Can anybody tell me about this?
How much worse is it then the steroid shot or the RFA?

My pain level is at a 5 everyday until I take my medicine and then I go down to a 2 or 3. I am taking 4 Norco's and 3 ibuprofen's a day. Let me know your thoughts on if you would go through with the procedure. I am in no rush to have a surgery. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi Onyx:wave:
Oh the discogram...:eek: I'm sorry to say that this is a very unpleasant test. I've had two and each were different, so hopefully I can give you an idea of what they are like. I'm sure others will come along that can explain it with more medical exactness, but I will try to explain the basics.

I have DDD in 3 discs and after MRI's and CAT scans, nothing terribly bad was showing up and my dr couldn't determine what was causing all of my back pain. I had been through a series of three epidural's with little or no relief. I had sedation "twighlight" with both discograms. They can't have you completely out, because you need to be able to talk to the doctor. They then insert a needle into your disc and inject a dye so that they can determine if that is a disc that is causing you pain. They can then see the discs with the dye injected and see if there are tears, cracks, leaks, etc.. They're trying to reproduce your "typical" pain to see what if any disc it comes from.

Now on my 1st one, I really don't remember much of anything and it was positive for 2 discs. The second one I had I remember EVERYTHING!:eek: and it was positive at 3 discs. It is much worse than a steroid shot or an epidural, I'm sorry to say. :( The pain that they reproduce is much higher than your regular pain.:o

BUT it is an extremely valuable test and if I had to, I would absolutely have another one. I wouldn't be thrilled about, but I would do it without question.

You will most likely be in additional pain for a few days after or up to a week or two. But talk to you doctor and he can help figure out a way to try and control the additional pain. Ice also helped a lot for me.;)

I know I can't tell you not be scared or anxious about it and it's difficult to know what something is like until you've been through it. But I promise, it is worthwhile to have done and the additional pain will subside.

If you want to know anything else, just ask, I'll be glad to try and help. Good luck!:cool:

Agreed.

It is very painful, way more than an ESI, however the pain will subside after a couple of days to a tolerable level;

but you will learn more about your condition and can be more certain what is causing the pain and even if surgery is even a viable option at all. (Some think their pain is coming from a certain disc, and fine that the disc is not actually the pain generator)

I Had 2 lots of discograms before surgery.
I had a canula inserted in the hand by a nurse beforehand. Then she injected a few vials of antibiotic. The technician then came in and swabbed and draped the area to be tested, then the nurse injected 2 ml of Valium into the canula right before he started the test. You get local injected into the site (that hurt!) then they start putting the needle into each disc to be tested to see the response. This was done via a fluroscopy machine to guide them.
You will feel intense pain at the bad disc but only pressure from the dye if it's not a pain generator. They usually do a couple of discs to compare.
You'll be asked to describe your pain, whether it's the same or different to your usual pain and give it a a pain rating of 1-10.
Yes it's painful but it doesn't last long and it's the best way to determine which disc is your pain generator.
Make sure you have a driver and rest afterwards. I needed extra painkillers that afternoon and the next day, was very sore.

Cathy brought up a good point about having somone to drive you home afterwards. My doctor wouldn't let me drive, I had to have my husband sign that he would drive me home and be responsible for me.

Try to not worry to much and get a good night's sleep the night before.

Do you know when you are having your discogram?

Discogram is very painful BUT worth it. I actually felt like I willingly allowed myself to be tortured for an hour. I was not given any sedative or pain relief until 15 minutes before I was discharged from the hospital.

I would do it again if needed, as it showed my problem, which was a TOTAL SURPRISE to my surgeon. I have a bulging disk at L5/S1. All 4 surgeons I have seen over the last 3 years..assumed that was the disk causing all my pain. But in doing the discogram.. he tried 3 times to cause pain there and I never reacted once. He then injected dye into L4/L5 and my leg flew off the table uncontrollably. The pain was imitated that I have been having only 100x worse! I was able to describe it very accurately and it was tested several more times to be sure, CT Scan pics were taken with the dye still in my system, then I was brought back to recovery and given morophine to calm the pain.

I was sore for up to 2 weeks after the exam. It took awhile to get all that out of my system and things to calm back down.

Not a fun test and one I would wish to repeat, but as I said.. I would.

I am now 14 weeks fused at L4/L5 and doing alot better these days. I have not regrets.

Get the discogram.. It's worth a moment of pain to possibly relief a lifetime of pain/discomfort moving forward.

Take care. Tammy:wave:

Another thing to add. The more fluids you drink after the discogram, the quicker the dye will leave your system and you will feel better. My doctor told me this with my discharge instructions and said that any fluids counted - soda, juice, water, etc., but that water of course was best. Anything to flush the dye out and make you go to the bathroom more.

Why is it so important to flush out the dye? Will that help me heal faster? I haven't scheduled my discogram because I am still considering whether or not to have it done. My doctor is willing to treat me via pain meds but I am too young to be on those full time.

Hey Onyx!
Flushing out the dye will help make the increase in pain from the discogram go away faster and get your pain levels back down to where they normally are that much quicker.

Please seriously consider having the discogram done. It really is the best way to find out what it causing the pain. Treating the pain with meds without knowing what is causing the pain is unwise. I know it is scary to undergo a test that is going to be painful, but I swear to you it is worth it. I would be leary of a doctor who just wants to drug you up instead of getting to the cause of your pain.

Please keep posting if you have any more questions. Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

I had a Discogram and here is my thoughtsL First, make sure you ask if they routinly use versed cocktail for the porcedure. It will make it a lot easier to bear. Most of it, I don't remember today.

Good luck and do have someone yake you home and help you the next couple of days.

Lorie