Hi guys,
I see from your post that a lot of recovering PLIF'S have nerve pain. I am not sure what you mean when you say that. Let me tell you about two things I have and please..give me your opinion if it is nerve pain. My left arm and shoulder hurt a lot , but on the inside from elbow to hand burns, feels kinda like sunburn and kinda numb at the same time, also my left foot OMG where the little toe and the one next to it are on top and bottom hurts so bad, when I walk it makes me tend to want to turn my foot sideways to ease the pain, when I flex it, I can feel the tighteness in the bottom. Also, especially at night my legs feel like something is crawling under my skin. Do ya'll think this is nerve pain and what can I do to help it? Thanks for all. Blessings.
brenwill:wave:

Hi Brenwill,

I am sorry to hear you are having pain. I think everyone's nerve pain will be different as different nerves may be affected. The burning doesn't really sound too normal but the numbness does. The toe pain doesn't sound normal at all. Have you seen your doc yet?

The good news about nerve pain is it will eventually subside. My left thigh is numb on the surface and hurts really bad in the muscles. It really is a problem trying to sleep on my side. It hurts less and less every day though and the numbness isn't as much every day. My right arm was numb on the bottom but that only lasted one week. I have a charlie horse in my right leg that didn't start until 8 days after surgery and I am 4 weeks out and it seems to want to hang on. It really hurts but if I keep it moving it helps.

I hope others can help you with the pain you are having but most of all, I hope it goes away soon.

Sincerely,
LJ

Sounds like it to me brenwill , I have the same feeling in my hips and legs /feet. What has your doctor said ?
Hope it's not real bad .
Dan

Thanks guys, dr. just gave me a muscle relaxer, flexeril, which does absoutely nothing to help, and said if I'm still feeling this way when I go back in 6 weeks remind him and we'll address it further. This leads me to believe he thinks it may go away with time. I'm trying to do 10 minutes a time, 3 times a day at a snail's pace on the treadmill to try to gain some strength, but it takes every ounce of energy I can muster to do it, but I have done it 3 days in a row, but I did not even go to sleep all night last night because of burning and pain. Thanks for listening. Blessings.
brenwill

They switched me from Flexeril to Norflex 100mg for the nerve pain. I still don't see much difference to be honest, but it might work well for you. I am one of those that pain medication doesn't affect. I don't get sleepy or "high" as some put it. There is about 1% of the population that has this delima. Even the Morphine in the hospital. They kept saying hit the button, hit the button so I would but never know it. It is frustrating for the docs too. I keep taking it and I know it is working some as it will take the edge off a little bit but I get hives all over. Such a pretty site!

Brenwill , I hope your doctor finds somthing for your pain . I called my doctor and screamed for a pain med because none of his nerve pills or muscle relaxers worked , my PM doctor wouldn't give me any either. I never was a pill popper or drug user and I felt like I was treated as such, But when I called there and told his nurse I wanted some strong med for this pain . they said ok :dizzy: It was that easy , they don't help a whole lot , just make it barrable for me. I only take em ( percocet ) when I have bad days.

Hope everything turns out ok for you.
Dan

HI Bren, you describe nerve pain indeed.. and it travels all over the place. I get them.. and call them phantom pains. The pain you describe of burning, and the toes.. sounds just like nerve pain. Be sure to get all of it verified with your doctor on your upcoming visist.

Our regular pain meds don't touch nerve pain usually. It takes a nerve medication or anti-depressant to ease the pain there, usually. Unfortunately.. I can't take nerve meds.. as I have had severe adverse reactions to them even at a very low dose. And anti-depressants I prefer not to take if I dont have to. They make you so tired and I need to have my mind sharp as I can for work.

My nerve pain comes & goes.. and it's more in my legs and feet then anything. But I do get them in my arms and hands on occassion too. I even get it in my knees sometimes, which is really an odd feeling.

Hopefully it will settle down soon, or your body will become more tolerant of it, mine has. Hang in there. Tammy:wave:

Hi Brenwill,
I'm so sorry to hear your suffering from this, and it does all sound like nerve pain to me too. I am 7 months post op and still suffer from it, I'm on 2400 mg. of neurontin, Es vicodin, flexiril, and pamalor, and still feel the nerve pain, but very little of it. I have been told that the nerve damage causing the pain can take up to 18 months to heal, YUK!!! thats a long time left to go for me still.

I do hope your pain doesn't last very long. If you look up the dermatome map, you can see what nerve covers which areas, that helped me alot to understand why some places bothered me, it helped it all make sense. I never dreamed that the inside part of my foot was burning because of nerve damage in my back.

LJ is right on about everyones pain being so different, it depends what part of the nerve has been damaged, and the feelings can change hourly sometimes.

I pray for your recovery, God Bless.

Carol