Need help, disc related back injury.

TL;DR: Any advice for presumably slipped disc not related to surgical intervention would be appreciated. 
Over a year ago I hurt my back. Long story short Dr said she thought it was a slipped disc and put me on meds (Nurika, Anti-Inflammatories and Synaleve for pain). I can't remember how long I took the medication for, would have been around 4 weeks. I also took a few months off of training and eventually my back pain disappeared. I never did any strengthening exercises for my lower back and basically jumped back into heavy lifting and my normal gym routine. For quite a long time I was able to train unhindered without any pain, and even went back to doing Olympic lifting. During this time I even improved on some of my PBS.

Fast forward to a few months ago where I started feeling a niggle in my lower back after moving very heavy Stones around in the garden. I had to load these Stones onto the back of my pickup which meant that I sat in a squatted position moving the stones around. Afterwards I felt a niggle in my back but did not really pay attention to it as I've always had some or other sensation down there. I continued training throwing caution to the wind, doing exercises that I felt on my lower back, but I ignored this. This was really stupid. What broke my back was doing ghd situps, destroying my core,  and not sleeping for 4 days (sleep regression baby) and not recovering at all. I was training extremely hard, not getting enough rest, and essentially my back resigned.

As I'm writing this I am back on medication because the pain came back tenfold after exercising without care. I've been on the same meds again for roughly 3 weeks. Before the medication I could barely lift my baby from his play mat or out of his cot. At the worst I could not even tilt forward as if to touch my knees. The meds have helped me regain a range of motion and the pain is a lot more tolerable. However, there is still a pinch in my back and I have not resumed training. I haven't been training for around 3 to 4 weeks. My ROM is almost back to normal, but with discomfort.I know some of you will be able to relate, but I literally had a breakdown on Monday crying like a little child whose ice cream fell on the warm tar road.

The frustration is immeasurable: I am in the best shape I have ever been in terms of body composition and Fitness. Now I can't do jack s***. It isn't the easiest thing for me to do an MRI scan. Not only is it expensive and my medical Aid won't cover it but I do not live close to a hospital with an MRI. I've been to the physio who has given me exercises to do to help relieve the tension or pressure on the disc. She says that she is not too concerned since I have good range of motion and that I do not have pain going down my legs. My GP is also not too concerned and has stated that medical intervention will only be necessary if the pain becomes unbearable. I want to mention that I trust my GP, she is an amazing doctor with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Yes, she doesn't have X-ray vision, but I trust her. However,  if there is no significant Improvement within 3 to 4 weeks I will ask her to refer me to the specialist. 

In an Ideal World I would see a specialist NOW so that I can get an MRI done and see what the f*** is going on. Currently I cannot do this. I'm also currently searching for a chiropractor that can help with spinal decompression therapy. I see this has a high success rate in the states, but I've only found someone in Johannesburg, and unfortunately I do not have the luxury a private plane. I've literally tried to hang upside down from my pull-up rig by my legs, for some form of decompression, needless to say this did not help.So on to my question: has anyone been in a similar situation?

I am going to start walking today as this is advised by, from what I've read, the fitness community on the internet.  I'm also considering starting a course of bpc 157 and tb500. I honestly doubt that this will help, but f*** it I'll try it.I might not be a professional athlete, but training is the foundation of everything in my life. It is safe to say that I am addicted to exercise and training. I haven't sweat in about 2 months. I haven't felt  my heart rate go above 100 beats per minute.  With all this s*** going on in this country, I can't even go for a f****** run just to feel what it feels like to really be alive. 

I've been fighting a battle in my mind to stay strong and believe that I am stronger than my back injury. The fear that this pain will not go away, and I will not be able to train, that my back will never be the same, is in some sense scarier than anything else I've been through. I am someone who prepares for the worst (SA context) and essentially the saying ''better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener during the war''. I trained like a soldier, now I'm on my back on a stretcher yelling for a medic.

**edit for formatting.

Do yourself a favor and go see a Chiropractor.

I battled with a similar issue for years and after being on a treatment followed by a maintenance plan I have basically fully recovered.

Only issues I still have is degeneration due to not getting it sorted out when I was younger.

Thanks. Yeah I'm actually waiting for one to phone me back. I live in a pretty secluded part of the country so not always easy access to these type of things!

Be very very careful with chiropractors.
Find one that is used to working with high end athletes, they can as much damage as they can do good.

It sounds to like you have a herniated disc that's got some permanent damage. I have had a very similar battle with my lower back. Started with a herniated l4/l5 disc and being in pain for a good few months. Then reinjuring it about 2 years later and being in constant pain for another depressing 4 months.

After a herniated has healed you're still always left with a weakened disc. When the disc ruptures, it's a slow process for your clean out and remove the leaked disc material that's pushing against your spinal nerve. But then you're still left with disc degeneration that that is susceptible to herniating again. So even when you feel like you've recovered it's just not worth going for those heavy deadlifts, squat, cleans. It's just too risky.

I was so careful after the first herniation and recovery and my form was impeccable, but overtraining will eventually still get you. It was very depressing having to accept that I couldn't go balls to the wall anymore even after feeling 100% recovered.

If you can't afford an MRI now, get an ultrasound. Obviously inferior, but it could still determine how serious the herniation is, and much cheaper than an MRI.I do not recommend seeing a chiropractor until you know exactly what the extent of the damage is. You could just make it worse.

So i just wanted to follow up and mention that my back has slowly been improving. I found a few exercises that have really helped and went for a moderate walk yesterday for 40mins. This is the first exercise I've done in over 4 weeks.

Did some reading on walking and back injuries and the consensus is that it helps as it improves blood circulation. Had a mental block with movement but yesterday did me well. The walk was quite uncomfortable on my back but today the pain is notably less. I don't have the links to the exercises on hand but will eventually upload them to this thread for future reference for anyone with related injuries.