Discogram...is it as painful as it sounds??

  • Thread starter Thread starter wxKathy2
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Kathy - - - I'm glad that your husband is up and moving around today , it does help to be on your feet and moving after any procedure on your back - it loosens up your muscles and helps your blood circulate more.. Sorry to hear about your chronic fatigue , and your thyroid problems..

My recovery time was lengthy , I was in the hospital for like 7 days.. I did'nt start P T untill 3 months after surgery , and went 3 days a week for about 3-4 months.. SO recovery time is about a solid 6 months , again that will change for each person - based on the surgery and the amount of levels being fused.. This was my 2nd back surgery and to be honest it does not get any easier , walking and following your doctor's orders after surgery is huge.. You will not be allowed to drive for about 6-8 weeks after surgery , and getting your rest is a bg part if the healing process.. Look under "surgery tips" and you will get lots if usefull info , feel free to ask me any questions about the surgery etc.... god bless
DEv
 
Hi Tara,
So glad its' over for you and it was "bearable"...sorry you had to do it.....I think part of the goal of it is to distinguish what causes your usual pain from other pain from the procedure - My hubby has leg pain too but they were able to recreate the leg pain during the discogram.....Yes hubby's doctor says this test will tell him a lot about how to proceed next....Hubby got report that all four discs where "trashed" and a quadruple fusion would be required - however they rarely if ever do them he was told so the PM doc told him he was "f---ed"....Yeah he used that word! But he said they may be able to do something else. Hubby sees the neurosurgeon on the 29th but has already been researching artificial discs and looking into the best possible places in the USA for lower back pain - we live inthe middle of the country and often the better medical care or more advanced techniques are found on the coasts - so we'll see - he is considering mayo - don't know what other places are best....

Yes devi - how are you?

And Tara glad it's over and let us know what your doc says about it too....

best wishes to everyone,
Kathy
 
Hi Tara, I had a discogram in 2002. I had the same disks involved L3,4 5 & S-1. I had this done in Sarasota, FL. They do give you some light sedation to relax you. You feel pressure especially when you get to the discs that are so painful. Unfortunately for me I had 3 discs involved that they could not do a fusion. I have had a spinal cord stimulator in 2003. I had a MRI in Dec and found every disc in my back has serious problems. Friday, I will have the trial pain pump and pray it helps me. If all goes well, I will get the pain pump to help me with a better quality of life. Please try to be calm and the discogram is really not that bad--I pray it goes well for you. Take care, Sugarbear
 
Hi dev,
So sorry to hear you have to do this all again - but hope you can get some relief....My husband rebounded very well - he is very resilient - He needed my help the day of the discogram but after that he pretty much did things for himself....Saturday he even went to work.....(desk work) for a couple of hours....And by then he was off all pain meRAB too....so thank you all and best wishes to you and hope yours goes smoothly - I will keep you and Tara and sugarbear in my thoughts! tomorrow I think we'll find out if he is going to have the triple fusion.....
Best wishes....
Kathy
PS hubby has DDD too....
 
Hello to your New Jersey people. Sorry for the back pain you are going through. Husband has the same problems with his back. They are going to do his facet joints as a last effort just to make sure they are not the problem. If is comes back that they are not then he his going to need some type of surgery. they have talked about sending him for a discogram next so I appreciate all the responses that have been presented here so far.

My question to you is what doctors are you using and are you happy with them. We want to get a second opinion and it is just so hard to know who the good doctors are. He is currently with an ortho but we are thinking we want a second opinion from a neuro? Any help would be appreciated.

To each of you on this post I hope your back troubles get better. This is the hardest thing to go through.

