The way you described your pain sounds exactly the same as the way mine radiates throughout my entire lower torso and upper legs too. That's why I think nerve damage must be involved, especially since mine is bilateral. If it were a more localized problem, like a cyst or something, I'd think the pain would be more stationary. For a while, I could actually predict which side I'd be hurting on because it would literally bounce back and forth from the left to the right every single day. Now it's gotten to the point where it sometimes does that from hour to hour, or minute to minute. Hopefully that means my chiropractor is keeping it all stirred up and it's on its way out of my body forever.

> We are stuck with life-long/altering pain.

Sorry, but I refuse to believe that. This may sound all New Age-y, but I believe our thoughts for the universe around us and determine what happens to us, so I *am* going to get over this. I know, because I did it once before, twenty years ago...

> I take antibiotics and too many pain killers.

You really need to be careful with that, bud. About eight years ago, my immune system literally collapsed from taking too many antibiotics and I very nearly died. I was in bed for about a year, trying to recover. What the doctors will never tell you is that their precious antibiotics also kill the good bacteria that normally live in your body. That would be an admission that the Hippocratic Oath to "first do no harm" is just one big joke...

You also need to be careful with the painkillers too. I know they're necessary sometimes with pain like this, but the Rx ones can be addictive, and the OTC ones can cause liver and kidney damage. (The best way to commit suicide is by overdosing on Tylenol; it can kill your liver in just a few hours.) I only take them when it's absolutely necessary. The rest of the time, I just try to "tough it out." And the herb milk thistle can help prevent the liver damage they cause.