This is how it all started with me, I woke up on a saturday morning with the worst pain I have ever had, {no falls or accidents this is out of the clear blue} and ended up in the ER, they said it was siatica and ended up giving me not one but two injections of dilaudid and did a x-ray on my back,they sent me home , On monday I went to my family doctor who ordered a MRI which was completed on wednesday I then return to my family doc on thursday for the results and he said I had to have surgery ASAP,On friday I went to see the surgeon and he scheduled surgery on monday , I had a lumbar microdiscectomy, and have worse pain in my right leg and foot now than I did ,I feel as if my world has turned upside down due to all this ,heck I didnt have time to even process everything ,Oh and go figure if there are side effects of a medication you can bet I will get one or two, so dealing with all of this has been over whelming , My FMLA is almost up and that lingers on my mind will I still have a job ?? I am still on prednisone and have gained a total of 28 lbs since Jan 21 , 08 my face is puffy as well as my belly to, My eyes are constantly watering and I am noticing my breathing to be a bit different than usual, I was put on this after I had a lumbar microdiscectomy on 1-21-08 , I ended up with severe right leg pain and swelling as well as numbness in my right foot, it feels as though I am being pricked with pins and needles and or burning ... It is starting to all get to me the pills, my quality of life is totally different and its not for the better either.. I am snappy and feeling very mean for no good reason .. They also have me on neurotin for the leg pain ie nerve, My surgeon has done a mylegram , MRI with constrast, Cat scan ,X-rays and he sees nothing , he now wants me to get a nerve block and I have heard nothing good... Any one please please help .. I go see my surgeon on 2-26-08 and I think he should go back in to see what is compressing on my nerve , all the test performed has showed nothing ,but there has to be something, My surgeon said there is granulation ,scar tissue, and small fragments he can pick at to see if it makes things better???? I'm thinking surgery then nerve block right after ?????
Last edited by heatherg4871; 02-25-2008 at 08:52 PM.
Heather, I am sorry you are suffering so much. Sometimes spinal surgery can be very tricky and it can take a long time to recover from.
May I ask what medications they have you on? Are you on something for the nerve pain such as neurotin, lyrica, topomax, cymbalta?
It sounds like you may also need to be on an antidepressent as well. I resisted this for a very long time because I did not think I was depressed and I realized that after being on the medication for 2 weeks I was VERY DEPRESSED and did not even realize it. I was snapping so much at my loved ones and was very cranky. Once I went on the medication, I noticed such a difference and so did my hubby. In fact we know laugh about it because my hubby will turn to me and say oops maybe I need to take your calm pills. LOL
Back pain can really change your entire life -- I have lost so much because of it no matter how much I tried to maintain my life -- chronic pain can be very rough.
Please know that we are here for you and we are all willing to chat with you so go ahead and ask a ton of questions.
Thankyou, I am currently on Neurotin 1800mg a day , as well as 300mg wellbutrin ,almost done with my prednisone ,down to a 1/2 pill a day for 5 days,thank god!!! Also on ambien a sleeping pill temporarily... Went and seen my surgeon today , He wants me to get a lumbar sympathetic plexus block and see if it stops the pain, my surgeon would like for me to have two of these if needed, He said if it works then we have a diagnosis which is RSD other wise I will go back to surgery for exploratory, He did say I have a small fragment showing on my mylegram but he doesnt think thats causing this pain...They are doing the block on friday, so I think its for theraputic and diagnostic reasons from what I gather ..
Thankyou, I am currently on Neurotin 1800mg a day , as well as 300mg wellbutrin ,almost done with my prednisone ,down to a 1/2 pill a day for 5 days,thank god!!! Also on ambien a sleeping pill temporarily... Went and seen my surgeon today , He wants me to get a lumbar sympathetic plexus block and see if it stops the pain, my surgeon would like for me to have two of these if needed, He said if it works then we have a diagnosis which is RSD other wise I will go back to surgery for exploratory, He did say I have a small fragment showing on my mylegram but he doesnt think thats causing this pain...They are doing the block on friday, so I think its for theraputic and diagnostic reasons from what I gather ..
Dear Heather,
I too am experiencing your pain, but haven't gone under the knife yet...and hopefully won't have to. It's all according to your insurance apparently, I don't know?, I am attending pain management, and have had 2 MRI's on my lumbar and thoracic region done. My pain also started in the low back went down into my left foot and calf muscle, and then went to both feet and both calf muscles. The pain in my feet has left me basically handicapped. I am scheduled here soon for another emg test, an MRI of my cervical and brain., I have multiple problems in my spine-so there trying to figure out which area or problem is causing so much intense pain?!!, I have a few herniated discs in my lumbar region, Degenerative Disc Disease, Spinal Stenosis, (narrowing of the bones in my lower back area), and am rubbing bone to bone somewhere's?, I believe my facet joints are shot as well. So I am getting very frustrated with all this mess. They have me on Morphine 30mg.'s 2x daily, kepro and baclofen for the spasms and jumping. Standing, Sitting and Walking all are excruciating. The walking is the worse., I usually have to use a scooter just to go to the grocery store. Sometimes, It feels like Im walking on rocks in my left foot., my heel goes numb, my toes on both feet and the soles are in constant firey hot radiating numbness!!!, it's hard to explain, but I find myself wanting to just cut my feet off somedays!!... So anyway, I wish u luck and I hope they can fix u at least. Maybe here soon, theyll figure out what is really going on with me?...in the meantime Im miserable and depressed from all this. Emg I had showed pinched nerves on left side, am due for another here soon., MRI's showed all the other mess, as well as a herniating disc in my neck., Vascular Surgeon said my circulation was fine to my feet?, foot doctor said my toenails(mostly the large one's) didn't have fungus, but apparently it was the nerve damage discoloring my nails. Am due for another MRI of my neck and brain, and another EMG, and another epidural injection-this will be my third... Wish me luck, and let me know how u turn out, Good Luck and God Bless. Hope your Pain gets better soon!!
Wish me luck, and let me know how u turn out, Good Luck and God Bless. Hope your Pain gets better soon!!
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