Thanks
 
I don't know if it helps but I was sedated enough during my discogram (fentanyl and versed) so while I did react to questions and felt some pain, it was bearable (especially being partially sedated).
 
kATHY ~
Hey i hope your husband is feeling some what better , it does get better threw out the day.. I remeraber hurting though for a couple days after the discogram.. When I had this test done my back was in very bad condition , the discogram was the final test and I had surgery 3 weeks later.. So I don't think the discogram should make his back any worse than it is , loratab , ice and rest - MAn o man i remeraber when they got the results from the procedure and gave me morphine , slept like a baby ! lol
AS far as my fusion went , it def. helped me out - BUT i'm still in pain.. Like mentioned i only had 2 levels fused "6 srews and 2 roRAB" , 9 hr surgery (aprox) and lots of recovery time.. I'm a carpenter and in the last 2 months i'm having some pretty bad set backs , i have alot of nerve pain and nurabness still in my right foot and calf , and lower back pain.. Evey one is diff. though , my surgery was a success but i'm still in pain (not like i was before my surg). MY line of work does not help me either though , This is a BIG surgery and you need to look at every angle before you have it done..
GOOD LUCK , any more questions feel free to ask - or just post them.. They're lots of god people on here that will help you..
BILLY
 
Please post back and let us know how the test went. I probably should be having this test, but I am just so tired of being in pain and having procedures, that I haven't inquired about this one. I have permanent nerve damage from 2 large herniated discs. I hope it isn't all that bad for you!!

sugarbear: I just tried to send you a PM, but your account is not activated. I was wondering if your Spinal Cord Stimulator was placed by a Sarasota, FL doctor. I live outside of there and all my doctors are from Sarasota.

10sox
 
Hello Tara , sorry that your test went so bad and painfull.. I had mine done today and it was truly a horrible experience , they did the discogram @ the l2-3 , l3-4 levels.. They did the l2-3 level first and was bad , BUT the l3-4 level almost made me phish off the table.. The pain and pressure that arised was unreal , my pain level shot up to about 9/10 scale.. I'm going to see my ortho. surgent next friday , but my P.M doctor said that i had bad DDD and the dye was escaping my disc at that level.. I also went for a ct/scan after , so i need to get those results next week.. I was in so much pain after the test and having the ct/scan was a blur - - I do think surgery will be recomended !!!! ARRrrrrr

I just woke up from a nap , just took my pain meRAB and now I'm going back to sleep hopefully... I wish every one a pain free night and GOOD LUCK

Kathy , I'm ok thanks !! Sorry to hear about the 4 level operation - WOW.. HOPE FULLY you will find some answers , I will be wishing you luck
GOD BLESS
DEv
 
Kathy - Thank you for the update! My discogram is tomorrow so of course it's all I can think about today. Good luck with the doctor's appointment tomorrow. I have significant DDD at two levels and my surgeon has talked to me about doing a minimally invasive fusion. This basically means that they work through two 1.5in incisions in your back. Hospital stay is about 3 days, and recovery time is significantly less than traditional fusion. Not all surgeons are trained in this technique, but given you and your husband's situation, you may want to inquire about it tomorrow. Let us know how it goes.

Deviphish - Sorry to hear you are back for another discogram! But like you said, if it means getting some answers and getting out of pain, then a discogram is a good thing. Let us know how everything goes for you.

SpineAZ - Thank you for sharing, hopefully they will use that same type of sedation for me too!!

Tara
 
Hubby is doing pretty good - but has the lortab so not in too much pain - they did four discs - not sure how he will be tomorrow - has been getting around to the bathroom and walking a little around the house and sleeping some.....so not in too much pain so far Tara....They did give him morhpine and fentanyl at the procedure too....I would think those are wearing off by now - it's been about 12 hours or more....
Take care,
Kathy
 
Dev - hope your back is feeling better today after your discogram. Let us know how you make out at the drs.

Tara - hope your back is better also today and keep us posted about your doctor appointment. Thanks also for the doctor recommendations. I'm about 1 1/2 hrs from Philly so it would be doable. I'll let hubby know about your doctor recommendations. We're not at the discogram point yet but I know it is definitely down the road for him. They are going to inject the facet joints as a diagnostic process but he is out of epidural shots after this. I don't think it is the facet joints but you have to try everything they present and this will be no worse of an injection than the rest he has gone through. He has annular tears in l4-l5 and l5-s1 and after 7 months of injections and therapy he is not that much better. The last epidural helped for about a month and he does not have the pain down to the knee as he did before, just tired/achy feeling in the legs. Time will tell

Thanks once again to both of you for the doctor recommendations. Feel better and keep updating.
 
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