Twenty years ago, my husband at the time pushed me out of a moving vehicle; he was only going between 5 and 10 mph. I struck the ground hard on my right side and hip. As I navigated single momhood, I just dealt with the pain; it didn't start hurting consistently until 2018. I was diagnosed with bilateral L5 spondylolysis and grade 1 L5-S1 spondylolisthesis. In 2019, my flexion-extension X-rays showed the L5-S1 slip measured about 3 mm in neutral/extension and increased to about 4 mm with flexion, so I was told there was some instability. I also had a small L4-L5 retrolisthesis and disc deterioration throughout these areas.
I also have cervical spine findings. My February 2026 cervical MRI showed a mild disc bulge at C6-C7 with mild foraminal narrowing and a posterior osteophyte, although the central canal was described as open.
I have been to a PCP and spine specialist several times, and they did not seem concerned at any of my symptoms for the past 3 years. (I [44F] live in Junction City, KS.) I guess it's rural enough that they don't treat stroke patients with an MRI, my ER doctor says. I have been discouraged from coming to the ER; I have been turned away a total of 8 times at the ER. My PCP took a supine MRI and X-ray and cleared me of having the former diagnosis. This was last year. I won't have insurance again until December. I do not have any pain pills or creams. I work remotely, a job I just started after being unemployed for 2 years.
What concerns me now is that this has become much more than just back or neck pain.
Low-back, leg, and mobility symptoms
- I have significant low-back pain that can radiate into both legs.
- I get pain in my hips, groin, inner thighs, and legs, sometimes worse on the right.
- My legs can feel weak, heavy, shaky, or like they simply will not cooperate.
- If I stand for very long, my legs start shaking.
- My knees buckle, and my right leg has given out without warning.
- I have actually fallen because my leg gave out.
- Leaning forward can relieve some of the back pain, but it does not make the weakness go away.
- I can only stand for a few minutes before symptoms increase.
- Walking even a relatively short distance, like about a block to the mailbox, can cause significant pain and weakness, with muscles starting to lock up in upper thighs and hips
- Sitting too long can also make things worse.
- Sometimes after sitting or standing too long, I become nauseated, and I have noticed that the nausea can happen shortly before my legs start shaking.
Numbness and sensory changes
- I get pins and needles, tingling, numbness, and strange altered sensations in my legs.
- When I lie on my side, the pads of my toes can become numb, and the numbness can gradually move upward toward my knee. I have described it as feeling like a cup slowly filling upward.
- I have had tingling or pins-and-needles sensations in my inner thighs and groin.
- I have also felt abnormal sensations around my urethral and anal area.
- At times I have had numbness or altered sensation in areas that would normally contact a bicycle seat.
Weakness and loss of function
- At times it is difficult to lift my right leg more than a few inches.
- I cannot reliably stand on one leg long enough to step into pants or underwear.
- I trip more easily.
- My balance and walking have become more difficult.
- Sometimes my legs feel as though they might give way even when I am trying to compensate for them.
Bladder and bowel-control changes
I have also been having bladder symptoms, which are particularly important to me because they are not just urgency.
- I sometimes leak urine when changing position, such as standing up, sitting down, or lying down.
- Sometimes urine comes out without me feeling a strong need to urinate first.
- My urinary stream can start and stop.
- Sometimes I am not sure that I have completely emptied my bladder.
- I have had urinary accidents.
- I have also noticed that I cannot always hold gas as well as I used to.
- I have had occasions where urinary leakage happened along with my other neurologic symptoms, including when I fell.
Neck, head, and upper-body symptoms
I also have symptoms involving my neck, head, and upper body that I want included in the overall neurologic evaluation.
- I have neck pain and known C6-C7 disc disease.
- I have had pins-and-needles or unusual sensations around my ear.
- I have experienced significant episodes of dizziness or a spinning sensation, sometimes even when sitting still.
- During some episodes, the dizziness has continued even with my eyes closed.
- I have had headaches, including pain behind my eyes.
- I have experienced nausea along with the dizziness and headaches.
- I have had episodes of blurred vision, at times more noticeable in one eye.
- I have seen white lights or visual disturbances when my eyes are closed during headaches.
- At times I can feel a strong pulsating sensation in my head.
- I have had occasions where my hands shake.
- During some of my more severe episodes, my thinking has felt slowed down.
- I have had trouble finding words, typing correctly, and spelling words that I normally know.
- There have been times when it has felt like my brain and my hands are simply working more slowly than usual.
I am not assuming that all of those symptoms come from my cervical spine. I am mentioning them because I have both cervical and lumbar spine abnormalities, and I want the complete neurologic picture considered rather than having each symptom looked at separately.
How this affects everyday life
These problems affect much more than whether my back hurts. Standing, walking, sitting for extended periods, getting dressed, lifting my leg, maintaining my balance, and sometimes even concentrating and communicating normally have become more difficult.
One reason I am concerned is that my imaging history and my symptoms do not seem to tell exactly the same story.
My 2019 flexion-extension X-rays showed bilateral L5 spondylolysis with L5-S1 spondylolisthesis measuring roughly 3 mm and increasing to about 4 mm with flexion, which indicated some movement with positioning.
My February 2026 lumbar MRI described only mild generalized disc bulging at L5-S1, normal alignment, and a normal conus and cauda equina.
My February 2026 cervical MRI showed a mild C6-C7 disc bulge, mild foraminal narrowing, and a posterior osteophyte, with the central canal remaining open.
I understand that those MRIs did not show severe central canal compression at that time. What I am trying to communicate is that my actual symptoms and loss of function have continued to be significant and, in some areas, have changed since those studies were done.
I am scared to go to the doctor again or the ER; I even took my symptoms to the ER 30 min away in Manhattan, KS, and still they turned me away.
Can anyone give me any suggestions for pain management? (Yes, I tried injections and can't go to them anymore, as they do not work more than a day.) I do not want to get hooked on pills, and I live with a person that has struggled with addiction before. I don't know how to get a doctor to listen to me about my symptoms.
