped about 2 hours in and a mask was put on. Slept like a baby after that.

I get about 6-7 hours sleep every night. Feel rested when I get up. Have adjusted to the mask fairly well. Pressure is 16.

But...Now I get the severe pain in the middle of my back. No position helps other than getting up and moving around. I don't mind getting up early since I get a good night's sleep. I do miss sleeping in though (at least til 8 am). I mentioned the pain to my sleep doc and looked at me as though I had three heads. Had never heard of it. I have. It is fairly common in the forum.

The pain persists and I do put the pillow under the knees and yes I do not toss and turn like I did in the past. I now lay flat on my back. I would have thought the pain would have subsided by now. I have had some back problems in the past and this one is in a new location.

Also....Since diagnosed and starting CPCP again, my PCP prescribed Nuvigil 250mg due to some daytime sleep issues. Falling asleep at work and while driving. I now do not get the least bit drowsy during the day.

However.....About an hour after I wake up and take my daily meds, I get a really flushed and hot feeling on my face and upper torso. I'm not sure which one is causing it, if any, the CPAP or the Nuvigil. It is extremely uncomfortable and last until I go to bed.

I will not stop the CPAP since I am now addicted to it. I may stop the Nuvigil and see if the flush feeling goes away.

Bottom line........I can live with the back pain, but the flushed feeling has to go.

Sorry for the long ramblings on my first post. I have lurked on here since December 2011 and have looked at both issues.

Thanks
Rick

[HoseCrusher]

A couple of thoughts come to mind.

Kidney stones often initially show up as a back pain. The same goes for lung issues involving clots forming or trying to form. A very sharp stabbing pain can often cause a flush response, but I am not sure that is what is going on.

Also, if the spine gets out of normal alignment it can cause a wide variety of problems. I probably should have listed this first, but kidney stones are much more dramatic...

[jen4700]

If it were me, I'd make an appt with my primary card doc asap. Good luck!

[ekubaskie]

Kidney stones don't "go away with moving around". God I wish. I get gout attacks, too, though they are very rare since I've been taking Prednisone daily. Ben Franklin has been quoted as saying "Give them not the gallows, give them the gout, give them the stones." He suffered from both, most likely due to his extravagant lifestyle chasing the ladies.

Actually, I've only had the stone problem twice, but I remember every minute WAY too clearly! You're right about drama, Hosecrusher.

My GP was out of town for one of those times, and I went in to see another doc at his office. She asked me what the hell I was doing there and not the ER - that I'd need morphine within the hour and she couldn't legally do that at the office. Boy was she right. Down from the ER for a CAT scan, and even though I'm floating from the morphine the tech gave me a big pan and begged me not to puke on the ceiling. Very close to all the kidney action are nerves that control nausea; a wave of pain will jangle that nerve and BWAAAAARRFF...

All of which is to say that this probably isn't stones, or else we wouldn't hear from the OP for a while - gone to the ER! You can pass a little tiny (1mm, maybe 2mm) but my CAT scan episode was a 4. Everybody who has experienced them will cringe at this - I know a guy that had a 40mm stone, cropped up when we were both at a convention in Vegas. Awful timing - he's British, and the hospital in Vegas turned him away over insurance issues. Heartless, evil bastards - to speak nicely of them.

Meanwhile, I have had similar pain the last few weeks. It seems to get worse the longer I sleep, so weekends I'm not getting to sleep in, while weeknights it isn't such a problem. I get the feeling that relief correlates with bathroom use, so it could be from the need to go, or a gassy situation. Here's a number one sign of getting old, talking about medical situations, especially latter-cycle digestive issues

Still trying to nail down a pattern, hoping to avoid getting Dr. Lemmiwinks involved.

[do57672]

Hey Rick. I just posted a thread about a very similar pain I've been having. I can't figure out how to post a hyperlink for some reason so just copy & past this address or look on recently posted threads for --OT: Sort of - Back Pain while Asleep. What you're saying sounds almost exactly what I'm going through.

viewtopic/t78849/OT-Sort-of---Back-Pain ... sleep.html

[do57672]

Never mind - the link did work

[Julie]

Flushing and heat can be secondary to having taken something like Niacin, and not knowing what's in the meds you're on, it's possible something in them is responsible... your back problems could be anything and there's no way you'll get a reasonably good answer here except by pure coincidence... for heaven's sake get yourself checked out - cardiac issues can manifest as back pain, and flushing can be part of it too (or other things entirely).

[do57672]

I recommend getting checked out by your doctor too. Hopefully PT gets me straightened out but there are obviously tons of reasons for back pain. They are all terrible though. Good luck.

[SleepyToo2]

Rick, if you can "live with the pain" from what I have heard from other people, including others in this thread, you do not have kidney stones. I agree with going to a doc or two to try and get some answers. However, when did you last get a new mattress? If you are no longer moving around as much during the night, your back could be feeling the strain. The fact that you can ease the pain by getting up and walking around suggests to me, a non-doctor, that you may be suffering from sleeping in the same position for a few hours on a poor mattress for your particular needs. So, after you have been thoroughly checked out medically, you might want to consider a chiropractor, followed by a trip to the local mattress store.

[jen4700]

Rick, if you can "live with the pain" from what I have heard from other people, including others in this thread, you do not have kidney stones. I agree with going to a doc or two to try and get some answers. However, when did you last get a new mattress? If you are no longer moving around as much during the night, your back could be feeling the strain. The fact that you can ease the pain by getting up and walking around suggests to me, a non-doctor, that you may be suffering from sleeping in the same position for a few hours on a poor mattress for your particular needs. So, after you have been thoroughly checked out medically, you might want to consider a chiropractor, followed by a trip to the local mattress store.

This is a good point. About 2-3 weeks after starting CPAP I went thru several days of bad "aches and pains". I asked here and found out this was very common. It went away in a couple days.

[zoocrewphoto]

I had a couple days of back pain too. It felt like the pain I get when I have been in bed too long. It usually goes away within an hour of getting up. If I wake up in the middle of the night with it, I do a bathroom trip (little bit of moving around), stretch, and go back to bed with an ice back. I keep soft gel packs in the freezer.

[Lizistired]

By all means, get checked out by your doc.
That said, I've been fighting with chronic joint and back pain since 1987 and was never given any causes or solutions other than the weather, stretching exercises and pain meds.
18 months ago I cut out sugars, starches, grains and processed foods from my diet. The difference in my pain level has been dramatic. The stiffness in my back at night is gone and I can actually feel my spine move. There are a few low carb threads here and several other members have commented on the same improvement. I don't know what the offender is but I don't want to experiment to find out.
Just something to think about. You might give it a 30 day trial and see if it helps. Pain sucks!

[Joemensa]

I notice that you use 1958 in your user name and therefore assume that you are 54 years old...if so, the flushing could be a sign of male menopause (andropause due to hypogonadism)...you may need hormone replacement therapy (testosterone gel)

[sleepnasta]

Pain in the back can also be caused by severe acid reflux. In any case please go to the doctor soon. Hope all turns out well.

[chunkyfrog]

Also, in diabetics, pain may be isolated from the source;
back pain can even be a symptom of a heart attack.
My MIL nearly died of an infected gall bladder (T1 diabetic)
because the symptoms were not consistent with the usual ones for that problem.