Update on Back pain

I wrote an article about my chronic pain over a year ago now May 30, 2007 In July 2007 I woke up one morning and the pain was gone. I couldn’t believe it; the sciatic nerve was no long pinched. I had a great summer and all went well until November 2007, basically I kind of forgot about the article. A month or so ago I noticed that a couple of people had commented on it ,one just recently and that I thought I should do an update. The pain did come back in November of last year and this time it is not supposed to go away. I have since had a CTscan and an MRI done. I have face joint syndrome between my L4 and L5 and I have a bulging disc in the area. My osteoarthritis in my back (as well as in my knees) is causing my spine to swell  and that is pressing against the sciatic nerve and the pain is shooting down my leg. Some where along the line I was able to stop taking pain medication for it .It was not helping and taking pain medication as strong as I was can have its own side effects after awhile. Usually now the pain recedes if I sit down or lie down. So that is a good thing .It still gets to me at times and there are days and weeks when all I want to do is sleep . I am told at this stage of the game there is nothing they can do surgically. Wouldn’t much any how, waiting lists around here are over a year long. At the end of the summer I did buy myself a walker. It really helps me stay mobile. I simply just sit down when I get tired and start to have pain. Judging from what I have read on here I am only one of many people on Gather who suffer from chronic pain. . Hopefully we can support one anther and give a listening ear if we can.