Hey PolarBear,
Your condition sounds so similar. I also dropped lot of weight thinking that carrying around less fat, etc would ease up some of the back pain. That helped me for a short time too, but still didn’t solve the problem.
You talked about stretching exercises. Did you do physical therapy; is that how you came across those exercises? I think that the doctor is a great source for identifying the injury and prescribing the treatment, but not necessarily the best at providing the treatment. If he gave you a sheet of paper with this stretches and sent you out the door, I would look for better treatment. If you haven’t done therapy yet, try to find a sports medicine rehab, and get your DR to write you a script for a couple weeks therapy.
That said, after I recovered decent ROM and built up some strength in my back, shots are finally what did it for me. The shots enabled me to go several months at a time without significant pain, and during those time periods, I recovered strength in my back from a more active life style.
10 years ago, there were days that I could hardly get out of bed. If you would have told me then that I would be living a totally normal life in 10 years, I would have angrily dismissed you. Keep your spirits up. You may have a year or two before full recovery ahead of you, but it will come if you persist.
Regarding training, there is no exercise that I am uncomfortable doing. I do squats, leg press, DL, leg press and I fell comfortable lifting heavy too. But, it has been a long road getting here. My wife is amazed at my progress and she frequently says things like, “if you would have tried that 8 years ago, I would scraping you off the floor right now.�
Discuss your goals with your doctors, have hope, do what your doctor says and you will recover.
I’ll be praying for you.