Hello,
I have been posting here recently and I thought I would give more details of my situation to those following and trying to help me. I was diagnosed with grade 1 pars defect spondy @ L5 about 9 years ago. I did all the conservative treatments and within the the last 4 years it slipped to a grade 2 and L4 started to tear and bulge.


I was fused from L4-S1 two weeks ago with rods,screw,cages, and bmp. I spoke to my spine specialist surgeon right before surgery and he spoke to my family after surgery and said everything went very well but that I would be complaining of a tight pulling sensation in my left leg because the ligaments and nerves were smashed down between my L5 and S1 which was pretty much bone on bone on the left side.

My surgeon left town the day of my surgery and I have not spoke to him since. The on call doc released me from hosp and I dont go to see surgeon till 3.5 weeks post op. I have had my ups and downs with no guidance.

I had extreme muscle cramping start at night about day 5 and was up everynight crying and walking with my walker trying to deal with the pain.I learned later that I was dehydrated and when I started to drink lots of water that the cramps miraculously left everywhere except my left calve. I also think I was malnourished too because I went off the pain meds for 2 days and then got my appetite back and the cramps seem to get even better.

I lost 8 pounds in about 7 days and I definitly have seen an improvement in the cramping since I started eating and drinking. I just have no appetite on the meds. My surgeon told me he does not believe in percoset because of addiction and that he only used vicodan. I was able to get percosets from the on call doctor.

I called the surgeon office for muscle relaxers for my leg cramps and they gave me skalaxan because it is not a sedative. They are really anti strong med. I have countered this problem with using my GP and have been getting any meds I request. I have gotten my perks refilled and I have flexerall, and klonipin.

My problem now is I got the drugs I need I just dont know what and when to take. I started to panic acouple days ago about addiction and completly went off the perks and used tylenol only. That is when I realized the leg cramps were less because I finally started eating.

I woke up lastnight after 2 days being on nothing with horrific aching in both my legs especially my calves and feet. Not really cramping though. I really dont know what to expect have no guidance from surgeon on what is normal what to expect and how to treat myself. I told Suzy-Q that I feel very alone with this pain and wish someone could relate.

There were several ppl on brain talk spinal disorders that were having similar surgery as mine but I dont think they have a laptop because I have not heard a word from them. It would be nice to compare recovery with someone going through or have gone through it. Just for reassurance at such a low time.

When I get out of bed it feels like my incission swells and gets tight and it seems like that is when my legs get tight and ache. How long does this go on? What should I be taking for pain. Should I take the muscle relaxers? which ones. I just like my title says. AM IN THE DARK. Thanks for your time.
Sheri

I am so sorry that you do not have the support of your surgeon. The weeks following spine surgery is full of ups and downs, different pains and lots of emotions. My surgeon makes his patients get a psych. eval. prior to surgery and you have to have someone living at your residence for him to send you home. If not, you go to a rehab center for 2 weeks following the surgery.

I can share with you what I felt at 2 weeks and what meds I took. That can give you an idea. I would think you'd also want to share any info. that you learn w/ you G/P and see if he will take the responsibility of your primary Dr. If you have not already done this, tell him how your surgeon is not making himself available to help you and that you need a Dr. to discuss you care with.

At 2-3 weeks, I was just beginning to get a new type of pain. I called them "zingers". I would get shooting pains down my legs and across my back. That is when your nerves start to wake up and your muscles are working their way back into place and firming back up. I took percs. for the 1st 6 weeks as needed. (I did, however, recover slower than the ave. person. My Dr. said that on the ave. a person is usually off of the percs. around 4 wks.) I was also taking flexeral for probably 6 months. I used it at night and it helped me sleep (That was one of the problems i was having). At 3 months, I started P/T and needed the muscle relaxers during that time, as well. It could take up to a year before you have the max. affects of the fusion. Many people, including myself, are able to go back to light duty work somewhere between the 6 and 12 week period. For me, I was seeing less pain and more improvement around the 4 week period and little by little it got better. (But there was still pain for a longer time...just less of it and I knew how to deal with it better).

Good luck and please keep us posted. Also, you may want to look in the archives and read others who have replied to their fusion outcomes.

Hugs and prayers,
Lorie :angel:

My nerve was also crushed at L4/L5 and I have the tightness, deep achey, feel down the middle of the leg. It starts at the hip and goes down the middle of the leg real deep, then I get pain above and below the knee, sometimes behind the knee, and then a big stab of pain in my big toe. sometimes my whole foot feels broken and is weak and I cannot lift it. I'll feel numbness in the back of both calves, sometimes like little paper cuts. sometimes a butcher knife stab, sometimes deep ache, and occasionally, an electrical jolt.

That is injury to the sciatic nerve from what I'm told and it can take 3-5 years to heal depending on the damage.

I'm 1 year and 8 months post op and still having problems, though some numbness has abated and I have regained strength in the leg and foot overall.

If I didn't have the percocet for the level 10 butcher knife stabbing pain, I would not be alive. Vicaden does not touch it. I've been on percocet since jan of 2004 and my doctors say I'm not addicted, but the body is dependent. I don't crave it. I hate taking it. But if I don't, the pain gets too high.

For me, I'm told it will be 5 years for my nerve to heal, if it even does. If you have no leg or foot weakness, then you should be fine and heal much faster.

