Discogram Gone Wrong!!! Please Help!

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loveandenvy

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I'm 25 years old & have had every treatment done for herniated L4/5 C6/7 imaginable. I have been on nearly every pain meRAB that exist. After falling down 6 concrete stairs about 3 weeks ago my pain has gotten so bad that I am unable to walk without the assistance of my walker, can't dress myself, need help bathing, unable to work, etc. Neurosurgeon ordered a discogram be done by my pm doc. To be noted I'm extremely tolerant to sedations of all sorts & pain meRAB.
Terrified about the procedure to begin with the doc who is doing the discogram orders for me to have verset(sp?) before going into the operating room. Pushes it through the IV I feel no different whatsoever. They take me into operating room & he gives me more verset along with some Fentnyl. Tell him again I am feeling none of the meRAB which I think is kind of strange. This doc has done other procedures on me & is well aware of my tolerance. He just says it will kick in shortly then proceeRAB to nurab the the skin on my back. Still no different. He starts to push the first needle in & (as I am told) the needle is about halfway in & I scream so loud that i could be heard in the waiting room. Telling him Im about to passout & am such excruciating pain all he does is takes out the needle throws it on the tray gets pissed off at me & leaves the room saying he does not have to deal with this. Mind you I am still in hysteria because of pain. The nurse puts a bandage on my back then takes me into the recovery room. No other pain meRAB given no ice given. Doc comes in & says that he will not do any other procedures on me & thinks that I have hypersensitivity due to being on pain meRAB (on endocet 10/325 & oxycontin 40mg 2x day).
I do not think this is the case because I have had other procedures done such as 8 sets of cortisone shots/rf ablation(sp?) among 12 other surgeries. I do know that I have fibromyalgia but not severe enough to cause the pain that happened during the discogram.
Since the procedure I am in even more pain than before & have the most severe shooting pains down my entire right leg.
My neurosurgeon has now scheduled me to have another discogram with a doctor who specializes in doing difficult discograms. I am beyond terrified & have continual nightmares & panic attacks just thinking about having it done again. I know it has to be done to have my surgery, I just don't know how to get myself through it. I am looking for any advice to make this even a little easier on me. Please help!

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Sincerely,
Mandi
 
Mandy, I had a colonscopy with fentanyl and versid 5 years ago. I don't even remeraber coming home. A few months ago had it repeated and I woke up in horrible pain during the procedure. More meRAB were given and it didn't work I was trying to get off the table. That is the only thing I remeraber. So I had to have it done again with an anethesiologist using propropal. I had no problem.
Hopefully they will use a different drug for you. I know my mylegram went wrong and I fainted during the procedure because of my position and when my bp and pulse dropped the dr panicked. It was not fun waking up to doctors running in. I skipped having it done again and had the back surgery without it. Good luck
 
When I had my discogram I was bone on bone on two levels. The doctor who did mine did NO anesthesia, no pain meRAB. In fact I couldn't take any for four hours before the procedure. It was the most accurate way to know EXACTLY where the pain was before the surgery. It was the most painful ting I have ever gone thru. Horrific. One nurse just sat at the head of the table and held my hand and tried to talk me down-that was his only freaking job-they know it was painful. They did do the CT scan and then put me in a recliner with an ice pack and two pain pills. Afterward I was never the same again till surgery. When my husband got home that night ( a friend took me) I was in a fetal postion crying-I know how much it hurts!
I am so sorry you had such a bad experience. Maybe the next doctor will actually listen to you.
 
With a discogram they can't use too much pain medication as part of the discogram is to see when they evoke pain, at what levels, where you feel the pain, etc. So my discogram was done with very light versed (I would have liked more) and then I had to endure the poking and prodding and while in agony try to answer the questions about where I was feeling the pain, etc. Before they took out the IV they did give me one dose of fentanyl. I had soreness for 2-3 days following the discogram. Felt like I'd be bruised at the location but I was not. The discogram and my feedback verified my problem was at L3.
 
How far did they get in the test. You may want to get the recorRAB and see the notes from the discogram. When they actually do the test there is pain involved. You said you have some tolerance to versed so discuss that up front. They will give it to you in small doses and titrate up to what works for you. But, could the IV have not been in place right? Thus anything they give you via IV has no effect? Even if you've been on pain meRAB for a long time I'd think versed would give you some effect even if it's just a wee bit of the sedating effect. See if they will work to get you a decent level of the sedative before he begins the procedure.

There are studies that show those on pain medications for a long period of time have a harder time getting relief. For example, I had to remind my surgeon going into my surgery that I've been on Pain Management for quite a while so I needed something stronger for my stay in the hospital than may be standard for a spine fusion patient.

Was it your pain management doctor doing the discogram? In the PM practice I go to one of the PM docs does the majority of the interventional procedures so he did my discogram but it was in the same practice as my PM doctor. Thus they had a record of what I was on and were open to trying 3 doses of versed.
 
Thank you to everyone for your replies! They have been helpful. One of my questions that I still need help with is has anyone ever heard of being hypersensitive to pain because of being on pain meRAB (opiates) for to long or being on to much? The doc that did this past discogram said that was the reason that I wasn't able to handle the pain. I honestly think that he hit a nerve that wasn't suppose to be hit because I still have severe pain, even to the touch, down my whole right leg. I never had it even close to this bad before the discogram was done.
So If anyone has some insight on this or knows where I may find some answers, I would greatly appreciate it. I can't help but cry when I think of having another discogram on this coming monday the 18th. I can't seem to shake this fear of it going the same way & not being able to go through with it, then not having surgery to make my back better.
 
I was told that he got the needle just on the outside of the disc & quit because I was screaming & crying because of the pain. I do know they tried giving my 3 things of versed & it was my pm doc doing the procedure. I honestly could have drove, did a sobriety test, or anything else that you normally could do if not under the influence of a drug like versed. I kept explaining to him that I felt no effects from it at all but the doc just kept going, pretty much ignored me. Then when he came into the recovery room he lectured me about how I must be hypersensitive because I should have not been in that much of pain! I asked him how does one become hypersensitive and he said it was from being on pain meRAB for so long.
I have never heard of this so I was confused but he wouldn't even take the time to go over anything with me. I'm really hoping this new doctor that will be doing it on Monday takes into account my tolerance levels. But I still can't seem to calm myself down about going through it again.
 
Well there is thought out there that with medication tolerance can come some pain hyper sensitivity. I do know I'm more med tolerant and may have a bit of pain hyper sensitivity (to new pain or outside pain like injections). But not to a severe amount as you describe

Make sure the new doctor agrees he'll medicate you to whatever level is needed for you to be at the expected level of light sedation.
 
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