I have had pain in my lower back for YEARS, since about 10 I started to notice the pain and it would progressively get worse throughout the years. some days were better than others yes but a lot of them, just awful for my back and the pain had created a lot of backed up fatigue. My back being in pain would just make the rest of my body pain worse. I tried EVERY SINGLE over the counter pain medication at the maximum dosages, heating and cooling pads and treatments, different stretches, workouts, yoga, topical medications and treatments. any form of relief you can possibly think of for at home, I tried it and NOTHING WORKED. This Thanksgiving I went to the ER due to a particularly bad flair up and they did an xray. they informed me I had spina bifida in my L5 vertebra (didn't get to see the x-rays myself sadly) and I started SOBBING. I finally have an answer after years of needlessly poisoning my liver with every pain medication I could get my hands on for even hope of relief that would never come. I finally have an answer after years of people saying I'm too young to be in this much pain. I finally have an answer after my pain was ignored by doctors and family. I finally have an answer, and I'm terrified of the next steps because all I want to do is get better. although there is nothing wrong with being disabled or needing mobility aids, but that doesn't mean i want to HAVE to use them. I don't want my quality of life to decline even more than it already has since my last flair up (which has barely gotten better since Thanksgiving, barely). I don't want to have to struggle in the hellscape that's America's extremely disabled unfriendly space. I don't want to have to shell out thousands and thousands of dollars just for a chance to relieve the pain. I don't want to potentially lose my job that I love with all my heart because of mobility loss. i don't want to become a potential burden to those around me as I continue to lose my strength and mobility. I just want the pain to go away. i just want to lead a chill life. I am happy I have an answer, but the answer is bittersweet. it took 19 years for them to catch it. and 19 years for me to finally get my first physical therapy appointment on March 3rd of 2025. I just wanna be able to have my mobility back. please tell me it gets better and other stories. I really need to hear from those who have this too as I barely learned about this all when I got diagnosed. I need some support from the community. thank you for reading if you did

TLDR: back pain. EUGH.