Hello Sheri-
I sure hope you saw the responses I and others had for you on your other thread - you are not alone. It sounds to me like you're having more than your fair share of problems and I am very sorry about that. Major back surgery is no picnic even with the best care and the optimal resources. To have so many obstacles is just not right. Good for you for using these boards to help and support. Your GP sounds good and maybe they can continue to provide the medical/Rx help your surgeon isn't providing? I would not be able to tell you how to use your meds. That really has to come from a medically trained person. But there are some general guidelines that you will see all over the medical literature and all over this board: most docs will tell you that you should take your pain med regularly enough so that your pain is controlled. This means you don't wait until you're in severe pain for your next dose. You stay on top of it with the meds understanding that you stick with the limit on the bottle (for example, 1 -2 pills every 4-6 hrs). If this dosage is not enough to control the pain - your doc or GP - whomever, should be told. Hopefully, as you heal, you will find that those first pangs of pain that tell you it's time for your next dose will come a little later over the days and weeks.
I've only ever had Flexeryl for cramps and I took it every 6 hrs faithfully for months. Now I take it only at noon, dinner and a double dose at bedtime since evenings and nights are my worse times for cramps and spasms.
Are you being given Klonopin for nerve pain? I'm not very familiar with this drug and haven't taken it. Sorry.
Mostly I want to say that I am always taking my meds as part of a plan I have discussed with my medical team. I don't freelance. I don't just stop taking anything on a dime. As I mentioned in another post - I don't worry about addiction, either. I (and I believe you, too) have a real, serious medical condition that requires medication. I am not weak. I am not stupid. I am in pain! I take Zocor to lower my cholesterol and I take other meds to lower my pain. I feel I will gladly give up my meds as soon as my pain is gone. In fact, I'd love to be able to put that statement to the test! But for now, pain is a very real part of my life. It is not a thing to be ashamed of; only something to be dealt with in a spirit of compassion and understanding.

I was also very, very nauseous and dizzy my first 2 wks post -op. I drank tons though - constantly. My appetite was gone and I actually was stuck in the hospital for 8 days because I developed Ileitis (?Sp) - it means your guts shut down after the surgery and just won't do a thing. Mine went to sleep for a week. My family tried to make me eat once home but it was a bad business. I'd try but just sitting at the table would make me nearly black out. It was rough. And it all got better slowly. For me, it did.
Finally Sheri - I say again that I am not a doctor- I have been at this back pain and recovery business for 3 years now and I have learned this - sudden anything is a bad plan! Suddenly starting a new exercice, suddenly taking a ton of this med, suddenly going off that med, suddenly .....anything is likely to bring about a bad reaction. That's my experince. I have learned to slow it all down. Do it gradually. Try it gently. Taper off slowly. Those are my words of wisdom. I have you in my thoughts and I do hope you find some relief soon. Suzy-Q

Hi Sheri,
It is so easy to feel alone and isolated, unless of course you are surrounded with back patients. It's very hard to not be able to even pick up something you drop. I get very angry sometimes because I am so limited. I do truely understand your feelings, as we all do on these boards. Thats why we keep coming back here.

I feel bad for you that you don't have a Dr. that can communicate with you very well. I thank God for mine every day, I called his office yesterday, he called right back, and then wanted to know why I waited a week to call him. He gave me his personal cell # to call him anytime I NEED to, weekends as well. I know those are very few and far between, but I really think your surgeon or the fillin should be available when you need him, you do employ him after all. I can't stand these Dr.'s who think they are gracing you with thier presence. YOU pay him, you should demand an answer until you have no more questions. I don't mean to sound like I'm scolding you, I'm not. It just really ticks me off when you have procedures like this and they act like you just got a band-aid put on.

As far as your meds, I have to agree with Suzy-Q, get yourself on a schedule and stick to it, I had to write everything I took down for the first few weeks but it was way worth it. Leaving a gap in your schedule just makes it a longer time for the meds to give you the relief you need. If you are hurting then you are tense then you hurt more, it's a terrible circle to be in. I have also taken, like many on here, pain meds and muscle relaxants for over 3 yrs. now. I never take more than prescribed and I never miss a dose. It has controlled much of my pain, not all, but enough to be able to get to sleep, or eat, or just to even sit for a while.

I hope you find these boards helpful as time goes on, I read them for many months before I ever started posting, I always felt like I nothing to say that might help. But once I got the courage to post, I realized that just acknowledging that you feel like someone else does makes all the difference in the world, to them and to yourself. So keep looking for that light cuz you sure have helped me and many others I'm sure.

Carol :wave:

I wanted to tell everyone Thank You sooooooooo much for trying to help me. I dont know what I would do without these boards. I do not take my meds around the clock like I should be I guess. I wait for the pain and then I take them. I guess I'm trying to prove to myself that I need them.

I have a good day I even went 2 days with nothing but tylenol. Then out of nowhere the pain comes raging back. I try to figure out what happened with no luck. I went to bed lastnight at 11 woke up at 1 in pain took a perkoset, woke up again in pain at 5 took another perk fell back asleep at 6:30 and woke up in pain at 8, took a flexerall and at 8:30 took a perk, woke up at 9:30 in pain and got up at 10.

The pain im waking up with is my incission area is really tight and I ache deeply from it to my toes. My legs are really crampy too. Also during the day when I walk I have bad pain in my left calf. A hot burning pain when standing. I did not have this pre surgery. I only had back pain and that is gone. I think I may need to walk more. The last 2 days I havnt walked much and I am in more pain these last 2 days. Anyways I will close for now. Im going to go to walmart today and buy some food. We have no food. My hubby will cook anything but I have to plan what were going to have and figure it all out for him.

Thanks again.
Sheri