Hello to all and I am a newbie to this board and I find it so far very great in the stories I have been reading. First and utmost I want to say we are not alone in our pain in suffering with this Health board and the kindness of strangers to assist you with your situation. I dont know where to start but I shall explain now I had a back surgery in 2000 due to lifting a box of heavy files at work (WC) I had a laminectomy. Since then my back pain has been in the last couple of months so unbearable I can hardly function like I used to. My breaking point was when one night driving home I could not feel the gas pedal and it hurt to apply pressure on the brake also. I had been working every day with such bad pain and always brushed it off thinking it would go away. One morning could not even walk it hurt so bad I had to get down. I have had two mri's and recently a discogram (boy was that painful) I also noticed the pain got worse with filing files at the bottom of the shelves for the past couple of months. On top of all of this I was in a pharmacy and an end cap fell on the back side of my hip, my head, and my lower back and knocked me out to floor. As if it came from no where what a blow I took. I went to see my doctor that day and they gave me tetanus shot (It tore a hole in my pants and cut me there too) and a toradol shot. My son took a bunch of pictures of me and that contusion really was big. I dont know why they didnt do exray. Anyhow it seemed to make allready bad back worse, so I plugged along and finally went to have the tests done.

Now is someone could shed some light on this results from the mri. It says the first one was without the dye. Moderately severe joint space narrowing at L5/S1 with some small marginal osteophytes and reactive sclerosis in the inferior aspect of the L5 vertebral body anteriorly. There are no unusual paraspinal masses or fluid collections. There is normal marrow signal. The conus is seen in its normal location. There is moderate braod based disc protrusion at L5/S1, which produces mild encroachment on the latera recesses bilaterally. The disc appears to approcimate the L5 rootlet on the left side. NOW the second test withthe dye says this. DDD and endplate spondylosis at L5/S1. Degenerative changes of the L5/S1 disc and endplates.

Now I dont have the results from the discogram yet but I can tell you that when they hit that bad disk I thought I was gonna faint that was the worse pain in the world. I could not even talk, it hurt so bad. The doctor said something about a fusion, My pain now is terrible especially on the right side, my groin area, my hip and lower back, even my neck is has been affecting me terrible. Does anyone have neck and low back problems and if you can share some insight I would appreciate it so much. I am 48 years young and love life and want to get better soon so I can function normally again, He has me on vicodin and flexeril it doesnt do anything for the pain. I am going back to pain management this week, but I know I dont want to get shots in the spine area and dont want to be on drugs where I really cant function. I have to take care of my son who means the world to me. I pray alot and have alot of faith that the doctors will do the right thing but of course on the other hand I am worried about all of it. Thank you so much for reading and bless you for any answers or advice you have. Have a great day and I really enjoy this site.................For now Ms M :wave: :wave:

Is anyone available on this site to help me. I did a lengthy post yesterday and no one has answered me. Please understand my situation and the pain I am in. I know your out there and I hope you write soon. Thnak you and bless you too. Msm :confused: :confused:

Hi, msmona and welcome to the board. I'm sorry you haven't gotten any replies to your other posts.


You have a very large herniation at L5-S1 and you also have bone spurs (osteophytes) that encroaches the nerve root. . Have you seen your doctor since you had the MRI? Has he made any suggestions for surgery or treatment? You should be sure to get a second opinion before making any decisions; make surgery the last option if you can.

As for the injections you mentioned, sometimes if done correctly, they can relieve your pain quite a bit. Be sure the doctor uses fluoroscopy (like x-ray) to guide the needle and the cannula to the right spot before injecting the steroids. Also keep in mind not to have more than 3 injections a year; though some doctors think 3 every 6 months is not too much.

I hope some of this has been helpful. If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask them.

Carol

I am so sorry you are having to go through all of this. I really feel for you. I have both problems w/ lumbar and neck and yes, it is a real pain. It's bad enough when one or the other hurt...but when they both hurt at the same time, wow!

As Carol said, you really need to talk w/ a spine specialist about your options and then you will have an idea of what is available to you. If you have been to a pain management specialist and did not find help other than shots and narcotics, mayby you can find another one who has more to offer. You might look into a pain center verses a clinic. Sometimes they offer a larger variety of treatments.

Good luck and keep us posted,

Lorie :angel:

Thank you Lori and Carol for your answers. I appreciate that and I posted another post about the discogram results. Let me know what you think on that report and thank you ever so much. Have a wonderful holiday.

MsMona