IDET / disc replacement

[rachelzhu74]

How are you doing right now? Feeling any better one year later after the IDET? Wish you the best!

Originally Posted by RedangelJoy

I had the idet done on me back in Jan. 07, it is now May 23, 2007. I spent 2 months in bed because the pain was so bad after having the idet done. Two weeks after the idet I had a pain block which didn't do to much, I still could barely walk let alone sit. Five weeks later I had another pain block, then I could finally sit but only for like 10 min. I had another pain block two weeks later and have been about the same since....worse then before the idet. I get pains through my back like a leg cramp would feel or how labor pains feel. I move real slow, bend real slow just so I don't set these pains off. I can barely get into bed still at night cause of the pain. I am on pain meds. which do not do very much. I have just started taking arthrotec 2 weeks ago and that is helping some.....but still have the pains just not as often. My back always feels tired and it gets me down. I have ddd and artritis, the doc. said he "thinks" my pain is coming from the next disc up and wants to do the idet to that disc.....I went for a second opinion......that doc. told me all the idet did for me was to agervate what I already had. Like in otherwords if I would of had a broken leg it would of been like someone throwing a tree down on it and breaking it more. He also said this is going to be a long long long time in fixing.....and this is for life. I can just kick myself for ever having the idet done. I still have the old pain I had plus this new big time cramping pain. My back was so bad for 2 months after I only got out of bed to go to the bathroom. I had it down to where I would only have to get up 3-4 times in 24 hours. I also lost 20 pounds the first month after the idet. I had a few days where I couldn't bare the thought of even trying to sit down on the toliet so I took off my robe and got in the shower to pee. I still have to sit only in chair that have 2 arms on them so I can use them to get up and down. Just plain walking was a killer also, like I said 2 months straight in bed and 3 pain blocks later and now I am heading for pain management. I would never ever have another idet done.

[lizzybrog80]

Originally Posted by eeyoretigger

hi everyone!
i've been kneeling in front of my computer for about the last two hours browsing through all the postings trying to find some info. i'm a 24 year old female in decent health. back in january i was shoveling the snow (not even an inch)when my back gave out. i never felt such horrible pain and i couldn't stand without my legs giving out from under me. that lasted for about 3-4 days before i was just stuck with the horrible pain. since then i've had terrible pain in my lower back, typically more my right side than the left. i can't sit for more than about 2 minutes (long enough to put on my shoes) and that's only been for about 2 months, since an epidural into L5-S1. when i sit, most the pain seems to be in my tailbone area. not even donuts or coccyx/hemmeriod pillows help any. on occasion i will get tingling down my legs but that's usually after twisting or bending in a way i probably shouldn't. nights are difficult because i have pain sleeping on both my stomach and my back so i usually end up on my sides. after spending about 30 minutes on my sides though my hip area (where the butt, leg, and back all meet) which lingers even once i've switched sides.

my doctor has tried injections into my sacrococcygial (sp??) joint, my SI joint, and also L5-S1. after my L5-S1 injection my doctor finally narrowed it down to that and i had a discogram, similar pain experienced at L4-L5 and the exact pain though not in my tailbone area with L5-S1. i've tried therapy, tens unit, been on all sorts of pain meds. for daily pain that is about an 8 and a 10 when sitting, i've been taking oxycontin and vicodin now, though they both make it hard to go to work even though i've only been working part-time since i returned mid-may.

after my discogram i went for another ct scan which revealed a tear at L5-S1. my doctor said that my options now are fusion (which he pretty much refuses to do since i'm so young and will end up with problems later in life from), trying to get into a disc replacement study going on or starting soon at the hospital i'm going to (and hope that i get the replacement and not fusion), or IDET. because of the chance of getting stuck with fusion if i go for the study, my doctor wants me to go for the idet.

i recently went for a second opinion and the neurosurgeon wasn't very helpful. he didn't give much advice of what to do and said that he doesn't have much experience with IDET but that he didn't think it could hurt trying.

from what i've read, it sounds like the idet is a fairly easy procedure but has a LONG PAINFUL recovery period. has anyone had any lasting negative results from it??? my mother has been reading about it on the internet and keeps saying how since they burn the nerve ending by the disc, i'll end up with horrible effects from it such as incontinence. she keeps coming up with all sorts of negative results that can happen. how risky is this procedure??? has anyone encountered serious problems???

also, for anyone who has had the disc replacement, how has the recovery been?? i only saw a few postings regarding this and it sounds like a better recovery period than the IDET.

any suggestions of what to do?? i really just want to get rid of some pain and to sit again!!!

sorry i rambled on so long....thanks to anyone who actually read this entire thing!

Hi! I just had IDET on 1/25/08. I think you are making it out to be far worse than it is. The biggest problem with IDET is that it has not been put through rigorous studies, and the success rates aren't all that great (maybe even only 50%). But the RISKS are almost none. In every study that's been done there have been no complications. My recovery has been pretty easy. It is not a painful recovery; it is just restrictive. In other words, I'm not supposed to sit for more than 15 minutes at a time. The pain I have experienced so far is no worse than my previous pain. My doc warned me that most patients feel burning afterward, but I am taking Lyrica (and have been for 2 years) and so I've felt no burning pain, which is good. I would say go for it. It is the best treatment for annular tears. It is a pretty simple, outpatient procedure, which does not burn any bridges for future treatment. In other words, there is almost no reason not to try it. And if it doesn't work, all you've given up is a few months recovery time. My doc said the recovery curve goes down initially for about a week, then up slightly, then plateaus for about 5 weeks. Then, around the 6-week mark, people start feeling better. So I'm only 2 weeks out today. I took 1 week off of work & laid in bed almost 24/7. I have been back at work this week, working about 3/4 days, and then I go home & get directly in bed to lay down. I'm walking 20-40 minutes/day. Feel free to ask any other questions if you have them; this is all I can think of now. But I say go for it! And maybe neurosurgeons aren't the best ones to consult about it; my pain management doc (an anesthesiologist, officially) did mine.

-Beth

***Editing: I'm a dork & just saw the initial post & nothing after it and responded - now I see the initial post is quite old & much has since happened. I will leave my response for others to read if it might help them***